HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEAH!! Our resident wild-child-spitfire-dynamite-soutern-belle-diva just turned 3 years old!! The whole family was SO excited to get to help celebrate this little girl's birthday-- we knew we had to make it a big, BIG day!!
A few days before her actual birthday we let Leah take the birthday money Grandma and Grandpa Cardon had sent so she could pick out any toy she wanted! She immediately selected this adorable Frozen music box that plays "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?" Now she has a music box of her own, just like Lucy.
Saturday, November 7th, bright and early, this little thing woke us all up at the crack of dawn (6:15 a.m. to be exact) to remind us that it was her birthday! There was balloons and a table full of presents waiting for her in the kitchen.
Lucy and Zach were so cute with her! They love her so much. They helped me wrap all the presents the night before and put up the decorations, and they both got up and played with her so mom and dad could get an extra hour of sleep. (wink, wink) I always remind my kids that they will be each others' best friends their whole life long, and so far so good...
Leah couldn't wait to dig in! She had no problem opening all of her presents and "ooohing and ahhhing" over every single one of them. Her favorite was the new Princess Castle for her magic clip princess dolls. She hasn't stopped playing with it all weekend!
After a delicious breakfast of birthday pancakes and "hot choco" (hot chocolate) with whipped cream-- which Leah herself barely touched because she was too busy playing, we got everyone dressed and ready for her birthday trip to the zoo!
Way back when we moved here, our realtor gave us passes to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo as a "Welcome to Colorado" present. We'd saved them for a special occasion, and Leah's birthday was just the right time to go. It's located in Colorado Springs (about an hour south of Parker) up amidst some beautiful mountains--which meant lots of hills and walking to the exhibits, but also beautiful scenery.
First stop was the giraffes. Can you believe how close this guy got?!? We could reach out and pet him (which we did). You could also feed them-- and we got some pretty nasty views of their slimy blue tongues!
Leah wasn't so sure about feeding or touching them, but she sure liked looking at them as long as Daddy held her.
Lucy had no problem petting them! They were super soft-- just like velvet.
We checked out the rest of the African animals and then found a little spot for a picnic. Zach had no problem double crunching these cookies for dessert!
We headed over to the monkey house next-- and it was by far the most fun exhibit of the whole zoo! There was a new baby orangutan named Ember, and she was just about the cutest thing we had ever seen! She was SO curious and playful and we sat and watched her for probably 45 minutes. Leah LOVED her!
Here's her sleepy mama. The baby kept poking and pulling at her to get her to wake up, but she just wanted to nap. The expression on her face was one I could totally relate to!
You can see baby Ember, as well as Leah's reflection-- both just staring at each other. It was priceless. The baby would go run and play, and then come stare at Leah some more.
Meanwhile Lucy and Zach were having fun playing with this guy! He would mimic everything the kids would do-- blow raspberries (what he's doing here), make kissing faces, and smile and touch the glass.
Showing his teeth! Yikes! He loved Lucy and would blow her kisses. Zach thought it was hysterical.
Uh oh!! Lunch was served while we were there-- and as soon as he heard the outside door opening he went straight for his food!
There was also a family of gorillas. I swear, these animals were SO friendly! They'd come right up to the glass and interact and and play with the kids-- they seemed just as curious about us as we were about them. It was really, really amazing.
We very reluctantly pulled ourselves away from the monkey house and visited the hippos next. An animal I can really, really relate to feeling like right about now! Ha ha!
We bought tickets to ride the chair lift up to the top of the mountain the zoo is built into, and we decided we'd better do that before it started getting dark. Plus it was getting pretty chilly as the sun set behind that mountain. Brrr! That's Lucy, Zach, and I riding up in front of Jon and Leah.
Aaaahhhh! The kids had never been on a ski lift and honestly, they were pretty freaked out about the height and sheer drop straight down, with only a safety bar between us and the ground. I was just worried about not dropping my phone.
But they did it! Woohoo!
Leah too! She held on tight but Jon said she was pretty brave and talkative the whole 10 minute ride up. Pretty cute birthday grin!
Daddy and Leah arriving at the top and just about to get off to check out the amazing view!
We didn't stay up at the top very long because of the wind, but here was our view heading back down. Pretty nice look at Colorado Springs, eh?
We only had a few more animals to see at this point, so we bundled up against the cold (Lucy thought she looked like Kristoff from Frozen), and checked off the moose (background), wolves, grizzly bears, mountain lions, and mountain goats. Coincidentally all things Jon will ((hopefully NOT)) run into while exploring the Rockies. Who needs a zoo??
We headed back to Parker and straight to Chick fil A for Leah's birthday dinner-- her choice! Anything to make this three-year old happy, right?
Jeremy and Kylene and cousins met us for dinner and birthday cake afterwards.
After we'd feasted on fried chicken and waffle fries, we headed back to our house for some Olaf birthday cake. Leah debated about which cake she wanted, finally settled on Olaf, and I try to accommodate their wishes to best of my limited abilities (no fondant, no piping bags). Leah was pretty excited about it, so that's what counts!
Singing "Happy Birthday" to Miss Leah! At this point she was running on steam and a pretty good sugar high-- but she LOVED that all the attention was being focused solely on her. And that's really the point of any good birthday party, right?
Blowing out her THREE candles!! We absolutely LOVE this special girl, and are so thankful Heavenly Father sent her to be a part of our family. She absolutely has us all wrapped around her little finger-- and we would do anything to see that million dollar grin that lights up her whole face. From her cuddles, to her little giggles, to her outrageous temper (ha, ha)-- we love our Wee-Wees!!
Newborn, 1-year, 2-years, and the big 3-year old birthday girl.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEAH!
