three's a crowd

my mom took the day off today to accompany the kids and me to the zoo. i wasn't sure i could manage the outing on my own with all three kids, and boy was i right. the zoo is just so much....in and out of the stroller, holding kids up to see animals, snacks, etc. i am SO thankful my mom was able to go. and that our kids are such troopers. maybe i could take them to the zoo on my own, but i can't really wrap my mind around how that would go.
we got there right when they opened, which was great because it wasn't yet too crowded or too hot. fast forward 2 and a half hours later and we were all pretty toasty and ready to head home. but we got to see a ton of great animals. usually i avoid the children's zoo because it always gets so crowded, but we were able to get in there no problem.

selma had her first ride in the stroller, and let's just say she was less than thrilled. i guess she really just wanted to be pressed against my sweaty body in the baby bjorn.
all three kids went right down at naptime and all three slept for 3 hours!! and even grandma joan took a nap.

at the zoo

we headed to the zoo again this week for tunes and blooms. we love the bands that were playing this week, the tillers and the seedy seeds. the kids were hoping to hear one of their favorite songs by the seedy seeds, "the coyote song", so we stayed out way past bedtime eating popcorn (otto) and dancing to see our shadows (greta). alas, we had to head out before they played the song, but we settled for rocking out to it in the car on the way home.

naptime

on sunday we headed to the zoo. it was hot and crowded. everyone was ready for some lounging on the couch when we got home....

tunes and blooms and cold!

we've been enjoying tunes and blooms at the zoo again this year. tunes....blooms....what's not to like? well, maybe the 45 degree weather from last week....but we brought the coats out again and bundled them up and off we went. the flowers were beautiful and the kids still had the best time. we went again tonight and enjoyed much warmer weather....

tunes and blooms

so i didn't get any pictures of the tunes. or the blooms. but the zoo sure was awesome this evening! it was the first night of tunes and blooms at the zoo, so greta, otto, and i headed there this afternoon. such fun! we saw some animals, including greta's favorite the "polar bear doing his swimming exercise". then we met up with some friends for some food and live music. all in this gorgeous summer like weather. can't wait til next week!

festival of lights

on monday it was a unseasonably warm day, probably in the mid 50s. so when the temperature dropped to freezing tuesday evening, it only made sense to go to the festival of lights at the zoo! it was SO cold, but otto stayed warm and toasty in his bundle me, and greta didn't seem to mind the cold at all!! the bonus of going in the cold was that it wasn't crowded at all.....and it really was a ton of fun! greta and otto enjoyed the lights and music, seeing the baby jesus in the nativity, and meeting the gingerbread boy and seeing reindeer.

jake speed at tunes and blooms

so another thursday with fantastic weather, good music, and great friends to share it all with. we met up with some of greta's pals at the zoo to listen to jake speed and the freddies. these concerts are PERFECT for kids and adults....the freddies started at 6pm and finished at 7pm, which was just enough time to feed the kids dinner and then let them dance and play before heading home for bed. enjoy some video of greta dancing to jake speed's old timey sound.

Zoo Blooms and Tunes

Every April along with the Zoo Blooms, the Cincinnati Zoo has an event every thursday night with live local music.  It's a great time, and since it starts at 6 PM it's a great way to take kids to a concert.  We went this Thursday and met up with Stacy and Scott.  Was a beautiful night.... 

Check out Gavin and Greta, and those awesome tulips... 

And for some behind the scenes on just how these cute kids pics happen... check out this hilarious video of Stacy and Melanie... 

Miami MetroZoo - Miami Day 5

We made our way down to the Zoo.  This place is pretty amazing.  I think the Cincinnati Zoo is much better, but Miami does have some cool things going.  The area they have for the zoo is probably 20 times as large as Cincinnati, and the animals have a bit more space to roam around.  They also have tons of room for expansion, and the result is a park with a very long (several miles) path that roams... It made for a nice day of walking, though I can't imagine doing this in the summer in Miami, it'd be so hot.  

Greta's favorite was probably just the water splash area at their new exhibit - The Amazon... lots of 'jumping' water features that she thought were hilarious.  She also seemed to think the meercats were pretty amusing.  

Greta also learned a new stroller trick after she got bored with the long walk... see below for the sequence.  This went on for about 45 minutes :

    
   

After the Zoo, we made our way down to the Keys.  It was about a 90 minute drive and was perfect time for Greta to get her nap in.  We heading to a place called Harry Harris Beach Park.  It was great because there was an area blocked off by rocks, making a nice calm 'pool'.  

Here's a nice little self portrait.... can you guess what Greta is saying?

Here is Greta on her man-made island that we built together.  What you can't see in this picture is the little girl about 3 years old about 10 feet away that had just informed Greta that her similar man-made island was in fact, Barack Obama Island.  Pretty cool to get to spend the afternoon at Barack's new Presidential Retreat! 

Okay... time to get out of here... long drive back!