Another trip to the zoo

I sense a new tradition! For the second year in a row, Jeanette and I have taken the kids to the Toledo Zoo on the first full day of school. The weather was great and we had lots of room to roam!

The obligatory picture in front of the fountain:

Playing in the bee costume:
Mack is telling Ben " I'm a BEE! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"

After 3.5 hours of wandering the zoo, it was very evident that both kids were ready to head home...

What daddies do

I snapped some sweet pictures of Mack and Mike today and wanted to post them. Mackenzie is so blessed to have a father like Mike and I know one day she will agree with me.

Playing with spaghetti swords ( which they both ate once I took the pic):


Mike and Mack working in her preschool book:

Countdown to Colorado!

14 days (when the pics was taken) before our big trip!


We decorated the bottom with pictures of some of the things we are most excited about doing on our trip. You can see Mack and Auntie Nikki at the park as well Brooklyn, Kaleb, Mack and me jumping on the trampoline ( with Buddy the puppy watching)

This and that

Just a big post full of pictures:

Not much baby left in my girl! I actually got all her hair in a french braid:
We melted down some old broken crayons and made some of our own:
Silly picture of Mack helping me make smoothie popsicles ( Thanks for the molds, Grammy!)
With a two year old in the house, you never know what you might find or where. Discovered these " Motatoes" in our bedroom after Mack was asleep :

"C"

Mack can now write the letter " C"( even if it is sideways) :

All Aboard!

We made another trip to Greenfield Village last week and it was our favorite family trip yet! Our last trip was about 5 months ago and it's really fun to see the changes in Mackenzie even since then. On this visit, she walked most of the way and even ventured into several of the exhibits. She loved the carousel and the train even more as a 2.5 year old . She was so excited about the train ride that she still talks about it days later. Here are pics from the visit:

We made friends with a sweet barn cat we found lounging in the sun:
She could hardly wait for the "merry-sel" to get going:
The train lovers got the best seats right in front!
Watching the fountain:

Cats and kids

While Mackenzie was still just a bean shaped blob in my belly, I was warned on several occasions about the dangers of having both cats and kids together under one roof. I usually smiled and nodded at the advice, punctuated with an " I'm not worried" shrug. Secretly, though, I wondered how things would go when our real life child arrived, nudging our "fur babies" into second place in the rankings.

Today, 2.5 years later, Mike and I just look at each other and smile at the bond that Mack and our pets share. We are especially perplexed at the friendship between Mackenzie and Sydney ( who is 100% "cat" in ever sense of the stereo type).

Thinking about this, though, I shouldn't be too surprised. I'm seeing that two year olds and cats have quite a bit in common- they are, in fact, both the center of the universe ( even if only in their own minds).

Here are a few recent pictures of Mackenzie and her friends:

Mack trying to warm Duncan up after his bath:
Who's under that blanket?
Poor Duncan!

Every morning Sydney waits outside Mack's door for her to wake up :