A Fall Trip to the Zoo and an Unlikely Friend

This past week the weather has been beautiful. Trying to soak up what is left of our warm fall weather my sisters and I decided a zoo trip was in order. The weather really was perfect in the high 60s. Although the splash pad isn't running for this time of year that didn't keep the kids from playing on the slide and in the pirate ship. 

 While we were there we ran into Sara, on of the girls Matt dated before we got married. From what I remembered of her she didn't like me at all but I may have been wrong. She stopped and said hi, asked where our girls were, and pointed them out so her little girl could go play with them. Her little girl is not to much younger than Hallie so they had a  great time together. Sara had come by herself so I invited her to walk around with us. 

 We were a little disappointed that the polar bear was not out and about since he had surgery but the seals and sea lion were pretty entertaining. I think we had our first real group picture going to the zoo since one of us is always behind the camera but a older lady offered to take our picture and I was thrilled.

 They turned out pretty well although Luke is hidden behind kimbers head in the backpack. She decided to bring him in this rather than the stroller and it seemed to work pretty well.

 The zoo was pretty empty which made it nice to let the kids out of the strollers and just let them run...I think that made it more fun for everyone.

 Hallie really enjoyed her new friend, Jade. Sara and I had a good time catching up, talking about being a mom, dance, preschool, just adult stuff I guess. Its amazing how life changes and people you never thought you would have anything in common with suddenly you do. These are our darling kids and their cute and silly poses. With every smiling picture we had to have a silly.

 We even all rode the carousel which they all of coarse thought was awesome. 

 Look how big they are!!!!

By the time we were done all the kids were tired and ready to call it a day. We spent about 4 hours there which after thinking about it is probably a record. We all had a great time and hope this weather continues so we can enjoy it some more. I love days like today they are so relaxing and refreshing its the days its really fun to be a mom.

Leaves Leaves Everywhere

As usual the beautiful shade in the summer equals leaf racking in the fall and this fall is no exception. We did give in and buy a leaf vacuum this year and I will say I wish we had done it 6 years ago when we moved in it helps a lot. I would rake the leaves into piles and and then just vacuum them right up. It has a built in mulcher that makes 16 bags of leaves into 1. When we were done we still had 12 bags of leaves so I can only imagine how many we would have had without mulching them. But while all the work was going on the girls had a ball playing in the leaves and riding their "bikes." 

 It took all the day light to do the front yard I was frustrated, tired, and just plain done. The next morning I woke up to find Erin raking my leaves and Nic called to say she was on her way to help. I was a little emotional about it. Yes I am physically capable of raking leaves but I have had a hard time keeping up with everything with Matt gone all the time and still spend the time with the girls I want to. In the matter of a couple hours we had the backyard all cleaned up too. I am so grateful for the service I received it is really hard for me to ask for help but I was so grateful.

 These are just a few pictures of what Hallie has been learning at preschool. She is completely excelling and loving it everyday.

Halloween 2013

 Halloween is getting more fun the older the girls get. They seem to get what holidays really are and unlock the magic that holidays held as a kid...I think that's one of the best parts of being a parent. It also makes me thankful for my parents and the effort they always put into our holidays as a kid(as a parent you find out it is ALOT of work). This year Hallie changed her mind a handful of times with what she wanted to dress up as. Gracie was a lady bug and Hallie was tangled...at least for most of the events.

Halloween fell on Hallie's preschool day which made the entire day full of fun and candy filled events. Halloween morning we got her all dressed and ready. When she got home she was full of stories to tell about all the activities they had done. They had a fishing pond, pumpkin painting, ghost bowling, Halloween story time, and even a place to decorate cookies. She had a blast!

We had lunch then her and Grace both went down for naps. When they got up we got dressed up again and headed to Matt's office for trick or treating. The had a great time and ended up with a haul of candy. Seriously a gallon bag each! That night by Hallie request and what seems to becoming a Halloween tradition we had Chinese Take-out picnic before heading to the ward trunk or treat. Before we left Hallie decided she wanted to be sleeping beauty instead of Tangled and it didn't matter to me so he she is being sleeping beauty.

 It was a little on the chilly side so in a matter of 30 minutes start to finish we were done and headed home for the night. But not before the kids each got a ride with Brother Toone and his cool creation of the lawn mower pulling a wagon...it was a big hit.

As a whole we have more candy than we ever needed but we all know that in only a short time it will all have been eaten and not just by the kids. We had a fun and eventful Halloween.