Fun pictures

"Cheese-ing" for the camera while he paints his ornament. 

Sisters helping him swing like a big kid.

Fairly certain the entertainment center is not supposed to be a climbing toy....

When I went to change Keeley's sheets, I discovered she had put all her little critters and people into circle time.  Adorable.

Chick Fil A date with my little man. 

Standing on the window seat (on his tip toes) to line up his trains on the window.  Busy, busy boy.

Decorating the school

For the first time the girls' school invited the families to come up at decorate.  We decorated the chapel and the outside of the primary building.  Because I had Killian with me, I volunteered to help watch kids on the playground but we did decorate a bit in the chapel while we were en route to the cookie table.

 

 

 

We really enjoyed it and the girls are so proud that they were able to participate.

Play sand

Kayden and I decided to tackle a recipe for play sand during our "Kayden/Mommy" time and then made a giant mess with it!  So much fun!

 

Later we let Keeley and Killian play with us too!

Play sand was lots of fun.  It was also consumed by the dogs outside which made them throw up.  Killian also tracked it in the house on his shoes and then it messed up the vacuum.  So, not sure we'll be making it again....

Potato Head Glasses

Playing before the girls woke up, Killian found the potato head glasses and wanted to wear them.

Of course he then decided that I needed to wear them too.  Love him.

 

Independent Play

Killian and I have been struggling a little lately with independent play.  He can entertain himself fine.  Unfortunately this usually means he is getting into things he is not supposed to be exploring.  This particular day I was so excited because he brought the gutter into the kitchen with the trucks and asked me to set it up for him to play while I was working. I was really proud of him!

 

Christmas Decorating

Granddad came over to help us decorate the tree.  Interesting to say the least with little brother...

 

 

 

 

 

He saw me taking pictures and turned around to say "cheese".  Quite possibly his favorite word.

Tree was decorated and kids had fun going through all the ornaments.

We also finished the play structure and the girls loved it!

 

 

 

 

Brother can't quite get up there but he's working on it!

Climbing!

The girls are constantly climbing and hanging on things all over the house so we decided to buy them an outdoor climbing toy.  Dad took on the assembly with all his little helpers. 

Killian was fascinated with all his tools.  Fascinated.  We could not keep him away!

The girls were very interested in helping Dad get all the pieces .

   

 

An attempt to keep him out of trouble :-)

 

 

 

 

 

We started a little too late to finish before the sun went down and the temp got colder so we had to put it on pause until the following day.

Dallas Zoo

I feel like we have turned a corner with our little family.  When Killian was tiny, he was portable.  When he started getting mobile, life got much trickier for me.  Big outings intimidated me because I would have three kiddos to chase after.  After a successful trip to the grocery store with all three (for a big shopping trip!), I decided to try to tackle the zoo. 

We packed up and headed out as soon as everyone was up and dressed.  A quick stop by Chick Fil A and we arrived at the zoo at 9:10.  It was perfect!!  I was able to park close, it wasn't crowded, the weather was beautiful, the girls were so helpful, and Killian LOVED it.

On the monorail, Killian was fascinated.  Each time we passed by the animals, he would sign "more" and then shrug his shoulders.   If I asked if he could see the animals he would shake his head no.  So cute.  He loved it so much and made it through about 18 minutes of the 22 minute ride with no problem.  I was impressed.

The girls both loved it too.  Keeley isn't looking impressed in this picture but she was  enjoying it.  I just had a hard time snapping pictures of them while holding Killian.  They watched the animals and Kayden listened very intently to all the facts that the guide was giving.

Giraffes were one of the two exhibits requested.  We went to see them but the girls didn't want to feed them.

Eating at a cafe while watching a lion.  Kids seem unimpressed here but that is because they are looking for the bee that was flying around our table.

 There were these little elephants that the girls wanted to ride.

Kayden was the only one brave enough to ride the big one.

 

 

Standing by the kangaroos!

Checking out the tunnel....seeing where his sisters are going.

 

He loved it!!

The naked mole rats were the other exhibit the girls requested.  THey are sort of fascinated with them ever since we read "The Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed"

After we explored the naked mole rats, we played in the children's area.

There was a little stream I didn't know about before we got there.  The girls begged to take off their shoes and splash.  Of course it wasn't long before brother wanted in the action, and promptly fell.  And, no, Mom had no extra clothes...Keeley has told me multiple times that I will need to be more prepared next time we go back.

 

 

 

 

 

So much fun!  We bought a membership and I hope we are able to use it frequently.  The kids played hard and all three napped on the way home.  Perfect day with my sweet kiddos.