Brody's Bday (Part dos)

Brody's actual birthday was on a Tuesday. I decided to take the kiddos to the zoo. We were totally excited to see the new elephant exhibit. I mean, come on, who doesn't love a baby elephant? The zoo was a zoo. Field tripapalooza to be exact. We made our way to the elephants and watched them for like a whole 2 minutes. That's a long time people. We went to spank the elephant booty which I believe the older volunteer man enjoyed way more than the kids.

Checking out the elephants.

The elephant family!

Seriously, how cute is the baby??

Smacking the booty- really, check out the man....

Birthday Brody man!

And then we did something we've never done before. We ate in the little cafe. It was a special day, so they they each got a special dinosaur drink, which they both thought was disgusting, and they got to eat their Dippin' Dots before their chicken and fries (truth be told, I ate the chicken, they just ate fries). And if that were not exciting enough, I took them into the gift shop. First timers, folks. I do feel pretty good about the fact that I have a 4 yr old and a 3 yr old and that was their first time in there. I gave them a spending limit and they quickly found out how much $10 each would buy them. Brody picked a bag of marbles and an alligator grabber thing. Delaney chose a cute little stuff leopard. As we left the zoo, I couldn't tell my new three year old no to the train. So we loaded up, yelled our "All aboard" and went on our little tour of the smelly, slimy pond with the scary ducks that I just know are plotting an attack on the train, the one day we ride. But, the duck attack didn't happen and Brody was all smiles as we headed home.

Brody had had a little too much ice cream- totally ice cream wasted!

But still wanting more

Happy man

LOVE

That evening, we went over to my parents for dinner and a special surprise. We decided to get a small jumping castle for that night- we I thought it would be less stressful to have it with just the two kids, rather than a party full. I was right. This was so fun! We all got in on the action.

Mimi and Granddaddy (er....I mean P-Paw) with the three great-grand kids

Delaney asking P-Paw if she can hold Baby Griffin

Love this one...

Ahh...happy girl. This is right before he started crying and she asked Brody to get a po (pacifier) cuz Griffin is totally freaking out.

Jumping time!

Granddaddy's in!!!

Next year Griffin will be in on the action!

Brody watching Eric do the "steamroller" through the jumping castle knocking anyone over in his path- Brody was a little hesitant, for like a second.

Nana's in!

Mimi's in!!

Trying to get a picture of all four, while sitting still in a jumping castle was like trying to keep me from eating cake batter.

Granddaddy's back in. Brody had decided that running full speed, head first into the corners would be fun. He did it a few times, before he realized, not so fun. My dad was a little concerned, between the laughing:)

Uncle Joe's in!!

I thought it would be fun to get a family picture in there- here we go.....

Attempt #1

Attempt #2

Attempt #3

 We had some presents and some cake

At the end of the night, Eric and I gave Brody the present from us.... I wish I could have gotten his reaction on camera. He was so excited. He has been wanting a bike like Delaney's for awhile now and now he got one:)

I hate that I forget to change the setting on my camera. UUgh.

So now I have a 4 year old and a 3 year old and a super happy, exhausting life.

"I am free today"

Dear Brody,

     Happy birthday little man! Today, you are three! Or "free" as you say. These past three years have flown by! It feels like just yesterday that I was holding my solid little, yellow baby in my arms. You definitely make this family whole. Right now, you are way into cars, trucks, especially garbage trucks, Max and Ruby, Curious George and anything that can produce water. You are also very into pouring one thing into another. Doesn't matter what it is.... whether it's water from one cup to another, or an entire container of sugar into a pitcher- you do it. Your daily jobs are: putting clothes in the hamper, putting your dirty dishes in the sink and filling up the dog's water. You have a small obsession with dog poop- we are hoping that means you may be some kind of butt doctor or something when you grow up. Annoying your sister is your main goal during the day though.... you are good at it.

I love that you are so cuddly. Each morning you get in bed with me and cuddle right up next to me and lay your head on my shoulder. The same thing after your nap (except I am on the couch- not in bed, Eric). You still love your blankie and can't sleep without it. This year you will get to go to Vacation Bible School with Delaney and I will probably cry when I leave the church parking lot that morning because you are such a big boy now.

Thank you for making life so full and so happy, Monkey. I can't imagine what life would be like without you.
You are my bud and we love you so much.

Love,

Mommy

The birthday continues......

Delaney's birthday party was on Sunday, but her actual birthday was the following Thursday.We have made it a tradition to put a bunch of balloons all over the kids rooms while they are sleeping so when they wake up they have a happy moment! Delaney did not disappoint with her reaction. She immediately wanted to know who put them in her room and when I told her that Daddy had done it, she dramatically yelled, "Daddy is my best hero ever!"

We quickly got dressed and out the door for our busy day. Our first stop was to see their friend Braydon. Braydon is only one day older than Delaney so they were both confused when they gave each other a gift. It is hilarious listening to them communicate.

Playing in the fort

Still can't believe she is four

Braydon

Braydon pushing Delaney.... so cute!

He looks so big!

After we left Braydon's house we went and picked up my mom and headed to Little Anthony's for lunch! Eric was supposed to be working and told us he couldn't come, but surprised us by showing up and he brought Delaney a bouquet of flowers. Her expression was priceless! She got a delicious ice cream sundae after lunch and we went made the trip home for a nice long nap and finished the day off with spaghetti (her favorite) and then had a calorie free (whatever) Oreo ice cream cake.

 

It was very sunny....

The day after her birthday, she came stumbling down the stairs in the morning, still half asleep, looked up at me and said, "Mommy, am I still 4?" I said, "Yes babe, you will be four for a whole year."

 She says back, "Oh good, thanks Mommy, I am not ready to be five yet."

(I am not ready for that either...)