Spring Break- Zoo

Friday we headed to the Zoo.  Same exit and parking lot as the park from yesterday, but we came early in the morning, so that made ALL the difference.  The last time we came to the zoo we headed down the elephants, monkey, and mountain cats side.  So this time we headed over to the birds.  

Yes that is just one bird.  The yellow beak is its mouth.  the orange one just a decoration! Maybe a defense to make it look bigger?  The boys stared and stared.  Trying to convince themselves that it really was just one bird.

These kookaburras were awesome!  I remember learning a song in preschool about them laughing, but figured it was just a silly song.  We were lucky enough to hear them "laugh".  I SO wish I could have gotten a video.  It was so cool.  Sounded more like monkeys, than birds.  No 2 trips to the zoo are ever the same!

Jaden and Kyler loved looking at the pictures in front of the cages and then trying to spot them/ matching them up with the ones in real life.  Here's Beckam playing along pointing out birds he sees too!

Those are some of the cutest animals I've ever seen in the zoo! :)

I just had to get a picture of the giraffes for my sister Jennie, since it's her favorite animal!

We've never been around the sea lions during their "show time" so we decided to check it out this time.

This was pretty funny!  WARNING: That song will sure stay in your head though!

They love the fish tube.  Beckam was too nervous to crawl through this time.  I think there were just too many kids!

While there we got a text that Natalie had her baby! (Charly)

Such troopers!  They had a great time, but we did need to get Beckam home for a nap.

While Beckam napped the boys played in the pool.

And when they were done with that we made banana ice cream, a new family favorite!

Recipe: 3 frozen bananas, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 TBLS cocoa powder, 1/2-1 C milk blended up in your blender.  The consistency is more like a frosty from Wendy's than ice cream.  But we all love it, and ALWAYS have frozen bananas so it's an easy treat!  (TIP I break into thirds or so the 3 bananas into an old large yogurt container. Then stick that into the freezer.  Each time we wanna make banana ice cream we just get out a yogurt bin and we're ready in minutes!)

Yes, I was going for the best mom of spring break award! :)  Great week, but I'm exhausted!  Back to school boys!

Spring Break- Feeding the Ducks

Tuesday we hung around the house.  Ian and Gavin hung out with us all day too.  The boys loved having them here all day.  Beckam had his first experience with sidewalk chalk.

Wednesday we went to playgroup.  Susannah had a cute treasure hunt put together at the park for the kids to find the pot of gold. (St. Patricks themed playgroup)  The boys all loved it.
Thursday we headed downtown to feed the ducks at Hermann Park.  We decided to go after lunch.  Normally from the exit we are in the parking lot in about 5 minutes.  We didn't realize that everyone on spring break had a similar idea and it took us 45 minutes! :) Jaden kept saying how boring it was.  Yeah, sitting in a car IS boring.  But we eventually got there!  Then it was FUN FUN FUN!

They all had a great time.  No matter how much bread you bring...it's never enough!

We even spotted something that wasn't a duck! Can you see it?  I thought it was a beaver at first.  But it's tail was so weird.  It looked like an overgrown rat with a different face.  Some kids there said it was a swamp rat and the girl by us said it was a Nutria, and told us all about them!

Beckam was so good about coming back for little pieces of bread I had put on by his stroller.  No one fell, so I'd say it was a pretty great afternoon! :)

A paddle boat went through and scared the ducks away.

There is a train that goes around the park.  Beckam loved hearing it blow its whistle.

Slowly the ducks and the Nutria came back for more bread!

See...weird looking huh!?

It was even trying to steal the bread from the ducks.  Right out of their mouth!

Seriously, they could have thrown bread all day long!

Jaden got a little nervous when this duck showed up.  He said it was creepy.  It looked kind of like a dinosaur!

But eventually our bread was gone and so we headed to the playground.

My big monkeys!

Someday Beckam.  Don't worry, you'll do all that someday!

He was loving going down the stairs holding the railing.  He did it so many times.

The boys have some great balance and walked all the way across this unstable beam.

I helped Beckam go across, which he hated!  He like this one closer to the ground!

And he walked down and back for quite some time!  We've all been loving all this time together.

Spring Break- Children's Museum

Day 1 of spring break we headed to the Children's museum.  I love the look on Jaden's face...so worried about what others might think when they see his brother hugging him...  I hope that he will grow out of this someday.  He always so worried about what others think!  I guess it has it's plus' and minus'.

Same thing here.  Since the mirror made us short and fat he didn't want to get in the photo, but finally did!  I thought it was pretty funny.

They enjoyed waiting for a ball and then quickly putting in the other hole.

Beckam especially loved this.  Having the ball sucked away was just thrilling!

They also had a couple of special things going on for spring break.  These hamster balls were fantastic!

Kyler's in the far one and Jaden in the near one. They just got to walk back and forth across the lawn, but they LOVED it!

Beckam was enjoying turning the handle back and forth to make waves.

There were also a couple of "coconut trees" to climb.

Pretty tight race!

But Jaden just couldn't quite make it.  Although he did get pretty close to the top!

Kyler made it all the way up and was sure excited to remind Jaden the rest of the day!

Kyler was in heaven with a ball as we waited in line for the bungee trampoline.

Beckam enjoyed throwing the blocks into the "river" then seeing them float downstream.

I thought I'd be an awesome mom and get him a big handful of blocks.  That way I could get all the way to the other end and video him throwing them in 1 at a time!...

He thwarted my plan pretty quickly! :)  Yup, just shoved the whole pile in all at once!

FINALLY!  It was our turn on the bungee tramp.

Kyler even did a couple of backflips!

Jaden did NOT like the harness at all.  He looked nervous, but maybe he was just very uncomfortable.  I think he likes the freedom on our trampoline better.

They even let me have a turn!

Flips were incredibly difficult! But I pulled out a couple.  I'm with Jaden, not very comfortable and for sure like the tramp at home better.  But this was fun!

I love how concentrated Kyler can get when trying something new.

I think Jaden was pretending these were bayblades.  Spinning tops was never so much fun!

Beckam was a great sport with putting up with us doing all of the adventure stuff.  He knew his time to play with balls would come!

They each enjoyed some "dancing."

And climbing.

And even doing some pushups!  How many can YOU do in a minute!?

This digital game floor was a favorite on this trip.  You could choose to play dodge-ball or musical squares.  It was actually pretty cool and kept the kids entertained for quite some time.

This digital jump rope was a bit more complicated.

Still don't think we've done everything the museum has to offer!  I'm glad they enjoyed a day off school to hang out together!  Hopefully the rest of the week goes just as well!