You don't have to go to school to celebrate Spring Break

This post contains all of the following: happy kids, sunshine, animals, healthy people
This post is void of: sad kids, mention of bodily functions (including illnesses that cause these), talk of losing weight.

The first year of motherhood, for me, was kind of.....lonely. I LOVED being a mommy, I loved hanging out with my baby on my days off. But, we didn't have people. We didn't know where to go. So, we joined some playgroups. Some worked out better than others, but from these playgroups, the kids and I have met and gotten close to some fabulous families. It has truly made living in Little Rock better for us. With no family within a 2-3 hour radius, and living several miles away from town gets a little scary. The people we have met since becoming parents have made the world a better place.

Anyhoo. This last week was Spring Break. My kids do not go to a school. However, Rylan does get 2 kinds of therapy and at home preschool that requires us to go-go-go a lot and be at the school a lot. So, we had the week off from therapy and Hippy, our friends that go to preschool had spring break, and one local elementary school has a good playground that was as empty as can be one day.

Sooooooo on Tuesday we met Michelle, Lily, and Miles (not pictured, sorry Miles) at an elementary school for some lunching and playing. It does not matter what I pack for my kids, I could literally stop at McDonald's on the way to see Michelle and company, and whatever is in Michelle's bag is always better. This day, I stepped my game up and stopped and got us a fruit tray, a veggie tray, and some chocolate dip for apples. My kids are fruititarians. And Rylan has been known to eat an entire head of broccoli. Michelle's bag was way better.

Awesome swings

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Ry appeases me and eats a carrot

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Lily thought my spread was awesome.She's a broccoli lover.

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Lily pushing Max on the swings. 

Then on Wednesday, we went with Krystal and kids to Memphis to visit the zoo there. We've been talking about doing this for over a year and keep having to reschedule and all that. Mostly because of my sicklies and such. So we finally made it work. 

We left Little Rock at 7:30am. Four kids, four carseats. One newly potty trained one. We like a challenge.

Harper entertained us crooning some tunes. Rylan danced in the back

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I apologize for not having pics at the front of the zoo. I got carried away at the idea of vacation and went a little cray cray at the gas station and bought a 20oz coffee. I have a post two kids bladder and have two kids to lift out of seats and push in a stroller. I nearly peed myself. Picture taking wasn't a priority. --btw, I just couldn't do it could I? Not mention bodily functions. 

These two have been friends since Ry was a year and Harper was 6 months. This pic is so precious. He has a map and she is giving him a hug while steering him in the direction she wants to go. Old married couple.

 I got a talking to because I thought this was an animal like Diego has. Its not. He has a jaguar. This is a cheetah. I know now.

They had a playplace by the restaurant. Kind of  genius.

Hayes wasn't feeling good, which is why she is absent from some pics, but the hippos mouth got her to smile

Yes, my four year old sits in the baby seat while the 2 year old prefers the standing part. Same thing happens on our swingset at home. Rylan is in the baby swing and Max is in the toddler swing.

This one's going on the wall

Notice neither foot is touching the ground. Ever played Mario 2 on old school Nintendo and been Luigi whose legs never hit the ground and flutter constantly? That is Max. 

I think in my next life, I'd like this one.

"mama, I wanna go to the car"

We arrived at the zoo at 10:30am, we left the zoo at 4:30pm. We decided to up the anty on our crazy day and have a sit down meal at Cracker Barrel with four kids, four and under before heading back to Little Rock. Some kids are bad when they are tired. Our kids were so beyond tired, they were good, pretty much because they just wanted to put their head on their plates. Home at 9pm. 

I told the kids on Thursday we were going to have a nice relaxing day and sleep in and watch movies and read books and do puzzles. Somehow they were both awake by 5:30 and we ended up doing a one hour Wii dance marathon and doing yard work. I think we'll be needed a break from our Spring Break!

Good week. Great week.