The Bronx Zoo and Lyme disease

First I just have to say how much I love the Bronx Zoo.  When we lived in the Bronx, we visited regularly and became so familiar with all of the exhibits.  It was the best for taking Joey and John when they were little toddlers.  I have such fond memories in my heart of this place.  So when my friend suggested going together during spring break, I jumped at the chance and marked on my calendar, even though my kids actually had school they had to make up because of the huge snow storm during february.  When the date actually came, she had a conflict, but we decided to go anyway because the kids were all excited about it (and of course the chance to ditch school.)  When we woke up that morning to make the trip to NYC and the zoo, we were all surprized by the fact that Nathan's knee was swollen and he was unable to walk.  I got him in to the first doctor appoinment I could and we were sent to get labs and got a prescription for ammoxicilin and the diagnosis of lyme disease.  It was pretty crazy.  He seemed to be in pretty good spirits though, so we decide to go ahead with our plans of going to the zoo.  We jumped in the car around 11 and drove staight to the Bronx.  I was happy to say that the "secret" entrance with free street parking was still where I remembered it and I was so pleased to have a little insiders knowledge.  We rented a wheel chair for Nathan and his brothers gladly took turns pushing him around.  He was a little embarrassed to be in the wheelchair, but was a good sport and it was pretty obvious that he wouldn't be able to get around the park any other way.   I was in heaven the whole day.  I just love that zoo so much.  The kids had a great time too.  I don't know if they had any memories of that place, but they still enjoyed seeing all of the animals and walking around.  The day was a little misty, but not really rainy which was perfect because that made it pretty empty, especially during spring break that was great!  We also drove past our old apartment and down the street where we used to live.  It was a great trip down memory lane.

                                  John pushing Nathan int he wheel chair and Joseph at the side. 

 Samantha and Kate riding a camel.  I let them buy a ticket with their allowance money

                                                       John and Kate on the camel. 

 The peacocks were everywhere!  We had fun chasing them around.

 Nathan and Michelle watching the fish in the tiger exhibit.

 John, Michelle, Joseph, Nathan, Kate and Samantha climbing on the bronze komodo dragon in the reptile house. 

Joseph pushing Nathan around chasing the peacock.  On the way home, people had to stop for the bathroom, so we ended up going to the costco in New Rochelle (another blast from the past)  Since we were there, we grabbed a pizza and some soda and ate a great dinner in the car.  I love visiting NYC.  Justin hates it.  To him it just means spending lots of money and a lot of inconvenience, but I love it.  The Zoo was great!

Samantha's birthday party

This year Samantha opted for a mustache themed party.  At first she said she wanted the theme to be randomnesss, and that's kind of what it was.  I made blue mustache shirts for all of the kids to wear, and we had pie instead of cake.  For party games we played twister, had a lip sync contest, and played a round of mafia.  The girls all had a great time.  There was a campout that weekend, so Joseph and John were gone and Nathan went over to a friends house for the party.  Justin was out of town buying a house for us, so it truly was just a girl party.  I like to keep things pretty simple, so it wasn't too elaborate, but just the thing for my fun 10 year old girl.  We sure love her.   

                                                        Michelle, Samantha, and Kate.

 The girls playing twister.  There were more than 8 players, so we had to make a bigger mat.

 Samantha.  She is really a super sweet girl.  She has grown a lot this year and getting close to my height.  She's on John's schedule . . . so it won't be long until she is taller than me. 

                                                                more twister

Lip sync contest costumes and props.  They mainly danced to Taylor swift songs.  Samantha has a really nice group of friends.  We will miss them when we move to connecticut and hope she makes new ones quick!