A very fun family beach day!

I am very thankful that both of my kids enjoy the beach as much as I do. And I am thankful that James will tolerate it in small doses. The weather was hot and beautiful and the water was nice and warm. All pluses for James who spent the entire time in the water with the kids.

Looks like a pretty big kid up there with all the others.

We took the kids out to the "deep" as they call it and had a lot of fun swimming. Adeline and I would practice going under water. She is getting really good at holding her breath. We would all then attack Daddy and try to push him under but it always resulted in Mommy being dunked.

Yeah....Daddy and his kids.

A very nice lady saw me taking a picture of James and the kids and asked if she could take a picture with me in it. How thoughtful. Thanks lady!

And some ice cream to finish the day

Yum! I don't think either of my kids have ever turned down ice cream.

I promised the kids we would pick up face masks at the end. Adeline kept asking all day, and after being such a big girl and feeding the giraffe she decided on the giraffe mask.

Now that it was five o'clock and without a nap Andrew was not happy that we were leaving and was unwilling to wear his mask.

It was a wonderful day...thank you Aunt Erin, Joanne, and Joelle.

Time to get wet and cool off

Next year we are going to try and make it in June so that it isn't so hot. Either way we will still stopped at the sprinkler park and fountains. This year I brought extra clothes to change the kids in after. Next year I will remember towels to dry them off with although with it being so hot they did dry off pretty fast.

All three kids just dove in and got soaked in like ten seconds.

Little did they know that we would be taking them to the fountain pool next.

It was so nice leaving this until the end because it allowed the kids to play with no time constraints.

Andrew became quite the master at positioning his hand just the right way to spray Joelle or Adeline.

Adeline was enjoying every minute of it.

When I told Adeline it was time to come out this is the response I got. She did eventually come out.

One fun train ride

We were getting tired and hot. Our last attraction before the sprinklers.

A nice train ride around the zoo....in the shade.

Four years later....

Same great Aunt....same baby Adeline

Drums and Joanne

We love drums....and we love Joanne!

Lion and Giraffe

We're on our way

Andrew and Adeline both showed no fear when it came to seeing the Lion...I am sure it had something to do with the very thick glass in front of them.

Feeding the Giraffe had been a topic of discussion all day. Adeline remembers from last year being afraid and not wanting to feed it. But something changed this year and it happened right when we started feeding the giraffe. Before then she was still adamant about waiting until she was six to feed the giraffe.

I think it helped when she saw Joelle feeding the giraffe first.

Whatever it was, Adeline decided to give it a try....

...and she, and her Mommy were very proud!

Log Ride

Erin, Adeline, Joanne, and Joelle all rode in the log way ahead of us. I don't know why they got so far ahead but we couldn't even catch up. This was a fun time for Andrew and I. I'm glad that he wasn't afraid to ride.

The above picture is taken with my full zoom....that is how far away they are.

I just love this video.

I caught Andrew yelling for them so I had him reenact it, but they couldn't hear.

Where's my Joey?

Andrew refused to go in the Kangaroo's pooch. Adeline and Joelle fit just right.

My baby Joey

I had this crazy idea to get inside thinking that I would fit but it was so uncomfortable. At least I got a cute shot with Addy.

Andrew and the girls were all about the wall puzzle

Joanne was great with the kids. They just love her.

Penguins

A big thank you to Erin for getting a shot with all of the adults. There are so many events that I have recorded of the kids with no pictures of any adults. I am sure that when Adeline and Andrew look back at all of this stuff they will want to see what we all looked like too.

They're all fenced in!

The penguins were out having a party.

This is another thing I love about this zoo.....the animals are always out.

Adeline and Joelle.....silly girls

Check out Andrew's pocket...

He kept taking a bite of his licorice and then putting it back in his pocket. Pulling it back out when he was hungry again.

The Merry-go-round

Andrew was a little confused. He wanted us to be able to put the tokens back in as if it were a game.

Adeline riding all by herself with Joelle like a big girl. During this time Andrew had cried and refused to go on the merry-go-round that I had withdrawn money from the atm for. I was consoling him so Aunt Erin took some pictures for me.

After Sissy got off Andrew changed his mind and decided to ride but he had to be on my lap. I was glad he changed his mind because I felt like crap withdrawing money from our account and receiving fees for it. And I even felt worse if he didn't ride. Thankfully the Lord worked it out that 5/3 employees receive up to 10 ATM withdrawals a months from other ATM's and they will refund ALL of the fees. I felt so much better when I learned that.

Andrew made sure that both of my hands were around him tight. I didn't mind.