Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

It's no secret that we love the Cincinnati Zoo. The combination of Spring + the fact that I work on Pacific Time on "West Coast Wednesdays" means that Bea and I have found ourselves at the zoo quite a bit over the past few weeks.  Because we live so close to the zoo, we've also been known just to pop in there as a family of four as we're driving back just to go for a quick train ride, to grab a veggie burger, or to see our favorite - the giraffes.  Here's a collection of zoo photos from several trips over the last few weeks.  Enjoy (then get your buns to the zoo)!

Here are a couple of short vines. We learned a thing or two about peacock mating. Poor guys get interested in all kinds of spring activities since there are no female peahens at the zoo.

Here's sweet Bea with the goats. Pretty sure our kids would drop everything and move to a full farm in a hot second.

A Fairy Garden in Formation

When we found our home about 9 months ago, I was immediately challenged & inspired by this dry, cracked stretch of backyard earth under the bay window adjacent to the backyard patio that was begging for us to love it.  Way back been when the Harrison family shared their sweet fairy garden with us when they still lived in the Buckeye state, I vowed to one day create our own enchanted fairy hang-out. This was the perfect spot! We started collecting items last year and this spring it was one of our first outdoor projects. It's something we will continue to add to and interact with for years to come. It's off to a great start!

BEFORE:

DURING: (Josie sourcing materials to construct fairy furniture from the backyard)

AFTER:

Here's a quick vine of the fairy garden more recently, now that we've added some more furniture and some of the plants have started to grow. 

Sometimes...

Sometimes you have to...

Let the little one walk all over the little sprouts   in the butterfly garden because she having too much  fun pretending to water the seeds.

Throw caution to the wind and let a creative kid-engineer  create  a new swing out of an outgrown hippity-hop, broken jumprope and trapeeze. 

Take all the sunflare photos your iphone can handle, because capturing the golden light through their hair is too much to pass up.

Hit the park on the way home from the grocery store, even though it's getting close to bedtime on a school night. 

Spring Things

April was pretty wonderful around here. Settling into May, we still have the spring in our collective step from our four-part spring break roadtrip. The first spring on our quiet little lane in the city has been blissful. It's been such a fun process to watch the surrounding trees transform from pale, woody and full of promise to this techni-color green wonderland that is so bright after a rain that it's truly "verdant," defined.

Before we know it these spring rains will give way to the hazy days of summer. We have big summer dreams of long days at the pool, bonfires in the backyard, day camps, playdates, dinner on the porch, fireflies, sprinklers and annual camping trips.  

But, before we get too ahead of ourselves, here's a look at spring so far...

the sunrises

and sidewalk chalk masterpieces

greenhouse sprouts

and the way the sun shines through the swingset at just the right spot every evening

hand-me-down spring wardrobes

pedaling practice

picking grass

and pulling weeds

swim lessons

new neighborhood discoveries

wildflower bouquets

giant bubbles

bare legs

backyard hide-and-seek

returning wildlife

singing with the windows down

and spring things - blooming all around