Animal Time

 Dan and the girls had a week off for Spring Break in March.  Since we didn't have any travel plans and I had just started a new job, I worked that week while the three of them had a relaxing staycation. Spring Break included a lot of animal time, which the girls loved!

Our friends, Dave, Cynthia, Olivia, and Kailey have a sweet golden retriever who gave birth to 10 adorable puppies. As soon as Spring Break started, the first thing on our itinerary was to meet them!

Oh my goodness, there are no words to describe the cuteness. 

These 10 sleepy puppies loved to be cuddled.

They were just beginning to open their eyes at 2 weeks old. We held them on old towels just in case one of them had an "accident."

Emma and Hallie with their friend, Kailey

The girls loved having a "puppy pile" in their laps!

Their yawns were the cutest.

So kissable!

When Cynthia held them up to our noses, they gave us puppy kisses.

They were actually looking for milk in our noses, but it was so sweet!

We stayed for several hours and at one point, we all smelled something horrible. One of the puppies had projectile-pooped across the floor and the wall, and managed to hit four other pups with it on the way. Oh my goodness. The pups had to be washed off before they spread it everywhere, and the poop cleaned up quickly since their mom, Ginger, wanted to EAT IT.  GAK!!!! 

They were exhausted after all that excitement. Emma loved lining them up on their towels for nap time.

Our friends' dog, Ginger, is a proud mama! 

Dan took the girls to the Virginia Zoo later during Spring Break, on a beautiful cool weekday when the animals were out and active. They had a great time! And on Sunday, I had the chance to take them back to the zoo since our tickets were good for the week.

Our fearless snake-riders!

Everyone seemed to be up and running that day.

The girls' favorite part of the zoo are the play areas and climbing structures that are scattered throughout the park.

Giant termite hill

Butterfly bench

The cage for the wild and dangerous Homo Sapiens

Emma the Explorer

There's a fun bamboo forest area where the girls love to pretend to be animals living in the wild.

Dan snapped this awesome picture of the three of them in the reflection of a giant marble ball fountain at the zoo.

When I took the girls to the zoo a few days later, their petting zoo area was open and we enjoyed petting and grooming some goats.

The goat's saying "Ahhhh, that's the spot!"

Goat kisses!

We didn't see as many animals out as they did when Dan took them. But we got a very close encounter with this tiger.

He reeeallly wanted Emma and Hallie to come in his habitat to "play".

Just before we left, we came across a zoo staff member with a tortoise. 

She allowed the kids to gently touch his shell.

Our girl zoo date

Dan and the girls filled the other days of the week with cousin play dates, Lego challenges, playing outside, and doing a little work on our deck. They had a fun Spring Break "Staycation"!