Miscellaneous March

Here are some of the more mundane, but still photo-worthy, events of this month...

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The weather got warmer and we got to (finally!) be outside again! We played on the playset....

...and scootered with our neighborhood friends.



Logan and Jacob

I planted pansies! One of my favorite Spring activities!

My daffodils bloomed....

I took my self portrait.



We had a crew of friends over for Happy Meal lunches!

Claire in a chair.


Take a load off, sister.

And we broke out the bubbles!


And Claire, Logan and Maya learned that Cheetos probably can save the world, after all.
The End.

Spring Break Zoo Field Trip

Can it really be possible that Logan's kindergarten year is almost over??? That seems crazy to me. I hope the years don't all pass this quickly - you guys are growing up too fast.

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Last week was spring break, and after pulling our hair out all week, our neighbor Amy and I decided that Friday would be the perfect day to get out and about with the whole crew of kids. It actually did turn out to be the perfect zoo day - it was a bit chilly and cloudy in the morning, but all that meant was that we had the whole zoo practically to ourselves! It was nice not having to sift through a massive crush of people - and it made it much easier for us to keep our eyes on all six kids! We enlisted Grammy's help for this one.

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I have no idea what these guys are....pelicans?

Logan and this penguin were eyeballing each other.

Puffins!




Would any zoo trip be complete without a ride on the carousel? Of course not. And since we didn't have to wait in a line, it was that much better! Logan got his pick of animals, so of course he chose a tiger! Too bad there's not a sabertooth somewhere on that ride.

Claire got a black rhino.

50 degrees and the sea lions are swimming around! I hope the pool is heated...

This tiger was sunning himself. It was nice as long as you were in the sun!

Here's our brand new baby camel with his family - awwww.


Our neighbor Nathan, isn't he a cutie?

I think Grammy took about 12 shots like this - Claire just looks stunned.

Finally! There's a smile....kind of.

Claire on the train - this picture sounds like this: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

Our Asian elephant family

And, of course....would any zoo trip be complete without the requisite Logan-as-a-sabertooth-tiger picture?

Inside the cave the boys had fun climbing all around. Here are our neighbor Jacob and Logan goofing around among the stalagmites! Jacob and Logan are in the same kindergarten class.

Nathan can't resist a good climb either!

We had a great day! I hope you guys never outgrow the zoo!

Swing is in the Air!

I say this every spring, but man does it feel great to finally be able to be outside again! Especially since this was my first winter staying home with you kids. There were days when this house felt more like a padded cell than a home. (Actually, I think there may have been a few times when a padded cell may have been preferable.) (Love you.) (Mean it.)

Do you know how hard it is to push a swing and then get the camera immediately up for a perfectly centered picture? Next to impossible, I'm tellin' ya.
But, I had to capture the look on your face, even if it did take me 47 shots to do it.

I love that you love being outside.

You do realize you are not allowed to get any bigger, right?

Stay sweet forever. I love you.

Mama

Tantrum: It's What's for Dinner

In general I'm not a huge fan of people saying things like "oh you're just getting back what you deserve" to me when my children are being brats. (and kids? seriously, you both can work a brat angle when you're so inclined.)

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But Logan, I really do hope your children are hell at the dinner table. Just like you are with us. It really doesn't matter what's being served - if it's not in the category of "chicken nugget, canned spaghetti, hot dogs, or hamburgers" then you won't have any part of it.

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This? Is getting old, my friend. Very, very old. Here is the reaction I get when I dare to put a vegetable on your plate:

It's beef stir fry, not arsenic.

On this particular day your father and I drew a line.....and lost. You couldn't get up from the table until you had eaten some vegetables off your plate.

You sat there until bed time.

As I'm typing this, I can hear you screaming over the carrots on your plate from tonight's dinner.....

You will not beat me. You hear? YOU WILL EAT A VEGETABLE!!!!!!!!!!

And no, french fries don't count.

Nice try.

Love,
Mama

Princess Petunia Ballerina

Now that we've given our old friend Tanner a proper send-off, I think it's time to introduce the newest member of our family, Princess Petunia Ballerina! When Tanner died, I didn't think I was in any big hurry to find another dog. I was actually looking forward to having a little down time - maybe a summer free and clear of poop scooping, or the possibility of being able to leave town without having to find a dog sitter. But I'll admit, I lasted all of about 4 days before I was trolling all the animal rescue sites looking for the next Koglin. I even dragged the kids out to the city pound, the Humane Society, and several Petco stores with no luck. Finally, I got online and started looking at breeders for a doodle puppy. We found Princess at Love and Care Pet Farms and she was just down the street! She was one of 6 goldendoodles and 1 labradoodle. I knew she was the one when, after looking at and playing with several of her friends, I went back to the back to see who else was there and she did this:

This is the same greeting that my parents' dog used to give - like a doggie handshake. The others paid no attention to me at all, but this one grabbed and held on, looking up at me with those eyes like "don't leave me! don't leave me!" I pulled her out of her cage and told the man that she was the one!

Princess's first day home. It was also apparently her first day running around outside. She was born on 12/12/09 and the weather had been nasty ever since. So she had been pretty cooped up.

Logan got the naming rights. After all, we convinced him that she is "his" puppy.

Sitting pretty.

What an exhausting day for a little girl.

Princess and her octopus.

Welcome, little miss. You have some big shoes to fill...
Good thing you've got some pretty big feet.