Friday, April 6, 2012

A Day at the Zoo

With spring football growing ever closer, we decided to take full advantage of everyone being off of school for Good Friday and head to the Dallas Zoo for some family time!

Our first stop was The Savannah and a ride on the monorail. Jake was really excited to ride the "train." :)



Zebras! Before we got to the zoo, Jake said he wanted to see the zebras most.

Next up where the pelicans...and basically there was an entire flock of them camped out on the monorail track, so we had to hang out a few minutes until they all moved. As we drove by, we got extra close to a few!



I don't remember this animals official name, basically an African bobcat.
Antelope










My favorite, chimpanzees!

Jake was LOVING the ride, he would NOT look at the camera AT ALL!


After the ride we walked the Gorilla trail. Jake told me this gorilla was 'eating something,' pretty sure it was a banana.

Next up, the elephants. They wound up being Jake's favorite of the day.






The elephants were very active and Jake was cracking us up talking to them. One elephant was breaking up a stick and eating it. Jake yelled out, "No elephant! Don't eat the stick, that's for squirrels!" No clue where he got that one. Then he kept trying to 'boss' the elephants around... ' go by your mommy! go by your firend!' We hung out by the elephants for a good 15-20 minutes.



We went inside the elephant building and Jake got to touch some elephant tusks, elephant bones, and a rhinocerous horn.









When we finally tore Jake away from the elephants, we moved on to the giraffes.





Checking out the Cheetahs





We packed a picnic lunch and ate it on the deck by the lion's exhibit. We parked the stroller a little bit away and I left the camera with it, so I don't have any pictures of lunch or the lions, but Jake sure thought they were cool.




After lunch, we finally drove away from 'The Savannah' to explore the rest of the zoo.




Our next stop were the penguins. They were a huge hit with Jake last year and he loved them this year as well. It was really crowded when we got to this stop, so we didn't stay very long.







Okay, this is a completely random thought, but seriously, check out the cowlick on my child's head! My poor child and his crazy hair, definitely time for a haircut!

Flamingoes


We stopped and bought some lemonade...this boy LOVES him some lemonade!


Then we made our way to the tigers...

where Stephen almost got 'attacked' :)

Then, in an attempt to be mother of the year, I scratched up Jake's leg getting him out of the stroller to see the tiger. Tears and drama ensued, so alas, we have no tiger picture. Jake was getting a little sleepy, but after getting an boo-boo, he really started fading on us. We were close to the new Koala exhibit so we quickly went it in the direction.




We saw a few monkeys on the way


Then, we got to the koalas, super cute, even though they were sleeping.







We promised Jake a merry-go-round ride before we left.

He picked out a zebra, of course.

He had so much fun! His eyes just lit up each time he came around and saw me waving at him.



After his ride, it was definitely time to head home! He was a sleepy boy, but was insisiting he wanted to stay at the zoo! We had such a fun day and are excited to go back soon. (My mom bought us a zoo membership for the year!)




On a side note (and possibly TMI) Jake had his first time answering the call of nature, in nature, while in the zoo parking lot. We had asked him if he needed to go potty before we left and of course he said no. I'm sure if we were smarter parents, we would have made him go, but we didn't and sure enough the minute we got to the car, the potty dance began. Thankfully, we had parked in basically a wooded lot next to some bushes. We told Jake he was going to get to pee in the grass, which he wanted NOTHING to do with, but after some convincing from Daddy, he got the job done. And of course afterwards, thought it was the most fun thing ever. So I'm not sure where that goes in the baby book, but we can cross it off our list now :)


Sunday, April 1, 2012

Murphy Road Easter Egg Hunt

This morning was our church-wide lunch and Easter egg hunt. The weather was goregous and we had a great time! Stephen's parents joined us for church and the egg hunt, and Jake was so excited!


On the way to church Jake called out "Hey guys! I'm wearing my Easter basket!" He was just a little excited :)

After service, we all headed out to the lawn for lunch: sandwiches, chips, and sweet tea! They had the bounce houses up for the kids.



We found a nice shady spot and had a picnic lunch. Jake was excited to have chips! (We rarely let him have chips, so he always goes to town when he gets to have them.)

He was even more excited about the sweet tea.
With Granna, ready to find those eggs!

Keeping a close eye on the field of eggs.


It's almost time!


Ready, set, GO!














After the hunt was over, we had to open all the eggs and check out what was inside.

Jake found one of the 'golden eggs' so he got to trade it in for a prize.


He picked an Easter Monkey!


And then he went right back to the candy!

Family Picture
Jake and his grandparents
Grandma stole a kiss!

Good bye March!

March was a pretty great month for the Tyler family. It is the only month out of the entire year that Stephen does not have some type of coaching responsibility, which means he is home every night! Jake loves Daddy being home every day for dinner and they have gotten lots of 'Daddy-Jake' time over the month. They play football, catch, basketball, ride bikes in the cul-de-sac, and wrestle.

One night, Jake had the best time 'fighting' Stephen over his beanbag. Stephen would lay on it and then Jake would run and jump right on top of him.


Boy talk

Jumping on Daddy





Here are random pictures taken during the month (some are taken off my phone, so they aren't the greatest quality.)


This would be Jake throwing one of his fits. He is definitely entering the 2-3 transition. He wants to do pretty much everything himself...and when he can't, this happens.

One day he took his drum with him to the bathroom...and stayed there for a while having a jam session.

sweet boy!


He has gotten REALLY good at riding his bike all by himself. I have video on my phone, but can't get it onto the blog, so I will try to get that this next month.
Rockin' his Thomas jammies...it was almost 80 this day, but he insisted on wearing them all day long, even on a trip to Sonic. (Have I mentioned how stubborn he is.)
At school this month we had a guest teacher give a music lesson to the kids. Jake got to play the conga drums.


We are a little sad to see March end...April marks the beginning of spring football, which means our lives get much, much busier and Stephen is home much less. However, Jake LOVES being at the football field, so I am excited to get back in our 'game day' routines. We are excited for the warmer weather and being outside much more!