Empanadas, Spiders and Other Assorted Animals

Not too long ago, some of our favorite neighbors decided to put their house on the market to see what would happen. Of course, their house sold within a couple of weeks, and they were due to move last weekend. Since their house is packed up and I'm hardly fit to cook for my own family, we decided to go out for empanadas for our "last supper." Cullen surprised me by asking for a bite of mine. He only had a few bites, but it was still nice to see him try something new. 

After dinner, it was time for Spiderman jammies.  

And catching spiders. 

We made no plans for Saturday and spent most of Sunday at the zoo. It's always so much fun to spend time with the Ernst family, and I love watching the boys run around.

Dana and I have a lot of the same parenting philosophies, so it is generally a pretty easy trip to the zoo. We let the boys kind of lead us around, so we always wind up finding a new and exciting part of the zoo. Like this tunnel through an aquarium. Cullen was hesitant to try it out at first.  

But he was so very proud of himself for making it through. 

So James decided to give it a go.  

And Cullen was happy to follow Daddy. 

Next up were these fun squirrels. I'm not entirely sure what they were, but they were fast enough to slow down a group of boys for a few minutes.  

There was, of course, the obligatory carousel ride. Once again, Cullen refused to get on an animal. 

My favorite part of the zoo is quickly becoming the giraffe feeding part.  

How could you not love this? 

Or this?

Or these teeth? 

Cullen just saw Ice Age for the first time about a week ago. He was pretty excited to see the huge movie poster.  

Noah and Cullen in a tepee. It is so amazing to me how much they've grown over the past few years. They both make so proud, and only one of them is mine! 

And we finished off with some bongos. 

We were all pretty exhausted after that trip, but I'm so glad we got to go. 

Tuesday at Cullen's school was their mother's day tea. Each year, I get a fancy hat made from a coffee filter and a cute picture with Cullen. My absolute favorite is this one.

This year, I got this. Cullen didn't want to take a picture. Love you too, little buddy.

Cullen regularly tells me now that he doesn't love me. He loves Daddy. Sometimes he tells me he loves my arm. He's a thoughtful guy. Maybe I can get a hug from him for Mother's Day. Maybe

xoxo ashley