winter at the zoo

i can't explain my daughter's actions.  no, scratch that.  i can't explain my children's actions.  there are times when they amaze me with their growth and "maturity" and then there are times when i wonder who's children are these?!  dylan can ham it up for the camera, and then, like the photo above and many, many others, lose it completely.  i dunno.  i guess we slowed her down with the photo op.  jb wanted a picture up on the snow, in front of the sign, so that's what we did.  whatev.  she was quickly over it.  thank goodness.    

the kids love the seals.  it's always our first stop.  jb gabbed about them from the backseat, most of the way into town.  and how great that one of the seals was so into having company.  that chubby seal visited with us the entire time, very curious as to who this little human clad in purple could be.  on our way out, we had to swing by one more time to say goodbye and wouldn't you know it - chubbster seal came right back to the glass, happy to see my sweet daughter's face.

we brought the sled along, but dylan was happy to walk.  we must have journeyed half way around the zoo before she just fell into the sled as jack was pulling it.  i was sure i'd have to pull the sled, but jack exclaimed, no, mama, i can do it myself.  of course he can.  it still amazes me that he's 4.  it shouldn't.  i know what year it is.  but damn.  time sure does fly when you're raising hellions children.  

 mama, stop talkin.  dat bear is sweepin.  

to view the trumpeter swans, there's a fun bridge to scamper across.  normally, the swans are in the middle of the pond, but since it's mostly covered in snow, they were right next to the railing.  dylan was poking her arm through the slats and one of the swans kept waddling closer and closer.  eeek!  we had to pull back and give them some room.  but oh, they're so beautiful, so graceful.  

 

 can you see how much she loves her big bro? 

 she cracks me up.

the snow is impressive.  this pathway of the zoo normally widens to about 40 feet, but there was so much snow piled up that the path was about half of that.  jack wanted to climb up every snow bank and take a picture.  there were some banks that i couldn't lift him up on because of their height.  just crazy how much snow has blanketed us this year. 

30-some degrees, happy bubbas and happy mama!  just a perfect day for the zoo.  these kids so needed this jaunt in the fresh air.  thank you, God.

spring?

nah... it's only february.  but on this unseasonal warmish afternoon, the kids, bulldog and i drove out to one of our favorite walking trails.  we left our house, the truck read 36 degrees, but as we reached our destination, the temperature had dropped down to 17!  yeouch!  good thing my babies are tough.  just need to get that bulldog (and me) conditioned to the cold...

gorgeous day to be outside.  even if you could see your breath.

dyl caught word that she'd be in the sled for this outing.

 whatta face ♡

 ditto to that whatta face (minus the heart)

if looks could kill...

glorious day

 even beanie looked at the camera!

 beanie, staying off the cold

squishy bulldog udders

 best of buds

duey

so the nickname duey came from her big bro, unable to utter diLLy, as everyone just so happened to call her.  well, shoot.  some things just stick.  if you point to a picture of dylan, what do you think she says?  do-we!  doo-wee!  dooo-weee!


she's not a huge fan of the camera.  as soon as that lens is pointed in her direction, she scampers off or tells me nooo!  really?  how can you be that opinionated at 22 months?!  oh, that's right, you're a female...


on this afternoon, for whatever reason, she stood in front of me, making faces at my request but mostly on her own.  cracking me up, i was focusing and clicking and focusing as fast as i could.

beware: her personality is infectious.  

i look at her and see ben.  always.  

EXCEPT 

here.  

 yep, back to lookin like dada.

 my fav face: the nose-wrinkle

 

my kid's version of sick

ok, hear me out.  i don't enjoy my kiddos being sick, being the germaphobe/ocd/clean-freak that i am.  

but.

i do love that they want to watch movies.  all day.  

i do love that jack's a little less feisty.  and a little more sweet.

i do love the cuddles.

i do love their pitiful voices and stuffy noses with requests like i'm firsty or ca'i have more popsuckles?  even dylan.  she's started pointing to her open mouth when she wants more of something.

quiet time for the babes means quiet time for mama!  weeeee!  i wrapped up our taxes and put a large dent in a book i've been trying to finish since december.    

the kids came down with fevers within an hour of one another.  i'm of the opinion that two sick kids is better than one.  really.  because then you don't have to fuss with keeping one contained to contaminated area A, which usually is the parent's bedroom.  as you'll see, the sickly babes were content to watch movies in mama's bed.  that's what jb calls it.  mama's bedwoom, mama's bafwoom.  mama's closet.  oh, poor dada.  

dumbo, open season, ratatouille and toy story 2 were watched by jack this week.  looped.  on repeat most days.  dylan enjoyed dumbo and averaged 30-40 minutes of viewing pleasure, but quickly, she needed human {mama} interaction.

this is how we started off the week, but i'm happy to report they are feeling much better.  (and back to their running-the-halls-climbing-the-walls-fighting-over-lovies-albeit-happy little selves.)          

they heart dumbo.