Wow! February has already come and gone, and March is here-- hopefully bringing spring with it. Between work and church and school and new babies we've been all kinds of B-U-S-Y! I guess that's here to stay. Here's how we wrapped up the last half of the month:
The Denver City Zoo has free-to-the-public days every now and then, so Jon and I met up with Kylene and her kids for the most recent one. We got there right when it opened, and were met with a decent amount of crowds (we figured most kids would still be at school) and beautiful blue skies and a 60 degree day. Here's Leah and Isaac admiring the giraffes.
We got a great view of "Simba" (according to Leah)-- and unfortunately the sun was right in our faces so this picture isn't great, but he was literally laying right up against the glass! Yikes! We could have reached out and touched him on the nose.
This was Leah's favorite part of the zoo-- the tropical fish aquarium. And it reminded Jon and I of vacations spent cruising, and beaches and snorkeling, so it was probably our favorite as well. Hopefully we'll see these guys in their natural environments in the not too distant future! We didn't get to stay long as Jon had to be back for work, but it was a great zoo, made even better by the fact that we got to see it for free!
That afternoon Lucy's 3rd grade class had a "Rockin' School Night" which was basically an open house to show parents and siblings everything they'd been learning in their rocks and minerals unit. Lucy never ceases to amaze me, and has become an expert on all this stuff. Her group made a Twister game complete with trivia questions on rocks and minerals. She even wore her dad's old Temple University lab coat so she'd look like more like a geologist.
Here she is proudly showing off her homemade archipelago display! They had refreshments and games and a skit written and performed by the students. It was so fun to see what she'd been up to in class, and even better, Elizabeth napped the whole time so I could enjoy it too!
There's a brand new cupcake shop called "Smallcakes" that's been calling my name, and it's located in Castle Rock right by Jon's office. We met him for lunch one day and I was dying to try one and see if they compared to Gigi's from North Carolina. We got the cookie dough and Reeses PB cup to taste test.
Leah got this gorgeous hot pink sprinkled vanilla cupcake and was in heaven! Cupcakes are still hands down her favorite treat. And when doesn't a cupcake make life better?
Lucy's BOB (Battle of the Books) team just keeps on surprising everyone and winning!! They won their last two district battles, one of which was the quarterfinals, and they now are officially competing in the semifinals. They've impressed everyone since their team is all 3rd graders, and they're competing against teams with all 4th graders who have the advantage of having done this last year, too.
Here's her team, the Lightning Rebels. They're now into single elimination rounds, so this Tuesday is the semifinals, and if they win they'll be competing for the District Championship, then move on to the CITY Championship. If they lose, they're out. Lucy is the MVP (in my opinion). She's now read all 10 books, and every time there is a question the whole team looks to Lucy to see what she says first. Wish her luck this Tuesday!
This little goober is just growing and growing and growing. She is getting chubbier by the day, and we looooove seeing that double chin. She is always so serious, but is starting to finally crack some smiles. Here she is all dressed up for stake conference. She is definitely rockin' the pink dress!
And other than when she's eating or being bounced, her next favorite thing is to be in the bathtub. She LOVES bath time! She is happy and peaceful and just chills in her little "boat" in the water. And her siblings love to help give her a bath too (you can see Leah's toys and her playing with Elizabeth's toes).
Lucy had "Twin Day" at school and her teacher sent me this cute picture of she and her friend Sophia dressed like "twins." It's nice to know she's made so many new friends this year in Colorado.
Last weekend Jon had his second seminar in Chicago for the implant course, so I was flying solo Saturday and Sunday. While he was working on cadavers (shudder), I was getting lunch at my favorite place just up the road (Kneaders), and taking the kids to the park to enjoy the sunny weather. We met Isaac and Sophie there and the kids had a blast running around and burning off some energy. We rented "Minions" from Redbox and made a movie night out of it.
Sunday I decided to be brave and go to Sacrament meeting with all 4 kids by myself. I was scared thinking of if Elizabeth woke up and I had to go nurse her, what the other three would do when left to their own devices, but I really just needed some church in my life so I did it anyway. Isn't Lucy so photogenic?
They all did great! Elizabeth slept, Lucy helped with Leah, and Zach worked on his drawings, so we all survived! I just LOVE those chubby cheeks!!
Leah was invited to a birthday party for a little girl in our ward who was born on Leap Day, so technically even though she was turning 4, this was her very first birthday party and her parents went all out! It was cowgirl themed and Leah was SO excited!
They rented ponies and had pinatas and birthday cake and it was a super cute party. Leah even celebrated by wearing her very own cowgirl boots.
One night while I was making dinner Elizabeth was fussing, so when I went to check on her Zach had picked her up and was holding her while playing Wii. Ha ha. She looks pretty happy to be playing video games, right?? Now, bring on March!
