Spring Break Adventures
Whew! It's only Thursday of Spring Break 2016 and I'm pooped! Ha! We've had a jam-packed past 24+ hours and I'm only now sitting down to bloggity-blog about our adventures, which includes a lot of firsts for this Mooney clan.
So, where to begin?! Ahhhh, where I left off Monday I guess -- I have finished (woot!) cleaning the basement and was set out to enjoy the rest of my week off.
The kiddos had Hand, Foot, and Mouth, but fortunately by Tuesday they were on the mend and the bumps mostly gone and/or scabbed over, so we decided to hit up the Zoo, along with seemingly every.single.other.person. in STL that day. Oh well...my mom's cousins were in town from Wisconsin and Patrick was in his conductor outfit desperate to ride the train, so off we went!
Fortunately Mike was off that morning so he was able to go with us. We had so much fun! Patrick's favorite part HAD to be getting to say "All Aboard!" like 4 times on the train--one of the perks to sitting in the very back.
Seriously, why haven't I always been shooting on manual?! It freaking rocks! Yes, there's a learning curve, but I figure the more I play and shoot on it the better I'll get and more comfortable I'll be using it all the time.
Sooooooo, I ended up bringing my camera to my mom's on Tuesday night to snap some pics of the kiddos in the yard before the cousins left. There are a few pics below...even more you can see over here on my photog blog promoting my mini-sessions (check 'em out here!) I'm offering coming up in a couple weeks!
I was so proud of myself shooting all of those snaps on manual! Even after that little impromptu session I felt more comfortable snapping on that mode.
Patrick asked for Chick-fil-A for dinner, so, twist my arm, that's where we went. And Ro finally got to take a legit bath after her finger had incapacitated her to do so for the past week! She was very excited.
Random family selfie and a pic of uncle Charlie with Ro. Melts my heart.
Wednesday morning we got up and headed down to my aunt Kate's lake! Mike was off until Saturday (woot!!) and we thought we'd do a quick little overnight trip down there. Patrick was overjoyed and Ro was just happy to be going anywhere. She's so easy to please.
We actually met my aunt at a bowling alley about half way to her lake house to go bowling. OHH EMM GEE was Patrick in HEAVEN! He had such a great time!
I mean, we all had a blast (Ro enjoyed watching), but Patrick really loved it. I bet we'll be going bowling again soon because he really enjoyed it oh so much.
After we finished bowling we grabbed a quick lunch and headed to the lake for siestas.
Mike and the kids all napped and my aunt and I headed to the grocery store to get appetizers for dinner -- that's Patrick's favorite thing to have when he goes to her lake!
When everyone got up from their naps we had a photoshoot -- Kate had told me about this pretty spot close by her house and I thought it'd be a great opportunity to get some snaps of the kiddos looking adorable in their Easter outfits.
I KNOW. I'm biased, but gahhhhh! How great did these pics turn out!? And again, I shot the entire shoot in manual! I am feeling so comfortable on that setting now I am just loving it! Wanna see even more?! Check out my blog post over here on my photog blog for the entire session.
After our little photo shoot we took the golf cart out and headed up the park so the kiddos could play before dinner. It was 65 degrees out yet so windy so it felt freezing! We didn't stay too long, just enough for Patrick to burn off some energy.
Once we got back and finished yummy appetizers for dinner, it was bath an bedtime for the kiddos.
Ro was her usual self and asleep within 10 minutes of finishing nursing, while Patrick on the other hand watched 2 hours (not kidding!) of Paw Patrol in KiKi's bed "I waiting for KiKi to come in!". Haha, YOLO Patrick.
This morning we got up and had a quick breakfast before heading back home. Patrick, when I told him that we were leaving soon, said, "No, you leave, I stay here with KiKi" -- so he did! He's coming back tomorrow after an extended vacation with his most favorite person ever.
Mike, Rosie, and I took advantage of our temporarily smaller family and hit up the grocery store in Patrick's absence...
And then Rosie destroyed Patrick's drawing stuff when we got home. Ahahaha. Anyways, what a fun little spring break week we've had and it's not even over yet! We have some friends coming over for dinner tomorrow night, then Easter shindigs all weekend before Ro goes back to the surgeon for a final (hopefully!) check up Monday and then I'm back to work on Tuesday, with only 8ish weeks left of school! I can't wait for summer!
Anyways, this turned into an incredibly long post so I apologize...have a great rest of your week friends and I'm sure you'll be hearing from me oh-so-soon!
So, where to begin?! Ahhhh, where I left off Monday I guess -- I have finished (woot!) cleaning the basement and was set out to enjoy the rest of my week off.
The kiddos had Hand, Foot, and Mouth, but fortunately by Tuesday they were on the mend and the bumps mostly gone and/or scabbed over, so we decided to hit up the Zoo, along with seemingly every.single.other.person. in STL that day. Oh well...my mom's cousins were in town from Wisconsin and Patrick was in his conductor outfit desperate to ride the train, so off we went!
Fortunately Mike was off that morning so he was able to go with us. We had so much fun! Patrick's favorite part HAD to be getting to say "All Aboard!" like 4 times on the train--one of the perks to sitting in the very back.
Shocker, he didn't want to leave, but fortunately he was game when we told him we were heading to Fuzzy Taco (Ro approved too!) for lunch he happily obliged.
When we got home Mike headed off to work and I sat down with my camera to practice and play on manual mode -- I usually use Aperture Priority mode (so semi-automatic) when I shoot, but manual has sooooooo many more options and controls I thought I'd practice tackling that here and there and get more comfortable using it.
Sooooooo, I ended up bringing my camera to my mom's on Tuesday night to snap some pics of the kiddos in the yard before the cousins left. There are a few pics below...even more you can see over here on my photog blog promoting my mini-sessions (check 'em out here!) I'm offering coming up in a couple weeks!
I was so proud of myself shooting all of those snaps on manual! Even after that little impromptu session I felt more comfortable snapping on that mode.
Patrick asked for Chick-fil-A for dinner, so, twist my arm, that's where we went. And Ro finally got to take a legit bath after her finger had incapacitated her to do so for the past week! She was very excited.
Random family selfie and a pic of uncle Charlie with Ro. Melts my heart.
Side note: Patrick can sleep through ANYTHING. Seriously. I plopped Scoots down in his bed on Tuesday night and he didn't even flinch! I'm pretty sure Scooter would have preferred that I left him there to snuggle with his Patrick all night...maybe next time Scooter.
We actually met my aunt at a bowling alley about half way to her lake house to go bowling. OHH EMM GEE was Patrick in HEAVEN! He had such a great time!
I mean, we all had a blast (Ro enjoyed watching), but Patrick really loved it. I bet we'll be going bowling again soon because he really enjoyed it oh so much.
After we finished bowling we grabbed a quick lunch and headed to the lake for siestas.
Mike and the kids all napped and my aunt and I headed to the grocery store to get appetizers for dinner -- that's Patrick's favorite thing to have when he goes to her lake!
When everyone got up from their naps we had a photoshoot -- Kate had told me about this pretty spot close by her house and I thought it'd be a great opportunity to get some snaps of the kiddos looking adorable in their Easter outfits.
I KNOW. I'm biased, but gahhhhh! How great did these pics turn out!? And again, I shot the entire shoot in manual! I am feeling so comfortable on that setting now I am just loving it! Wanna see even more?! Check out my blog post over here on my photog blog for the entire session.
After our little photo shoot we took the golf cart out and headed up the park so the kiddos could play before dinner. It was 65 degrees out yet so windy so it felt freezing! We didn't stay too long, just enough for Patrick to burn off some energy.
Once we got back and finished yummy appetizers for dinner, it was bath an bedtime for the kiddos.
Ro was her usual self and asleep within 10 minutes of finishing nursing, while Patrick on the other hand watched 2 hours (not kidding!) of Paw Patrol in KiKi's bed "I waiting for KiKi to come in!". Haha, YOLO Patrick.
This morning we got up and had a quick breakfast before heading back home. Patrick, when I told him that we were leaving soon, said, "No, you leave, I stay here with KiKi" -- so he did! He's coming back tomorrow after an extended vacation with his most favorite person ever.
Mike, Rosie, and I took advantage of our temporarily smaller family and hit up the grocery store in Patrick's absence...
And then Rosie destroyed Patrick's drawing stuff when we got home. Ahahaha. Anyways, what a fun little spring break week we've had and it's not even over yet! We have some friends coming over for dinner tomorrow night, then Easter shindigs all weekend before Ro goes back to the surgeon for a final (hopefully!) check up Monday and then I'm back to work on Tuesday, with only 8ish weeks left of school! I can't wait for summer!
Anyways, this turned into an incredibly long post so I apologize...have a great rest of your week friends and I'm sure you'll be hearing from me oh-so-soon!
