"GO BEARS"

brennan: "they're hugging!"

{there are SO many reasons why i love this picture..}

1. brooke taking a picture of the bears. 

b/c 2 seconds prior she said, 

"emily! picture!!!" so that is why i have this wonderful picture.

2. everyone but blake looking at the bears.

eyes GLUED on the bears.

3. and well, the bears.

...

it's not every day your kids to get see bears making babies at the zoo.

today brought educational zoo trips to a whole new level.

good grief, i'm still laughing.

brooke and i,

we just did a lot of laughing.

it felt like we were in middle school all over again.

and if i could only explain to you the two things that happened just before this.

but brooke, the kids, and i...

we will just have to keep those things to ourselves this time...

and leave things here just with this.

even i have boundaries people. 

boundaries!

yeah,

memories:)

"all you need is love" and a job.

after he painted his belly button...

"is it going to be there forever?"

"no."

then he tried to paint his tongue...

"is it in my mouth? is it on my tongue?"

"don't paint your tongue."

................

valentine's day.

they were already in underwear.

it was extra convenient.

so i pulled out the REAL paint for the very first time, 

and taped down paper grocery sacks to our kitchen table.

extra on max's side b/c her body art kept self-paining the sides.

i taped down the paint plate.

this was smartest moment of my entire life.

b/c max tried to pick it up halfway through and she couldn't.

i was beaming with preventative pride.

most of the colors were all mixed together by the second set of hearts.

everything pretty much merged together into one color of pink.

brennan got red paint in his hair.

which was great b/c out of all of the paints, the red was the only one that wasn't washable.

but like i said,

they were only in their underwear so it worked out great.

i'm guessing the red in his hair will be there until we shave his head this summer.

only 3 people have noticed so far.

they lasted for 10 hearts all together.

over half an hour.

i was shocked.

by the 10th heart,

their bodies were the main canvasses, 

and brennan dropped one of his hearts face down on the carpet. 

so we washed everyone down at the kitchen sink,

threw our paint brushes in cups,

and got dressed for the zoo.

40* and sunny is basically summer.

we barely needed our coats.

we came home with sunburned faces, minus brennan with his olive skin.

and were completely exhausted.

at 6:15pm sean and i finally looked at each other and decided maybe we should make something for dinner,

it being valentine's day and all.

so i threw some bow tie pasta in boiling water, 

cooked a pan of meatballs, 

and put it all in a homemade alfredo sauce.

with red drinks and strawberries on the side,

just so we had something fancy for the festivities of the lover's day it was.

we were all asleep before 10.

and when i said my prayers that night i thanked god for all of the love he has brought into my life.

and in the most cliche of ways i whispered to sean that all you need is love:)

"john lennon, smart man."

and sean said, "does that mean i can quit my job?"

and i said "no." 

b/c even john lennon needed a job.

the deep blue

 i am not a souvenir buying kind of gal.

in fact,

i haven't ever purchased a souvenir at any place i take the kids regularly.

when we were in grad school we couldn't have any extras.

now that sean's a working man we've tried to keep our old budgeting habits.

but when i spotted the white plastic polar bears today,

i knew i wouldn't be able to contain myself.

a new exhibit,

first zoo outing with chase

{he was so impressed}

and a good night's sleep 

left me in an extra good mood.

the kind of mood that buys something small in the gift shop.

but by the time i realized they made loud squeaking sounds it was too late.

the kids were already sold.

and my credit card had already been swiped.

the good thing was that i knew where my children were the entire rest of the day.

the bad thing was that so did everyone else.

when we went into the giraffe house i turned to brooke and said loudly,

"what kind of mom buys her child such obnoxious toys?!"

very judgemental like.

yep,

me.

i'm the one, thank you very much:)

and then we discussed the best way to get those squeakers broken.

the fastest way possible.

any suggestions?

all applicants will be considered.

also, 

i need a fan with misters installed on my back patio 

for the rest of the summer.

or on my back.

whichever.

he told me so

we went to the zoo yesterday, and i don't think we looked at one animal.
ok wait,
the giraffes.
when i had to go wash my hands in the bathroom of the giraffe house.
yes, that's right.
we looked at them then.
but nothing else.
b/c the fake dinosaurs were the only thing the kids were interested in.
they ran past the monkeys.
the elephants.
the snake house (thank goodness--SO HOT in the snake house).
the stinky tigers (again, thank goodness).
and the camels.
we did get the ice cream.
and the carousel.
they thought the dinosaurs were real.
the t-rex still has brennan shaking in his boots.
he hid under the stroller when it growled.
and max jumped out of her seat.
for real.
all of the babies were crying.
and some toddlers too.
it was pretty scary.
another one squirts water.
i liked that part.
brennan rode the cheetah racer on the carousel.
max the zebra.
she kept turning around and waving at brennan.
it has made it into my top ten favorite moments of life.
{which at some point will be more than ten, but i will still say top 10 b/c it sounds more special that way}
and we chose the orange swirl ice cream.
i thought i was going to share one with max.
i thought wrong.
it was hot.
sweaty.
and the misters were heaven sent.
we walked around the mist circle twice.
before the bathroom.
and twice after the bathroom.
the kids found dinosaur bones in the sand pit.
brennan wants to go back to the zoo to see the dinosaurs.
b/c they were real.
he told me so.