Fun at the park

With us being gone all last week, we missed our buddies, so Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week were play date days.  It was great to see our friends and catch up.  Tuesday, we headed to another city to go to an awesome park.  Great park with wide open spaces, few people, and lots to do.  Another perk, Izzy's momma just got a van and we were all able to ride together!  Back to the park...  so much fun and the best part... there was so much space and the park was so open that the kids could walk/run by themselves, without being carried or riding in a stroller - and boy were they all tired after this park!  On to the pics!

Little man found a stick and "drummed" on everything he was allowed to!  He also found a branch with leaves and he carried it around for a while.  So funny how kiddos like to carry their finds with them!

Good buddies!

Playin' in the rocks with Izzy.

I. Love. this. face!

Nathan's first carousel ride... didn't go over so well.  He loves horses and enjoyed riding a live one, but he wasn't about to ride one of these fake ones.  See the tears in his eyes?  That's from falling and from being freaked out about the horses.  He wanted to sit right there next to Bethany.

Eventually, we got him on a horse and he had a death grip on me most of the time, but he did ride.  I'm sure by the time we leave Disney World, he'll be a pro at riding rides. :)  At least, I hope!

The train was a much bigger hit.  Don't worry, Z and N didn't ride alone, us mommies were just taking pictures!  They loved the train!  Nathan said "shoo shoo" at least 10 times in the first minute.  So sweet to see him excited after the frightening carousel ride!

After all of the riding, it was time for the petting barn... unfortunately, none of the animals were close enough to pet, but the kiddos loved looking at them, naming them, and making their sounds.  I think this was one of their favorite parts.

LOVE this pic... in color...

and in black and white.

Here are some pics of Nathan that I love.  I took them while looking at the animals...

Zachary was just as enamored by the animals.

Such a great pic of him looking through the fence.

Izzy lovin' the animals too...

Nathan saying "doodle doo" to a rooster...

and making his pig noise for the pig.  So fun to see those noises come to life when the real animals are around.

After looking at the animals and riding the train one more time, we headed to the massive playground.  It was incredible! There were several playgrounds fenced off and labeled by age.  The one that our kiddos played in was for kids under 6 and it was FULL of little tikes and step 2 climbers.  The kids loved it and we loved that they could do them all!  Nathan's favorite part of any playground is the slide.  He loves slides of all sizes, shapes, and colors, even hot pink slides.

Zachary really likes playgrounds too, can you tell by the glee in his face!

Pics of all three kiddos going down the same slide... all by themselves!  And no catastrophes like this one you can read about here...  onto the joy of sliding.

What a great day!  Thanks Bethany for driving and thanks Kristin for suggesting this.  I love you girls!

Wednesday and Thursday we had more great play dates and I'm kicking myself for not taking more pictures.  Wednesday, we played with our neighborhood kiddos and it was great to see Nathan interacting with kiddos of all ages.  We also played with Colton at his house and had a great time.  Kristin has just finished a half house make over and we LOVED playing in the new playroom.  It was great that the kids had a space to play safely.  It was wonderful to see Colton and Kristin and share a meal with them.  You guys mean so much to us and we love you!!!!!

Thursday, Zachary and Kristin came over for some play time too.  Nathan loved playing at his house since we've been on the run all week and I enjoyed it too.  It was fun to watch him playing with Zachary because they have different interests and it got Nathan playing with other toys.  

Friends are amazing, and you 3 ladies and your kiddos keep me going all week long!  I love you all to pieces!!  We'll miss you while we're hanging out with Mickey and Minnie and the gang!  I promise!