preparing for a dinosaur hunt!

Today is the BIG day that we are taking our youngest firefly & our little ladybug on the much anticipated trip to the St. Louis Zoo to see a cool new exhibit, called "Dinoroarus", that they have there until September 1st. I am sure that both of the fireflies would get a huge kick out of going to see it, but our oldest is enjoying a week of church camp.. so the two little ones get to enjoy a zoo adventure. :)

Despite the glowing forecast that I had seen for this week online around this time last week... God had different plans about how hot & humid our area would be this week.. today in particular! It's supposed to be about 10 degrees warmer today than the original forecast prediction & with humidity I am sure that it will be sweltering on our zoo adventure. I already have a bunch of bottled water in the freezer(did that yesterday afternoon in prep!) and we always take a little cooler bag in the stroller for cold water during our zoo adventures, too. We'll just take it easy and rest in the shade.

Our firefly is crazy excited about going to the zoo & about being the "king" for a week with the older firefly off at camp until Saturday morning. We've been (within reason) letting him do a lot this week and not saying "no" too much.. that, of course, is a fine line to walk because we don't want to create a monster. I do think that he is feeling more special though.. we try our best to make each of the kids feel special & loved beyond words, but somedays that kinda gets lost in translation when life gets crazy.

Ladybug has started walking on her own now.. she can still get places much faster if she just crawls, but she is starting to cautiously explore on her own two feet without holding onto furniture. It is neat to watch her take those first timid steps & bittersweet at the same time, because she is no longer my tiny little baby anymore. She is starting to say a few more words, too & has learned to say "mo"(more) and sign it, too. :)

Well.. I better get in gear and get ladybug's diaper bag re-loaded & get ready to pack the bottled water, too. I will try to post some pictures of our zoo adventure later in the day.. if I'm not too worn out from all the fun in the sun! ;)