noah's 8th birthday weekend {recap w/pics}

We had a fun weekend celebrating Noah's birthday! He turned 8 on Saturday. I can't believe he's that old already- it seems like I was pregnant with him just yesterday. He's so much fun and so sweet. He's tender-hearted and hilarious and witty all at the same time. 

To give you an idea of his personality, one day a couple of weeks ago I gave him a stem of grapes, and he instantly ran to the office and brought this back and ate his grapes holding the book like this just to get me to laugh:

I think we must have the same sense of humor because I died laughing. :)

We started the day with chocolate chip pancakes and his sister was thrilled to decorate his chair for him:

I wish I'd gotten a picture of his reaction to his chair. He couldn't stop laughing . :)

He loves animals, legos, mud, and art. We wanted to do something special for him this year, so we took all the kids to the Fort Worth Zoo for the first time. I'd never been before that I could remember!

You'd think they'd all be a little more excited to be at the zoo.... ;) they were all in zombie mode after hours of driving. :)

They woke up pretty fast after we spotted a 15-foot crocodile:

And this ridiculously large komodo dragon... I love the looks on their faces- especially Ava in the corner:

I was really impressed by the zoo- it was gorgeous and they had so many activities for the kids to do:

Like this mystery swamp box- the kids were supposed to stick their hands in a dark box to feel the swamp, and not one of them would do it. They tried to see what was inside first:

And then Noah ever so sweetly tried to force Ava to feel inside first..."you want to try it Ava? Here, let me help you..." ;)

And of course, the animals were fun to see too. They had lions, tigers, and bears... all in one place!

And an aquatic petting zoo:

For the record, I refused to touch any of those slimy sea creatures. I'll just take pictures, thank you very much. :)

I'll spare you the picture Rob got of hundreds of 2-inch Haitian cockroaches {which totally creeped me out}. Elijah touched my arm after we looked at them and I seriously almost screamed out loud in crowd full of people.

Instead, feast your eyes on this sweet baby:

Blue coconut shaved ice. I think I may have a new craving. I've almost convinced Rob to buy me the snow cone machine they're selling at Sam's for $150. I told him I'd set up a snow cone stand in our yard to make up for it... {but then I'd have to work it 9 months pregnant when its 111 outside... probably not such a great idea after all}.

We finished Noah's b-day at a favorite Mexican restaurant, where we all ordered American food because it was 40% less than the Mexican fare and just as good? Why is that? We had chicken fingers, french fries, chicken fried steak, and grilled chicken and veggies. With chips and salsa. ;)

We waited to have cake with the family on Sunday {I hope to share the "recipe" soon!} since we had a very long day.

I'm telling you, Noah was given a special gift of making his mama laugh. "Noah, here, look at the camera..."

{posted with his permission... crazy boy. ;)}

 And here's the other sweet side when we were singing to him:

Love that boy. :) I'm sad that he's older now, but so far, the older they get, the more fun they are, I think. And that makes me a little excited for them to grow up too. :) 

What do you think? Do they get more fun as they get older?

Have you been to the Fort Worth Zoo? Your favorite zoo? Is the San Diego one really great?

What do you order when you eat Mexican food? 

I usually eat a salad of some kind, but my pregnant body is still rejecting any leafy greens as a food option. Which makes me incredibly sad. Who am I anymore??? I don't know.}