Enjoying Christmas Week....

Christmas was a lot fun this year! Although the kids were up at 3:30 am (I asked Nate if he had completely lost his mind!), they were kind enough to let us sleep in until 5:00. The big gift this Christmas was Nate getting a hamster from Grandma. Outside of Bob the rabbit, it's the only pet we've had since having kids. OK, I confess, we did have a weak moment and got a dog when the kids were too young and it lasted all of 9 days in our home. BIG mistake. We had to tell some serious lies to explain to our little heart-broken children why the dog had to go back to his mommy because "he missed her too much"...uugghh The crap we have to learn parenting. Anyhoo... Nate is thrilled and named his new pet Touchdown.

Here are our two oldest with a gift they got from Grandma Vivian. Did you know that Operation now comes with new sound effects? Cool. Lauren also got 2 American Girl "type" dolls. I got the Target versions (which are actually pretty cute). Lauren is not the best at taking care of her posessions, so we decided to NOT spend $100 on a real American Girl doll. I suppose we will upgrade when she's ready to take care of them (maybe when she's 17?) She doesn't know the difference and thinks they are the real things!

Brooke. Sweet baby of mine. Brooke had no issues figuring out what presents were all about. We handed her one and she ripped it apart anxious to see what was inside!

The Florida weather the week of Christmas dealt us a balmy 80 degrees. We headed to the Jacksonville zoo - which we love. In an ongoing effort to figure out my camera I snapped some worth keeping....

The flowers were beautiful - I spent plenty of time trying to get my girls to NOT pick them.

Lauren feeding the birds....

Big pretty kitty cats...

And the giraffes. I heart the giraffes.

The zoo has a raised platform that allows you to feed them face-to-face. It's genius and soooo worth making the trip for. Yep - that's a giraffe head right behind my son!

Below is a momma eating with her young one..... so sweet

This one was actually smiling at me. I swear.

Here is Lauren and her Uncle Travis feeding some of the baby giraffe (the adult ones were full by the time it was her turn to feed them).

The jaguar exhibit is also cool. The whole area has an "old world" Aztec kind of feel. We feel in love with the old fountains..... (these are my attempt with some photoshop actions)