Fortunately, we are not newbies so we arrived the minute the zoo opened and did important things immediately, like climb all over a bear statue for a group photo.
Patrick's dedication to keeping up with his siblings is fairly impressive and takes quite a lot of work at times.
We went to the carousel right away too (our zoo trips don't exactly revolve around seeing real live animals) and Eleanor makes that face whenever she gets the beautiful horse to ride on. She doesn't like any of the other animals, none of the other ones compare.
There is a theme in this blog called "look in the background of photos." Okay, just two of the photos. But this is one of them. Sometimes Bradley gets away with things like climbing across carousel animals when we're occupied with younger siblings.
All three kids in this picture! It's exciting when they actually sit near each other and aren't split up all around the carousel where we can all barely see each other.
We caught a sea lion show. The only picture including a real animal from our morning at the zoo.
And then got a group picture on the tram ride to the Africa part of the zoo!
Really enjoy Bradley's face in this one.
In Africa we rode the sky safari twice and then posed for more pictures. Bradley was really into the roaring here and Patrick didn't want to go anywhere near him.
I did and it was terrifying.
It ended up being our longest zoo day ever, we even saw a couple real animals but apparently they didn't rate being photographed.
We had a pretty great spring break, we had a few fun activities but also just plenty of time for quiet play around the house.
I do prayer requests with Eleanor now and last night when I asked her if there was anything she'd like for me to pray for for tomorrow this is what I got:
Eleanor: I want it to be princess world when we wake up tomorrow.
Me: What?
Eleanor: I want to go outside and have it be princess world!
Me: ... Eleanor, let me tell you about how God uses unanswered prayers.
Bradley has been begging for more time with his Legos, spring break was pretty excellent for him.
And the kids played a lot of games together, often with minimal assistance from me. They did quite well!
More cute kid time. I love Bradley sitting and looking at a book through all of this.
We went to the Museum at Prairiefire to meet friends one day during the break.
At least the boys liked it ... I really enjoy the contrast between Bradley's kissy face and Eleanor's look of death in this photo.
Another highlight was meeting Daddy for lunch at his office one day. We got to eat in the big cafeteria and discovered a super cool basketball game sitting out in the open for anyone to play. And oh did we play. The boys also took it upon themselves to hug some of Nathan's coworkers while we were there, who Nathan actually didn't know at all, just people we saw in the cafeteria and one poor man who was sitting at his desk working while we were walking back to Nathan's office. Patrick ran up and hugged him and then Bradley (who was holding Nathan's hang) had a death grip on the corner of the guy's office until Nathan released him to go hug the new friend as well. We've read the Berenstein Bears book, The Trouble with Strangers but apparently it has made no impression.
Eleanor got to have a playdate at her friend Naomi's house over break. When the boys and I walked over to pick her up she was playing outside in this play dress and tiara she had borrowed from Naomi.
The second weekend of break we had the treat of having Grandma Colleen and Kerry join us for a visit!
There was a lot of cuddling and reading, as always.
But the most exciting thing that happened on the trip as far as the kids are concerned is that we started to play Go Fish. We are crazy into Go Fish right now.
And Bradley has really been enjoying getting to show off at his martial arts classes for family when they come to visit.
It's really fun to watch, he's good at all the kicks and he blows you a lot of kisses!
I was so relieved to have backup here for egg decorating. I got volcano and glitter egg kids which was very exciting for the kids but a huge pain for Nathan. Also, the glitter doesn't entirely come off of the egg when you peel it, or at least the peeling process means some ends up on the egg when it's time to eat it, so if I die of some strange malady in a few weeks it's probably glitter from Easter eggs. The kids enjoyed decorating the eggs but show zero interest in eating any of them.
Volcano eggs! At least they were really excited about what they decorated.
Reading with all three kids at once is growing increasing difficult, they're just so big now!
Bradley's original Lego creations continue to dazzle. He has very few to work with, he's pretty impressive with what he's able to accomplish with them!
And more reading and cuddles!
This is fairly standard for Eleanor and Grandma Colleen. A ton of ponies or princesses and so much great playtime together.
And we even got to take them to Pinstripes brunch with us. Bradley had a food coma again after eating all the bacon. He's two for two for food comas following fancy brunch!
Grandparents left and Patrick got back to the serious business of hunting down kitties and loving them. I love Meg's face in all of these pictures.
Eating meals with Patrick can be a lot of fun. Mommy songs also warm my heart.
He eats spinach on command and tells us how much he likes it. It's because both of his older siblings will eat plain spinach. The faces he makes while eating the "yummy" spinach give both Nathan and myself great joy.
Bradley is just a wee bit excited for his upcoming sixth birthday and decided to make himself a Bowser costume out of a cardboard box the other day. I was sitting on the couch with a kitty as he was wanting to do this so I had him go out to the garage on his own, grab a box, and then he brought it into the art room and somehow managed to hack away at it with children's scissors until he got this. He was quite proud.
I then ditched the cat and got up to help when Patrick woke up from his nap and demanded a matching box Bowser costume.
End result!
I have been rather ecstatic over how nice the weather has been, we've been scoring a lot of great outside time. Also, this is the second picture in this blog where if you look in the background you see Bradley getting away with stuff due to distracted parenting. He had found some loose sidewalk and was trying to bring it home to make it part of a fort in our backyard ...
Usually this goes smoothly enough. However, wait for the last five seconds of this video. Eleanor was fine, however I still don't at all understand her strategy or thought process. This is why we call her our urgent care child.
Climbing up the top of the tunnel slide continues to be hugely exciting for the boys, I'm so glad Eleanor doesn't join them.
But the absolute best part of early spring as far as the kids are concerned is being able to climb up the hill in our backyard and go exploring.
Finding monster footprints at the bottom of the hill. Luckily there are plenty of sticks to fight them off! Quote from Eleanor as she marched up the hill with the boys: "Everyone follow me! It's WAR we're headed to!"
We yell hi at all the people walking by on the path. And inform them that there isn't any poison ivy on the hill. Or ticks. They know everything once they've passed our house and been yelled at a bit.
Do you see anything interesting about this photo? Perhaps the fact that my children ditched shoes and socks for their explorations?
Eleanor: "Trust me! I don't know the way either!"
Barefoot adventures.
Patrick only ended up with one splinter after this so we're calling it a success.
A tribute to excellent parenting: Eleanor discovered a fantastic tree at Bradley's school and climbed it when we had arrived to pick Bradley up. I got her down, told her it was probably against the rules, and happily the principal was outside that day by Bradley's class when they came out so I asked her in front of my daughter if it was against the rules to climb the giant tree on school grounds. She said "Oh, I don't know. Whatever the parent decides." Gee, thanks for no help at all.
So now this has been happening on a semi regular basis. I did put my foot down when it was raining the other day. At least there are a lot of branches all the way to the bottom so if you do fall you would just bounce your way down to the ground. No one else's children seem remotely tempted by this tree. Only mine.
And then Patrick somersaults down the hill on the way back to our car. I told him not to go one last time. Spoiler, he didn't listen to me. Luckily he landed it.
I'm just grateful when the kids climb regular park equipment now.
Even thought Patrick has been really excited about sticks and fighting lately. I told him there was no hitting people with his stick and he said "But I am a BAD guy!" and waved it around dramatically. Sighhhhhh.
Daddy pushing the boys on our platform swing. The best thing ever, we love it so much.
We also adore our neighborhood big girl friends, Gracie and Natalie. And their adorable puppy Ivy.
It's hard to get the kids to leave their backyard, especially when they give them amazing piggie back rides.
And a picnic lunch at home. Bradley was at school and I promised the kids juice boxes but only if we ate outside. They were ready and willing!
This is from spring break when I was an amazing parent and got a Christian themed Easter book from the library. Eleanor expressed skepticism when I brought it out, "Will this be a boring book?" Me, "No! Jesus rises from the dead! So exciting!"
It was an incredibly boring book. Eleanor fell asleep.
Getting Patrick to take a nap has grown increasingly difficult over the course of the last few months. He can make it through the day without one in a pinch but he's always very tired at the end of the day if that happens. And I know he still needs one because he's such a little guy still (not even three yet!) and he'll fall asleep if he stops moving for more than a minute or two once it gets to around 4PM or so if he's skipped a nap.
I thought I had found a solution when I started to cuddle next to him until he would fall asleep, it's preferable for a child to be able to go to sleep on their own but if I am forced to take a quick cat nap cuddled next to a sweet child in the name of health and happiness, I will make that sacrifice. However, Patrick has never been particularly cuddly (He hugs and kisses a bunch now but I think that's just because he knows this is a tool to curry favor with the rest of his cuddly family) and getting him to lay still and cuddle into me while I hum or sing a song is quite difficult.
Patrick: Don't rub my arm!
Me: Okay, I just need to lay it across you.
Patrick: I need to lay my arm across you!! (cheerfully bashes arm on my head a few times)
Me: Okay, okay, we'll just keep our arms to ourselves and lay here so cozy. (Starts to sing a lullaby)
Patrick: No singing!
Me: I'm singing to myself (this genius comment worked for at least three naps until Patrick came up with a comeback).
Patrick: I'm singing to myself too! (Loudly starts singing a funny version of the lullaby which involves Mommy being called a monster a bunch).
Me: Nono, I'M singing.
Patrick: I'm singing to myself!
Me: Okay, let's just lay here quietly (tries to hum quietly)
Patrick: (Loudly makes up lyrics to the song I'm humming)
Me: Okay, no, we have to be so cozy. You don't have to fall asleep but you have to lay with your eyes closed for at least ten minutes.
Patrick: (Not a fool) No! I don't want to!
Me: I don't want to have to take your blanket and leave! Let's just lay here so so cozy and think about nice things. In our heads. No talking. Just be cozy. (Does a whispery version of humming and tries to sneak my arm over Patrick's side and then not move it at all so he doesn't notice.)
Eventually this works. But is it really worth it? We may just move up his bedtime and end this fight. This is my third child, you'd think I'd have this down a little better by now. But apparently Bradley was a champion napper and I could at least always count on cuddling Eleanor to sleep in a pinch. Patrick is fully his own little person. With a few big opinions to match.
And then the other day he put himself down for a nap when he got in trouble and was sent to his room. Sweet little guy.
Patrick has also been lonesome in the night and keeps making excuses to come into the master bedroom and find Mommy and Daddy. Lately he has been coming in asking us to wipe his nose. He brings a tissue and everything, very courteous for a 2am visit. However, we have other children available to curb his loneliness and so we decided to try to switch up the sleeping situation to alleviate loneliness. Bradley and Patrick would share a room and Eleanor would get to be in her big girl room by herself. We sold her on this with the promise of extra Mommy time in the evening. I had been praying with her and Bradley every night and while Eleanor wanted to chat a bit about the next day after we prayed, Bradley wanted me to get out of the room already so he could tell stories to himself. And yes, even a whispering conversation with Eleanor made that impossible.
So Eleanor moved down the hall and Patrick moved in with Bradley. Here's how the first night went: Nathan and I came downstairs and we instantly heard very loud noises and thumps coming from Bradley's room. Eventually a door opened and Bradley came out to use the bathroom one more time. I came upstairs to sort things out.
Me to Patrick: What's going on?
Patrick (very excited and holding three giant stuffed animals): We playing a kissing game! I had to get on Bayee's bed! I have toys!
Bradley (making kissy faces while sitting on the toilet): Come kiss me, Patrick!
Me: No, there is no kissing while on the potty!
Eleanor (opens her door and looks out): I'm lonely.
Me: Go back into your room and I'll come visit you in a minute. Patrick, get back into bed and wait for Bradley to be all done.
Patrick: Okay!! (Runs and jumps into his bed. His toys start loudly roaring at each other).
Me: No, the toys have to be so quiet and cozy at bedtime. You can play but they have to whisper.
Patrick: (Toys continue to roar at each other, now at a medium talking volume.)
Me: Whisper. (Talks in a whisper) Like this quiet.
Patrick: (Stares at me while toys growl slightly quieter. No break in growling).
Eventually I just sat in the hallway and sang a couple songs (with Patrick's help) and eventually things got quiet. The kids fell asleep 45 minutes later than usual and Patrick still woke up lonely in the night but we're going to try it until it sticks.
And here's the crew in front of my parents' new fireplace at the house they bought just five minutes away from us. We're just slightly excited to have family living nearby soon!
Patrick and Mabel at library story time. He's started to smooch her on a regular basis and she tolerates it fairly well although she does wipe them off half the time.
And me cuddled up with my little girl. We get some pretty great time during the week while Bradley's at school and Patrick's taking his nap. We played the card game war the other day and it took a solid HOUR for the game to end. I was cheating hard in Eleanor's favor from the thirty minute onward. And yet it still took an hour. The game finally ended and she said "Let's play again!" No. No we did not.
Playing the cupcake princess game together. We finished the game and then played cupcakes. Eleanor was really into talking about her heavenly mother for a day or two, apparently when I called God our Heavenly Father during prayer time she decided there needed to be a Heavenly Mother.
And sweet Daddy cuddles while reading in our bed. I don't know what we would do if these kids didn't love to read so much. It's a treat for everyone to cuddle up with a good book!
Patrick pretending to be Daddy while telling Daddy about his work trip. This kid is such an imp, I love it.
