Weekend Recap

It's almost the weekend and I'm just now recapping last weekend. I'm still doing better than I have been about keeping up with blogging, so I'm happy.

The boys in car line on Friday.

After I dropped the boys off at school, I went and met Greg at home. He had to work late some last week, so he only had to work a few hours on Friday, which just so happened to be our anniversary. So, we went on a lunch date while the boys were at school. We went downtown to The Boll Weevil, a local favorite that I have been wanting to try. They're known for their cakes. Our lunch was ok, nothing amazing, but it wasn't bad and it wasn't expensive. The cake we split for dessert was amazing, though. SO GOOD!! We couldn't even finish it because it was so rich and huge! I'd definitely go back there for dessert.

After we picked up the boys from school, we went to the park on Fort Gordon. They had a great time and played for a long time.

I found the boys sunglasses from last summer, so they wore them out on Friday. They definitely thought they were cool.

We left the park and went and got a movie and pizza for our weekly movie night. If I mention watching a movie or eating pizza for dinner, they'll both ask "but, is it Friday?" haha. They know that Fridays mean pizza and movie.

Saturday, Greg took the boys to the gym and pool while I studied for my final. After he got home, we took the boys to a birthday party at Monkey Joe's for a kid in their class. The boys had the best time.

A lot of their friends from school came, so they had so much fun playing and jumping around with them.

Sunday, we went to church and this was the best I could do. I don't think Evan cares as much about the weekly picture as I do. ;)

After church, we ran a few errands and went home. Then, we took the boys out to the splash park. They didn't end up playing a long time in the water, they ended up putting the sandals on and running over to the playground part to play, but they had a great time.

The weather was perfect for being able to play in the water.

We had to cut our time at the park a little shorter than we normally do, because I had to get home and get Greg's car and drive up to church for a Vacation Bible School Rally. It was for all the volunteers and it was basically an information session as well as a way to get us all pumped up about helping out. I'm going to be in the preschool craft room with 3 other women and I'm really looking forward to it. Greg stayed home with the boys and grilled out hamburgers while the boys played with a  frog. Greg sent me this picture while I was at church of Evan holding the frog.

The one good thing about all this rain we've been getting is all the frogs we have in our yard. The boys just love them.

Zoo Day

Thursday morning, I skipped my weekly bible study and took the boys to the zoo. I felt bad missing bible study, but it's been raining so much and I wanted to take the boys again before school got out. I went back and forth on whether I wanted to skip bible study or not and then my friend sent me a message Wednesday evening that she was taking her boys to the zoo and asked if we want to join her. So, we did.

The boys and I got there about 9:30 and went on in and did a few things. The boys rode the ponies and the train and then we went and met our friends at the front gate. The boys love looking at the map of the zoo.

The boys were the first in line to ride the ponies. Sometimes, the line is insane and we just skip it, but they were actually able to ride it right and when we came back by later, there was no line, so they rode them again.

Carter riding the pony

So precious

Such big boys!

I had them pose while waiting on the train and this is what I got. Carter's expression reminds me of the Chandler Bing camera face--haha.

My friend texted me when we got to the zoo, so we went up to the front to meet her.

Another random map reading picture.

Andrea took Cooper to the bathroom and we were in charge of keeping Sullivan safe and we took it upon ourselves to entertain him. You can see how well that went. Sullivan could not be any less impressed.

The boys are so into "babies" (Sullivan isn't a baby, but anybody that's smaller than them is considered a baby to them) They were so happy to be around him, take pictures, etc. Haha, as you can see, Sullivan wasn't as excited.

I rode the carousel with the 4 boys. Andrea is pregnant and just could not handle this ride--which I totally get. So, Evan, Carter, and Cooper all rode next to each other.

And I got to ride ahead of them with this cutie--who is still not impressed by any of this. :)

Then we went to feed the birds. I let the boys hold their own bird food this time and they were able to get some birds to come down and eat it.

We walked around the zoo and saw some fun animals, like this lion that was just pacing his cage.

This flamingo was right up next to the fence and we've never seen one that close before. Usually, they don't even seem to notice that there's people around them. But not this one. He was staring at us, getting close, honking at us. He looked mean as hell--almost as scary as an ostrich (shudder....)

Then an adult (who I assume was leading this kids field trip) sticks her hands out to see what would happen. The flamingo bit her, that's what happened. I think most of us could have guessed that is what would happen if you stick your hand in it's face like that. She said it didn't hurt that bad because it doesn't have teeth. Haha, oh my.

We went and saw the penguins and the aquarium and elephants. After that, we went and fed the giraffes. I always love this part. The boys have done it so much, they're little pros now.

It amazes me how gentle the boys are with animals. Evan and Carter have a lot of energy and can be pretty wild sometimes, but when it comes to animals, they know how to be gentle and act the way they're supposed to act.

The boys friend, Cooper, feeding the giraffe.

After feeding the giraffes, we went to the picnic table area, right outside the zoo entrance and had our picnic lunch. When we were done, we did another round on the carousel. Around lunch time, the boys decided that Sullivan was the cutest, sweetest thing ever and they wanted to hang out with him. They sat on this peacock bench, so they could ride with him on the carousel. They agreed to take a picture with him when it started, I love how happy they are, I just wish my ginormas face wasn't in the background, but I'm too lazy to edit it out.

So cute!!!

The boys begged me and Andrea to let Sullivan come home with Evan and Carter! Evan promised that we'd give him back before we went on our trip to Arizona. They just really loved Sullivan. This isn't a new thing, they've been talking about babies and how cute they are and how much they love them lately. When I went to pick them up from child care after bible study last week, there was a baby sleeping in a swing and the teacher said "Evan really wants one of these, he keeps coming over just to watch the baby sleep" Haha!! They better get all that out of their systems because they are not getting any little brother or sisters. Sorry boys!

We went to the petting zoo part next and the boys got to feed to goats and llamas.

Carter feeding one.

It was a long day and a hot day, it wasn't without its normal hiccups. Evan had a rough time in the aquarium part because he got mad about something, but was able to shake it off as soon as we got out of the aquarium. He was over it, but it sure doesn't look that way from this picture. I'm not sure why he's giving me that stink eye, but they had fun, all of them. Don't let Evan's mean mug fool you--he had a blast.

See!! Proof--3 happy boys that enjoyed the day at the zoo.

Silly 3

Last animal of the day, the monkeys.

The boys were rewarded for good behavior with a souvenir penny. My boys are still loving their penny and have taken it everywhere we've gone all weekend. Definitely worth the 50 cents to get it. Cooper had pennies when we got to the zoo and was so excited about getting one of these, but I knew my boys would lose theirs if they got it at the beginning. Plus, once I saw how much they all three wanted one, I thought it'd be the perfect thing to use to motivate them to behave. ;) "If y'all are good the whole day, we'll get one on the way out"

We had to stop and get something to drink on the way home and I made the mistake of stopping by a Burger King with the nicest play area. The boys begged for me to let them play for awhile. I was exhausted and ready to be home, I knew how happy it'd make them, so they ended up playing there for about 20 minutes. Carter kept thanking me and telling me hew as going to do something special for me when we got home. :) It was no big deal to sit and let them play for a few minutes, but it really made their day. It was a good reminder for me to not be so quick to say "no", because they are still talking about that play area and it just really made them so happy. They kept saying "thank you mommy, you're the best!" :)

Taking a break from playing for a little drink.

I loved our trip to the zoo and the boys had so much fun. I'm hoping we can get there one more time before school lets out. It's not too hot right now and it's not as busy as it is in the summer, so I think we'll try and go there in May before we leave for Arizona.

Columbia County Park

Last Tuesday, I took the boys to the park for a picnic and some play time. I thought about going somewhere, like the zoo, but then the boys slept late and we decided to just have a lazy morning. We stayed in our pjs for most of the morning and took our time getting ready and out of the house. We had a few errands to run and the boys were really good, so we went by Sonic afterwards and got some lunch and took it to the park.

The boys ate and then ran and played. There were a few other kids there that they ended up playing with.

They love anything they can climb. That's really where they go anytime we're at the park now--monkey bars, rock climbing walls, etc.

Taking a quick drink break.

The boys were running on this thing and told me they were "doing their exercises" they said they were doing it just like daddy does at the gym. :)

We went and fed the turtles and then the boys ran around on the stage.

They had a great time just running around. Evan did fall and scrape both his hands and his knees, but calmed down as soon as he found out that I had Monster bandaids with me.

I took the boys home and then went with my sister to go visit my parents at the hospital. My dad had knee surgery and had to stay a few nights, so we went up to hang out for a little bit. While I was gone, the boys played the back yard while Greg grilled out. So, I came home to a cooked meal and two very worn out boys who were happy to take a shower and go to bed-a sign of a fun day!