trip to the zoo

needing to spend some quality time with madelyn (and mason), i took the kids to the zoo on friday morning. i get so distracted with all my responsibilities at the house that i rarely get to have fun with madelyn; i have been in such discipline mode this week that i feel like "mean mommy" (see separate post). i don't think that madelyn sees me that way at all, but i feel like it so it is nice to get out of the house and away from work once in a while.

it almost wasn't warm enough to go - it was overcast and in the 20s but we braved it anyway. i am glad that we did because it was a lot of fun.

madelyn chose her own outfit for the day and it wasn't the warmest choice. she did finally let me put her gloves on after we had been there for an hour. and it was nice that madelyn was fairly agreeable about getting her picture taken - most of the time. i even got some natural smiles for once! mason was super snugly in his stroller. i was looking forward to him being able to really take everything in, but he slept through most of it.

the highlights of the trip were seeing the red panda and the playing tiger cubs. the red panda was very cute playing in the snow (i was too slow with the camera to get a good picture) and used a half, hallowed out log filled with snow as a slide. and then we got to see the two tiger cubs running all over, climbing trees, splashing in a pond, and playing with each other. madelyn was just cracking up watching them.

it has been a crazy weekend, in a good way. there was a lot to get done and i had four hours of spa time on saturday and we went to a friend's house today to watch the vikings game (they are huge fans with super bowl tickets so it was a big game). madelyn had a lot of fun and was super cute in their red doctor glasses. especially because they matched her hair bands and shirt. (madelyn selected her hairstyle - she has become very particular).

here are a few other notes from the week:

- madelyn has been 'reading' to friend pretty regularly. she gets so much of the story correct. even things that we haven't read for almost a year.

- madelyn has become obsessed with hearing everything matt and i are saying. i often hear, "what did you say, mom?" or "what are you talking about with daddy, mom?". today she was saying in the car, "mason, be quiet. i can't hear what mom is saying." she just doesn't want to miss a thing.

- we had a radon mitigation system installed this week. this was not a planned expense and it was not cheap. basically we did a $10 test from home depot. the results came back on wednesday, we called a company on thursday, they came out on friday, and the system was installed on monday. the limit for safety is a reading of 4 and ours was over 24! we really wish that we had not put off doing the test. thankfully, we were able to get a system in quickly and now it is taken care of. but of course, cleaning out the basement is how madelyn found rudolph and i've already explained what a joy that was...

so i am blogging right now (really yesterday afternoon) and madelyn is playing a game on my phone. and then she just fell asleep mid-game. so funny. love.