We spent the morning at the zoo today and we finally, finally got to see the elusive tiger. During our past three visits, we never even saw a glimpse of the tiger, but today was our lucky day! During this visit, I also think I found out a few tricks to visiting the zoo . . . go early, have a plan, and go the opposite direction that most people go. So we got there right at 9:00am (the time the zoo opens), got in the short "members only" line, and picked out a few things we wanted to do and see. The plan . . . farm, giraffes, and sharks. So off we headed to the farm, and on our way, we passed the tiger lair. I figured we could stop and check really quick to see if the tiger was around. To my surprise, he was, and there was no one else there. So the kids and I stroll right up to the glass and watch. And before we know it, the tiger is walking right towards us roaring the whole time. Both of them were freaking out - Ryan kept saying, "Mom, the tiger, look, the tiger" while Lauren just kept pointing and screaming. While all of this is going on, the tiger just keeps walking closer and closer and before we know it, it is standing literally right in front of us - I thought it was pretty cool and I'm 30, you can imagine how excited the kids were. Well, at least Ryan. Check out Lauren in the first picture - once the tiger got too close, she got scared and ran away crying.
After the tiger was done putting on a show for us, we got back to the plan and headed to the farm. There are usually really long lines waiting for the wagon rides out to the farm that we never go, but today, like I said before, was our lucky day, and there was no wait to get on, so off we went.
The kids enjoyed the wagon ride out and back, but as you can see in the picture, we hit a little bump and Lauren was done sitting like a big girl and was ready to get back in my lap. Below, they are feeding some really hungry goats. The good thing about being one of the first people out there is that the goats are all over you because they haven't been feed all day. So each of the kids got a couple of handfuls of food to help curb the goats' appetites - not sure it helped all that much, but we tried.
After the farm, we headed over to see the giraffes. This is another animal that draws big crowds so it is hard to get up close and get a good look. Well, today (being our lucky day and all), the crowd was pretty small, and the animals were hungry which meant we could have a chance to feed them if we wanted. Of course this is something Ryan wanted to do so we paid our $5, got our biscuits, and waited our turn. I decided it was best just to let Ryan do the feeding so Lauren and I stood back and watched as he went to work - another truly amazing thing to see so up close and personal and Ryan was so happy he had a real live giraffe eating out of his hand.
With the giraffes behind us, I packed the kids into the stroller and gave them a snack on our way to our final destination . . . the shark tank.
They were scheduled to feed the sharks at 11:30am so it was a good last stop on our visit, and it was something that we had never done before. The feeding drew a pretty good crowd, but Ryan managed to get himself a front row seat while Lauren and I stayed towards the back. I didn't get any pictures because it was so dark in there, but it was pretty neat to see. They would drop in different foods for all the different fish at different times. For instance, some of the fish were vegetarians, and when their food came, they gobbled it up while everyone else in the tank just kept swimming around. Well, the best was when they feed the sharks. They would take a long spear with a dead fish on the end and put it right in front of a shark as it was swimming (apparently sharks don't have very good vision) and then it would open it's jaws and swallow it up in one gulp. Well, there was one time a shark must not have seen "his fish" and it started floating right past him - out of no where, a sting ray swoops in, grabs the fish, and devours it before the shark even knew what was going on - what a brave little sting ray. Anyway, you get the idea, the feeding was fun to watch. With the visit finally at an end, we packed up and headed home. The kids could barely stay awake long enough to eat lunch before they were in bed for naps. Apparently the zoo trip took a lot out of them as they both slept for well over 3 hours - yeah, another successful (very successful) trip to the zoo - lessons learned, lots of fun!
Having a new baby around the house has given me some insight into what life with three kids would be like . . . Ryan would absolutely love it - he loves having a baby around to watch over and help "teach", but Lauren might be an issue. Don't get me wrong, she loves the baby and always wants to help, but I have seen a little bit of jealousy from time to time when I'm holding him. She'll walk right over to me, and with a pathetic little look, she'll reach her arms up high above her head and cry, "mama, mama, mama" until she finally gets bored, or if her timing is good, I'll be finished up with a feeding and she'll get her wish of having me hold her. Such a little drama queen. Adjusting to the new schedule has kept us busy this past week (hence the lack of posts), but it has definitely been fun. 
And here is a special one of Auntie . . . she is either bloated from the all the hot dogs, nachos, mini-doughnuts, and beer, or I just caught her off guard - either way, I'm sure she'll appreciate the fact that I took the time to put it on the blog.
As far as the weekend is concerned, we aren't doing a whole lot. With the 4th coming up next weekend and Aunt Traci's wedding the following weekend, we decided it was best just to stay put and relax. The kids are catching up on sleep (that means Trav and I are too), and we're just having some nice lazy days - can't beat that.
Trying to convince Kelty to get in her kennel.
The next two pictures are the kids having fun with Uncle Aaron - what kid wouldn't love walking on the ceiling?!
Trav loved his gift and now the two of them can be found playing in the backyard - just don't get too close or you might get slashed.
Lauren carried that basketball around everywhere she went. If anyone, and I do mean anyone, tried to take it, she put all of her energy into making it impossible. She guarded the ball with her life and as you can see, even gave it an occasional ride. Does this mean her interest in basketball is back . . . I think maybe. There were so many things to do, and all she wanted was the ball, and an occasional shot - maybe our little ball player is back! Her beat-up face probably helped 
Lauren was more interested in Daddy's singing and guitar skills than in the presents. To show her appreciation for his talents she did a little dancing. 
After all the gifts were open we headed to the docks to do some fishing with Ryan's new pole and tackle box. Grandma Connie helped Ryan catch his first fish - a sunny.
After catching the one fish, he pretty much lost interest and was too busy playing so I stepped in and took over. I must say, I did a great job. I think I caught about 10 fish total - too bad all of them were smaller than the palm of my hand so we had to throw them back. It looks like we'll both have to work on our fishing skills. After we had caught all the fish in the lake, we went back to the cabin, had lunch, and put up the pinata. Ryan really loved the Pablo Pinata so I was expecting a few tears when he realized Pablo would have to be broken in order to get the candy, but to my surprise (and everyone else who was around), it was Lauren that started crying when Pablo's body disconnected from his head. I'm hoping there is no long term damage, but when you think about it, the whole idea of pinatas is kind of weird . . . you pick out a character you really love, then beat it with a stick until the thing busts open and candy spills out of its belly - like I said, kind of weird, and potentially traumatizing.
To end the festivities, Grandma Connie brought out Ryan's special Scooby-Doo cake she made him - so cool. Thanks Grandma.
This is why I love warm weather, just leave her in a diaper, let her get messy, then get her naked and rinse her off - so simple. And finally, here is the birthday boy all tuckered out on the way home - apparently 4 is a tiring age.