Scream Break 2011.

It is Spring Break around here. But, really, isn't every day of my kids' life Spring Break. What's different - eating, sleeping, playing, having someone take care of you.

Back to the point. It is Spring Break. No school for Lane this week, and my friend Laura has her stepson for the whole week.

So, why not take a trip to the zoo, right. We love the zoo.

All weekend, Papa and I were coming up with names for this year's Spring Break.

Spring Break 2 Oh by gosh 11 - because Oh by gosh is Andrea's signature saying.

Or, Hell Yeah Spring Break 2011 - because Hell Yeah is Lane's signature saying thanks to a YouTube video of some monster trucks and my husband's encouragement.

Oh by gosh, Evan is so stinkin' cute or
Isn't Evan cute? Hell Yeah!

So, we, along with every other family on Spring Break, went to the zoo yesterday.

Five moms, one grandmother and 11 freakin' kids. Hell Yeah.




See Jackie's face? That sums up our trip to the zoo.

From the minute we walked in to the minute we walked out - at least one of the 11 kids in our group was screaming. No joke.

My mom called at one point, and my first words to her were, "We are liking that freaking Duggar family."

Not that anyone else there noticed because the place was packed. Others did notice, however, when half the kids in our group screamed POO POO when the elephant did his business.

And Lane told everyone how it smelled eh whee.

So, after the elephant house, we noticed Giang and Lily were missing. Gone. Could not find them any where. We left her in line for a Coca-Cola and just like that she was gone. Only her stroller, phone and Lorelei were with us.

Paola searched up and down for her. Couldn't find her anywhere. And that's when Paola and Andrea's trip to the zoo crashed.

See Paola's face? That pretty much sums up her trip to the zoo. Over it. Andrea was way tired and nothing made her happy. Nothing.

See Teddy in the back of my stroller behind Lane? That made him happy. For about 15 minutes. Then, he was back in Laura's arms. Not happy.

Teddy's after lunch melt down pretty much ended Laura's trip to the zoo.

See my kid eating chips and drinking what he thought was Coca-Cola out of his zoo cup. That made him happy. And for once, both of my kids kept their cool all day long. No running away. No overly tired break downs. No frustrated mama.

A Spring Break miracle.

Lane got a new Monster Jam when we got home because he was so good. Hell Yeah!

Here's my other kid. This is how he escaped from the madness of the day. Just put him in the Bjorn, cover his head with his hat and he's out like a light.

This picture cracks me up because it looks like AnnaBella is looking at Andrea, who is in the lion's den. Really, she wasn't. But, what is so funny is that Paola just got done telling Andrea she was going to put her in the lion's den if she didn't stop throwing a tantrum over which stroller she rode in.

You probably don't think that's funny. You had to be there. Spring Break 2011 - Hell Yeah!

Back to the zoo. Like I said, the place was packed. Seeing our usual animals took for freakin' ever. Take the fact that we had so many kids and add that up with the fact there were so many other people there and it equals disaster.

Lane, Evan and I just skipped right over the parakeet house. Good thing we did because while we were waiting outside, we found Giang and Lily. Giang had carried a screaming Lily throughout the zoo - going to all our usual places - looking for us.

That's when Giang's trip to the zoo was pretty much over.


Want to know the secret behind my child not screaming all day long? AnnaBella.

Lane has it hard core for her. Crushing bad. Every time he sees her, he follows her around like her shadow.

Lucky for me, she doesn't seem to mind. Made my job a lot easier yesterday.




Oh, I can't leave out Conner. This kid was so good yesterday. The oldest of the bunch, he had so much patience and even pushed John Oscar in the stroller most of the time. All that boy wanted was to go to the reptile house.

He even put that hat on and posed for this picture for me. I'm telling you - little angel wings we can't see. The kid was golden.



Right here, this was the best part of the day. The besties - minus Lily who refused at this point to leave her stroller, can you blame her - chilled for a few minutes.



And then, I felt a meltdown coming on from all directions and declared my trip to the zoo was over. Me, Laura, Giang and Paola packed it up and we were out.

Scream Break 2011.
Hell Yeah!