Zoo Trip Pics Part One

What a great day we had on Thursday!!!  Warren surprised me Wednesday night by telling me that he had arranged to take all of Thursday off!!!!  What a surprise!!!  I had resigned myself to thinking that we wouldn't be able to do anything together until the weekend.  That sorta made me sad thinking that our whole week of spring break had gone by and we hadn't had the chance to do much.

We woke up Thursday trying to decide what we wanted to do.  We had thought about taking the girls to Tuscaloosa to their Children's Museum, but the weather was so gorgeous that Warren and I decided that it was too beautiful of a day to spend it inside.  So.....we decided to go to Birmingham to the ZOO!!!!

My grandmother took my brother, sister, and me to this zoo so many times when we were little.  It brought back memories, even though the zoo has changed so much over the years.  But walking through and just remembering how I walked that place with my grandmother was very sweet for me--and now having shared it with my girls--it was just a great day of memory making for me.

We stopped for lunch at Cracker Barrel, and Anna and Maggie LOVED these rocking chairs.  They were the first things they noticed and exclaimed that they were "our size" chairs.  So sweet!!!  I cannot believe how much they've grown this year.  It's mind boggling to me that in three short months we'll have TWO FOUR year olds running around!!!

Maggie all ready to hit the zoo

I wish I knew what has made her 'smile' like this lately.  Every time we say cheese, this is what we get! :)

And this is the smile we get from Anna--isn't she just absolutely precious!!!

And we certainly cannot leave out the big sister!!!

These flamingos were amazing!  Can you tell how close we were to them?  Pretty neat. Warren wanted to touch one, but he said he didn't want to get in trouble for doing so.  I told him that I didn't give two hoots about him getting in trouble; I was more concerned about him pulling back a hand with no fingers!!!

More posts and pics--scroll down!

Zoo Trip Pics Part Two

ALLIGATOR!!!!

Can you tell that she has finally spotted the alligator???

Maggie saw something here and was SO excited about it!  I can't remember what she saw, but she desperately wanted everyone to see it, too!!!

Had to get a shot of them with the bamboo!

(Reese, Maggie, and Anna)

Had to get a lift from Daddy in order to see the gorilla.  He was a sight; just lying out and sunning himself in the beautiful weather!!

Zoo Trip Pics Part Three

The last of the zoo pictures.......

My favorite one of the day---the girls and Warren in front of the giraffes! :)

Maggie had a great time petting the goats--we figured she would

Reese did really well too--she petted them very gently!

Notice you don't see one of Anna & the goats--my indoor girl was keeping true to her nature--not interested in the farm life whatsoever!

We had to get a picture on the tractor.

My granddaddy and Warren's granddaddy were farm folks; they had lots of farm equipment and I think it's safe to say that home and the land were where they we the  most comfortable.  Warren said that his granddaddy even had a tractor made by the same company as this one at the zoo!

Sweet Anna and her Daddy--she is more of a Daddy's girl than her sisters (and I know that Warren just loves it!!)

Riverwalk

For those of you who live in Columbus or are at least familiar with the downtown area, you know about the Riverwalk.  It's this great area with a long sidewalk and picnic areas--just a great outside place.  Well, a few weeks ago, after having dinner, we decided to take the girls out there for a few minutes.  The weather was nice, and I was looking forward to watching the girls outside.  They loved this place!!!  They talk about it all the time!  The Riverwalk is our new outing place.   I'm hoping to take them one day this week--weather permitting.  

sporting some new duds and new 'dos!

Mags (in pink) 

Anna (in purple)

People can ride their bikes along the sidewalk, and a couple of Sundays ago, I took the girls (and all three bikes) out to the Riverwalk.  Warren was on call, so he missed out on our picnic and the walking of the bikes down the huge hill, but he met up with us as soon as his case was finished.  The girls rode and rode and rode and rode!!!!!  They rode so much that Anna and Maggie quickly became aware of how tired their legs were. Those little legs were just a pedalin'.  So fun to watch!!

Perhaps one of my favorites of the day---Warren walking along, holding Anna Banana's hand!  Such a precious sight!

Late Birthday Wishes

Of course I am late with the birthday wishes, but I wanted to acknowledge the special days nonetheless.

First, our sweet nephew, Hunter, turned FOUR on the 6th of this month.  I can't believe it's been four years already, and his birthday is always a reminder that Anna & Maggie will be four three short months after his!  YIKES!

Second, my sisters husband, Brian celebrated his birthday on the 11th.  

Our niece, Erin, became a full fledged teenager on the 12th.  I'm always saying it's hard to believe how much times passes and how big my babies are getting, but Erin was my true "number one" baby.  I counted down with gusto the days until she was born.  I NEVER thought she'd get here.  I was so excited!!!!  And now she is THIRTEEN!!!  That just makes me feel SO old.  Other big exciting news about "E" is that she was named the 2nd alternate in her school's beauty and beau pageant a couple of weeks ago.  We missed the pageant, sadly, but were beaming with pride for our girl when we heard this news!!!  Congrats again E and happy late birthday!

And, Warren's sister, Katie, celebrated her birthday yesterday!  I hope she had gotten over the stomach virus and her sinus infection so she could have a somewhat nice day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EVERYONE.  WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

snow snoW snOW sNOW SNOW!!!!!!

Can it really be March 1st, with all this white on the ground?

the FIRST thing Reese did once getting outside was yell "Snow Angel"

and then she proceeded to plop herself on the ground and moved her arms and legs to make her angel.  what a doll!!!

I had no idea that it had snowed during the night, and I was so surprised when Warren told me to look out the window this morning.  Anna had crawled onto the couch with me in the middle of the night, so she of course made it to the window before I did!!!  Her little face was lighted up with excitement; she couldn't wait to go play in the snow.

their outfits may leave a lot to be desired but they sure are happy & excited about the snow (Maggie, Anna, Reese)

Reese was throughly excited, too, when she woke up, and it didn't take long for Maggie to realize what all the excitement was about.  I was kinda ready to go outside and play, too!  But it took FOREVER to get everyone decked out in heavy clothes.  We had sorta put the heavy coats away, not to mention the toboggans and gloves, thinking that spring (or at least a little warmer weather) was on its way.  

Warren even made a snow angel

We finally made it outside, and the girls had a BLAST!  (not to mention their mommy and daddy)  Well they did once I found gloves for Anna & Maggie.  Their little old hands were like ice cubes!!!  And Anna wasn't too happy about that!  She is the one who always seems to have a little problem with nature--she doesn't like for her hands to be muddy; she didn't want to wear her new tennis shoes out of the store the day we bought them for fear they would get dirty; she HATED the sand at the beach the very first time we took the girls to the beach--you get the picture.

Maggie liked catching the snow on her tongue

They LOVED throwing snowballs at Warren, and Anna took it personally when Warren threw some at me!  She ran to me all upset, worried about me.  That's our little mama!!!  What a sweetie pie she is.  Reese and Maggie could not have had more fun, Reese especially.  She ran all over the yard and loved hitting Warren with the snow!  She even teamed up with him to go after me.  I was NOT happy about being double teamed.  But, if it made my girls happy and smile, who am I to complain!  

bulls-eye!  

Reese getting pummeled with a huge snow ball courtesy of Daddy