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We're Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo!

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We didn't have daycare yesterday (Good Friday), so Ava and I decided to head to the Minnesota Zoo to meet up with some friends.  It was, literally, a zoo there!  We stood in line for 30 minutes just to get INTO the zoo!  I was pretty happy with how patient Ava was...I was beginning to get a little nutty, so I'm happy she held it together for the two of us.

Once we got in though, we had a blast!  We met up with my friend, Lisa, and her two boys, Dylan and Jake.  As an extra-nice bonus, one of my co-workers, Amy, decided to join us for a bit, too.  She has two boys (Spencer and Payton), right around Dylan and Jake's age, so it was 4 little boys and Ava. :) 

Within minutes of getting there, Ava and Dylan were holding hands, walking together.  I have NO idea how that happened so quickly, but for some reason, I'm not surprised.  In fact, it reminded me a lot of the first time they met...Dylan was maybe 2 weeks old, so Ava would have been 6 weeks old.  Before we knew it, she had reached out and grabbed his hand in the crib...I still love that huge grin she has on her face!

Future prom dates!


3.5 years later...
(thanks for the pic, Lisa!)


Checkin' out the fish!
Payton, Spencer, Dylan, Ava, Jake, and Lisa


Mooo-ing?


Dylan's turn!


Perfect!
(and thank you again for the pic, Lisa!)


Lisa and Jake


In the CrAzY chicken house!  Seriously, it was nuts in there.


It's hard work walking so far...oh wait, it was actually more work for Lisa to haul these three around at the end!


We definitely had a good time, and all that fresh air helped to wear out both Ava and me.  She got a little cranky at one point, and Dylan had to ask her a few minutes later if she was done being cranky.  Ah, how boys learn so early that girls can be crabby one minute, and fine the next!

I think my very favorite story from the day is when Lisa noticed that Jake had half a cookie hanging out on his shoulder.  Lisa made a joke about it, Ava didn't understand why it was funny, and Dylan piped up with "Let me tell you why it's funny...the cookie was on his shoulder, and he wasn't eating it..."  I LOVE the fact that he took the time to explain the joke to Ava...I'm still giggling at that now.

There was also those 10 minutes where Ava was crabby and would contradict everything anyone would say.  Lisa said, very quietly to me, "This sun feels so good!"  And Ava, very quietly said, "No, it doesn't."  So then Lisa tried some reverse pyschology and told Ava how much she hated the sun, to which Ava responded, "Me too."  Ya know, for as crabby and sassy as Ava can be at times, she sure does make me laugh.

And I'm seeing more and more of me in her, which is a scary thing...gotta learn to keep the drama and emotions in check, kid! :)

We're getting excited about Easter tomorrow...we're meeting up with my friend Corinne for church, and then heading over to Great-Grandma Addy's house for a family dinner.  Should be a GREAT day!  We'll need to fit in a little Easter egg hunt around the house at some point, though...which reminds me...the Easter bunny needs to hop (haha) to it, and get that basket ready!

Happy Easter!

Comments

Lisa said…
That was such a fun day! Those kids are just too funny! I had forgotton about Dylan's comment. And I just LOVE that photo of them as newborns. So tiny!
April 9, 2012 at 9:24 PM
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