Riverbanks Zoo

Sunday, Greg and I took the boys to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC. I have been wanting to get a membership there for awhile, but we were waiting until it warmed up a little bit. It's only an hour drive (over an hour closer than the Atlanta zoo) and there's a ton to do there.

We got the membership that includes all the activities for free every time we go. They have a carousel, train, pony rides, parakeets to feed, giraffes to feed, etc. The boys loved the carousel. It's right at the entrance as you go in and they wanted to ride it immediately. They ended up riding it 4-5 times before we left for the day, so I know we got the right membership!

They loved picking out a new animal to ride each time. They liked the carousel more than seeing the animals, which is fine, whatever makes them happy.

Our plan was to get there at 9:00 when they open, but we were dragging a little bit because of Daylight Savings, so we ended up getting there about 9:30. It was perfect, there was hardly anybody there and no lines. When we left about 12-12:30, it was getting really crowded.

We honestly could have spent 3 hours just riding that carousel over and over. and over! Greg and I took turns riding with them.

After the boys rode the carousel a couple of times, we went and fed the parakeets. This was my favorite part of the entire trip! We all really enjoyed it, it's a lot of fun. They give you a cup of nectar and you hold it out and the birds will drink from it.

They land on you to get closer to the nectar, the bird was on my arm while Carter was feeding it. The boys were not scared of the birds at all.

I don't know how much a cup of nectar is, but it's free for members.

There was a huge monkey area that was surrounded by water. The monkeys were being so loud and the boys loved watching them play and yell.

There's a kangaroo walkabout. You enter a door and walk through the kangaroo area, there's a walkway, but there's nothing between you and the kangaroos.

The gorilla exhibit was neat, there was a huge gorilla sitting in front of the class. All the kids that came in got such a kick out of it. There was another one eating that was really close too.

Evan thought he was pretty cool.

Evan loved this hand print/foot print thing. I guess a lot of the cartoons they watch have a lot of "follow the footprints" and he just thinks they're so neat.

There was a little train ride that we went on with the boys. It's short but the boys love it.

There's a picnic area outside of the zoo, so we just packed a lunch and when we were ready to eat, we went out there and ate and then went back into the zoo. It saves us so much money packing our own food and drink.

After lunch, we went back in to ride the carousel on last time and let the boys go to the bathroom before we hit the road.

On the way out, the boys saw this bubble machine and stopped to play for a few minutes. They loved chasing the bubbles and popping them.

There were several things we didn't do (ride the ponies, feed the giraffes, etc) and we didn't even go through the whole zoo. We stayed until everybody was tired and then we drove home and all took naps. Now that the weather is starting to warm up, I plan on taking the boys back a lot. I love stuff like this, so going to the zoo is as fun for me as it is for the boys. They had a great aquarium/reptile area that the boys LOVED! they had all the fish from Finding Nemo and the boys thought it was so fun to see them in person. They even talked about seeing "Dory" after we left. It's the perfect distance from the house, only an hour's drive. We're able to go there, spend the morning, eat lunch and come back in time for naps.

Parks and Puzzles

Our weekend included some crafting. I finally made my spring mesh wreath. I have all the things to make a different type of wreath that I want to try. My mom and I are making all the wreaths we see on Pinterest--we're on a mission to have one for every season.

Friday, I had an appointment and my mom kept the boys while I went by myself to get a mammography. My doctor found a lump on Wednesday and wanted to get it checked out. I was a hot mess for the 48 hours between my original appointment and the mammogram appointment. The tech said she thought it looked good, but I'm still waiting to hear back from the doctor about the results. Definitely a little scary, but I'm trying not to be negative.

Saturday morning we took the boys to the park. It had been raining all week, so the park was still muddy and wet. :(

We bought some turtle food to feed the turtles at the park, but none of them came up close enough for us to feed.

We went to another park across the street that had less mud in the park area and let the boys play for awhile. They had a good time. The weather was really nice.

Carter took a little break to eat a snack and people watch.

Evan made friends with a big group of girls who held his hand, pushed him on the swing, etc. he thought they were something and they were all so sweet to him.

I got out some puzzles I bought at a consignment sale in Virginia on Friday before I went to my appointment. The boys have pretty much been doing puzzles non stop since then. If we're home, they're wanting to work on a puzzle. They got two down pat, so I got out a couple more and they worked on those over and over.

They love for us to help them, just for the company, I think. But, when we're busy or can't get to one of them fast enough, they end up just doing it all by theirselves.

We had to go to Walmart Sunday evening for bananas and found 2 more toddler puzzles in the clearance section for $1.00!! I was so excited.

I'm so glad they're into puzzles. It really surprised me, Evan can get a little bit of a temper if he has a problem doing something, but him and Carter have both been very patient with these puzzles and get such a sense of pride when they finish them.

They each do their puzzles their own way, which is different than the way that Greg and I would do puzzles, so I try and offer guidance when needed, but not take over and make them do it my way. (which is hard)

 

We also went to the Columbia zoo on Sunday, but I'm doing that as a separate post. We all have really, really bad allergies right now. Runny noses, itchy eyes, stuffiness, coughing, etc. Spring is in the air! I'm not complaining, I'd take warm weather with allergies any day, but we're trying to figure out what medicine works for all of us so we can manage these allergies this spring.

Good Ol' Picture Dump

I have several pictures from the last week or so, none of them warrant a post by themselves, so I figured I'd do a photo dump post. They're random and out of order, but here's what we've been up to the past couple of weeks.

Carter found a pair of glasses around the house decided that they were his.

Last Friday, I took the boys to McDonald's and let them play.

The weather has been all over the place. We've had some really nice days, rainy days, and days with freezing cold weather. Anytime it's decent out, we try to get outside.

Carter had a dentist appointment on Monday, so my mom came over and watched Evan while I took Carter. This was Carter's second cleaning, but first time at this new dentist since we've moved. He loved the waiting room and even asked if he could play in there after he was done with his visit.

He did so good. For his first cleaning, I laid on the chair and he laid in my lap, because he didn't want to lay in the chair by himself. This time he did just fine on his own. He did great for the cleaning and the xrays. The dentist said his teeth looked perfect.

There was a time when I couldn't imagine the boys going to the dentist because I couldn't imagine them sitting still and listening. They're really growing up. (sniffle, sniffle)

Evan LOVES to take pictures on my phone where he can see himself. He came over to me while he was playing and insisted that he get a selfie with Charlie Brown. He's such a ham.

This week is Dr. Seuss week at the boys school, so I sent them to school in their Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts.

After nap today, Carter wanted to go to Chick-Fil-A and Evan wanted to stay home and play. We've been talking about doing something with each boy one on one for awhile, but we haven't because they always want to do the same things. So, I took Carter to Chick-Fil-A and Greg stayed home with Evan. Both boys had so much fun, it was really nice for them to get a break from each other and get a little one on one time with me and Greg. We're going to try and do this more often, but it's kinda hard to plan in advance, we just have to take advantage of the times when they want to do different things.

On Tuesday nights, the Chick-Fil-A we went to does a something fun like a craft or activity. This week it was free ice cream. Carter definitely enjoyed the unexpected dessert.

We ran by Hobby Lobby on our way home and Carter had a good time. He loved walking through the store with me and looking at all the Easter decorations they had out. I got a few things to put on a spring wreath I'm making.

The boys have started picking me "flowers" (aka weeds) when they're out in the yard and I think it's so sweet!

The other day the boys decided to t-ball with the basketballs.

I hate that these are all out of order. Sunday, we went to my parents and spent the day. It was in the low 70's, so we went up there in the morning and let the boys play outside, ride bikes, etc. and then after naps, my parents grilled out. I brought chocolate stuffed raspberries that I saw on Pinterest, they were really easy to make. I also made coke salad, which is a jello recipe that has cherry jello, coke, pineapple, and cherries in it. It called for pecans, but I didn't have any on hand. I thought it was really good and the boys loved it. I didn't get a picture of it though. :(

Evan is obsessed with taking my dad's hat, so my dad went through his hats and gave each of the boys one to have--they thought they were something!

My dad got out the tractor and took the boys for several rides around the yard. He let them steer and they probably could have done that all day.

I don't think they'll ever get tired of riding on the tractor. They think they are something when they get to steer.

After naps, I filled up the boys water table. It was a little chilly in the shade, but perfect in the sun.

So, that's been the last week or so here. It was so warm on Sunday, then rainy on Monday and today it was a high of 40 degrees! It's supposed to be warm and sunny by the weekend again, so hopefully that doesn't change.