Our day at the Zoo

As we walked into the park...

petting the lion cubs

One of Will's favorite...he enjoyed getting close to this lion!

this little bird was very hungry!

Jack was impressed with this wart hog.

this elephant stayed really close to the fence.

this lion did just what every cat loves to do...sleep. Very disappointing!

My two favorite meerkats:)

Our tour guide. He held the map the entire time.

Will and Mommy

Jack was not so sure about this statue

One fresh panda stamp.

One of my new favorites!

We were in a silly mood.

watching the real kangaroos.

Will and Jack enjoyed the petting zoo.

Jack kept getting knocked down by the goats and pigs. So we decided to befriend the sheep.

The boys loved this train. When we left the zoo, Will said "riding on the train was my favorite ever!"

We had an unlimited pass to ride the train and carousel, but after the third time of riding the train, mommy and daddy had enough.

Jack waving Bye-Bye

Moving now to the playground zone.

How high does this go?

Rock Climbing? no problem!

doing everything together.

climbed all by himslelf.

big brother had to help on this one, he's at the top pulling jack up.

he's good!!

We enjoyed our trip to the Zoo this year. Hopefully next year, with our new baby, the boys will get to see the new carnivore complex. They might get to see tigers and bears.

More Easter Pictures

First thing in the morning, they rushed to the kitchen to see what the Easter bunny brought them. The bunny was very thoughtful to bring them Doc and Ramone. (Lightning McQueen characters).

Showing off their baskets. ("Too heavy") adds Jack!

.love.

Will's becoming a champ at finding eggs.

Jack is catching up!

Candy in this one...yummy

Want an egg?

It seems like big brother was on a mission!

sharing some candy

Playing outside was a lot of fun!

Easter and Springtime fun!

A couple of days before Easter, the boys allowed me to take a ton of pictures of them. I was able to capture several good shots. Staying still and smiling for the camera has to be a quick process.

Here we are in our backyard. The sun was right on their face and still smiling...I am too!

My sweet adventurer.

They kept hearing birds, somewhere...

Back in the house painting Easter eggs.

Jack was having fun cracking the egg shells!

Ready for an Easter Egg hunt at Nana's!

Future Baseball Star

Hey, this is Adam. I know Maartje has pretty much taken over the blog updates (and I'm so glad she has), but I took some video last week that I wanted to share. We've finally been having some spring weather so we went out to the back yard and let the boys get some fresh air. Will started hitting balls off of a tee, and he's really improved since last time we played ball. He was knocking the ball crazy, and I got so excited, I ran into the house and grabbed the video camera to document the turning point in his career. It's all up hill from here. Just so you know, I'll continue to update everybody on his talent level all the way up until he's drafted by the Braves. Then you'll be able to get what you want from ESPN.

Here's a shot from behind the plate.

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This is a shot from the mound (wanted to cover every angle). Turns out it wasn't a real safe spot.

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I moved to first base, trying to avoid getting plunked again. I think he's aiming for me.

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I can't wait until next year when he gets to play t-ball. At least we've got a whole year to train.

Our Mini Adventure...

Again, it's been a while since I last posted, but better late than never. So, since finding out about another kiddo on the way I have been extremely fatigued, nauseous, moody and just about all the symptoms that I better not mention. This goes on all day and I cannot wait to be myself again. Last week we headed to Tennessee for a short 3 days to celebrate our Anniversary and also made it a family vacation.

Pigeon Forge was our destination and we made it safely to our cabin, which was at the top of a mountain, with a phenomenal view. As soon as we got there, the kids were wired and loved our cabin. We had a bit of trouble with Jack wanting to run down the 2 flights of stairs, but over all, we had a lot of fun just in our cabin. The kids loved the Air Hockey table and played with it every morning. While there, we decided to hike one of the smoky mountains with a paved trail and visit the Dixie Stampede.

This was taken from the balcony of our cabin.

It was cool the day we arrived and the day after, but that did not keep us from relaxing on our balcony.

Guess who took this picture?

Family shot by a fountain on the Gatlinburg strip.

One of the perfect views on this nature walk.

They couldn't wait to climb over the wood fence.

One of the many fireplaces we got to see on our walk.

One of my new favorite pictures of the boys.

Adam created a mountain cave for the boys. How he loves to pretend he's a mountain lion.

Jack loves this type of playing. It must be a boy thing!

Saying goodbye from our Star Struck Cabin.

I would have loved to post pictures of the Dixie Stampede show. The only one I was able to take is not a good one. For some reason cameras aren't allowed during the show. I will always remember how much the boys loved the entire show. How much they enjoyed our trip to the mountains.

Good News. BIG News

Guess what! We just got news that this fall we will welcome a new baby into our family. Are you surprised? So were we. We have always talked about having another child and we are very happy that God has planned it this way. Will and Jack are very happy to become big brothers, and have started with the questions. Will wants to know the details of where the baby is, and Jack says "baby tummy?". Cant wait to hear what they will be asking next.

We are very happy to share our BIG news with you, as we begin this crazy, but sweet journey one more time.

-Maartje