Tuesday, June 7, 2011

A Day at the Zoo and Slowing Down

I haven't been very creative over here for the past several days. We have officially switched over to summer mode, which means no more preschool. And even though preschool was only 5 hours per week, it seems to have thrown our whole schedule off. So I need some time to get into a new routine with the girls. Summer mode also means that we've been spending a whole lot of time outside, and it's hard to sew when you're outside :)

My husband took the day off yesterday, and after breakfast we made a spur of the moment decision to take the girls to the zoo rather than stick around and do yard work all day. Sometimes you need to do that, right? So we packed them up and headed to the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island.


My sixteen month old loves animals. We knew she would have a fantastic time, and she did. She insisted on walking almost the entire time and passed out about thirty seconds after being buckled into her car seat to head back home. She was exhausted.


My oldest, although a "liker" of animals, was way more into finding interesting trees and playing with the interactive exhibit signs.


Towards the end of our visit, we came upon the moon bear exhibit. I didn't know what to expect. I had never heard of a moon bear. I was picturing something much smaller than what we saw. After about two minutes of watching two moon bears play together, the larger of the two plopped into the pond and started bouncing around and playing with a large branch for about ten minutes before climbing out, shaking off like a dog, and wandering away. And we had a front row seat for the whole thing. The girls were mesmerized. I've been to a lot of zoos over the years, but this was probably the best zoo moment I've ever had.


Long story short, I'm taking a little break to enjoy everyone/everything that I am lucky enough to have in my life. I've decided that I need to spend less time worrying about my next blog post and more time worrying about how I can enjoy every single minute with the little ones while they're still little. Not to worry, I'll still be around... I've got some guest posts coming up, a certain almost-four-year-old's Hello Kitty birthday party to share, and a couple of other things I'm working on, but I'm going to slow down and enjoy the summer while I can.

20 comments:

Nancy said...

I was supposed to join 23 family members at our local zoo yesterday..We even had t-shirts made that said "GG's Zoo-Za-Palooza 2011"... sadly GG's (my mom) fell and broke her right hip, so I sat in the hospital while she was in surgery.... glad your day turned out better...

http://thankfullga447 said...

I was at the Fort Worth zoo with grand kids 2 weeks ago, we enjoyed it so much. Blogs can wait, enjoy and hug your children, they are so precious.

Sharon said...

Sounds like fun! I am going to slow things down a bit too and enjoy time with my kids, 3 are in school and are now out for vacation. The trip to the zoo looks like a ton of fun, maybe we Will do the same! :)

Jodi said...

I love going to the zoo. We are lucky that our daughter being 13 still loves to go too and doesn't think that she is too old to go to the zoo.

Enjoy your break; I think that we should all do that once in a while!

Jodi

Unknown said...

thanks for sharing real issues too on your blog, taking time away helps to nurture your creativity and the ones you love, time well spent

Erica {B is for Boy} said...

Good for you! I'm there with you...it is hard to get anything (crafts included) done when you're outside all day...plus it drains your energy.

chris said...

The zoo looks like so much fun! Enjoy your break, and love those little girls.

Amy at Ameroonie Designs said...

Our best zoo moment happened a couple years ago when the elephant filled his trunk with water and sprayed us all. The kids were shocked- I still giggle thinking about it.
xoxo,
Amy
p.s. Enjoy every moment- we'll still be here.

Regina said...

Thank you for sharing the pictures! I've been trying to figure out which zoo to take my little ones to. I have it narrowed down to Roger Williams or Southwick in MA. I just need things to mellow down a bit from our move first.

Kristin @ Yellow Bliss Road said...

What a fun day you had! So great that your hubby was able to take off...I'm all about spur of the moment decisions like that!

We'll miss you but will be anxiously awaiting your next post!! :))

Simone de Klerk said...

What a wonderful day you had with your loved ones and yes spend lots of time in the summer mode!ENJOY (o:

Christy said...

It sounds like you have your priorities in order, and your girls are lucky to have a creative Mom who takes time out to enjoy watching them bloom in the summer. :O) Looking forward to more summer adventures stories, with a side of crafts. :O)

Anna said...

yay for taking things slow over summer, seems like a common (and very good) thing! :)

Andi said...

We love the zoo!! Can't wait to take the girls to the National Zoo this summer. And slowing down is good, great in fact. :-)

Naturally Carol said...

Hi Gwen..so happy to see you all outside enjoying yourselves! Not that you will read this as I'm sure you're not dragging your computer around with you..lol. Have fun.

KJ@letsgoflyakite said...

Don't ever worry about the next post Gwen. Enjoy the summer and those around you!

Evelene S said...

Yes take time to smell the roses and enjoy those two sweet things and your hubby- it all goes so quickly!

Unknown said...

Sounds like a plan! Take it easy. Take a break. Enjoy yourself. And your family!

Krista said...

Agree with all the others that I am in full support of the summer slow down! Your readers are doing the same thing, so it's all good!

Craftberry Bush said...

awww. I love the zoo..I practically have raised my kids there...haha...The picture of your little daughter is sooo sweet..and you look so pretty on your new profile pic..:) Have a great weekend dear friend...xo
Lucy

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