Nothing Better Than Bath Time

 Since Charlotte can sit up now, she's been taking baths with her bro without the help of a chair.

They both love it.

 Can't you tell?

 Adorable.  They have so much fun together.

Happiest little boogs.

The video is my favorite part.

So maybe some assistance is still needed.  But just to let you know, no babies went underwater in the filming of the video.
How funny is that nod?? Too cute.

First Trip to the Zoo

 We decided to take a day off work and go experience the Indy Zoo. 

 We headed down to Indy and passed this heinous accident.  SOMEone is going to be ticked that they have to wait longer on their Altima.  No one was hurt as far as we could tell.  Scary. 

 We parked at the Zoo and when Andrew picked up Charlotte from her carseat, we realized she had a major blowout on the way down.  Yikes! It was a terrible clean up in a strange restroom with Dyson handdryers and loud toilets.  Not cool. 

 But once we got all cleaned up and gave her a bottle she was fine.

 We started off seeing the sites. Monkeys!

 We got up close and personal with the tiger.  He walked straight up to Tommy and Andrew.  It definitely scared them and they literally backed away from the glass.  Too funny. 

 Charlotte continued to chill with a one-handed chug.

 Bah-giraffe!!!!! (That's how Tommy says it.)

 Bah-giraffe selfie! Tommy wanted nothing to do with a selfie. 

 Then we finally saw what he had been talking about for weeks.  The LIONS! Yay!

 What up, Mufasa?

 Charlotte hid from some rhinos. 

 Then it was on to the pachyderms.

 Pool party time!!! Last one in is a rotten egg!

 Then it was time for lunch.  Lunchtime selfie!

 Then it was potty time.  Charlotte and I chilled and waited for the boys. 

 Carousel time! Tommy picked the tiger for the first ride.  The tiger became his new fave animal after his close encounter.  Then he picked a bear and a lion.  Yes, that's right.  Lions and tigers and bears. 

 Charlotte rode along for the first round.  I couldn't believe how much they both enjoyed it. They were lovin' it. 

 Then we rode the Zoo Train.  Family Zoo Train Selfie!

 Then it was time for Charlotte to eat again so we went to the Mother's Nursing Station.  They had nice curtained off rooms.  So cool. 

 These are paintings done by an elephant and a sea lion! Love the ambiance.  It would have been totally peaceful except for the fact that it was connected to the bird sanctuary and the squawks were loud and proud. 

 Charlotte took a nice nap while Tommy and I attended the Dolphin Show. 

It was a little 90s ("Y'all Ready For This?") but the tricks were fun.  I had mentioned beforehand that the dolphins might splash and Tommy was very concerned.  He was okay with walking up to the tank to see the dolphins...

But once they started swimming near us, he was outta there!

 Tommy checked out the flamingos... 

 Put on a bird head with Dada...

 Then they switched. 

 Near the end of the day, we finally made it over to the "Oceans" section.  Yay Penguins!!

 We also saw super loud barking sea lions. 

 Tommy, Andrew and I all touched a shark! Yick! :-)

 Then we came home and played for a minute while Charlotte took a nap. 

Then since Tommy was such a good boy all day long, we decided to treat him to dinner at "the place with the stuff on the walls", TGI Fridays.  He loved it!

What an exhausting day! We had so much fun though! Can't wait to check out the Brookfield Zoo in a couple weeks!

Chicago Girls Weekend 2014

I went to Chicago on Saturday for a girl's weekend. It was only Holly, Krissi, and me but we had a great time!

As evidenced by the following... 

Just can't get enough of these GIFs. 

Target Trip!

 We tried a new cart at Target during our last visit. 

 How hilarious do they look riding in that thing? They loved it though! Charlotte last much longer being able to see everything. 

 Tommy wanted to get down the entire time so we compromised and let him stand which he loved. 

After that we had dinner at Firehouse Subs.  Charlotte played Peekaboo with Tommy's fire hat.  I know it doesn't have anything to do with Target but it was a cute picture nonetheless. :)

Back to Easter Weekend...

Yes we have to go back in time.  Sorry the posts are out of order.  It's a long explanation that you don't care to hear so just continue reading and enjoy a blast from the past (two weeks ago). :)
So Easter weekend was a couple weeks ago.  On Saturday we didn't do much until after the kiddos naps.  It was 3:30 pm when we finally left the house.  Tommy wanted to go to the zoo so we headed over for a quick half hour walk-through. 

 Charlotte met the goats for the first time!!

 Tommy still isn't too sure about the goats.  He kept his distance. 

 After the zoo, we headed over to the playground.  It was incredibly busy.  It was the first decent weekend and everyone had the same idea. 

 We had a good time despite the crowd, which included a woman screaming at her daughter named Miracle.  We decided to get the heck out of there and head to another playground. 

 We headed to a much smaller park in West Lafayette.  Tommy realized he loves swinging. 

 Charlotte realized the same!

 Belly swing time!

 Who would have thought she would like swinging so much?

 More sliding! Watch out for that mulch!

 Then we walked over to the pedestrian bridge.

 I wanted to take some pictures to see if this might be a good family picture location. 

 Surely those trees will green up a bit soon!

 The architecture should be a cool backdrop but the shadows created at that time of day may pose a problem.

 

 We got to see a train pull into the station when we were there.  Tommy was super excited about that.

How fun is this picture? Andrew looks powerful crossing the bridge over the train with his brood, no? ;-)

We made a quick pit stop at a cafe/bar (yes both!) downtown. Those college kids working there were very confused seeing a baby in a bar (also coffee shop).  We could only go in one area.  Everyone stared at us while we were there.  Super fun! We didn't stay long.

 Andrew got a mocha and Charlotte wanted to share. 

 We went back for more train viewing as we crossed back over the bridge. It's rare that I'm in a picture so I have to post it!

 See what I mean about the shadows? Maybe not so good for family pictures but fun for random pictures like this. 

 What do you think? With greener landscaping and flowers in those pots, it might make an interesting background for pictures?

Such a beautiful day that day.  Perfect weather for bridge crossing. :) 

 One more landscape pic.  Bear with me. :)

 After we got back to the car, we decided to get dinner.  We were crazy enough to try the mall early evening on Saturday night.  We went to Panera because I knew they had an allergy menu.  It was a big hit!

 Charlotte slept through dinner and woke up in a great mood ready to take on the mall!

We walked around the mall and found this furry friend.  There was no line! We asked Tommy if he wanted to get his picture taken with the Easter bunny.  He said Yes.  We capitalized on this moment.  Tommy NEVER says yes to this kind of stuff. That's why he's never had his picture with Santa.  So for the first time ever, here's a picture of Tommy with a mall character.  They were both about to lose it when the picture was taken.  She used some sort of noisemaker thing and they both were distracted for 3 seconds for a picture.  So no crying! Success!!

 The Easter Bunny visited since the kids were so good for their picture!!

 Charlotte got some new shades! So hilarious.

Tommy got a snake! Who gets a snake for Easter? This guy!

 I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the kids in their Easter clothes.  I did snap a quick one of Charlotte before church. Another Zulily find! I had to buy it.  It was like a tiny pink baby business suit.  Adorable! Someone needs a diaper change though! :)

 After church she changed into something more comfy from Grandma. 

 Tommy rode in the tractor with Grandpa.

 Charlotte got some quality time with Great Grandma Katie and Great Aunt Debbie. 

We had quite the busy Easter weekend.  Happy Easter!