cosley zoo

Today I took the boys to Cosley Zoo for a couple hours. I love it - it's got farm animals, it's small, it's free, it's really not crowded, and parking's real close. We picked up McDonald's and ate at the picnic tables. They must have run through that little red caboose six or seven times! We saw a few pigs, horses, cows, goats, and more - Logan loved all the animals and I even got a "moo" out of him, but Carter was more into talking with the zoo keepers and getting up close and personal with the animals - check out one of the horses with him! We saw a raccoon being trained and heard the loudest peacock ever. It was hard to get a good picture of Logan though, they're mostly of the back of his head. He was too busy looking at the animals or climbing the gates to turn around and smile for the camera. We got home just a bit before Charlie came home from work and played outside for the rest of the afternoon. Logan followed Charlie around with his mower as he cut the grass and I tried to enjoy some r&r in the hammock. It was a beautiful day!

these rabbits we saw were unbelievably huge - seriously, this gray one had to be 16 pounds!

carter loved the two horses and they loved him!

logan wanted to get in there with the pigs!

memorial day

Monday we went over to Jamie and Matt's for a barbeque. It was pretty low-key but the weather ended up getting pretty hot and Carter enjoyed a dip in Evan's little froggy pool. Logan wouldn't get in. The boys played bags, chalk, jump rope and did bubbles. The food was great and Logan was so worn out he napped for a bit on the couch -- so sweet!

natalie and jamie

matt and evan

matt's boards are cubs and sox, hmmmm notice where my boys are tossing?

go cubs! charlie so disapproves, but my dad would be proud!

a dip in the froggy pool

sweet dreams logan!

the arboretum

Today Gayle couldn't work, so lucky me I got to take the day off and be Mom! Just before noon we met Jamie, Evan and Natalie at Mom's for some lunch and then took the kids to The Morton Arboretum. I remember taking Carter there a few times the summer Logan was born and he loved it! It seemed like a lot of sections were not open and planting and such was still not complete, but we had a nice day to be outside and explore the Children's Garden and meet the larger-than-life bugs! It would be great to have a membership and be able to drive over there once a week in the summer - it really is a fun place for the boys to run, dig, splash and explore.

evan was happy to be at the arboretum!

carter meets daddy long legs

carter hugs a ladybug

we saw thousands of tiny black tadpoles swimming in the pond

saturday

Charlie's at the Indy 500 this weekend so Saturday we went over to Mom's for a little Memorial Day celebration and got to see Becca and Rachel. First Jamie and I walked to the park with the kids. Later, Mom planned some fun backyard games for all the cousins - unwrap the lollipop with garden gloves contest, potato sack race, and balloon on the spoon relay! It was so fun for the kids to be outside all day long - we hope this gorgeous weather is here to stay and maybe warms up even a little bit more! We're going over to Jamie and Matt's on Monday for a bbq - Carter says he LOVES barbeques!

evan's first saturday-before-memorial day

i don't think i like the feel of this!

had to put one of jamie and evan...she's always taking the pictures and rarely in them!

logan at the park - carter's too quick and too busy! at least someone still needs me...

potato sack (i mean laundry bag) race

carter: i can't do this with these gloves on!

mom only had regular balloons and those things wouldn't pop for anything!

the iron chef

Tonight was a book signing at Williams-Sonoma and Carter got to meet Iron Chef Mario Batali! I know, most kids would be thrilled to meet Mickey Mouse, but mine was excited to meet a star from the Food Network! Carter really loves sneaking into bed with me to cuddle when he can't fall asleep and I turn on "cooking shows" to watch together. We watch Iron Chef America, Ace of Cakes, Dinner Impossible, you name it! It's our special little bonding time! Natalie invited us to the store for her big event - in the past she's had Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis but we didn't get to go. So, tonight we waited in line for a bit over an hour sampling some of Chef Batali's recipes and WS margarita mix. At one point Carter plopped down in line and paged through the cookbook like he was reading his favorite picture book! He was adorable when he was getting his book signed (my cheeks hurt from smiling!) and Chef Batali was so kind and friendly to Carter. They have quite a bit in common you know - both love the color orange and Chef actually gave Carter one of his orange sharpie markers to keep! Carter told him he's seen "all his shows" and said on Sunday he watched him work with the secret ingredient Moon Fish. Chef asked him if he thought it was scary and Carter told him "No! It was so so cool!" It was so neat to see the two carry on conversation and he encouraged Carter to "get into it" in the kitchen and "start with making breakfast!"

say "mario-oooooooo" for the camera!Thanks Auntie Natalie!