Hi-ho, Hi-ho, it's to the zoo we go!!

Well, Monday we took advantage of the fact that daddy was off from work and took the kids to the zoo. Even though Richmond Zoo is teeny tiny, we still had an awesome time. Jaden in particular. He wore a huge grin and was so excited move from one exhibit to the next to see what other kind of animals were there. The only thing he didn't care for was the giraffes and the petting zoo. Oh he liked to look at both of them, but you can feed the giraffes and pet/feed the animals in the petting zoo and he has the attitude of "it's all good, as long as i don't have to touch!" The other kids keep us entertained with funny comments about things, like Kaylee's "boofalo" (aka buffalo). Ethan though, lent a comic view to the day...more then once! We went to look at the crocodiles and daddy asked him "hey Ethan are these alligators or crocodiles?" Ethan says, "ummm... I don't know... oh! wait! I DO know! They are alligators!" Daddy says, " Really, how can you tell?" Ethan looks at him like he is either totally bonkers or as dumb as a rock and says, "duh, dad, alligators are animals and crocodiles are shoes!" I laughed so hard I thought I was gonna die! A little while later he comes up with another doosie! *caution readers: if you are easily offended, stop reading now!* Ethan was our "adult content" humor of the day too! He says, "hey dad! I know why they call those birds peacocks! It's because they have a cock." He had no idea what he said, but my mouth fell open in surprise, and Bryan was speechless. All in all, it was a fun and amusing day!

A Momma Bird Poopin' in the "Busch"

OK, some exciting things are happenin' 'round here! Jaden went poop in the potty!! Yeah! And to make it even better, he took off his diaper and climbed onto the real toilet, not his little potty (yes!! no cleaning it out!), and went! Without help or even telling me he had to go! I'm so excited!! Do you have any idea what a boon it would be to our budget not to have to buy diapers??? Secondly, we have a nest in the bush by our front door. It's at about even with the bottom of my ribcage in height so we can see in really easily. We are very careful to move slowly out the door and not to let the door slam and startle the momma bird. We have been able to watch the 4 little blue robin eggs hatch and the babies are starting to grow! They are just starting to get feathers and their eyes are still closed. Momma bird has decided that even though she would prefer that we weren't around so much and so close, that we aren't going to hurt her or the babies. She watches us as we come out the door, but doesn't fly away. We are all of 2 feet from her too. Jaden says "Momma Bird?" all the time asking to see the mommy bird and her babies. He is fascinated by how much they grow day to day. And lastly, but not least, I had a GREAT day. Bryan and I hired a babysitter for the day and just he and I went on a date to Busch Gardens and rode ALL the roller coasters! Busch is offering their Hero Salute again this year and so we were able to get free admission to the park (which helped off set the cost of the sitter). It was awesome to spend time with him as he has been either working really late hours or completely absent while in the field. We enjoyed our time together and it was wonderful. Bryan works so hard for our family and I loved seeing him doing something that he really loves to do. He was like a kid on the roller coasters, hands in the air, yelling and having the best time! It was so worth the time spent in line just to see him!