What a weekend!

BC giving "the baby" some love! Bear Cub will be sorely disappointed as this guy gets bigger and can't be "held" anymore!

Oooh! What a captive audience I had at night! Before story time, the boys had snacks and got to watch a show in their pjs -- while hanging out in tent. We even had popcorn! I'm telling you, it was a REAL sleepover! :)

Hmmmm...looks like a deep conversation!

This lil boy looks SO much like his Mama! :)

Oh my...goofball central!

Just precious!

The whole crew at the zoo!

Do ya think they were tired after the zoo? Um...YES!

Here's a little math equation for ya:

3 boys under the age of 4 + their best friend Mamas = a fun-filled (and BUSY) weekend!

We had a great visit from my BFF on Saturday and Sunday nights. Her boys are 15 months and almost 4, so Bear Cub fits right in! They played and played, had a few moments of disagreements, but overall, I'd say the boys are on their way to being best friends themselves! :) Although they live 3 hours away, it's great because we do see them every few months, so the boys really are getting to know one another. We had fun just playing inside the house, in the yard, and the BIG event of the weekend was a trip to the ZOO!! Wow, the boys were fantastic -- so happy to be out and checking out the animals! It really was a great day. I bought zoo passes again (yay!) so BC and I will be heading back again very soon. My animal lover boy thinks the zoo is the BEST!

Enjoy the pics of these handsome boys. It's amazing to share these Mommy moments with my best friend of 20+ years! :)

Mini-Daddy

(Oops! Pictures in backwards order here. Oh well! You get the picture! The lil man loves to be like his Daddy...they are quite a pair. My boys...oh, how I love them so!)

Manatee Monday

The boys...just chillin' and waiting their turn to try out a manatee game in the museum.

Electricity!

Working on a power plant puzzle. Hmmmm...puzzling.

BC, checking out fake bones that we tried to place in the correct spots to make the manatee skeleton.

Unless they were coming up for air, you mostly saw big "lumps" in the water...just a bit of their backs sticking up. In person, we could see a lot!

Hello Mr. Manatee! Wish the pictures had turned out better...they really have such cute and sweet faces!

There! He spotted some!

Oh, yuck. Serves as a good reminder to not waste electricity...maybe we could stop A LITTLE of that from polluting our environment!

The boys...trying to find some manatees!

This past Monday, we went a few miles south and visited the Manatee Viewing Center. It's located right next to our HUGE power plant (It's so ugly and disgusting-looking...makes me think about going off the grid! GASP! What is my hubbie thinking about that?!? ) BUT, the one cool thing about the power plant is that it does make the surrounding waters warmer, which attracts MANY manatees in the winter, when the Gulf temperatures dip below 60 degrees. We had a couple of very cold weeks, so it was the perfect time to visit the manatees! Bear Cub was so excited and could've stayed the whole day, I bet. I was happy that we finally found the "right" spot to be in because at first, we didn't see any manatees, although we did see some jumping sting rays, which was fun too! :) Oh! And another great thing...this is open FREE to the public! It was a great learning experience for us all!

Enjoy the pics of our fun outing with friends from this past Monday! Happy weekend to you all!

Random photo fun!

BC's Christmas butterfly kit is going really well! Our caterpillars formed their chrysalids and now we are waiting patiently for the painted lady butterflies to emerge. BC, the scientist, has LOVED this experiment (Mommy & Daddy, too!).

This is the cup that the tiny caterpillars came in. It was amazing to watch them grow bigger, and bigger, and BIGGER each day. It took about 2 weeks for the chrysalids to form.

Playing some b-ball in his room with Daddy. After he makes a shot, they both yell, "Booyah!" and do some excited jumping around. Pretty fun! :)

Wow, here it is Thursday already! It's been a busy and full week here! I'll post more later, but at least you'll see a few pictures. :) We've all been dealing with a little head cold, so it will be nice to just relax and re-coop over the weekend. Bear Cub had a good week at school and I've had some great workouts at the gym, so all is well! ;) Ok, will post more again soon. Happy Friday tomorrow!!

Our friend, Lily

Dear Lily,

We all really love it when you come over to our house to play! We know how you squeeze through your fence, look to see if Zoe is outside, and then dash across the street to play. You have a lot of energy ... you are still a puppy! Thanks for playing with Zoe and giving her SO much exercise as you chase and play, chase and play, all around the yard. Bear Cub is so excited when he sees you coming, too! He loves to play too, so switch your attention to him once Zoe is down and panting. She's an old lady compared to you! We'll keep giving you a treat or two when you come to play and before your Mommy comes rushing over to grab you. You are a fun friend for us all!

Sincerely,

The Bear Family

P.S. PLEASE just make sure you look both ways before you cross that street!

Dr. Bear Cub...calling Dr. Bear Cub!

Dr. Bear Cub!

He even works on reptiles! Here he is...working on Lizzie the Lizard while Zoe tries to get in on the action!

"Picking fleas" off of Coconut

BC says, "Thump, thump!" as he checks their hearts

Bear Cub received a vet kit for Christmas and has had SO much fun playing animal doctor, and "vet car" as he calls it. We get all the sick animals loaded into the big bath tub and then I act as his assistant while he checks blood pressure, hearts, looks for fleas, and trims toe nails. He's one busy doctor! He always ends each visit with some "snuggle time" for the animal. It is adorable! Maybe one day he'll really be a vet...this boy LOVES animals! :)

Bear Cub is officially 3 1/2!!

Just a little "remember when" photo from his days in Russia. This photo was included in our referral packet, taken when he was about 8 months old. Sweet baby boy...so tiny!

What a big boy he is TODAY! :)

On Saturday, Bear Cub officially turned 3 1/2 years old! WOW! I remember posting on Jan. 9, 2008, that he was 18 months old. How quickly time flies by! He continues to be our pride and joy, making us laugh and smile every single day. He is smart, curious, STILL loves to read (can even identify some words on his own now!) and is very verbal. The "Why?" questions continue and he honestly soaks every word in. He can tell you about metamorphosis, trains, sharks and MUCH more. I can't believe he's 3 1/2. It seems like not so long ago, he was a quiet, worried baby boy that clung to us for dear life. He still clings, but in a good way, giving us lots of love but can now venture off and hold his own in lots of different situations. We are SO proud. :)

So, here's a Happy Half Birthday to my precious, precious son!