Celebrating Hadley

Hadley invited the entire class to her house after class on Friday.  She had a bounce house and a great backyard for entertaining a large group of energetic 4 year olds.  And, because of her sister, Piper, she had Little People in her playroom.   The mix of bouncing, a playground structure and fun food and great friends made for a great afternoon.

Lots of jumping in the bounce house.

And, Connor got to swing with some of his favorite ladies.

                            From Left to Right - Maggie, Celia and Brooke


After pizza and cake, the birthday girl got the pinata action started. 

Hadley's dad was was brave enough to hold the pinata for the birthday party guests. 

After a bunch of hits, Maggie delivered the final blow and the guests scattered to retrieve the contents.

We had so much fun and can't say enough about what a gracious host Hadley was.

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy 4th Birthday to dear Hadley. Happy Birthday to you.  And if Jackson and Connor were singing, her name would sound like Had a ley.

Shaving in the bath

The boys received a shaving kit for Easter and were super happy about acting like a big boy.

They applied the shaving cream and we gave them instruction on using the brush.

Smoothing out the shaving cream. 

Our lefty holding his mirror to make sure he got all of the shaving cream off. 

Connor reapplied his saving cream to get a new start with his razor.

National Zoo : The Asia Trail

After the African Savanna, we decided that it was either the flamingos or the panda bears.  It was getting late and we were all tired and our legs needed a break.  Even though the flamingos were on our "must see" list, we opted for the Asia Trail to see the pandas.  We had already seen flamingos at the Animal Kingdom but have never had a chance to see a panda.

We maneuvered along the Trail in hopes to find some of the other animals such as the Red Panda, Sloth Bear, Snow Leopards, Fishing Cats or Otters.  We spotted the otters and the fishing cats but couldn't find anything else. 

All of us were excited to see the Panda Bear cub so we moved along the line until it was almost our turn. Jackson kept everyone entertained and Connor was definitely a Debbie Downer.  He expressed concern over not being able to see the pandas.  Jackson tried his best to keep him calm and kept telling Connor to belax.  Definitely a source of encouragement as we inched closer and closer to the pandas.  By the time we were let in with a couple of other people, Connor finally relented and said that he knew he was going to have his turn. 

The pandas were absolutely adorable and munching on bamboo.  The baby wasn't hard to see but lighting made it impossible to catch a photograph.   But, we have the memories.

Even after spending time with the pandas, Connor was still skeptical and had lots of questions.  We had spent a good bit of time checking in on the cub via their cam on the zoo's website.  A return trip will need to be planned so that we can more time in with the pandas once all of the excitement has worn off. 

National Zoo : The American Trail

One of the most amazing parts of the Zoo was the American trail.  At our zoo, we do not have up close and personal access to any of the animals.  We are hopeful that the penguin exhibit will put us as close to the penguins as the seals were to us at the zoo.

The seals were absolutely amazing.  We were excited about our view from the stadium seating. 

But, nothing could have prepared us for the views from the underwater viewing tank.   It was amazing.  We could have stayed for hours if it wasn't for the possibility of getting stuck in serious traffic. 

The sea lions were just as exciting.  But unfortunately, there was a fence that made it difficult for the boys to see them.  All of the pics that I was able to get were poking through the fence.  The boys' best view was from my view finder on my camera.  

 We circled back to check in on the Eagle.  He was very majestic. 

National Zoo : Lemur Island and the African Savanna

After lunch and some resting of our legs, which was greatly appreciated, we moved on to Lemur Island.

On our way to Lemur Island, we found the Giant Anteater roaming back and forth. 


Jackson led the way and across from the Anteater was a very large display of sea turtles.

We located the lemurs who were moving around a lot compared to the ones at our zoo.  We stayed for a good bit tracking the lemurs.

After the American Trail (separate post), we moved on to the African Savanna.  The first animal that we found was the incredibly active cheetah was pacing along his fence.

Next up were the Grevy's zebras.  They were hard to see.   Lots of overgrowth and a fence don't really captivate sleepy zoo visitors.

 We moved on to find the Adra Gazelles.

National Zoo : Carousel and the Great Cats

We had to pull ourselves away from the orangutans as we were all getting very hungry. 

The boys LOVE the carousel and this carousel did not disappoint.  Connor chose the penguin and Jackson chose the flamingo.

After our carousel ride, we checked in with the Great Cats.

It was amazing to see two females with the male and we learned that the male had fathered cubs to each of the lionesses.  We would have thought that the females would have been jealous of each other.  But, they apparently were not.  The cubs were young and off exhibit as they had just been born a couple months prior.  We had been tracking the birth of the cubs on the zoo cam.

The tigers were very far back.  It was hard to see them and until we saw the picture with the highest zoom, nobody would have known that the tiger cubs were out.  We will definitely planning a return trip and are hoping to see the tigers swimming.   The endangered tigers are apparently really good swimmers.