K, T, P, J, Me and Megan Magee

This weekend Megan Magee came to visit the boys and I.  Doug's out of town and she's just that amazing kind of friend that came to be with us to lend me a hand (and she knows I don't like staying here alone, not to mention, we were overdue for some long chats!).  We all had a great weekend with her.  The boys all refer to her as "Miss Megan Magee."  At church someone even asked, "who's that with you guys?"  They said, "that's Megan Magee."  As if everyone has a Megan Magee, right?  Well, you are missing out if you don't.

We met up at Koen and Tavin's school on Friday night.  It was a Math & Science Family Fun Night.  The boys really wanted to go, so I dragged all four of them to it.  It was definitely worth it since K & T loved getting to experience it and see a bunch of their school buddies on a Friday night and introduce me to some of them too.  Here are some pics as the boys took part in some of the activities.  Tavin played a numbers matching game with Megan.

Koen played a few rounds of bingo.

Penn did what 3 year olds do best at an event for elementary and middle school kids - somersaults.

We found a geometric puzzle game that Penn enjoyed doing with me.  Janse "enjoyed" it too.  What a trooper that little #4 is!

We left and still managed to get Penn, Janse and Tav down by 8pm.  Then Megan and Koen arrived home shortly after and Koen was all set by 8:30pm.  I was really glad I made the effort to bring the boys, but was also happy to just relax with a sweet friend after the longer evening out with the brood.

On Saturday, we had a few hours at the house and then we went to the zoo as it was the Polar Bear's birthday party and I figured it would make for a fun outing.  I was right!  The boys loved all the activities at the aquarium that were set up as part of the party.  Here they are working on some animal masks.

Tav and Penn both made polar bears with cotton balls and traced their hands inside a polar bear print.

Tav played the game where they try to keep the polar bear on the ice.  I missed the shot of all the ice blocks crashing down though and the polar bear going through the ice (so many children to keep track of sometimes clashes with my picture priorities =)).

While we waited to see the polar bear's eat their cake (yep, that's right, they were going to get some special version of cake!), we enjoyed quite a show by the sea otters.  Penn got super surprised once when they came right up to him at the glass and did a flip.  So fun!

Janse was dressed in his polar bear fleece suit (see the polar bear guy on it?), but his scowl seems to show he's not amused by all this partying for polar bears.

We moved into the underwater tunnel to wait for the polar bears.  The trainers were baiting them with their birthday cakes to get them to jump into the water.  While waiting, I got this pic of Tavin, the bear.  So cute!

So they put the birthday cakes on these floating discs, hoping to get the bears to jump in. 

The first bear though, got lucky and the floating disc came right up to the edge and he snagged the cake and ate it on shore (I mean destroyed it and devoured it).

Then the second bear got a whiff of it and was curious, jealous and hungry for his own cake, but it was way out in the middle of the pool.

It took him awhile and it was really fun to watch him stick his nose in, try to use his paws to get the cake to come his ways, but then finally he gave in and dove in and we all saw him come straight down into the water, directly at us.  It was very satisfying and fun!  He thought it was satisfying too when he got over to his cake...yum!

Here he is dragging it back to the shore.  

After watching the bears enjoy their cake, the zoo had cake for all the birthday party attenders.  The boys were as excited as the bears (of course).  Then we all headed out to see the polar bears above the water.  Such amazing creatures (they were finishing up their treats).

We stopped over at the sea lions and then hung out at the playground while I fed Jansen his food.  It was a pretty chilly day, but we dressed for it and the boys were so happy to be outside (and I was glad to have them out in the fresh air!).  Penn was hilarious on this squirrel thing.  That kid is so expressive.  He was just cracking himself up!

After the playground, we had to walk clear across the zoo to visit the elephants because Penn had been asking about them all day.  But after that, it was already 1:30pm, so we booked it back to the van and then home for naps.  The little guys slept long and hard that afternoon!  

Saturday night was pretty chill.  The boys have really been enjoying crafting in the kitchen pre-dinner time.  I love it.  We chat, they make a mess and create and I make dinner.  After dinner, it was the bedtime routine, but nice to have Megan around to help out so it wasn't all me.  

On Sunday, I had a rough start to the day with the boys.  Just one of those epic Sunday mornings where they are bent on doing the wrong thing and I'm exasperated with trying to get them to want to do the right thing.  We all survived though and got to church on time for the 11am service.  Church was a good breather and fresh start for me and most of the rest of the day was better for it.  It also helped that the Troxells took Tav for a few hours in the afternoon.  They attended the "Caps for Sale" children's musical downtown.  I got a pic from Megan of the crew pre-show.  

Back at the house, Megan Magee was still around for a bit, so Koen and I got to take a walk to do a few quick, closeby errands after I got the little ones down for nap.  That was a treat for me to get some fresh air and some one-on-one time with Koen (since I was trying to release my grudge from the morning!).  Then when we returned it was time to bid goodbye to our sweet friend.  Thanks, Megan Magee.  We appreciate you coming to stay with us so much (especially me!).  You are like an extended part of this family and are always welcome in our home.  We look forward to your next visit already.  Thanks for making this trip Doug is on that much more doable for me back here on the homefront!