Have your cake... Eat it too. How about a trip to the Zoo?

We're a little behind in our blogging. I've been waiting on pictures before I updated. And now that we have them, here we go!


A few weeks back, Rob, Jen, Grayden, and Miss Riley packed our bags and made the long trip to Michigan. Our niece Blair turned 1 on May the 21st, but her birthday celebration was held on May the 30th and we couldn't miss it. She did great opening her presents, but after Grayden's birthday, we were a little disappointed in her cake eating efforts. She couldn't have been more uninterested. I don't even know if she ate any. Grayden even seemed a little disappointed and when no one was looking, I let him steal a few bites off her tray. I just love when we get the cousins together. They are just so funny together. One minute they are SOOO interested in each other, the next minute, it's like they don't even realize the other is there. My favorite moment was on our way to my brother Jason's softball game. They were in their car seats right next to one another, and Grayden kept laughing out loud (it sounds as if he's faking it), and Blair would start dying with laughter. They kept doing this back and forth. It was a riot.


The birthday party was on a Saturday. Rob and I were planning to leave Sunday morning immediately after church. Well, my sister Mandy and I just happen to love the zoo. And all day Saturday we kept whispering to each other that we should go to the zoo Sunday morning (instead of church). With much effort for some and little effort on others, we convinced the family to join in our hypocrisy and go to the Detroit zoo instead of church. Our winning argument? "The kids never get to see each other...when will they ever get the chance to go to the zoo together?" Honestly, the kids could probably care less. But Mandy and I, we couldn't be more excited. This was Grayden's first trip to the zoo. Overall, I think he was still a little young to understand. He wasn't interested in the boring sleeping tigers, bears, camels, rhinos, blah blah. He did LOVE the meerkats though. He laughed at them the entire time. The pink butt monkey intrigued him for a little while. And his third most favorite animal? The emu. Attention Gamma Xi brothers, Rob did not force this upon him. It was a natural fascination. Maybe it's fate.

Overall, we had a fantastic time, and for those of you who are judging us for skipping church, I will have you know we listened to Grayden's "Jesus music" the entire way there. We even sang along- showing our praises to the Lord. And we thanked God for the animals that we saw that day.
Pictures below!

Rob, Jen, and Grayden at Blair's party

Checking out the cake

Even Grayden and I got cake on our faces...

At the zoo: Gr'ma, Jen, Rob and Grayden in the meerkat cave.

Uncle Jason with Blair and Rob with Grayden

Grayden and Blair hitch a ride on the rhino.

The kids passed out.

Grayden asleep with the stuffed meerkat his Uncle Brian bought him.