Second Half of February

As soon as I got home from Florida, Ben left for 5 days in San Diego for work. Ben actually flew out on his birthday (we did get to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast with him first and give him his presents). I didn't take any pictures of Ben's birthday, but let it be recorded that he turned 31 and I think we all feel good about that. 

While Ben was gone the boys were so good! I was pleasantly surprised once again. It was probably partly due to the fact that I came home from my girls trip really refreshed and rejuvenated and much more patient with my kids. And they really were just really good. We watched Nora a bunch while her parents were working on packing up their house and moving and one day I pulled out my camera and took a bunch of pictures of the kids. I kind of loved the result- just really candid pictures (because heaven knows that posing these three is just really not an option) that shows how much they love each other (and Nora's persistent mistrust of Hudson- even though she likes him the majority of the time). 

We spent more time at the museum and then went to the free day at the zoo! I love those days! We always get there right when it opens so we have a good hour before it gets crowded (because by 10 it is REALLY crowded). We took Nora with us, which was fun and cute and a little crazy. Hudson was so excited to see the elephants (all named Ellie, of course) and Nora loved the Polar Bear. Chase was really into the reptiles, and I noticed that since we've done that dang reptile house probably 10 times now I'm growing from paralyzing fear to just normal fear of snakes. I'm also fairly certain that Chase loves the reptiles partly because he knows how much they creep me out!

 The weather started getting warm, which means the boys can finally use their Christmas presents from Santa! Chase easily mastered the new scooter and zooms around the neighborhood on it. Hudson is having a slower learning curve with the balance bike, but he's been persistent and I'm sure he'll get it down soon.