Zebras...

Madi has fallen in love with the carousel at the zoo.  She picks a different animal every time she rides and she was determined to ride the zebra.  This is the first time Kaitlyn had gone on the carousel when I have taken her.  Not sure she totally loved it.  She held on for dear life.  :D

I love this picture of Guire!  He is such a cute kid!  Madi adores him!

A day at the zoo...

Chantel and I took the kids to the zoo today.  (Note to self... don't go to the zoo the last week of school EVER again!)  It was a mad house, kids everywhere!!!  We still had a lot of fun though.  Chantel's mom and her nephew came with us too.

They have Zoorassic Park right now and have brought in these cute little horses.  The kids didn't want to get off.

 Giddy-up!!!

 This was Easton's first trip to the zoo.  Of course he just slept the whole day. :D

 Me and my little ones.  It isn't very often I get a picture with them.  Thanks Chantel!

 Little Miss Madi...

 Madi really wanted to hold Guire's hand but Guire wanted none of that!  Then while we were watching the elephant show she gave him a hug and then struck this pose.  Guire wasn't totally cool with that either. :D

 I love that they are friends!  Madi talks about him all the time!

 My pretty little lady...

 Madi didn't want to see the gorilla's.  She told me that even before we left our house.  They scare her. 

 They had lots of dinosaurs and even one the kids got to play on.

 This one's for you, Jayden!

 The kids were wiped out!  We called it a day!

 Of course since it was Easton's first trip I had to get some pictures for his baby book.  Madi wasn't having it.

 But, I got a few cute ones of my little dude...

Little monkeys...

My friend, Chantel, and her boys, Guire and Nash, are our new zoo buddies.  We went a couple weeks ago and I am just now posting pics.  Guire was so much fun to watch!  He LOVED the animals. 

 Guire makes an AWESOME monkey!!! 

"OoooOOOoo"

I tried so hard to get Madi to cooperate for a few cute pictures since it has been awhile since she actually posed for a picture.  She was not having it!  Here she is blowing kisses... 

 ...and checking out the construction workers... 

 ...and squinting in the sun...

 ...and praying mom will stop taking pictures...

Isn't she just the cutest?

At the zoo...again...

Saturday we went to the zoo.  The weather was warmer and we are all itching for spring so we decided to go walk around and see the animals.  Madi LOVES the carousel.  You wouldn't guess by looking at her face in this picture but it was nap time. 

Madi has become very confident in her walking and no longer wants to be held, in the stroller or the basket.  She only wants to walk.  She was thrilled when we let her walk around at the zoo.  She led the way!

 I love the Asian Highlands exhibit.  I love to watch all the cats and they seem to be out a little more in the winter instead of hiding in the shade.  They have a little one room house that is supposed to be like a home in India.  There is a window that divides it from one of the exhibits.  They lynx used to be in there but this time the snow leopard was in the cage and he was right next to the window.  Madi was thrilled!  She kept saying "cat". 

I LOVE this picture of my sweet baby!!!

 Madi liked the cat exhibit too.  She especially liked the bronze tigers. 

Is there anything sweeter than a daddy and his girl???  I love to watch Derrick with Madi.  She absolutely adores him and he is so sweet with her.  I am so blessed to be married to such an incredible man.  Our kids our so lucky to have a daddy like him.  He knows when to rough house and when to cuddle.  Madi can't get enough of him.  The first thing she says in the morning is "Where's dada?" and about the time he should be coming home she likes to stand and look out the window for him.  She wants to be with him the rest of the night.  She is totally a daddy's girl and I LOVE it! 

 We had originally talked about going to the park but since they have a playground at the zoo we decided we would head there instead.  Madi is in love with slides.  She giggles as she slides down and can't wait to go again.  

We had a wonderful day at the zoo and as a family.  I always enjoy the time I have with Derrick and Madi.

[This picture is supposed to up with the "cat" comment but blogger is being difficult tonight so I will just have to deal with it out of order.  Grrr!]

A rough day for Kyah...

We had planned to go to the zoo this morning while Jaxon's at school. We have breakfast, pack a lunch and head out. I got off the freeway and Kyah said the seat belt was hurting her tummy. I told her to pull it out a little so it wasn't so tight. She did and said it still hurt. Moments later she puked. Anyone who knows me well knows that I don't do puke. I pulled over, got some wipes and started cleaning it up. Within seconds I was puking all over the parking lot. Once we were all cleaned up Kyah seemed really perky so I asked her how she felt. She said good and she wanted to go to the zoo.

We got to the zoo and pretty much all the animals were out. Most were eating there lunch. It was cool to watch. While we were watching the orangutans play, Kyah grabbed onto the fence. She got a big sliver. It is deep too. She wouldn't let me get it out and was crying cause it hurt. The carousel cheered her up though!

Madi rode it by herself without me holding onto her for the first time. She LOVED it! I love this girl! I could just kiss those chubby cheeks all day!
She rode on the panda bear. Kyah picked the tiger.

See, told ya it made her happy! :D

After the carousel we went to see the tigers. Madi actually say on the bronze tigers for a picture. Yeah Madi!!!

On the way to see the elephants Kyah fell. She was okay but then on our way out she fell AGAIN! Poor kid is going to have bruised knees and a sore hand from her zoo trip. Hopefully the rest of the day goes a little better for her. :D

Zoo life...

Tuesday we went to the zoo, just Madi, Kyah and me. We got there early before it was too hot or too crowded and all the animals were out playing. Here is Zuri hanging out with her mom. It is so fun when there are baby animals at the zoo. Zuri turned two in August. Elephants aren't fully grown until they are 25! Miss Madi...

This is Madi's new cheeser. If I tell her to smile when I am taking a picture this is what I get. :D

Nap time...

Miss Kyah...

No pictures of them but we stayed and watched the tigers for probably half an hour. We have five at our zoo. The mom and her three cubs in one cage and their dad in another. All three cubs are boys. They turned one in July and will stay with their mom until they are two and then they will go to other zoos. Two of the cubs were playing and wrestling with each other right at the fencing so they were only about five feet away. They were so fun to watch. The other was up a little higher and watching them and eventually joined. Every so often one of the cubs would go to their mom and love on her and then go play again. It was awesome to watch them interact. Tigers are generally solitary animals and only come together for about a week for mating. The cubs all weigh about 300 pounds and they still have a full year to grow. They can get up to 700 lbs. Their mom if 250 and their dad is 480. It was crazy to think they will still get much bigger because they looked really big.

We had a great time and Kyah already wants to go back. I can't wait until 2012 when they open the new Rocky Shores exhibit. It will almost double our zoo! I love to see all the animals and Madi enjoys it too.

Madi's first trip to the zoo...

For Madi's birthday we took her to the zoo. We went on the 31st and decided to get a year pass. Madi LOVED it! It was fun to watch her watch the animals. She didn't want to leave one to go to the next. She especially loved the elephants and the big cats!

Madi and Daddy in the nightmares exhibit. They have free flying bats in here. I was glad to see they were all clustered and asleep while we were there. :D There are three elephants at our zoo. They were fun to watch. One of them is just a year old. I didn't get a good picture of her so baby Zuri will have to wait 'til next time. The elephants would pick up the watermelon and then throw it on the ground to brake it open. They downed the whole thing in a matter of minutes!
We tested out the carousel. Madi did not love it. She clung to Derrick the whole time and started fussing as soon as it started to move.

Here is the sloth posing for his close up

Madi really liked the jaguar. It paced back and forth watching everyone. There was only the glass separating him from the kids because they all got as close as they possibly could!

Hanging out in Asian Highlands...

I really liked the tigers. There are four of them but this one was my favorite (only because he was in the best view. :D)

Madi wouldn't sit by herself to get her picture on the tigers so I held her. She still wasn't thrilled but it was passed her nap time!

Madi watching Zuri and her mom in the Elephant Encounters...

My monkeys...

Swans are such beautiful birds...

Madi was thrilled by the train... until it started to move! :D

Madi says "yea!!!" We had a great day at the zoo, despite the heat, and can't wait to go back!