Mothers Day

I hope everyone had an amazing mothers day! Hopefully you were pampered and loved on as much as I was whether you have children or not, but just because you are a woman and that makes you amazing! And if you weren't, make sure you recognize your own awesomeness and go do something for yourself. Happy late mothers day to all you fabulous women out there!

Temple Square

While in Utah, we decided to spend a day in Salt Lake City. While there we went to temple square. We couldn't have asked for a better day. It was BEAUTIFUL!

I really wanted to get a family picture in the traditional spot in front of the temple, but this was the best we could get. There was a couple doing their wedding photos so we had to hurry and snap a picture.

The kiddos in front of the reflection pool.

 This was something new that I hadn't seen. They made this model of the temple allowing those that can't go inside to see what it looks like in the temple.

 We totally lucked out visiting the tabernacle. There was a lady practicing the organ so we got to hear the beautiful music she was playing and then they did a brief demonstration on the acoustics of the tabernacle. Without the help of a microphone they ripped a piece of newspaper and dropped a few strait pins and a nail to show how perfect the structure allows the sound to travel. Truly amazing!

 Following the tabernacle, we went to see the Christus Statue. 

For some reason my uncle felt like I should want to take a picture of him and not my children. He was wrong! :)

 Awww....Family moment!

 And here is one more picture of the beautiful weather. I took a few "weather" pictures so when I get  back to our rainy home I can look back and maybe soak up a little Vitamin D from these pictures. :)

A Food First and Water Fun

Today my kiddos had their first Chickfila experience. We don't have one of these close by in our neck of the woods so we decided to give it a try. I thought it was pretty tasty and so did the kids. Truth be told I think they were just super excited to have some soda. 

 We also let the kids run through the outdoor malls water feature they had. It was probably a little on the cold side to do this, but they didn't complain. The LOVED it and it was probably the highlight of their day.

 This was my FAVORITE part. My sweet hubby was awesome enough to run through and play with the kids and on one of his final runs he got hit. And he got hit good. Right in the crotch! It totally looked like he peed his pants. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Even people passing by were cracking up. It was classic!

 And you can't have an experience like that without a good dose of mocking. My dad made sure go give my hubby his fair share. Good times!

Baby Heaven!

I haven't been around a little baby in a long time. I still felt like my baby was little until today. Look how big my baby is compared to this cutie. 

Today we traveled to Utah and I got to hold both of my cousins new babies. I was in heaven. What was funny though was how jealous Piglet was when I was holding one of the babies. She was not happy. It took a good long while before she even wanted to look at the babies let alone hold one. She finally came around and then decided they were pretty cool.

Look how grown up she looks though. I'm not sure that I like that my baby looks so big!

Easter Train

Today we went on a bit of a drive up north to go on an Easter Train. It's really just this SUPER old train that they do different holiday events on.

Look who's coming up the tracks! It looks like a bunny!

 The ceilings in the train cars were so incredibly tall. I mean, I'm short and all, but these were really tall.

 Aren't you glad we have the technology of air conditioning in todays day and age. Can you imaging this being the only thing to cool you down on a hot summers day trapped in a train car with tons of other people? No thank you!

 This is the conductor.  He actually owns and operates this whole train system. Pretty amazing.

 This is when the train started moving. The kids had never been on a train before so they were pretty excited.

 We were probably moving at about 5 mph, maybe, and went just a few miles to this open field. They had an Easter egg hunt for the kids.

 They did an easier one for the littles and then a more difficult one for the olders.

 Toward the back of the field and just beyond a small trail was this beautiful waterfall.

 So pretty!

 We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. It was a little chilly, but otherwise wonderful.

 And on our train ride back this dude played his banjo while we sang along to songs like "I've Been Working on the Railroad" and "You are my sunshine." I may have embarrassed my family slightly by my enthusiasm. It's not my fault though! They just can't handle my sheer awesomeness! 

 We had a great time and now I think we need to take the kids on an Amtrak or something like that so they can see how fast a newer train goes. Anyways, I highly recommend this if you have something similar close by. 

They Say It's Your Birthday!

Today we got to celebrate this cutie's birthday. We got to go to the zoo. We were worried that we would get rained out cause there was a 90% chance of rain, but we totally lucked out!

Isn't she SUPER cute?!

First off we met up with the cousins at the penguin place.  This heron was hanging out amongst the penguins.

And this is probably why . . . FEEDING TIME!!!  We again were SUPER lucky cause we were able to see the penguins feeding time.  Did you know that all the penguins have names and that guy knows them all?  I sure didn't!

 Piglet was a little apprehensive about the animals, but quickly warmed up.

 Look how pretty this kitty is.

 One of my favorite parts was seeing the lion cubs. This is Piglet watching them play.

 They were so active and cute.  Look at that mama kitty.  She just paced back and forth watching over her cubs.

 Awww . . .  LOVE!

 This little boy was so sweet! He wanted nothing more than to be right next to Porkchop most of the time.  Look at him watching him.  It makes me almost want to have another baby so Porkchop could maybe have a little brother . . . but only almost!

 Here's Piglet being apprehensive again but this time about the elephants.  

 These kids had such a great time despite the colder temps and wind.

 I am totally loving being close to family now so they get to have these fun experiences with cousins.

 These are the hippos.  This is how I look and feel most days.

 The kids were a little bummed that the petting portion of the zoo wasn't open yet, but they still got to get up and close to a cow, chickens and goats.

 For some reason this was Piglets favorite animal, the flamingos. 

 To finish our zoo experience we went to this awesome indoor park and just let the kids run and explore.

 They even had animal shaped blocks for the littles.

 I think they all had a GREAT time.  They slept all the way home.  In fact, to let them sleep longer, my hubby dropped me off at 2 separate stores while he continued to drive around the parking lot. Worked like a charm!