A day at the zoo

When you don't blog for a long time, you have a lot to catch up on. In early November, Mike had a day off for Veterans Day and we wanted to plan something fun. We thought about going to the zoo in Columbia, SC but with a 3 year old and a baby, driving almost 2 hours doesn't sound like the most ideal plan so we opted for a smaller and much closer zoo (sort of!) to spend the day.

Ella and I went to this same one when she was about 15 months old and it was fun but of course now that she is 3 1/2, she was way more into it. We boarded the horse drawn carriage and were on our way.

 This particular zoo is a little different than most, most of the animals just roam free and come right up to the carriage and you hold our your feed buckets for them.

 This little one was along for the ride and was pretty amused by all the animals and people feeding them as well!

 Of course one of the highlights was the zebra! Ella loves the movie Madagascar so she loved seeing the zebra and giraffe, unfortunately or maybe fortunately there was no lion or hippo to see.

Posing in front of the water buffalo

 There were lots of water buffalos with really long tongues and they just hold out their tongues and you put the food right in their mouths. So disgusting if you ask me but Ella thought it was pretty fantastic. I am glad I got to sit and hold Maddie and take the pictures.

 The giraffes were the most exciting animal and they were huge and came right up to the fence and ate right out of our buckets.

 One of my most favorite pictures EVER. I love how the giraffe is totally posing for the picture also. It almost looks like a fake background.

 After we got off the carriage, we went and had a picnic lunch (after lots and lots of hand washing and hand sanitizer to get those animal germs off us!) and played on the playground.

 Before heading home, we went to the petting zoo. Ella got really friendly with the donkeys, I think she wanted to go inside the fence and play with them!

It was such a fun way to spend the day together as a family. We will definitely be coming back for lots and lots more trips!

It has been awhile

Sorry for the crickets over in the Hennessy Fam blog, we have been busy busy busy as always. I have a lot of pictures to share of what we have been up to the past month starting with Thanksgiving.

DeeDee, Papa and Uncle Court came up to Charlotte to celebrate with us. We were so excited to spend Thanksgiving on our new house and start new traditions. The morning of Thanksgiving, Mike, Court and I ran the Turkey Trot 8k. It was a gorgeous day and weekend so it was perfect weather for a run. The girls got to stay home with DeeDee and Papa and hang out.

While we were waiting for the turkey to cook, we took some family pictures in the backyard. 

 Then it was time to dig in and eat! It is SO nice to have a dining room again!

 Since Thanksgiving, it has been all about Christmas. Ella is at such a fun age where she is into everything about Santa and can't get enough of it! In recent years, she has been terrified of Santa (I mean won't get near him or she freaks out) but this year we visited Santa at the Uptown tree lighting celebration and we talked about how she didn't have to sit on his lap but she could just stand next to him. She was ok with that and he was so friendly and she actually did great! And Maddie was happy and seemed a little too comfortable. I am just happy to have a picture with Ella not screaming, this was a major breakthrough for us!

 A couple days after meeting Santa, we hosted Ella's preschool class for a gingerbread house making party. Another Mom and I did a lot of prep work but it was just a fun way for the kids to get together out of school and have fun.

 I had seen this cute idea on another blog where a Mom put together a Reindeer Food Bar where the kids get to make a bag of food for the reindeer to sprinkle on the driveway on Christmas Eve for the reindeer to eat while Santa delivers the toys!

 All these three year olds in your house can be a little scary but they were all so well behaved and loved making the houses.

Anything with frosting and candy is right up her alley! 

Ella and one of her best buddies, Caroline!

Filling up their reindeer food bags

The next morning, we went and had a yummy pancake breakfast and then out to pick out a Christmas tree. At breakfast we learned that Maddie loves pancakes as much as her older sister!

 Ella thought the Christmas tree lot was awesome and a huge park to play hide and go seek in.

I love capturing these sweet little moments between Daddy and his girls

 On December 1st, our elf Buddy flew back from the North Pole to spend the month with us! Buddy is pretty funny and has been making a little bit of mess when he flys back in the morning. This particular morning, he got into our M&Ms and made a mess. But can you blame him, he works up quite an appetite after flying back to the North Pole each night!

 And in between all the parties and craziness, we have been having some sisterly bonding. On this particular day, Ella decided they were on a train together.

 Or some cuddling on the couch

 Just like her older sister, Maddie Grace loves her doggie Dakota.

Apparently this was so tiring that Dakota fell asleep sitting up.

So, this brings us up to this weekend where we hosted another brunch with tons of kiddos (pics to come, they are still on my camera), happy hours with new neighbors and two different church events today. Whew, I am tired after one busy weekend but I can't wait to see these two little girls on Christmas morning. Ella's big request this year is a Cindrella blue bike, I hope Buddy has given the message to Santa.

And one final note because I would remise if I didn't mention that our hearts and prayers are with the families in Connecticut. As a parent of a small children, I can't even imagine what those families are feeling and I can tell you that I definitely held my little ones extra tight this weekend. It puts into perspective what this season is all about and as much fun as Santa and Buddy are, I am so blessed to have a healthy and happy family.

Merry Christmas and I will try and be better about updating the blog!

Halloween and More

Some things are just more fun when you have kids and I think the biggest thing is holidays. Ella is at the perfect age to not only understand everything about holidays but really get into them. We talked about Halloween for weeks, pointing out all the jack o lanterns on our walks, talking about the costumes and of course the candy! She told everyone for weeks that she was going to be a strawberry fairy! Really, it had to be a princess or fairy for this girl!

 Maddie of course went along for the ride wearing the costume that Ella wore when she was 2.5 months old. Good thing Maddie is such a little peanut (or should I say pumpkin!) and can fit into all of Ella's old outfits! And we got good use out of our costumes this year, wearing them to 2 parties and then of course on Halloween.

 The day of Halloween, Mike came home early from work and we were excited to participate  in our new neighborhoods Halloween parade and pizza party before heading out to trick and treat.

Ella and Wyatt with Will in the background. (Our new best buddies in the new neighborhood, Ella and Wyatt were in the same preschool class last year.)

 There are TONS of kids in the new neighborhood. Ella and Maddie are a little bit on the younger side but a local fire truck came to lead the parade down the street with all the parents bringing up the rear.

 Then the madness began! We were one of the first houses on the trick or treating route so we had to hurry home from the pizza party before the mad rush of kids came. We had heard stores about how many kids would be coming so we stocked up on candy.

 This little strawberry fairy got into the act also, stocking up on lots of yummy candy. Mike and I were laughing that night because after eating a lot of candy, she was acting wild! This girl LOVES her sweets!

 Last week, Ella's preschool had Donuts with Dads day at school. Mike was able to eat breakfast with us and then take Ella to school. Based on the stories, I think they both had a great time.

 I realized in looking back over my past couple of posts that Ella definitely dominates in the pictures so I think it is time that miss Maddie Grace gets her share of pictures as well.

 This little girl and her big smile and huge blue eyes capture our hearts everyday. She is the sweetest little thing and I hope she always stays this happy and content.

 As she gets older, they are interacting more and more. Trust me, Ella doesn't share all her toys but to see them with each other just melts my heart.

 We had to most beautiful weather this past week and weekend and it was perfect timing since Mike just put up this new swing in the backyard. Anytime the weather is nice, you can find out outside enjoying the new backyard.

 Maddie loves all the food she is trying each day. We haven't found anything she doesn't like yet. I made corn muffins the other day and she ate them up and created a huge mess in the process!

 It broke my heart a little but I finally took Ella to get her second haircut. Her hair was getting long and a little unruly so we went to get it trimmed up. She was so good, sat so quiet and loved getting it blown dry.

 And the final product. Don't worry, it is not too short, I would never be able to bring myself to cut it super short but it does look a lot better and more healthy now.

 We discovered a new park right near the house and Daddy and Ella went this weekend on their bike ride. They found a zip line which she thought was pretty awesome!

Can't believe Thanksgiving is in less than 2 weeks and then it will be December and Christmas. If Halloween taught me anything, it is Ella will be so excited for Santa and Christmas and I can't wait! But for right now, I am going to enjoy the rest of November and all that I am thankful for this year.