Red River Zoo

We've been able to experience a fairly warm week which has been really nice. If only this week could have lined up with spring break for the kids. Today was the last day of school for the older kids before starting spring break and unfortunately for them starting late tonight it's supposed to be freezing temperatures again. We wanted to take advantage of the last warm day we'll have for awhile so once the kids got home from their half day at school we all went to the zoo. We haven't gone since the day after Christmas because it's been really cold but today the kids were in tee shirts. It's so crazy how our perspective can change everything. Because a day like today would have felt cold in Texas but here in North Dakota after the cold we've experienced it felt so warm. We even brought sweaters and one by one everyone got too warm and took theirs off, including me. It was a nice day. I'm curious how tonight will go. We've been getting 'prepare for blizzard' warnings the last couple of days in regards to the weather change predicted to start around midnight tonight. Today was a good day though and we all had fun.

Quinn is in the white shirt and Rylee is in the yellow shirt.

Our first time around we never did explore this part of the zoo. The kids were able to play on two different new playgrounds that we didn't do last time.

This table was massive.

This was a happy coincidence. 

I didn't even know this giant yellow chair was here so the girls matching this chair was really cute.

We spent a surprisingly long time just in this location watching these guys. They were hilarious.

Hawley Playdate

We have a friend that lives in Hawley, MN who invited us over to her farm for a little St. Patrick's day playdate. The girls were in heaven. They especially loved the horses and baby chicks.

Fourth Birthday Letter to Quinnie C

Dear Quinnie Girl,

I love you so much. I can't believe you're four years old now. I bet you can't either. You have been counting down to your birthday since Christmas. These last two months have seemed like eternity to you but it's finally here. You are so adorable and you know it. You love smiling and having people smile back at you. You do this thing lately whenever you're at the store with me where you put the world's biggest grin on your face and you'll make eye contact with every person we pass by to see if you can get them to give you a big grin back. It's pretty funny actually. You get a lot of smiles back and you live for them. The first time someone didn't smile back you sure did let them know that they should have smiled back at you since you were giving them a big smile. It was so funny because your comment caught me off guard so I quickly left the aisle we were on but we did laugh about it after. 

Along with smiling you LOVE unicorns. You've also added alicorns, horses and zebras to your list but unicorns still remain at the very top. I think you talk about them every single day. I have a friend that lives nearby who owns horses and she has a unicorn horn costume she can attach to her horse and she mentioned that we might have to go over there one day to see it because of your love for unicorns.

You also love rainbows, Peppa Pig, princess Ariel and the color purple (or rainbow color). You also really enjoy drawing. You can sit down and draw for a full hour without getting bored. And of course I can't toss any of the drawings away because each one is your newest masterpiece. Which is fine except we're starting to run out of room for all of them haha. I recently bought a 500 pack of paper and it's already all gone. It's hard to say no to you though especially with your giant grin. I really love you and I love who you are. Every night we end it by saying "I love you all the days" and you were the one who actually came up with that. I love it so much. Happy birthday Quinnie Rue. I love you all the days.

Love,

Mom

Fourth Birthday Letter to Rylee Gene

Dear Ryles,

Happy birthday sweet girl. You are at a really fun stage and your personality is adorable. Lately you have been loving kitties, puppies and bunnies and all three have to be said together. You love the color pink, princess Rapunzel and you love going to Target. Whenever I say we have to run a quick errand at the store you immediately ask if it can be to Target. It's pretty cute.

You also LOVE to sing. You put on weekly concerts which are always highly praised. You sing about everything. It can be lyrics from songs you know or it can be a completely made up song that you're creating on the spot. You're kind of like Daddy in that sense because he also will randomly break out in song all the time. I should probably record them more often because I don't ever want to forget this of you.

My favorite thing you do though might be our nightly routine. This started a couple of months ago but every single night without fail we cannot leave your room or turn off your lights until you say your bedtime sayings. It used to be shorter and little by little more has been added on. Currently this is how it goes . . .

"Good night, sweet dreams, and I love you, and I love you so much, and I love you this much (show how much with arms outstretched), and I love you all the days (bring outstretched arms into a self hug)."

Then after you say it I repeat it back. Every night we get to say these things to each other and I love it so much. I love YOU so much. You definitely are a ray of light in our lives and we are so blessed we get to be a part of your very happy and musical life. Happy birthday Rye Rye.

Love,

Mom