Boo at the Zoo!

Tonight we headed out to Boo at the Zoo.  I was especially excited to do fun fall things this year, with Hudson being a little older, and the fact that we practically skipped Halloween last year because of the flu.  We met our friends, the Brewer’s, and the kids were super excited to trick or treat at the zoo.  They passed out lots of fun goodies not just candy.  Cooper and Landree especially loved the vampire teeth.  
 

They have the zoo all decorated and they have lights everywhere.  There are trick or treating stations through out the zoo.  The kids got candy, crayons, a mask and the vampire teeth.  They also have a spooky maze, and of course we had to ride the carousal.  They also had a place to roast marshmallows which we passed on since it was a good 85 degrees.    

 

Because it was so warm Hudson wasn’t able to wear his super cute monkey costume so he went as Tony Romo.  I started to sling his arm up, but that just didn’t seem right.  Jeff joked that we didn’t want him to have a scary costume and we achieved the look since no team is scared of the Cowboys right now.  Jeff has even joked about turning the Cowboy room into a Ranger room since they are in the world series.  Go Rangers! 

 

 

Group picture number 1-we weren't ready :)

Picture number 2-Landree was pouting because she wanted candy :)  Luckily, she really only got about 7 pieces.  I think she ate almost all of it while we were walking around the zoo. 

Poor Hudson couldn’t eat any candy, but when we came across a sucker I decided to let him have it.  This momma is a sucker. :)  This is his first sucker and he loved it!  He would eat it a minute and then put it down and then pick it back up. 

 

I made cupcakes tonight and wrapped up caramel apples for Landree’s preschool class.  We have trunk or treat at church on Sunday night and it’s supposed to be cold.  Thank goodness!  Hope you’re all having great weeks too!

Fun with Friends Day 5!

The weather has been so beautiful around here we’ve been taking every chance to be outside.  We decided to head back to the zoo on Monday.  It was so crowded on Saturday and our favorite exhibit (the giraffe’s) were all out, but we weren't able to feed them.  really wanted Megan and Hayden to get a close up of them and have a chance to feed them.  Landree is such a pro she showed them how to do it :)  Hayden fed the giraffe one piece of lettuce-that was enough for him. 

     

There weren’t many people there on Monday so we had so much fun walking right up to everything and enjoying all the extras that our zoo offers.  Grandma and Poppa gave Landree and Hudson our zoo pass for their birthday’s.  WE LOVE IT!  With the type of pass we got we are able to do all the fun extras with a wrist band each time we go.  We rode the train, fed the giraffe’s, fed the bird’s, and rode the carousal a few times. 

Ya’ll I had never fed the Lorikeet's before-Landree hates to go in there because they are so loud.  She hates anything loud, but since Megan was with us and we could see the Lorikeet exhibit from behind the glass in the Koala exhibit I decided it would be a fun thing to do.  I thought Landree might like watching it since she wouldn’t be in there.  Y’all this was the weirdest thing EVER!  All the birds were hanging on the door before I even walked in and they swarmed me!  IMMEDIATELY!  I am not going to lie-I was laughing so hard I was about to cry and then I realized I just might cry-more birds just kept coming and I got a little panicky!  I asked the man what to do and he said just throw my away, but that would have required walking with all of those birds on me so I just dropped it and all but two flew away. 

    

I talked Megan into feeding them too.  Like 3 birds landed on her arm and she was like the bird whisper.  When they finished her nectar cup she even sat them on a tree nearby.  What?!

    

  

We rode the train-the kids loved it! 

 

And the carousal was a hit as always!

 

Before we left the zoo we stopped by to say goodbye to the ‘lions’. 

Megan got this picture from Megan.  I thought it was hilarious!!!  Sassy cat!

 

When we got home Landree and the boys had fun playing ‘dress up’ for a little while.  Hayden was loving Landree’s dress up shoes!  He clanked around the house for a good thirty minutes!  His dad didn’t seem to think it was as near as funny when we sent him pictures as we did.  We laughed so hard!  Hudson loves sunglasses!  I am sure he’ll be clanking around in princess shoes soon enough :)

And Megan caught Hayden and Landree reading too.  How sweet!  They are all having such a fun time together! 

We ended the evening with a wagon/scooter ride, baked spagetti, and a yummy pumpkin bread with cream cheese icing I made.  It was super easy!  I got this shortcut recipe from my Parents magazine this month.    Let me know if you try it!  YUM! 

 

Shortcut Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

• 1  2-layer-size pkg.yellow cake mix
• 1  cup canned pumpkin
• 1  cup mashed banana
• 1  tsp.ground cinnamon
• 1/2  of an 8-oz. pkg.cream cheese, softened
• 1/4  cup butter, softened
• 1  cup powdered sugar
• 1/2  tsp.vanilla

Directions

1. Mix cake mix according to the directions on the box, omitting water, and adding the pumpkin, cinnamon and bananas. Spoon into one sprayed 9-inch loaf pan or 4 5-inch loaf pans. Bake at 375 degrees F for 50 minutes for 9-inch loaf or 30 minutes for 5-inch loaf or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (cover with foil the last 10 minutes if loaves get too brown).

2. In a medium bowl combine the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Stir in the vanilla, and then gradually mix in the powdered sugar. Let the pumpkin bread cool completely and then frost. Chill to store.

Mommy and Me (Landree)

Landree and I had such a fun time a few weeks ago having a little ‘mommy and me’ time.  Jeff took the Monday the week before Memorial Day off because he knew he would be having a busy week last week and we all planned to go to the zoo together, however, Hudson wasn’t feeling well so Jeff said he would stay home so that Landree and I could have a little time alone.  I miss having time with just her so much!  She is so wonderful with her brother, never jealous toward him, but I know that sometimes when she acts out that it’s because she misses having all the attention to herself so really try hard to do special things with her, but most of the time Jeff is the one that takes her places.  A nursing baby just lends himself to being with Mommy most of the time, so it was such a special treat for us! 

We decided to go ahead and go to the zoo.  I asked Landree to indulge me and go to the Botanical side first for a few pictures.  Plus that way we could ride the tram across to the zoo!  Well, the pictures aren’t all I dreamed of, but I got a few cute ones, and then we headed to the zoo. 

So picture time didn’t last long before I had to bust out the sucker (marshmallow sucker).  Not the best choice on my part, but the girl loved it!

We have the best zoo!  It’s so interactive.  You can feed the giraffes and there is a new exhibit where you can walk through the kangaroo and wallaby home/exhibit.  It’s so cool!  Our little zoo is just big enough that they have everything, but small enough you can get through it in an few hours.  We headed to the giraffes first to feed them.  There is a new baby that is only 3 months old.  He’s so cute!  Landree loved feeding them.  They come right up to you and eat out of your hand.  These pictures are without any zoom!  It’s so cool-actually a little scary for a momma!  It was so funny because the older giraffes can reach their heads over the observation deck, but the baby (15 months old) isn’t tall enough so he just sticks his nose and LONG tongue through the slats to eat. 

After the giraffes we headed to the elephants, by Landree’s request, and then to the barn to see the farm animals before we had an icee and my camera died.  I caught a million cute pictures in my head of her on the carousal, the tram downing the large icee I got for us to share, watching the birds and just having a fun time. Just the two of us.

After the zoo we headed to her favorite, Chick-fil-a, ate and played before heading home to Daddy and Hudson, who faker, wasn’t sick after all.  I am so thankful for such a wonderful husband who would stay home with our sweet baby, and a fun filled day with my sweet girl!