a good day!

Some days are just better than others. I have a wonderful husband S, who completely out of the blue yesterday (on his day off when we normally hang out at home and work on yardwork/cleaning/projects), suggested that we take the kids to Como Zoo in the afternoon! Then, while I was looking through the fridge trying to figure out what to make for a quick lunch before we went, S suggested that we go to Panera and pick up sandwiches for a picnic that we could eat at Como Park which is right by the zoo! I was blown away by his spontaneity and thoughtfulness, and we had such a good day together as a family! We haven't done a family outing just us like that in a while. Como is a great place - it has a lake and a park next to the zoo and conservatory area and being that we went on a weekday, it was not that busy! There were people, but it was still easy to get to see all the animals and also push our double stroller around. G and W both LOVED looking at all the animals! I was impressed by their attention spans at some of the animals too - we spent 10 minutes watching the tiny tamarin monkeys, 20 minutes watching the giraffes, and 30 minutes watching the butterflies in the butterfly house! While W called most every animal "pu-pu" for puppy, we tried to teach him the names and signs for each one, or at least get him to call the tiger kitty! G was so excited at most every animal ("Wow! Look a zebra! I LOVE you zebra (or whatever animal we were looking at)!"), and even did good looking at the tigers and lions which she was scared about on the way there. The butterfly exhibit was also a huge hit with G. W didn't care that much, but G loved looking at all the butterflies and matching them to the information sheet we were given as we walked in. The weather for the day was really good too! It was a little cooler and cloudy, and while threatening rain, we only got wet on our way to the car on the way home.

But, you may be asking - where are the pictures???!!! Where are the pictures of our Panera picnic? Where are the pictures of G&W's sheer wonder and excitement looking at all the animals? Where are the pictures of G hugging the giraffe statue while asking us if she could take it home? Where are the pictures of the butterfly that landed on my pregnant belly in the butterfly house? Where are the pictures of G&W smelling flowers and looking oh so cute in the conservatory? Where are the cheesy family pictures in front of the monkeys? Sorry, there are none. But why? Did you forget the camera? No. Did you forget how to add pictures to a blog post? Nope. Did you decide to rebel against the system and not take any? Oh no. I was loading pictures on the computer the day before and I left the memory card in the computer. Argh!!!! Oh well, while it would have been nice to get pictures of our fun day, it was also nice not to have to worry about it too!

Today is shaping up not to be one of the better days - crabby kids, tired momma, miscommunication on an appointment already this morning that we thought was tomorrow, etc. Time to get a few more things done while W naps!