Happy!

We have been having quite a few birthday celebrations this past month! 

We started out with Papa Gary's in early March.  The kids and I baked a cake and they colored a pretty picture while it baked.  Rudy picked out the design (a baseball, of course!).   

Papa and Gran came over and we sang "Happy, Papa!"

Rudy couldn't wait to shove that cake in his mouth!  He devoured it!!

I had never seen him eat cake so fast!

The next week we celebrated my first annual 29th birthday.  John planned an awesome day for us.  He showed up that morning with balloons and flowers for me, and an impressive itinerary.

We loaded up the kids and set off early for St. Louis.

Breakfast on the go!

First stop, the St. Louis Zoo!

Considering how impressed the kids were by the fountain when we walked in, we knew we had picked a fun trip!  They had no idea what else was in store...  

Sea lions,

llamas (?) at the kids' zoo,

:)

and face painting! 

Rudy chose a snake

and sat still like a champ.

He was so pleased with the finished look!

Avery picked a lady bug (the girl loves bugs!!)

I still don't quite understand how she sat still for that, but she was pretty pleased as well!

Next up, elephants!  Avery was SO into them!  She really wanted to jump out of her stroller and over the fence to get to them.  If John wasn't holding her back, she would have!

Hard to tell in this picture, but the hippos were out!  We were walking along when commotion started and people started saying, "The hippos are out!  The hippos are out!"  Rudy picked up on the excitement and he has told everyone about, "The hippos out!"

Bears!

The monkeys were our last stop and the highlight!  At first we saw the orangutans swinging around and playing together, which we all thought was pretty cool...

until we went to the next window and found this guy!

Avery would not leave the poor thing alone!

She was relentless, until he finally showed her some attention...

At the next window we found another friend, and Avery did not hesitate to walk straight through the other kids to get front and center.

Rudy was impressed, but wanted to keep a safe distance from the glass!

Next up was lunch at the Galleria.

We attempted to do some shopping, but the kids were not cooperating!  So off we went back home… just in time for naps...

It was such a nice day out, the first in a LONG time, so we were able to enjoy some playtime outside.

Bubbles!!

And a little clean-up, of course.

John, Rudy, and Avery made me a cake while I was able to rest for a bit…and they not only made a cake, but a giant cake ball (John invented it all himself).

And it was delicious!

Here's some video of all our celebrations… I'm one lucky lady :)

And last but certainly not least, we celebrated Kevin and Papa Ray's birthdays!

Unfortunately, my phone filled up with storage (I can't imagine why??) and cut-off the video too soon

Busy birthday month for us!!