A Fun Finish (Halloween 2014)

We made it!!!!  A week with Doug away (after he worked most the weekend prior) with no kitchen or laundry room and with 3 sick kids at different times has come to an end.  And I believe we got through this week (by God's grace) with a lot of fun moments and not too many total meltdowns.  I mean, believe me, I'm ready for Doug to be home and you can believe me that in the few hours he is home tomorrow AM before heading back into a busy preaching weekend he will very much be on Daddy duty, but this week has gone surprisingly well.  Thank you, Lord!!

So, how did we finish off our no-Daddy week?  Well, with both Koen and Tavin not having any school.  What?!?!?!  Don't these schools know how much my kids like their school routine and the gift it is to a tired, busy momma?  No?  That doesn't matter?  Oh well, I decided to make the most of it.  We had 6 free passes to the zoo, so I asked Megan and Sky if they wanted to join us at the zoo and they were totally up for the family fun adventure, so we went for it.  It was fun to have my friends along and the boys are so comfortable with them it's like being with family and they treat Marshall like a little brother, so we were essentially one big happy family checking out the zoo on a blustery day with a chance of rain.  And, oh, let me mention that my boys wanted to try on their costumes before we left and then ended up asking if they could wear them to the zoo.  Hmmm, why not?  On a cold day like today, another layer of clothes could only help.  So, I was accompanied to the zoo by 1 goofy giraffe, 1 noble knight and 1 cheeky chicken.  Quite the entourage, but the cuteness kept me smiling the whole time that I didn't care what anyone else thought.  And the costumes did help keep them warm and cozy!  Our first stop was the tigers.  I think maybe the tiger smelled chicken in the air?

Alas, he did.  Chicken, giraffe and a little metallic mesh.

The last time we were at the zoo we decided that we really wanted to remember to go through the zoo backwards upon our next visit as we always find ourselves rushing through the last third of the zoo and miss out on some pretty cool exhibits and animals because of it.  Thankfully we remembered this strategy and enjoyed seeing some things we normally don't get a chance to enjoy.  We passed the bottom of the seal tank on this new route and as usual, the seals were totally interactive through the glass.  All 4 boys loved it.  And I loved the view of their cute costumed-backsides taking it in (well, Marshall is just baby cute of course).

We went past the petting zoo animals (stinky, but fun to see) and then headed over the alligator bridge.  This picture begs the question..."Why did the chicken cross the bridge?"

You've gotta see a closeup of this adorable chicken.  Could he be any cuter (or puffier)?

We got to see the kangaroos up close and personal.  They are pretty incredible to watch jump with the way they use their legs and tails together.  

Then we went up through the forest exhibits and saw turkeys and looked for beavers and spotted a river otter.  I had never even noticed these 3 exhibits before!

After winding through the foresty part of the zoo, we popped out at the big slides above the sea lions.  This brought to mind that we were here at the zoo almost exactly a year ago and that was the day Penn broke his leg.  Let's just show a throw-back picture from November 1st, 2013.

Penn actually broke his leg going down these big slides, so I was on my guard and accompanied him the first few times.  No need to repeat that crazy day!!

Clearly we had fun!  The knight also enjoyed the slides.

And did you know that giraffes are not only the tallest mammals on Earth, but they can also climb up rope nets?  Check out this nimble giraffe!

Had to show the poofy backside with the fuzzy tail!

Not only does this giraffe climb, he also slides (and in fleece, he goes fast!).

Ok, sorry about all the pics of the boys in the costumes, but I just can't get over the cuteness!  Anyways, from there we headed to the aquarium.  We went through underground first and saw the sharks, then we headed over to the sea otter, who was very engaging with Koen at the bottom corner of his tank.  

The polar bears weren't in their tank, so we headed up to sea level to see what we could see.  On the way I caught a giraffe and a chicken in a polar bear trap!

The polar bear that was out, was very active.  I think he was pacing waiting for his lunch.  Megan, Sky and Marshall beat us up to the top and I got some cool shots of them checking him out through the glass (they are accompanied by the knight of course).

We got up top for a closer look ourselves.  I'm just enamored by these massive creatures.  Amazing!

Next we headed into the aquarium.  The boys enjoyed checking out the sea rays in the tunnels and then just as I was peering into the tank on top of the tunnels at these creatures that I can't stand, look who popped out!  None other than my giraffe and knight amidst the sea pool!

Then we wound our way up to the penguins and then outside for a snack.  An appropriate one of course, Goldfish, while hanging out at the outdoor fish tank.

At this time, the rain started moving in earlier than expected, so we high-tailed it (no pun intended) to a few favorite last stops including, of course, the giraffes.  Hmmm, which one is real?

Penn loves the elephants, so we had to stop to see these magnificent animals.  

This chunky chicken sure does love watching these big guys move around!

With the cool rain, the animals all seemed to really be perking up and becoming more active.  We all enjoyed watching the lionesses pace around their exhibit and interact with one another.  So beautiful!

One more picture of my costumed crew enjoying our zoo visit. 

It was a fantastic morning with my boys.  Yesterday had been a difficult day with a lot of attitude and disobedience from my two oldest, so I was so thankful for the blessing of a lovely morning together walking around outside taking in this great Pittsburgh spot and these beautiful animals.  Praise God for a fun activity for the four of us.  I needed to just have a completely happy morning with my guys!

Now, on to Trick-or-Treating.  I knew I would be flying solo, so I asked a neighbor to take the boys around for a block or two.  But before that happened I got this very enthusiastic picture of my boys ready for trick-or-treating!

Until Tav and Koen got to go trick-or-treating, they helped pass out the candy, but as soon as they were out of the way, Penn got to be master-candy-passer-outer.  He was quite the attention-getter.

He took his job super seriously.  And as you can see he was very generous.

Penn got his first piece of chocolate.  You can tell he's unsure, but don't worry, he LOVED it.

Things got pretty hectic when the boys got back from their quick outing to trick-or-treat themselves.  As the evening goes on the amount of kids that come by just increases exponentially and my boys' demands also increased exponentially!  They wanted to have some of their treats (fine) and then they were hungry and needed more real food (we had had an early dinner).  This was a little harder to pull off while overseeing the giving out of candy, but I made it fast and handled it.  Then the big boys started getting frustrating.  Not to mention my hands were pretty much numb (did I mention it was 40 and raining?).  So, at about 7pm, I decided it was time to call it quits and get these chilly buddies into a hot bath and to bed!!  That's what I did and by 7:30pm all was quiet and I finally ate dinner.  So, it's official.  We are through it.  We made it this week.  Praise the Lord!  Doug's on a plane home now.  Can't wait to wake up and have Daddy home in the AM!!