Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

I need to start off by saying that this is, hands down, my favorite post ever (mostly because of the slide show)!  We had the most amazing weekend in Columbus with my family.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Todd could have been there with us (he had to work Friday night so he stayed home).

The zoo was incredible!  I had heard that it was one of the best in the country, and I'll have to agree with my sister when she said it is THE best.  There were so many different kinds of animals, and a lot that we don't have at the Toledo Zoo.  Most of them were very active - the only animal we weren't really able to see because it was sleeping was the red panda.  There was a boat ride, a train ride, and a petting zoo.  The aquarium had a touch tank, and the boys even got to touch a snake in the reptile house!  They have everything divided up by continent, which gives the park more of a "theme park" feeling than our zoo, but I liked being able to orient myself with where everything was and what I was seeing.  We skipped out on the African Congo for time's sake, but also because we do have a pretty big African section at our zoo.  We also skipped Zoombezi Bay (the waterpark attached to the zoo) and Jungle Jack's Landing (which is mostly just rides), but we saw pretty much everything else.  We had to take a little break in the middle of the day to head back to my parents' for lunch and the boys' naps, and even the adults needed a rest!  My sister and her husband joined us for the afternoon, and then we finished up with dinner at my parents' that night.

I took a LOT of pictures, and I knew that it would be a chore to load them all in to this post.  I have stopped using my actual camera completely, and I rely now only on my iPhone.  I like to click, click, click away when I'm taking pictures of the boys.  They are so active that it usually takes me a couple (or more) tries to get a decent picture from them, and I like seeing the variety and different facial expressions that I get when I look at all of them later.  I love the goofy ones that don't turn out well, and I can't wait to show them to the boys when they are older.  Lots of photos equals lots of memories, right?  Anyway, I came up with the idea of a slideshow, googled it, and realized that I could put one together using iPhoto.  Since I use this to upload photos to my computer anyway, I figured it would be really easy.  It was, and I am SO pleased with the result.  It takes a little while to watch the whole thing, but it is totally worth it.  I will definitely be making more of these!

Enjoy!

Picnic at the Park

On Monday, Todd had to go into work early, and the boys had been begging me to take them to the park.  It was pushing 100 degrees, so I was hesitant to go, but I decided that it might be a good night to take a picnic to the park (Todd probably wouldn't be too gung-ho about that idea, and I hate to make dinner plans that don't include him when he's actually around).  So after he left for work we packed up PB&J sandwiches, some pickles and strawberries, LOTS of beverages, and a surprise Rice Krispie treat for dessert.

I let the boys play for a while, and it was nice.  A little hot but the picnic area is shaded so it was a nice place to take a break when we needed to.  And we pretty much had the park to ourselves on and off for the time that we were there, so the boys had the run of the place.  They LOVED the picnic, and they actually ate well, which surprised me.  I'm looking forward to doing it again on a not-so-steamy night.

This is what I got when I asked for a smile!

I love this one of Brayden!

This is dark, but I kind of like it.

 Check out my little gymnast!

Jumping OVER the balance beam!

Logan and Mommy on the slide

Zooin' It

We've been to the zoo a lot lately.  I try to take the boys at least once a week, but it's been so hot lately that we've only been able to go about once every other week.  We only stay for about an hour and a half in the morning before lunch and naps, so we try to see different parts of the zoo each time we go.  I take random pictures here and there, so I've compiled our last few trips into one post.

After about 15 photos, this was the best I could get.  Stinkers.

Penguin pelt

Polar bear foot

Tortoise shell

Giraffe pelt

Another penguin pelt

Peeking through the wall in Tembo Trail to see the hippos

This duck was so close to the wagon we could have touched it!

This time we just happened to venture into parts of the zoo we'd never been to before, beginning with the aviary.  I am not the biggest fan of birds, but I did think it was neat, and the boys loved the way some of the birds just flew around inside.

Inside a giant egg in the aviary.

A piano that played bird sounds

Phones that gave fun bird facts

We also went in the old Museum of Science, which now houses an amphibian exhibit and an insect exhibit.  The boys weren't crazy about the amphibians because most of the frogs were really small and hard to see, but they did love the giant salamander, and they got a kick out of all the spiders and bugs in the insect exhibit.

I believe there were giant spiders in this cage.

Look at the scorpion!

 Then we headed into Nature's Neighborhood.  We usually stay outside in this area, but on this day I decided to head inside.  There were lots of fun activities inside including face paint, a secret passageway, a giant beehive, and a spider web to climb!

Brushing a guinea pig

Again, about 15 attempts, and this is all I got.

On Saturday we will be visiting the Columbus Zoo for the first time, and I've heard really good things about it.  Can't wait to post lots of pictures!

Vacation Week

Last week Todd was off work (which I LOVE), so we decided to take a little family "vacation" to the lake for a while.  We actually spent a few days at the lake at the beginning of the week, came home for the 4th during the middle of the week, and then went back up for the last part of the week.  We didn't really do anything spectacular, but it was relaxing (#1 goal: check) and the boys had a BLAST, as always. Lots of pictures...

"Fwimming" 

Love this picture!

Todd's attempt to climb "The Rock"

He made it!

Todd and Logan

Fourth of July desserts

Todd's new grill and dinner :)

Somebody snuck out of bed to watch the fireworks with us

More Putt Putt - this time by the lake

Attempting to play horseshoes

It's easier this way

Here's a video showing Logan dribbling a basketball.  Todd's been working on it with him a lot at the lake lately, and he's really starting to get good at it!

Mmm..cookies!

Todd and the boys

Throwing Logan in the air

Ahh...this is the life!

Todd and Logan

Todd and Brayden

Watching fireworks with Nana and Papa

Logan and the big kids

Boat ride!

Cheesy but so cute!