More Zoo Pics

Hold onto your hats--it's another trip to the zoo. At some point, I'm going to stop taking my camera along, because there is just a limit to the number of photos you need of your children at the zoo over one spring/summer. We have a membership to one zoo and you receive a reciprocal membership to another local zoo with your paid membership to the first. Cheapo that I am, I want to take full advantage of the membership to make it worth the money, and I know that we'll certainly have a period of time this summer when trip to the zoo will be less than ideal, so off to the zoo we went with our friends Amy and Liam.
The kids are always up for another outing and the zoo is high on their list of fun, so they couldn't wait. my little monkeys climbed up on this turtle first thing.
Then we actually went and saw the monkeys. Actually, they were technically apes--no tails! I figured that this might be the only photo I got of all the kids at the same time!
Tristan made friends with this great ape! It was a chimpanzee and was freakishly interested in what was happening outside of it's cage. It came and perused the audience and picked Tristan to sit down beside. Tristan didn't mind--he liked having a little(big) friend!
Amy and I decided to send our crew down the Amazon in a dugout canoe!
But not before they turned into monkeys and tried to climb the poles!
"Look, Ma, this is as far up as I can get!!"
Lunchtime and time for a stop for their poor pregnant mama. I'm feeling pretty good this pregnancy, but the heat, hills and combined total of about 90 pounds to push wore me out pretty quickly!
Miss Amy and I ready to enjoy lunch. Maura took this picture. I thought she did a great job. I did a great job too--I remembered to lift my head so you can't see my double chin!
Momma and Tristan, and Maura and baby make FOUR! Next zoo trip I'll have another rugrat to tote around. I wonder how Maura will feel about being booted out of the stroller??
My favorite thing about this zoo?? The splash park!! I LOVE that they have a splash park where you can cool off in the heat of the day. They kids loved it too and we kept them going with promises of much splashing to come. Maura did awesome at the park. She wanted to ride the water slide multiple times and waited in line patiently for her turn. What a change from last year when she butted herself all the way up to the front of the line. I think school has definitely improved her line waiting abilities.
My WILD man. Tristan was EVERYWHERE! I could not keep up with this big boy as he went on his quest for splashes. He LOVED every minute of the water play.
My big girl on one of her many trips down the slide.
This tiger was cool. He was swimming in his moat when we first got there. I don't think I've ever seen one of the big cats in the water, so it was fun to watch him play.

My sweet kids couldn't wait for an elephant ride. I just love these babies!!
This is a picture of Tristan sitting still. Relish it--it doesn't happen often! He was so wiped out after a morning and afternoon at the zoo. He got to the giraffe house and just kind of pooped out on this bench. I had to actually carry him off the bench to put in the stroller so we could go. I probably lifted this child at least 75 times that day to get in and out of the stroller and see the exhibits. It's a wonder that I didn't go into labor!
Our last stop on this fun day was the carousel. So much fun! Thanks Amy and Liam for taking us to YOUR zoo!

Hangin' Out

It's getting toward the end of the school year. Actually, it should have been the end of the school year over a week and a half ago, but who's counting?? Despite the fact that the school kids are still slaving away in June, most other activities have come to an end. Maura's school, library story time and swimming lessons all ended at about the same time, leaving us with more free time than I was prepared to deal with. It's hard going from tons of activities to no activities so suddenly! In light of this situation, I've had to be creative to fill up some of that time for my kiddos and myself!
One day, we met Angie, Sarah and Leah at Monkey Joes. It's only the second time my kids have gone since it opened, so they were really excited about it. I drove poor Sarah crazy, though. I told Maura and Sarah that I would like for them to stay together. Sarah is a real rule follower--Maura is NOT. Maura would go scampering up an obstacle, leaving poor Sarah in the dust, and causing her anxiety that she wasn't able to follow the rule. Poor Sarah! I didn't mean to make things difficult for her!
My big boy LOVED the slide on one of the bouncers. He spent a ton of time just climbing up and sliding down. Oh, and running over to the arcade just to watch the flashing lights. He was HARD to keep up with!
Maura and Monkey Joe. She loved the whole experience and I have a feeling that it won't be long before we visit again.
A few days later, we "camped" in the backyard. I can't wait to take the kids camping "for real." Maura has had a few overnight expeditions in the backyard, but we've never been brave enough to leave the safety of our backyard with kids in tow for a real camping experience. This year is certainly no exception. I'm not anxious to spend the night sleeping on an air mattress in the great outdoors when nine months pregnant. Instead, we opted for smores and a backyard campfire. It was BLAZING hot, but we enjoyed the experience despite the heat.
I did set up the kid's tent for them, but more for them to play in than anything else. This tent has never seen service as an actual tent. We frequently set it up for picnics in the house, but it has yet to be slept in in the great outdoors.
My girl, the drama queen. I'll have to look back to see when she went from camera shy to camera hog. It happened pretty much overnight, but I'm definitely liking this stage a lot more than the "reluctant to look a the camera" stage.
It has also finally gotten warm enough for water play. Since we spend pretty much every summer day outside, I anxiously await the chance to get out the pool and slip and slide. The kids wasted no time getting down to the business of some serious sliding. They were hilarious. There was much slipping, much falling, some head bonking, but they had a great time nonetheless.
Tristan enjoyed the slide wearing a whole lot of nothing. Believe me when I say he came down the thing like a greased pig. He generally went shooting right over the pool at the bottom and into the grass. So funny, but we were finding grass on this poor child for a LONG time. I LOVE summer and I'm so glad it's here at last--full of as much sand and water play as I can possibly pack into these sun soaked days.

Surprise!!

I love surprises. Good surprises, I mean. There's just something about that moment of absolute shock and jubilation that just gets me every time. I love to be surprised at Christmas and birthday time and Brent generally lets me know exactly where my presents are so I don't accidentally stumble across them. I never peek. I'd rather be surprised! When my sister came up with a plan for a huge surprise way back in March, I was all in. We were thinking ahead to come up with a unique gift for my mom's birthday. Lorie suggested tickets to the musical Wicked, which came to Louisville in May. We all agreed that this would be a great gift, but then her brainstorm went even further. She thought it would be great to contact two of my aunts to see if they would fly down for the weekend and attend the play too. AWESOME idea. The aunts agreed, and a major conspiracy was born!
On Saturday the 15th, we drove up to Louisville to pick up Aunt Barbara and Aunt Betty from the airport. It was awesome to see them and get to hang out with them for a few hours before we were to meet up with my parents. We generally see my aunts about once a year, so we had lots of family gossip and stories to catch up on over lunch.
Katie, Aunt Betty, Micah, Lorie, Aunt Barbara and Alexandra at the Falls of the Ohio. Alex is wearing one of my favorite dresses that Maura had at that age. Made me nostalgic!
We then proceeded over to The Melting Pot to surprise my mom. I think the look on her face says it all. We had Mom and Dad seated toward the back of the restaurant so they wouldn't see us come in. When we came up to the table, the aunts went one way around a partition, and we went the other. Aunt Barbara walked up to Mom and said, "Excuse me, could we join you?" Pure shock on my Mom's face!
We all thought Mom would cry, but I think she was too shocked to even cry. She just kept saying, "Oh my GOSH!" She couldn't understand why we were all there, and how we all got there. We stayed for a few minutes to bask in the glow of our successful surprise and then left the aunts with Mom and Dad for a really fun evening of dining and theater. LOVED it! It was so much fun being a part of this. Thanks, Lorie, for all the work you put in to make it happen!
On to another sort of surprise altogether. I've been really lucky so far with my kids. They definitely have access to pencils, pens and crayons on a regular basis, but we've had very few instances of writing utensils being misused. Well, Tristan discovered a crayon the other day and went to town on the woodwork. He came soon after to gloat upon his work. I couldn't be angry with him--I'd left the crayons out. I just talked with him about what is and what is NOT appropriate to write upon and then scrubbed it up with a magic eraser. Now, if it were only that easy to take other things out...

Last Day of School

I truly didn't know what to expect when I signed Maura up for school this year. I had hoped that she would mature socially, make some friends, and perhaps learn a little something along the way. I truly didn't expect the enthusiasm which she approached every school day, the pride when she taught me something that she had learned, and the excitement at bringing home projects and homework. I loved watching my baby experience school for the first time. She grew so much this year. She LOVED cooking and art the most and every single Thursday would regale me with tales of her accomplishments. I am so proud of my Maura. She amazes me every single day. I'm so sad that her first year of school is already over. She'll be back in preschool again this coming year, so I get to experience it all over again, this time with my little man in tow.
Tristan, Aunt Katie, Daddy, Grammy and I were on hand for her final Preschool program. It was so special for Maura to have so many loved ones there for her special day.
What a difference five months makes! Back in December for Maura's Christmas program, Maura got up on stage, stood straight and tall, looked out at the crowd and sang not a single word. This time, I talked with Maura in advance about what to expect. We sang her songs in advance and I figured that I had done all I could. This time, she was so excited about the program. She came bouncing into the auditorium, hopped right up on stage, and proceeded to sing like a star through all her songs. SO PROUD!
This song brought tears to my eyes. It was just Skin-ee-Mer-Inky-Dinky-Dink(sp?), which I've heard a million times, but Maura looked STRAIGHT at us the whole time and when she got to the "I love you" part, she pointed straight at us. This is a song that my grandfather used to sing all the time and seeing my sweet girl that song with such feeling made this hormonal pregnant momma want to cry!
Pointing to her momma, "I LOVE YOU!" After she got down from the stage, she ran straight to us and said, "I sang my song to you, Mommy!" So precious.
Mrs. Patty was on hand to close out the school year and graduate the kids who were leaving for Kindergarten next year.
Maura and her teacher Miss Lisa. Miss Lisa took a personal interest in Maura this year and she always gave me a very detailed description of her day. I only ever got one "bad" report from school, and it was on a day that she was really sad. Every other day, I got a glowing report about how helpful and enthusiastic she'd been.
Miss Angela and my girl. Maura absolutely loved her teachers. When I asked her what we should get her teachers for the end of school gift she said she wanted to give them heart shaped chocolate. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find heart shaped chocolate in May? I managed to find some and Maura LOVED giving her teachers their gifts.
Maura was well praised and so proud of herself. She loved spending time with Grammy and Aunt Katie after the performance. Daddy was able to take the day off and be with us that morning, however Tristan was really not feeling well, so he stayed for the performance and then took my little sickie home. Later we realized that he had hand foot and mouth disease. Ooops.
We headed over to a local park for a picnic and Maura loved posing with Mr. Sam. Maura learned so much about the bible from Mr. Sam this year.
My precious girl, finished with her first year of preschool. It was so bittersweet to celebrate this milestone with her and I guarantee I'll cry next year when she actually graduates!

A Big Weekend

The 8th and 9th of May were huge days for this family! I don't know if we could have fit any more into the month of May, but this particular weekend took the cake. On Saturday, my baby sister graduated from the University of Kentucky. For those counting, that's five college graduations for this family.
Emily's graduation was made even more special by the news that she'd received just a few weeks earlier that she'd been accepted to Veterinary School. We're so proud of her accomplishments and all the promise that she has in her future. She'll head down south soon to start school. In typical Bridge fashion, we met for a meal on the day of her graduation.

Tristan spied the tractor in the barn that day, and he wouldn't rest until he had a tractor ride. He kept going over to Pappap and asking him "Pappap, tractor OUT!" Pappap finally relented, and an obsession was born! Tristan has talked of little else since and everywhere we go, we have to point out tractors.
This is one happy tractor riding boy!!
Proud Mom and Dad with their oldest and youngest.

Me and baby and the graduate. So proud of my baby sister! It's hard to believe she'll be heading off to vet school in two months.
Walking across the stage to receive that diploma--the best view was of the giant screens in front of us! The arena was not a small venue!
Proud sisters: Katie, Emily, Lorie and Me. That's five Bridge children all graduated from college. My grandparents would be so proud!
Mother's Day 2010. I was the one to make my mother a mom for the first time, and Maura was the one to make ME a mom for the first time. Such a precious way to spend Mother's day! We had an informal meal at my parent's house to celebrate all the moms in our life.
My sweet, adorable kids. They bring me so much joy every day. These guys fill my world with laughter and happiness. I love them so much and I can't even imagine what life was like before they were in it. They have certainly changed my life for the better. I look forward to so many more happy times and memories that they will help me to create.
Thirty three weeks pregnant with baby #3. He will be in our arms soon and I won't even remember what it's like to be a mommy of just two kids! I can hardly wait to meet him and introduce myself as his mommy.
We took a walk after dinner to enjoy the beautiful spring weather and my kids loved frolicking through the high grass.
We found birds nests, collected rocks and examined insects. I can't imagine a better way to spend Mother's Day.
Thanks, Mom, for being such a loving mom and raising us up to be the women we are today! We are so thankful for you!
Your grandkids are thankful for you too! You are the best Grammy they could ever ask for!