a zoo trip, some randomness, and leaves of fall...

This morning after Clay flew out, the boys and I headed to the MN Zoo to enjoy one last trek around the outdoor exhibits before they close up for winter. The weather predicted for today was beautiful, and I was so excited that the weatherman was right on target; it was indeed a gorgeous day. The boys loved seeing all the different species of animals. They contentedly stayed snug under their thick blanket I brought along to drape over their legs and heartily snacked on goldfish as we passed many of the exhibits. Both got out of their seats plenty to romp and play, but I was thankful I brought the double-stroller for the longer strides. Both were happy happy boys, which made for a very happy mama. ;)

In addition to seeing the outdoor exhibits and the indoor shark feeding show, one of the highlights was playing at the Woodland Adventure.  It features a variety of climbing structures and a number of nature elements for the children to explore and play in. Parker went multiple times down the giant curvy slide from the lighthouse, over the swinging rope bridge and into the treehouse. On the opposite side of the play area, sits the giant eagle's nest, which just so happened to be Cooper's favorite of the day. I'm not really sure why, but he was totally cracking himself up in that thing...it was way cute.

It was a great morning...and a great afternoon. We got home right at lunchtime, and enjoyed some chicken pasta salad, grapes, broccoli, carrots and almonds. Both guys tucked right into their beds and drifted off to sleep without a cry. Aaaahhh. Success. :)

For some randomness...last week was a very happy day when I discovered my favorite pair of hoop earrings that have been lost for 2 years now. I squealed when I found them in my Vera Bradley eyeglass case...random I know. But I've been so happy and have enjoyed wearing them again so much that I thought I would share.

I have been trying to weed through the mountains of magazines and paper stuff that has been slowly piling up over the last 6-8 weeks around our house. Usually, I stay on top of our mail and things of that nature pretty well (actually, at least half of it if not more, never even makes it in the house before it goes in the recycling bin), but lately that has not been the case. So, I'm on a shredding/burning/recycling spree of mail, magazines and "paper stuff."

...which leads me to my next random tidbit. Tonight, hubby built me my first fire of the winter. Yea! I do LOVE fires in our fireplace and never tire of those (which is good because that is the ONLY thing about winter I do not tire of). He knew I had a good bit to shred...our shredder is officially non-existant as our last one broke...so he built me a gorgeous fire to be able to throw my paper in...and to prop my feet up to. (Truly, I think he's a little tired of me complaining about the cold temps in the house and shivering loudly enough for him to purposefully hear! ha ha!)

The other day after work, the boys and I, along with our neighbors' two girls, played outside for some time before supper. Clay and I were on a mission to rake leaves and the kids, of course, discovered the big, colorful piles that come with that chore. I think we raked one of our piles up 8 or 9 times as they would squeal, run and jump to their little heart's content..laugh...and then do it all over again, until it was time for us to come rake it up into a mountain for more jumps. So fun!

We had four of these big piles in our front yard so it was not long before we recruited help from the youngsters; they were happy to oblige. ;) What do you see that is wrong with the picture below? ha ha! Clay actually was on the phone with his sister and the kids would get upset if we tried to help with their "job," so we let them load up two wheelbarrow fulls all by themselves. As you can see below, they were very much into it and did a terrific job. *Remember, to hold a "leaves party" next year and recruit all the neighborhood kids to help. After the "mountain jumps" and re-rakes of the big piles of leaves, job should be completed in less than an hour. ;)

Even Cooper was quite the delighted little fellow to have a position in the chore with the big kids. He "held up" the wheelbarrow (well, when he wasn't trying to turn it over! ;))

Fun times around here...happy Fall!!!