Lions and Giraffes oh my

This was an awesome day at the zoo. The cool weather brought out some animal fun!!! We got to see giraffes running - they looked so awkward!

The lion was pacing up close. . .

I love the lighting on this ostrich pic Brian took. . .

And the coolest thing - there was only one elephant out - and he was MAD!!! Brian talked to a zoo worker who said that the matriarch had kicked him out earlier in the day - he was stomping around - trumpeting - splashing in the water. Basically he was throwing a temper tantrum. It scared the girls - I thought it was amazing to watch!

Zoo Boo

We went to Zoo Boo on Sunday. The girls both wanted to be princesses . . . until about 10 minutes before we left - Then Emily claims she wants to be a pirate . . . so we dug through the house and got her pirate on. . . Maddie decided to mix things up and be a kitty - in her costume from last year. (Notice her pants hanging about 4 inches below her costume!) We had a good time. We ran into some friends from church there and walked around with them some. I'm going to do another post on the animals we saw.

Baby Kate

Our little angel, Kate, is growing!!! She turned 3 months on Monday - I cannot believe it. She is so sweet. She smiles very easily. She is a good girl. The only tough thing is that she likes to be held when she sleeps. . . I'm trying to enjoy rocking her. She is a good baby girl!

This is me carrying Kate in my sling at Zoo Boo - I had her all bundled up. She was perfect and slept the whole time. She likes being in there by her mama!

Doc and gymnastics

Last monday Emily had to get her Kindergarten shots. . . it was torture!!! I had to hold her on my lap - and I genuinely was afraid one of the three shots would end up in my thigh - Don't get me wrong. . . I would have taken all 3 for her if I could have. It was ugly - screaming, squirming, etc. But we survived. I took the girls to Chuck E . Cheese to celebrate afterwards. I was quite proud of myself. . . the doctor and restaurant alone with all 3 girls!

We asked for money for the girls' birthdays for them to sign up for gymnastics. This will be their third week of class. They love it. Here are some shots of Maddie in her class. They are through glass so they aren't great. . .

Madeline is 3

I decided to take Madeline's 3 year old pictures myself. Here are the results of our photo shoot in the park today!

Awesome party

The party was soooo fun! There was pumpkin bowling. . . decorating pumpkin. . .

ring toss

arranging mr. bones

all dressed up . . .

The girls got invited to a Halloween Party. They both wanted to be princesses. Here they are all dressed up with somewhere to go . . .

the girls

here are the 3 girls hanging together. . .

Cowboy Day

Emily had "Cowboy Day" at school on Friday. I thought she made a mighty fine Cowgirl.

Mickey Mouse Party

Saturday was Maddie's 3rd Birthday party - she chose the theme - Mickey and Minnie. . .

Here is her awesome cake. . . We gave her a new swing for her baby.
Our family minus Kate who was crying. . .
an idea I got off the internet -I loved this! I may do this for other parties without the ears - it was so nice to simply place a scoop of ice cream on each plate.

opening presents -

We borrowed a bounce house from some friends - which was AWESOME!

Our neighbor, KeTina, made an awesome cake for her.

I just realized while posting this that I didn't do candles or singing! Ughhh! I was so focused on keeping the party moving. . . :(