Woodland Park Zoo 2014

We have a little family tradition of going to the zoo every Memorial Day. I am not really sure how or why it started, but for the past 4 or 5 years we have done it. I love the zoo. It is the best outing with the kids, and its always a blast. We had a zoo pass two summers ago and it was the best! After I had Kaisa, it just got too chaotic to try and wrangle three kids to the zoo that often and still maintain any schedule or sanity. But we still held up our tradition for Memorial Day, and this time Heidi (Shad's sister) and family accompanied us. We absolutely LOVE having them so close. And our kids adore their older cousins! 

This year we did Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. We usually frequent Point Definace in Tacoma, because its closer with less traffic. But it was fantastic to visit this other zoo, plus its HUGE! 

Here are some highlights from our visit. 

Kaisa all ready to go in her perfect zoo outfit. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE having a girl!? :) Who knew!? 

The boys pointing out some penguins. The weather was predicting rain, so I was fully prepared with rain boots, coats, hats, and jackets. Which is why these kids look so bundled up! But luckily for us, it ended up being the PERFECT day out! 

The cute cousins. These girls are amazing. 

Kaisa is always good for some great, silly faces! Love her! 

All the cousins! I have a picture in this same spot, next to these lions, when I was little. 

Owen knew that my favorite is the giraffes. So he was determined to see that ASAP and FIRST. He was not happy seeing anything else until we got to those giraffes. They were a little disappointing. They were eating and far away. Boo. 

After the giraffes Owen had to map out our next adventure! He loved looking at the map and seeing where we were and where to go next. Uncle Steven was a great mapping companion! 

 More Kaisa faces with Aunt Heidi and cousin Julia! 

Nathan stuck next to Victoria the ENTIRE time! Best buds, those two. He loved all the animals. He was probably the most into actually seeing the animals. 

 Oh this girl! Can't get enough! 

 The Woodland Park Zoo seriously has the BEST gorilla display. They are normally not my absolute favorite. Buuut, at the this zoo they are! I can watch them all day long. 

And... so could the boys!

One of our last stops was the bears. It was one of the few stops Owen really wanted to see and one he mapped out carefully. 

Love these beauties! 

Another successful zoo outing! Until next Memorial Day! 

3 Kids Busy

Umm... Wow. My blogging has been embarrassingly bad. I have no excuses. Its just that blogging just hasn't been high on my priority list. I really should make more time for it. Because I love journaling out my journey as a mom and wife with my kids and family. So lets do this! 

But I'm back. (Even if its temporary!) 

Lets take this 'back to blogging' slow... Just a little update with pictures. No major event. Just some pictures of my cute kids. 

Kaisa is One. Busy. Girl. Holy moly, she is crazy! She has such a big personality for such a little peanut! She is sassy, funny, giggly, sweet, and curious. She loves to keep up with her brothers. She loves to run, dance, laugh, and play! She is into everything. She rips everything off the shelves. Rips books. Splash in the toilet. Get into the cabinets, drawers and everything in-between. Certainly my busiest little. Its exhausting! She keeps us going non-stop. Still my little shadow and Momma's girl. And I love every little minute of her. Yum. 

This little blue dress was mine, I took my first steps in it. And I love being able to pass it to my sweet girl. 

Graham crackers are magic. She will do just about anything for one. Like sit still for a picture! 

She is so expressive. So many silly and fun faces! 

Okay, this is just cute. Her first swimsuit. Not the best photo. But its seriously impossible to get her to be still! 

I'm in trouble. Already mastered the selfie... complete with lips! 

Baby bed head! I love her crazy curls! She looks so big with all her big-girl hair! 

Can't help but love this girl! 

Oh, my sweet Nathan. The middle child. So sweet, so loving, so happy. Easy going as ever. He loves to copy Owen with every word, game, and motion. They are best friends. Nathan can play on his own for long stretches of time, and I love it! He is an excellent talker. He can speak in full clear sentences. They love him nursery, because he can easily entertain himself and is just so loving. I love my extra snuggles from this boy and heartfelt I love yous.  

On any given day, Nathan can be seen carrying a phone. He always has one. He talks on it constantly. He talks to Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Owen, Mommy, Santa... anyone who will listen. Its adorable. 

We are currently working on potty training. (UGH!) Nathan is proving to be much harder than Owen. He may not be ready yet, but we are introducing him to it. Some days he loves it, other days he doesn't.

Owen made this very thoughtful sign for Nathan to cheer him on, it says: Go Potty Nathan!

And Owen... still sharp as a tack and eager to learn. He loves to read, spell words, solve puzzles and add. He is getting really good at drawing and loves to practice that for hours on end. He will be starting a more structured pre-school this year at an actual school and I am a NERVOUS wreck! But I think it will be good for him, since he has such a fierce thirst for knowledge. He is so encouraging and loves to cheer us all on, anyone. Its very sweet. He is thoughtful and genuine. And curious! He asks question, after question. Its exhausting. So inquisitive! He just wants to know how the world and everything around him works. And I do mean everything. He loves to be a helpful big brother and come to the rescue, a little bit bossy. But what else is a big brother supposed to do!? Still a little demanding of all MY attention and full of drama. But also so full of love and snuggles. 4 is proving to be the most challenging age yet, he is 4 going on 14 some days. Seriously. The things that come out of his mouth mirror a teenager! But his kind heart and sheer cuteness make up for it! 

He totally posed himself for these pictures. Such a handsome kid. 

 Practicing his drawing skills. And so sweet. He wrote in block letters "Happy Birthday Mommy!" Sure do love this boy of mine! :) 

They make my heart just so happy. I don't know what I would do without any of them. Their loving hugs and kisses, genuine I love yous, and smiles help me get through each day. Its so challenging, but they are worth every minute. 

 Okay... now for some serious blog catch up on what we've been up too these last few months! Time to get down to business!