Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Mini Me


Now that Collin is becoming a person,
starting to talk,
having emotions,
participating in activities,
it is amazing how much joy he just brings to me.  
He is my truly my mini me....
And I do not know why but when I walk in the door from a long, frustrating day in work followed by stupid traffic on 66- just hearing him say.....
"Mama  mama" well that makes me forget about everything!

Every now and then I get the urge to just say
goodbye to the working world and stay home with him.
But then I am reminded of all the good things about daycare/school for both him and me.  
But it does make me appreciate my time with him even more so.

Here are some of my favorite over the last couple of weeks.  


 Some kids play with the water table- not Collin,
he plays in it.


 Boys hanging together drinking a cold one!!!

 Me and my mini me!!!

 Playing at the park- peek a boo!




Boo's rehearsal dinner.... He ate more pizza than we did!



 Playing with daddy.
Love the red hair!!

On our way to school today!!!!

Monday, June 9, 2014

Trip to the Zoo


Since I found out we were having a little boy,
I dreamed of our first trip to the Zoo.
I knew I wanted to go in May before schools were out for the summer and before the summer started and the weather was hot.  

So on a Sunday morning, 
after breakfast we hoped in the car at 8:30am
and were downtown, parked by 9 am. 
The Zoo was empty and it was awesome!
Joe and I have been to the Zoo multiple times and we have never seen so many animals out!  
The main indoor exhibits do not open till 10am 
but we wanted to mostly do the outside exhibits so it was perfect.

We started out with the Cheetas and Zebras



Then headed over to the panda exhibit as we knew it would be crowded.
Plus of going early- Collin could run everywhere because it was empty.
We did bring his stroller which we did use towards the end. 





We then headed over to the monkeys where we got to see the Orangutan climb on the high rope over to the different habitat.  



 Collin loved the monkeys, and I even got a little teary when he was trying to talk to them thru the glass.  

 Then we went over to see the Tigers and Lions
where the Lion was actually "Roaring" which was awesome to see Collin's reaction. 


We spent about 2 hours at the Zoo which was perfect time frame.  
We did end up joining the FONZ club which was $80.
(Tax Deduction!!!)
Which basically gives us free parking.
Since parking is $22 dollars each time- if we go three times, this pays for itself, as we get tickets to Boo at the Zoo and other events also with drink coupons,  food coupons.  
I know we are having a couple friends with kids visiting us so this will come in handy.
Especially since May is their anniversary month, you get 14 months for the price of 12 months, so we have the membership till the end of August 2015.  






Collin had a blast!!!


And within 5 minutes of being in the car he was sounds asleep.  




We had lunch we got home and then he went down for a 3 hour nap!!!



We had a blast and I will see us going back at least 2 more times this year- possibly three.
The best time to go is to be there at 9- the animals are out and it is still cool.
It also worked well for us because we were home for nap time.
Take snacks and drinks with you because the prices at the park are ridiculous
and the lines get long!!!