JINXED...

...But we'll get to that when I tell you the end of the weekend.

Yesterday we went to the mall, which is probably Coco's favorite place "in the whole wide world". She thinks that the mall is Build a Bear, so she assumes that every time we go to the mall, we WILL make a bear or other stuffed animal (which is the reason why we only go once every two years. Last Christmas we went, but we were able to NOT pay attention to BB thanks to Santa)

She ended up making a monkey, whom she named CURIOUS GEORGE (is there ANY OTHER monkeys???). We are convinced that Connor does NOT like rides yet like his older siblings. Maybe in a few more years, but this day we had to take him off (not before mom took pictures, of course. Poor little thing)

This morning, we were trying to come up with something fun to do with the kids, and Brian mouthed THE ZOO. And so, the zoo it was. We haven't been there in AGES, so we wanted to surprise Nicole. She asked for clues to the place we were going, and we wouldn't budge. But as we get closer, she starts asking, "are we going to the zoo?" No, we are not. Why would you ask? "Because it says there, Brookfield Zoo". Oh, no Coco! That is spelled backwards, that really is OOZ. We are going to an oozy place, with lots of mud and bugs that ooz yucky stuff (where does Brian get these stories? Where did my in laws take him as a child????). "Are you sure, dad? That sign has a giraffe!" No, hun, I think you are having vision problems. "No, mom, I see very well. People start getting vision problems when they get to be old, like you" (so, how come when I try to be funny, it's not like Brian???)

I love how you have to take hundreds of pictures to be able to get at least ONE decent!!! I took shots at every creature that I came accross with, and just very few are decent shots. But in any event, we had a blast with the animals, and especially with Connor's behavior. He is a BOY, no doubt about that. We would get near an animal habitat, and he would stand up and start roaring fearlessly at the animal. The only thing he was missing was hitting his chest with his fists. The funniest part was when we went to the petting zoo. He went ahead and charged against a goat with his head, and the goat turn her head around and hit him right back. Now THAT did get to him, since he was pushed (fortunately, it wasn't something bad, just really, really funny). He was not happy for a little while after that, but got over it fairly fast.

Over dinner, he said his FIRST words, we were so excited!!! Pretty clear, too: "Thank you". Those are my son's first words. I tell you, God has blessed this home so much. Thank you. How lucky can we get??? That boy is such a joy to have! He was stopping traffic as we walked. Not because of his looks, mind you... just because he would start walking in the middle of the road and people just had to stop, or walk OVER him... it's hillarious to see him "running" with his arm going back and forth like he needs it to go faster.

I am now TOTALLY exhausted and my feet hurt like heck, but very happy that we had so much fun. Which brings me to the jinxing part of this post: My black sandals BROKE today!!!! I was so not happy!!!! The very sandals I was mentioning on my last post, that I have had for 3 years now (as I was checking pictures I realized this!), broke today. We were coming out of the zoo, and I took a pretty bad step that made my foot go sideways. It hurt pretty bad, but I also felt the ripping. I was really not happy, but Brian said "doesn't God love you, Paula? This happens at the end of the day, when we're going home, not when we are just walking in!". Man, this husband of mine makes me get things into perspective! The best part is, had it happened when we first arrived, he would still have found another reason to see why God is good to me, and it's good that I have this man to remind me of this undeniable truth. I love his outlook in life, really. From being mad, I went to being grateful... not a bad way to end the day!

And finally, these are my tanned and dirty feet (I NEED a pedicure!!!) just to show you my tan strips (yes, even I can get sunburn!) and my dirty jinxed shoes :(