Welcome, spring?

Oh, February. The shortest month of the year, but you feel so long. I must say, however, as far as Februaries go, this one is flying. Must be the fact that it's nearly eighty degrees every single day. I find it hard to rejoice though. We're still in a brutal drought with no relief in sight. We've fasted and prayed over and over, but the rains aren't coming. I'll be curious what hindsight will teach us about this experience. I'm a little stressed.

Jack has a four-day weekend every President's Day. I think it's the best idea ever! I was bound and determined not to let the Friday go to waste (always tempting since Allan still has to work). I wanted to prove to myself that I could take all four of them by myself on an adventure of sorts. Outside, of course. I found a new place we'd never been thanks to Google: a small zoo in Bakersfield. It's called CALM-- California Living Museum. All the species in the zoo are native to...you guessed it, California.

Saguaro. Nathan and Micah with their noses in the map.

I was super fun mom today. I coughed up twenty-five cents so they could feed the goats. I'm amazing, I know.

Micah trying to pose with a cottonmouth in honor of Nana. It took TEN shots to get this one. He can't hold still.

Every time we crossed a bridge or passed a bench, Micah would insist that he could find it on the map and successfully lead us to our next destination. He wouldn't take off his How to Train Your Dragon mask off.

Nathan took ten minutes to descend these steps because his nose was yet again in the map.

Astrid enjoyed the ride. When she would get fussy I would ply her with puffs (I'm still an awesome mom because they have kale powder in them...I'm a sucker for the health halo)

After seeing the animals the kids played on a playground until they threatened to eat my arm off if I didn't give them some food. (Apparently kale puffs don't sustain toddlers on up). We drove to the other side of town to visit one of my favorite restaurants ever. Moo Creamery. Oh, this place. No matter what your dietary preferences, you can find something here. Even bacon ice cream (Nooooo thank you).

It was jam-packed. We had to wait nearly an hour for our food. But the kids were so good! I think they sensed that it would all be worth it. Jack declared his chicken strips the best ever. My veggie burger ("The Silent Moo") was so amazing that I've caught myself daydreaming about it several times since. We took home some peppermint oreo ice cream for our Working Man to enjoy that evening.

Yes, I take pictures of my food.

On the drive home, I kept basking in how easy the day had been.  They were happy, getting along, and learned something. I didn't get the breakfast dishes done until 5:30pm that evening. Those are the best kinds of days, in my opinion.

This morning, we asked Natey what his favorite animal at the zoo was. He replied, "THE MAP!!!!"