Zoo Boo

On Friday, we arrived at the zoo at 9:20, quite impressed with ourselves and quite amazed that we didn't have the zoo to ourselves.  It was a beautiful morning and one of a few days of Zoo Boo where they have candy and other fall festivities, and half the children - including half of mine - were in costume.

Grammy beat us there, and ninja Collin snuck up on her.  We headed in together and before seeing an animal, had to climb on and pose with the sea lion statue.

I was often pushing around a stroller filled with our diaper bag and snacks, and my mom was walking with the kids. In typical toddler fashion, Maya was equally fascinated by the wheelchair ramps and black crows as she was by the giraffes.    

They had some carnival-type games, and Collin tried his strength.  Both kids jumped in the bounce house, though Maya was uninterested in leaving, and I had to go in to drag her out, kicking and screaming.  

On to the elephants -

Maya was amazed/terrified by the elephants and kept a pretty tight grip on my mom or me -

Posing with the statue -

We visited a very crowded pumpkin patch where kids could decorate mini pumpkins with paint pens.  Maya lasted about 30 seconds, but I was happy that her cute dress stayed paint-pen-free!

We saw the leopard pacing, the male lion roaring, but the cheetahs must have been sleeping near the fence, so we posed with their statue and moved on.  

Checking out the giraffe, zebra and ostrich -

Taking a snack break.  I pushed Collin in the stroller more than Maya, so she needed the nourishment and rest, plus she likes to climb on everything, benches included -

My little monkeys near the orangutans -

One last bench pose after a fun morning at the zoo -

And more realistic, Collin showing off his ninja moves, Maya singing Twinkle, Twinkle and performing the hand motions for "like a diamond in the sky" -

I am thankful for a fun Friday morning with my mom and kids at the zoo.  And I was even more thankful that my parents took our kids for the night, giving Cas and me our first night together without the kids since Maya was born.

My clown and ninja at Fall Fest

We were among the first to arrive at the YMCA fall festival, and we hit the petting zoo with my cuties before it got too crowded.  Maya started out a bit tentative (and serious) - 

My ninja taming the goats -

Chasing after the pig -

Staring down the rooster -

Maya warmed up as she watched Collin -

Some of the goats liked to nibble on her tutu and she'd wag her finger at them, saying "no, no, no!"

 Grabbing my leg when the donkey came near, I'm sure it was monstrous to Maya -

Get me out of here -

The best picture to try to show her outfit.  For Halloween, we'll have to paint her cheeks and/or nose.

 Collin was the perfect age for fall fest this year - he could successfully do most of the games -

Which led to a ton of candy -

And some toys -

Maya did one or two "games" like fishing, played with bubbles and chalk, and tried to sneak off with candy, which led to quite a few tantrums -  

Luckily, there was music to dance to, the perfect distraction (look at her happy face!) -

We heard there was going to be Chick-Fil-A, so while we gave them a snack beforehand, I wasn't worried about what they'd eat at the festival.  But CFA was handing out cards, not selling food.  I bought Maya her first hot dog, but she wasn't a fan.  So at fall fest, Maya ate the white bread of a hot dog bun, chocolate candy and a sugar cookie.  Mom-of-the-year kind of night.  Luckily my dad picked up Gringos and she got some true protein to balance out the sugar when we got back to their home.  Despite the less-than-nutritious dinner, the evening was a success, coming home with two very happy and tired children!

Pumpkin Patch 2014

We continued our annual tradition (see 2010 pt 1 and pt 2, 2011, 2012 and 2013) of taking pumpkin patch pictures.  We went on a Friday afternoon at the pumpkin patch near my parents' house.  The lighting was perfect and we had the place almost to ourselves.  Collin was incentivized to smile by the promise of a fall festival at my parents' YMCA that evening.  All the stars should have aligned for an epic pumpkin photo, but Maya was not in the mood to sit still and smile, so the results were less than stellar.

We got a few that were decent, but I snapped hundreds of photos on my camera and most looked like this.  (It was hot outside, so while the skirt was appropriate for the weather, it made sitting on hay less than comfortable for my sensitive skinned one-year-old.)

Anything but another photo -

I'll only laugh and act happy when Collin behind me isn't cooperating, ensuring Mommy doesn't get a good photo of both of us -

Overconfident in his strength -

 This is it, the best shot of both of them (among truly hundreds of pictures taken in the forty minutes outside) -

 Kisses from a sweet big brother

 Look at this lighting, but no smiles or eye contact in my direction -

Happy that we only had a few more minutes of photos before he could change into his ninja costume for the fall festival -

Taking a break for silly faces -

 Maya saw Collin picking them up and wanted to keep up with her big brother -

Jumping off the haystack (thankfully Maya wasn't watching this move!) -

We tried a few more with Maya on my lap in the haystack - more smiles but it was hard to both make her smile and get her to look at the camera!

It was not difficult to make her smile when we gave her my sunglasses -

She loved our happy reactions -

She looks much older than her 17 months here to me -

Oh my silly toddler, we could eat her up we love her so -

And my mom got one winner shot of the three of us that made the sweat, the bribes, and the threats all worth it -