old news. and maybe some new?

This news has already spread pretty efficiently since I posted it on Instagram and Facebook, but it wouldn't be right to leave out the blog.

So here it is.

We'll be squeezing one more kid into our photobooth shot next year. Baby #4 is set to arrive in April. The girls are beyond excited and Oliver is completely oblivious.

Also, it's a boy.

We like to keep things even around here.

mums at longwood.

Ben's sister Rachel was in town a few weeks ago and it was fun to spend some time with her. We met her and Ben's parents at Longwood Gardens one afternoon (loving our annual pass). I was excited to see their annual Chrysanthemum Festival. The blooms were lovely and as always, everything inside and outside of the giant conservatory was beautiful.

Over 1,300 white mums on one stem!

125 different types of mums growing from ONE STEM!

Elsa was asking to have her picture taken everywhere.

 

Love the hall of bathrooms.

The kids always love exploring the treehouses.

raking leaves.

elsa cuts her hair.

Oliver and the giraffes. The movie.

richmond: the zoo

We ended our Richmond adventure with a trip to the Richmond Zoo. We hadn't been in several years and I knew the kids would love it. It's such a great zoo. Tons of animals but not exhausting to see everything. And you can get much closer animal interactions than you can at the National Zoo in D.C. (especially if you climb through fences which Oliver might have done, more than once). There was hardly anyone there so we felt like we had the zoo to ourselves.

Oliver was in love with the giraffes.

Oliver climbed over a rope to get closer to these birds and they all flew right into his face. He laughed hysterically and tried to do it again.

This picture was taken right before Oliver managed to squeeze through the fence into the deer enclosure. I had to run to catch him and lifted him out just before he ran straight for the deer. Amelia was screaming and hysterical, fearing that Oliver was in great danger. Those deer look pretty friendly, right? This was also the only time we encountered other people on the trail. I'm sure they didn't judge our parenting. At least the tiger enclosures were more carefully guarded.