Oakland Zoo

Tuesday was such a beautiful day that we decided to go to the Oakland Zoo. I guess lots of other mom's thought the same thing as it was pretty busy. Oh well we still had a good time. We went with a good friend of mine and her 2 kids, Carter and Chase. We also picked up another friends little boy, Trevor. It was fun but definately with just two moms and 5 kids we were outnumbered! Overall the kids were pretty good though. The two youngest Mark and Chase were pretty good about being in the stroller.

There were lots of animals to see and lots of things for young kids to do. Boy whoever set-up the layout of the zoo didn't think about moms pushing strollers - there were a lot of hills. It was a good workout though.

I think the kids favorite part was watching the crocodile being fed. The croc was in the water and there were acrylic walls so the kids could see into the water. The croc was right by the wall so the kids had a SUPER close up look at just how big those jaws were. ALL the kids loved it. I was suprised at how interested Mark was in the animals. He had a really good time with all the big kids.

Easter Egg Hunt

Boy Easter sure snuck up on me this year. I didn't even get out any of the Easter decorations. It was a busy weekend. On Saturday we went to the ward easter egg hunt and both kids had a great time at the park. After the egg hunt there were a few games for the kids and adults to play. Lilliana and her friend Chase did the 3 legged race. They did really well.

After the egg hunt my Dad and Doug were going to watch the kids while I went to a baby shower. The baby shower was cancelled because the mom was in the hospital having the baby. It turned out great for me because I was able to get some cooking done while the kids played with their grandpa's. I made jello easter eggs, and decided to retry making some "bunny" rolls. I had tried to make them the day before but my bunnies heads kept falling off. These new bunnies turned out really cute. Then I even had time to clean up the house before we headed off to my Mom's house for another easter egg hunt and dinner there.

We spent the afternoon and evening at my mom's house having an egg hunt with the cousins and aunts and uncles. This easter egg hunt was great because there were eggs with money in them. You can bet that even the adults participated in this egg hunt. Lilliana managed to come home with a bunch of change and 3 $1 bills. She also scored an electric guitar (for kids), and Mark "found" a big dump truck that he LOVES to play with.

It was a great way to spend the day before Easter. I am trying to teach my kids about the difference between Easter and the whole easter bunny thing. We tried not having a hunt on Sunday to keep the spirit of the day, but Lilliana was just so upset that the easter bunny was only going to come on Sat. So we did a short egg hunt in the morning before church. After church we had a delicious lunch at Jim's mom's house and we enjoyed everyone's company.

All in all it was a super busy weekend. It was great to be able to spend time together as a family.

Sliding

Who doesn’t love going down the slide. Mark is no exception. He’s learned to go down the slide and he loves it.