Livin' the Dream

OK I just have to move that gross picture down. I can't stand looking at that bug!

We have had some serious FUN the past week. This spring weather inspires me to get out and play hard every day. Sunny, perfect temperature days make me simply happy.

We made a last minute decision to go to the zoo last week. Here are the kids in a zoo wagon, one of the best ideas for my kids I have ever come across.

It turned out super fun because we ran into our friends the Heads and tagged along with them. Afton was very into her role as animal watcher. She brought along her binoculars (from our trip to the nature center's bird celebration) and made sure she looked at most of the animals through them.
Ben surprised me by being very very into the animals too.
He could spot them in their habitats and would giggle at the monkeys, growl at the lions, and dance with the meerkats.
We have also hit a different park almost every day. Having a picnic lunch just makes lunchtime much more interesting. The kids love being outdoors!

For the holiday weekend we decided we needed to do some house projects and also play a lot. So we spent most of the day Saturday working on our Adirondack chairs. We sanded, prepped, and painted.
Afton was such a great helper. We couldn't even pull her away from the project until we were done. She painted most of the back of this chair and it turned out great! (notice Afton is wearing a different outfit in each picture even though they were all taken on the same day)

On Monday we explored a new (to us) place by Boise. We went to Lucky Peak Lake. It is our new favorite little mountain beach! Of course there were tons of people there, but we had so much fun playing in the ice-cold water and digging in the sand. It was a perfect day!
I even got to do a bigger bike ride in preparation for my really big one in less than two weeks. I am getting excited but I know I'm going to have to pace myself to get through it. Coming off a holiday is always hard because you have to get back to reality. While both of my kids zonk out this afternoon, I know Jared and I wish we could be doing the same thing to recover!