The Merry Meunier Family: A not so scary Sunday

We continued to have a really nice weekend. Sunday morning Cecelia was still getting over her cold, but she was determined to go to church! Since she was under the weather we left the decision up to her -- so we went! Cecelia did exceptionally well, kneeling and standing up at all the right times. She even folded her hand during the prayers. A special treat was that our family was asked to carry the gifts during Mass. Then we all enjoyed Halloween themed doughnuts and then the kids had fun on the playground with some of their friends.

After doing some grocery shopping we went home, had lunch, the little ones took naps, and then it was time for the main event...Boo at the Zoo! It's a more "not so scary" event for kids at the National Zoo.

The kids have been looking forward to this for weeks. Our little dragon, cheerleader, and butterfly were anxious to get to the zoo, so much that they actually were in great spirits the entire trip despite heavy traffic! Caroline was so cute in that she kept shaking her pom poms and yelling "Go Team!" When asked by a little "bumble bee" if Cecelia was a bumble bee too, Cecelia responded with "Bumble Bees aren't blue!!" She was a blue butterfly. Colin was just adorable as a green dragon. The back of the costume had extra stuffing so it'd bulge out like a dragon and 16 month old colin looked adorable waddling around!

Different organizations/businesses had tents that the kids could go up to and get "treats" which were the usual treats of candy, potato chips, whole apples, etc. The National Zoo also did a great job with themed deocrations. There were also live animals that you could see up close and personal. Here is Caroline and a gorilla -- according to the zoo employee, gorillas like apples :)

The only issue I had with the event was that it got dark by 6:30 (it started at 5:30) and was very possible to quickly lose track of the kids. It was serioulsy downright scary for Jeff and I. Cecelia had to hold Jeff's hand the entire time and the two little ones were strapped in the stroller.

All in all we had a wonderful time! We left around 7:45, and the kids were bathed and in bed by 9pm! I'm a little proud of that one :)

Here are the kids when we first got the zoo! It's so hard to get three of them in a picture together!