Wild about Elo- celebrating turning three

We do love celebrating around here & Eloise's third birthday was no exception! We love surprising them with decorations when they wake up on their birthday but two sneaky girls ruined the surprise this year by poking their heads out to see after they were put in bed for the night. Grrrr! They were SO excited & were wired until quite late with lots of peeking going on.  Even though I was sad it wasn't a surprise they seemed to be just as excited the next morning as we woke up & began the celebration with a birthday breakfast complete with party hats....and lion masks...

The baby boas liked their hats although the picture below may show a different emotion ; ) I do love how Anson's belly always seems to be hanging out of his shirt!

We enjoyed an easy peasy & favorite breakfast of Special K Protein which "tastes like it has cookies in it" according to the chickadees at the Valentine Nest.  After all tummies were full we let Eloise open a few birthday gifts. She is pretty easily excited when it comes to receiving gifts but one in particular stood out to that sweet girl. It was a pony that walks along when you press her back.  Guess who picked that out? Her big sis that loves her baby sis dearly & spent a good 45 minutes strolling around the toy store looking for just the right gift. She had originally chosen a Hello Kitty purse followed by waiting in line for five minutes before having a change of heart & saying "I really think she would LOVE that pony instead!" So we ran back to that aisle, made the swap & purchased the big hit pony. Her smile says it all...

It was a treat for us all to be celebrating another birthday while calling the Valentine's house "our home." They take great care of all of us & are especially loving on our little ones day in & day out. 

After breakfast, gifts, getting ready & packing up which takes a half a day in itself, we were headed out for our wild adventure at the Dallas Zoo.  I had not been there since Robby & I were dating so it was special to bring the whole crew & have Grammy & Papa join us.

As we walked in from the parking lot we were alongside multiple school groups of kids that could be no older than four with 25+ per group plus a few chaperons. Clearly we had it easy with four on four in comparison : ) At the gate we were approached by a representative claiming that an annual family pass was the way to go & as we did some number crunching we quickly realized he was right. Either $60 each time we go or $99 for the year...for the whole family? Made Disney seem like a rip off ; ) So within minutes, we had our passes & were headed through the gate with triple wagon, double stroller, bags & the Fab Four. First stop was the carousel which I rode with the little ladies, Charlotte on a cheetah & Eloise on a bear then we made our way to the plains of Africa where we were greeted by these elephants or as Charlee used to say "Elo-phants."

For how obsessed Eloise is with her Gaga, she has gotten pretty attached to Grammy as well. Grammy makes Elo feel so special & dishes out lots of cuddles, pats & lifts up to see an animal or two.

Rob was on double duty except for when his crew had a double duty blow out if you know what I'm sayin'. Seriously though, I don't mind if they are in unison with screaming, walking, pulling books of shelves and many other things but double blow outs? C'mon boys! All three of them looked pretty cute in their khaki shorts & black shirts. Rob wouldn't wear the T-rex skeleton shirt I had picked out for him ; )

One thing the girls LOVE every trip to the zoo is feeding the giraffes million dollar lettuce & since it was Eloise's birthday I didn't flinch when I handed over my credit card for something that costs one hundred times what it would cost me if I bought it at the grocery store, snuck it in & fed them out of my bag. I guess it might cost me more in legal fees if I got caught. So, the giraffes (in our previous experiences) have been hungry & quickly ate whatever we offered. This time, oh my goodness, they were just staring at all the people waving their lettuce like "I'm going to throw up if I have to eat one more bite!" It took us at least 15 minutes to convince them to eat what we offered & in the process they were more interested in the guy with the camera (my husband) on the bridge next to the feeding area! Silly giraffes! Eloise's squeal when they finally ate her lettuce was worth the wait.

After the non feeding frenzy, we walked around the rest of Africa. My favorite question was from Charlotte who with wide eyes said, "Mommy, are we really in Africa?" Sometimes she seems so old & other times I quickly remember she is four. Love that sweet girl.  The cheetahs were pretty incredible right up against the glass, even O&A took notice & were bouncing up & down.  In the midst of huge elephants, lions & being face to face with giraffes all the girls could ask was "where are the goats, I want to go see the goats!" I was thinking "Goats? All you care about is goats? It would have been a LOT cheaper to find some goats in someones backyard which here in the Lone Star State is not a difficult task." Anyway, they probably asked about twenty times & were actually getting on my nerves so much that I told them if they asked again, we would skip seeing the goats. Mean? I don't know but I was done hearing about goats! 

The boys were happy in the wagon until they eventually moved to the stroller for a quick snooze. I had to include this picture of Owen with his crooked little grin....oh my, he is so darn cute!

We grabbed some beverages, changed the previously mentioned blow outs & made out way to the infamous monorail that goes around Africa at the tree top level. I could not have convinced Eloise to get in this picture to save her life....she is quite stubborn at three ; ) 

Lunch was next followed by a quick trip over to the bird show & children's zoo area where they FINALLY got to see the long awaited goats.  It was pretty anti-climactic in my opinion but the girls sure were happy to be walking around petting all goats equally. Grammy surprised the girls with a ticket to ride the pony which also brought smiles. We decided to head home before anyone got too grumpy & I think we made it just in time!

We made it home, got the babies down for a nap, I snoozed with the birthday girl & Robby got a little work done. We woke up at dinner time, made some pancakes for Elo-Pancakes & headed outside to finish off the gift giving! It is wonderful to have so many helpers to open!

Since Eloise has been completely intrigued with all things "Fida-Fida" since seeing the firetruck at Uncle Darrell & Aunt Sandy's house we decided to surprise her with her own "Fida-Fida" costume. She absolutely loved it & was beyond adorable all dressed up! She tells us we have to call her "Chief" & we do...happily.

The rest of us with the birthday girl & her sideways glance that just screams "ELOISE!"

Charlotte worked really hard to make this beautiful card for Eloise. I just about melted observing the sweet moment of giving & receiving.  Eloise opened it up & was completely silent as she studied each part for longer than she pays attention to anything.  She then looked up with a sweet smile on her face & opened her arms up to hug her favorite sissy. Just precious. 

You may also notice her snazzy new Crocs that light up. Big hit with the birthday girl! After gifts were opened & played with we went back inside for some cake. The cake was more of a Pinterest fail but I didn't care at all for one because I knew Lolo didn't care & two, I didn't have time to care about it. Eloise loved her Pinkalicious cake as she called it topped with a "lellow" three. It could not have been more perfect to have a "Fida-Fida Chief" to handle the flame appropriately.

And that was it, our two year old turned into a big three year old right before our very eyes! But when we look at her, we still see this little face & think, "oh, how we love her!"