One of my favorite things to do is surprise the kids. Big or small - it doesn't matter. I just love seeing their reactions to the unexpected. (And full disclosure - I have had to learn to be happy with a big or small reaction. Ehm, Disneyland 2013).
During the last few weeks of school the kids had a dentist appointment one morning and Ryan and I arranged to take that afternoon off and surprise them with our annual Family Skip Day. Last year I had a whole theme lined up - this year we decided that a trip to the Houston Zoo was the perfect way to spend time together. We bid on an annual pass at their school festival because miracle of miracles, it was for a family of FIVE and we just couldn't pass it up.
Cue the perfect Monday. We felt like we had the entire place to ourselves and scored with pretty perfect Texas weather, too.
This was our first time to the Houston Zoo and we loved every inch of it. They are doing a big renovation but we were still able to see tons of amazing exhibits including the big cats, red pandas and some crazy looking (but adorable) monkeys.
Landry decided to bring a journal so she could write down the names of each animal we saw. She was so dang cute about going to find the info sign and copy the names exactly.
The bugs are always Radley's favorite stop - mainly because he knows it's my least favorites stop. Even I have to admit, that some of these critters were pretty dang cool.
We just enjoyed a fun and unexpected (to them) afternoon together. The best thing about our "skip days" isn't how big or how planned or how themed it is... the best thing is showing these three that we have time for them. We prioritize our family. We love being in the moment of the right now enough to enjoy a random Monday as much as a big event.
I dare you to try it one day... could be during school, in the summer or even just a weekend...you'll never regret skipping out on all the extra of life to soak up the right now with them!
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