25 Things - No. 3 (Go to the zoo)

     My surprise anniversary trip on Friday turned out to be something that I've been wanting to do with Tim and Owen for a while - go to the zoo! I had no idea where we were heading when we started out going north on I-75 Friday morning. I ruled out my guess that we were going to Tennessee, but otherwise I had no clue. Tim and I have talked about visiting Chicago at some point, but I wasn't sure if that was something we would do for just a day. Instead, we went somewhere that I hadn't even guessed. The Cincinnati Zoo. Tim and I both have never been to this particular zoo, but we both thought it was comparable in size to the Atlanta Zoo. 
     We had so much fun as a family at the zoo. Owen really enjoyed looking at animals and running around. Tim and I enjoyed just spending time together and watching our sweet boy have a blast. We were also lucky enough to go on customer appreciation day when tickets were half off. We went to the zoo for about $30 total! Here are some photos from our day. 

Surprise! We're at the zoo!

Who knew rhinos liked to take mud baths?

Owen's absolute favorite animal at the zoo was the lynx, who stalked back and forth in front of us. He thought it was hilarious and laughed uproariously. 

Up close and personal with the tigers. 

Close encounter of the ape kind. 

Riding the gorilla. 

My handsome boys. 

Lemur. 

Penguins not on icebergs looks very strange. But they're still super cute! 

The petting zoo was a big hit with Owen. Falling in poop was not. 

One of our favorite sections of the zoo was the nursery, where the newly born babies lived. Awww! They would not let us take the baby cheetah home as a souvenir. 

Somewhere between baby cheetah and the flamingos, Owen fell asleep, clutching onto  daddy like a baby koala.

All tuckered out. 

Owen woke up in time to see his first real-life elephant!

This zoo had the coolest giraffe enclosure ever. You got to see them from up high! This is Kimba and he is 16 feet tall. 

For a dollar, you could make out with feed him.

25 Things - No. 7 (Spend the day as a family having fun.)

     We accomplished another item off our list of 25 Things to Do Before Owen Turns Two. (You can see the complete list by clicking the "25 Things" tab at the top of my blog.) Last Saturday, because we were in town and didn't have any plans, I decided that we would spend the day as a family doing some of the things we love.

     We started the day at the library where I figured we would exchange Owen's books for some new ones and maybe play a little. The children's section at our library is really great because they have tons of books, a performance stage area, computers with games, and a section with puzzles and toys. Owen was acting a little weird that morning so he wasn't too interested in books. Tim did read him one book, which was really cute. 

     He played with the puzzles a bunch and then explored some of the other toys. Finally, Tim and Owen played some of the computer games for a while. 

     The next activity on our list of things to do was to go to the playground, but because it was raining that morning, we had to alter our plans. First we went to Belk to buy a wedding gift for our friends who are getting married this weekend. This wasn't so much fun for Owen, but he did enjoy scaring his mom to death by running amok in the china section. 
    After the trip to Belk we walked a few doors down in the shopping center to Petsmart where they usually have adoptable dogs and cats every Saturday. Unfortunately, they didn't have as many as they normally do (and no dogs), but there were still plenty of cats and kittens and fish and birds for Owen to look at. He ran back and forth between the cages saying "Cat!" and "Maow!" (his way of saying meow) He enjoyed checking out the fish in the aquarium section and scared a stranger by touching her leg as she was looking at the snakes. She screamed and then laughed when she saw that it was just Owen. Haha! What a stinker. 

     Afterwards we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch where Owen enjoyed munching chicken nuggets and waffle fries. And then he got to have some free ice cream. After lunch, we went home and Owen took a really good nap. The rest of the day was spent at home playing and enjoying some relaxing time as a family. 

25 Things - No. 21 (Play with paints in the bathtub)

   
  I recently accomplished one of the things off my list of 25 Things to Do Before Owen Turns Two. You can see the list by clicking the "25 Things" tab at the top of my blog. That's where I will update the things that I've done with Owen from the list. The activity that I did with Owen recently was a simple one, but also a really fun one: painting in the bathtub. I found the idea  to make homemade bathtub paints on Pinterest. Here's the recipe (to make one color):


1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. water
5-6 pumps of baby shampoo
several drops of food coloring


     I mixed up four batches of this to make red, blue, yellow, and green paint and then put them in little prep bowls in the empty bathtub (read: no water). I took all of Owen's clothes off and his diaper (though in hindsight I wish that I had left his diaper on since he wasn't in water and that way I could have taken a lot more pictures without worrying about showing off his baby boy bits. 

    Owen was pretty unsure at first, but once I put his finger in the paint and then on the wall of the tub, he got the hang of it pretty quickly. He had so much fun smearing paint all over the walls and himself. Then he enjoyed moving around the bowls of paint and trying to set them inside one another. Which wasn't such a great thing, but I figured he was in the bathtub so any mess could be easily cleaned up. I made sure to wear an old shirt (i.e. one of Tim's T-shirts) in case any of the paint got on me, but that didn't happen so I'm not sure about whether this would stain clothing. The idea of cleaning up after Owen painted the entire bathtub was super daunting, but clean-up was actually super easy. When we were finished playing, I just ran the tub and used a washcloth to wipe down all the walls of the tub and to wipe Owen off. Then I just gave him an impromptu bath since he was already covered in shampoo anyway. 

   I definitely enjoyed doing this activity with Owen. It was fun to do something new with him and I really love exposing him to art. (Even if it is just painting the bathtub). Sometimes I struggle as a stay-at-home mom with coming up with activities that are fun for us to do and that break up the monotony that can occur when we follow the same schedule day after day. I'm so happy that Pinterest exists because it contains a wealth of knowledge and activities from other moms and I can't wait to find some more things for Owen and I to do together. 

25 Things To Do Before Owen Turns Two

     
    I can't believe that Owen is 15 months old already. And I realize now, more than ever, just how fast time goes by with babies. There is so much I want to experience with Owen. So much I want to see and learn with him. So much I want to do with my firstborn before there's a No. 2. So I decided to make a list.
     Why? Because it will hold me accountable. Serve as a reminder (because Mommy brain sucks). And Lord knows, I love to cross things off lists.



1. Finish Owen's first year scrapbook
2. Print and display photos of Owen around the house
3. Go to the zoo
4. Make cookies together
5. Take walks together as a family
6. Have a picnic in the park
7. Spend the whole day as a family having fun.
8. Go see fireworks 
9. Go to the beach
10. Go to a children's museum
11. Go to the Kentucky Horse Park
12. Make a piece of art and frame it
13. Go to storytime at the library
14. Go on a family vacation
15. Color with chalk on the driveway
16. Camp out in the backyard
17. Dance at a wedding
18. Write letters to Owen
19. Store family photos on DVDs 
20. Join a playgroup
21. Play with paints in the bathtub
22. Teach Owen about God
23. Do toddler activities from Pinterest
24. Subscribe to a monthly box for Owen
25. Make a personalized book for Owen


     I really want this list to be a way for us to have fun as a family (of 3) and to spend a lot of quality time with Owen before we make him a big brother someday. Obviously there are tons of other things that I want to do with him, but this gives me a place to start and I plan to document all of them.