Our Friday morning playdate took us to the zoo. We were joined by our friends plus one who was out of school for the day. The weather was great and the whole trip was lots of fun. Here are some photo highlights.

"Hello little one, how about we play for the day?" She was a great sport, played in the sand, and took a nap during lunch time.

Introducing Mr. Bieber. He was awake and playing instead of his usual sleeping pose.

Mr. Giraffe was closer to the fence than usual. Actually, he was right up at the edge when we came over, but of course got shy for his photo op.

The three silly girls who just hatched from the super egg.

I like to think that Maeve is the queen of this nest.

The girls checking out the new lion exhibit fence-side.

Elena on her pretty pony.

Julia’s choice was the Red Panda. She appears excited with her choice.

Maeve’s choice was a Zebra, I wonder if her tights influenced her desire for a striped animal.

We spent a while in the sand. It seemed a fun activity and one that Thea could also enjoy.

Daddy was playing baseball with his girls after work and school one day. The girls had their turn at hitting, but decided it was Daddy’s turn. Before the photo was taken the ball had to be fetched off the roof twice. Not too bad for hitting a tiny ball thrown by little girls.

There are many seasons we celebrate, but around here we celebrate Consignment season twice a year. This is the time where we organize all the clothes, toys, shoes, and baby stuff that we have outgrown and sell it to other people looking to save money on seasonal wardrobes and other things they need. In return we purchase clothes, shoes, and toys that bigger kids have outgrown. Because of the time commitment required for working, shopping, and just getting ready for the sale there is no way to not involve our kids. In fact, when Emily realized that she would miss out on the main shopping day she was quite disappointed. This Fall’s sale went really well both for cool finds and sales. The girls did well in supporting Mama too.

At drop-off Mama ran into our friends. The kids checkout out some of the toys. We had fun playing while their Mama put away her sale items.

For all the good spirits and helpfulness, there was a bit of a breakdown after we missed our nap. At this point, Julia had thought sorting had taken too long and she would rather watch a movie. A photo of the stubborn little girl seemed like the only appropriate response.

Julia made a new friend while we were at lunch. Sweet Frog was a sweet frog. 😉

Julia eagerly volunteered to help Mama snap green beans. She also stuck with it longer than expected. On our first round, Mama took care of the ends and Julia just snapped them into smaller pieces. This was not enough on the second batch though. She wanted to try her hand at the whole process. She definitely wore out faster having to do all the steps, but it was awesome that she was so eager to help her Mama. The green beans are more fun to eat later if you pitch in to help in the process.

We went to listen to Ms. Caryn read for Storytime. The girls enjoyed exploring the kids book section and listening to Ms. Caryn’s book too. After storytime we enjoyed lunch at Market Square. We got on the road for home before the rain moved in. We hope to make it at least once a month for this fun time.

Julia has loved going to school twice a week with her special friend. It is easier to leave Mama when your friend is there playing with play-doh already. Our warm sunny days have made playing at the playground a lot of fun too.

M’s fashion shot!