to the zoo!

i've said it again and again and again, and i'll say it again: the best part about blogging is meeting amazing people i would have otherwise never met. the hubs thinks i'm slightly crazy to develop friendships on the internets, but boys wouldn't understand, right?

okaaaay, if you're a boy and you happen to be reading this, i'll be your friend. okay? ;)

so, anyway. friends. while we were in chicago, we got to meet up with some of my blog buddies and it was so great to meet these ladies in person. and, if possible, they were even lovlier in person. :)

we spread out our blog buddy meet-ups and started off the week with a trip to the zoo with joanna, sue, christine, and min. joanna and i go way back (as in, we met up last year), and min and i were in korea picking up our little ones at the same time. though we managed to miss each other on THREE occasions in seoul, we were finally able to get together in the midwest...isn't it funny how things work out like that? and it was so wonderful to finally chat with sue and christine in person (and give them big hugs), too!

the kiddos had a total blast and it was amazing to see them together. and, i'm sure that's all you want to see, so let's move on to the pictures, shall we?

it was really hot out, so the kids loved playing in the fun misters...i was secretly wishing i could jump in, too, but i so would not have looked as cute as these guys when wet:



sweet little anna worked hard to coax choi boy into giving her a high five:

and eventually, cb could not resist her charms:

who could?? look at that smile!

we tried to get some group shots in the iconic kangaroo (during which time recently potty-trained champion, gabe, was off doing his business)...


but someone did not feel like cooperating.


whose yellow-shirted child is that?!

oh, right. mine.

we did also manage to see some gorgeous animals.




and we enjoyed a picnic lunch together where cohen and cb treated us to the cutest little hug fest that you ever did see.


ack. heart totally melted now.

of course, we had to try for the obligatory toddler group shot and of course, we walked away with some doozies.


not sure where that cutie joel was...

we tried to get a shot of the mommas, too.

and of course, since were simultaneously trying to smile and keep a watchful eye on our gang of kiddos, we forgot to get one with min, who took that first snap. oops!

after that, we said goodbye to most of our crew and cb, probably feeling sorry for evading the high-five, laid a big smackaroo on miss anna.

while i totally egged him on. ;)

gabe and his momma stuck around for some extra hang out time and we indulged our boys with some mold-a-rama magic.


sidenote: dude, that is a seriously cool midwest thing and totally puts our sad little smushed pennies on the east coast to shame.

we ended our visit with, what else? a ride on the carousel!

and, apparently, carousel rides are very serious business.

we had such fun and can't wait to meet up with these buddies again the next time we're in town!