Hayden turned 10 years old today!! I cannot even believe that child has only been on this earth for ten years. It feels like he's been by my side my whole life. He is, as I have always referred to him as, my right hand man.
He was very tired this morning. He claims he did not stay up late, but sleeping on the way to his birthday trip and laying his head down on the restaurant table tells me otherwise.
I am trying to persuade my children to give up birthday parties. That sounds bad, I know. But I don't want them to forgo them all together. I want them to choose fun family outings in celebration of birthdays rather than parties where we gather over cake and ice cream and then clean up after everyone. Sorry, but you know that's how it goes. I want them to have the choice to pick a birthday party or a fun family trip so that each child has a fair chance to whatever floats their boat.
Hayden wanted to go to the Jackson Zoo and then eat at O'Charleys. O'Charleys is one of the few restaurants that I can eat at and it happens to be his favorite so that worked for me!
I took a lot of pictures along the way.
Giraffes are my absolute favorite animal ever! This father and son duo could not stop loving on each other. They were precious.
This orangutan was completely uninterested in us and was holding on to that piece of grass like it was the last one.
A bench under a cherry blossom tree? Picture time!!!
On to the water creatures. I love this the most. Turtles are so beautiful.
The kids could climb through tunnels in the tanks and look up. They thought that was awesome.
The otters absolutely stole our hearts! These little guys are so adorable and they play like kittens. Each one of them seemed to know that I was taking their picture because they put it on for the camera. They're like water cats.
My favorite picture. This otter swam to me and looked up at me the whole time as if it were a pet in a pet shop saying "take me! take me!" I certainly would have taken it home.
A rhino. Several James and The Giant Peach references made here. Several.
Because we love each other. Always.
Hayden reading the map to his brothers.
A turtle family. Love it.
This monkey was named Dylan because he is sucking his thumb and looks so cute. I would have taken him home too.
This monkey is not in a cage under us with nowhere to go. But it sure looks that way. He is just hanging out in the area before the zoologist entrance. Weird, though.
On the train. Hey Jude.
This picture proves to me that I had Hayden 10 years ago and then had him again 3 years ago.
O' Charleys lunch was delicious!
Now we are comfy at home with a cousin over to spend the night. What a wonderful blessed day we had. I am so grateful for beautiful days like these.
Happy Birthday Hayden. I love you more than you could ever know.
