Zoo Day

Saturday morning, we decided to head down to the zoo in Columbia--it was supposed to be cloudy and cool with no rain until late afternoon, so we took advantage of it.   

One of the reasons we like this zoo is that it's small enough to cover in a few hours, and there's not a tremendous amount of walking, so it's not too exhausting, even for Em.

She saw the lions and yelled "Mufasa!"  She's watched The Lion King a couple of times lately :).

The carousel is always a favorite.

Another reason we like this zoo is because you can get so close to the animals!  This koala had a baby in her pouch!

 We tried feeding the lorakeets, but they were being shy.

 Em still likes watching them though.

 Em had to climb on everything,

 even the stuff she said was yucky.

 In the penguin exhibit, there was a cave she got to explore.

 And she always loves the farm animals,

 no matter what else is around.

I actually still had tokens in my wallet from our last visit, so it was convenient to be able to use those on this trip--two of them had to go for lettuce to feed the giraffes!

 Em enjoyed imitating all the animals.

 It's unbelievable to see a giraffe up so close.

 The animals seemed to like the cloudy weather, because they were all out.

 We watched the bears eating oranges.

 Another pose with a statue!

 We walked back by the carousel and had to ride again.

 This was Em's ostrich face, which I thought was hilarious.

It started to rain just as we walked back to the car.  As soon as we pulled out of the parking lot, she was asleep.  The ride back was the perfect length of time for her nap!

Big Girl

Mick's mom found these pjs at consignment, and they match Chicken's pjs, so Em was thrilled about them!

 Here she's showing us what Chicken learned at dance class!

 And then she wanted to snuggle under a blanket with Chicken.

 So cute.

I hope you can tell what this is--Uncle Robbie & Stacy sent Em this six-pack of fairies (Tinker Bell and her friends) for her birthday.  They're a little smaller than Barbies, but you get the idea.  Mick and I discovered that Em had set up this little reading corner all by herself one Saturday morning!  Each of the fairies is sitting and reading with her own book.  We were pretty impressed that she came up with this without help :).

One night before bed, she picked an animal for each fairy to ride, and lined them up for a race.  She loves these fairies!

I love how creative Em is getting with her ideas.  It just reminds me of how fast she's becoming a big girl!  I'm not sure what happened to my baby.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

We got together with Heather and Emma and bought tickets for Sesame Street Live on Saturday morning--Em was so excited, and had been looking forward to the show for weeks!  We had third row seats, but when we got there, our tickets were somehow for the wrong day.  There was a moment of panic, but luckily, the show wasn't sold out and they were able to switch out our tickets for the same seats!

The show was perfect for them, and we were so close they had a great view.

During intermission, Emma's grandma (who was also with us) bought them both Elmo balloons!

Em sang the ABC song with them, and then got out of her seat to dance at one point.

As soon as the show was over, Em and I had to rush back to our side of town for Sophia's birthday party!  Sophia is in Em's class at school, and had her party at a place called Funky Town--it was basically a big dance party.  They also made a teddy bear for Sophia--all the kids helped stuff the bear, and then wrote on a T-shirt for her.

Sophia has Down's Syndrome, so she was actually turning 4 where the rest of the class is only 3, but it's nice to see that at their age, there's no prejudice or awkwardness toward her.  They might notice some differences, but they don't care and they love her the same as everyone else in the class.  Too bad we don't keep that as we turn into adults.  In this picture, Sophia's mom was holding her in the middle of the room, and all the kids circled around, and then came in for a group hug!

Of course, the best part of any birthday party is the cake! 

 This was the best group picture I captured.

Later that afternoon, we headed over to Blakeney--the summer concert series started at the beginning of April, and this was a nice warm weekend to be outside.

 We ran into Heather and Emma there, so the girls took their shoes off and danced together.

Wild Birthday Party



George was our next door neighbor when we lived in Charlotte the first time (prior to moving to Atlanta), and after we moved, he remarried and now he and Amber have two kids--Bryce is the older, and he turned 5 in March.  His birthday is actually the day after Em's, so when I invited them to her party, I was a little worried that his would be the same day--luckily, Amber decided to do the party on April 6 instead.

 

They live close by, and had the party at their neighborhood clubhouse.  She brought in a company called Party Pets--exotic animals!

This guy is really in the right business--he was so into his job that he was almost a little annoying, but the kids loved it.

Em was not the least bit shy!  She wanted to touch and hold everything--even this boa constrictor!

She listened and followed all the instructions for holding the animals.

When we left, she told me the soft ones were her favorite--mine too!  I could have done without the lizards and stuff.

She would have sat and held the hamster, guinea pig and bunny all afternoon.

But the bunny had other ideas!  She didn't understand why he ran from her :).

This chinchilla was the softest thing I've ever felt.

Em grabbed a seat at the table with the cake!

One of the party favors was a plastic sword, which was right up her alley.  She decided this weekend she was Captain Hook.

The weather was gorgeous, and they had a bounce house outside.  She was totally in her element.

We had a great time, and when the party was over, she took a nice nap when we got home. 

That evening, we went over to a neighbor's house for a cookout, but I forgot to take any pictures!

Easter Weekend

Fridays are Show & Share days at Rainbow Station, and the kids were supposed to bring something Spring or Easter related on Good Friday.  Em had an easy choice, and decided on her bunny ears.  She looked super sweet, and I think she must have kept them on all day long, because she was still wearing them when I picked her up that afternoon!

On Saturday, our neighborhood hosted an Easter Egg Hunt and Chili Cook-Off at the clubhouse, which is right across from us.  I'm on the Social Committee, which meant I went early to help set up--when the bounce house went up, I knew we needed a tester, so I brought Em over with me.

One of the other ladies on the committee brought her daughter too, so Em had a friend to share some Goldfish with, and then to jump with in the bounce house

The weather was beautiful, so we took her sidewalk chalk.

Everyone brought filled plastic eggs, so the dads split up and hid them all over the area around the clubhouse.  The kids really wanted to help, but we managed to hold them off until the eggs were spread out.

Em had a ball!  She found eggs everywhere!

She was very determined not to leave any eggs behind.

 Here she is showing off her loot!

That afternoon when we got home, she put on a little concert for us--this Minnie Mouse guitar was a birthday present from a little girl in our neighborhood.  Em is pretty good with it!

On Sunday morning, I had some of Em's Easter treats out to surprise her, so she had to sample her chocolate bunny for breakfast (no, she didn't get to eat the whole thing).

After lunch, we made hard boiled eggs and dyed them before Em went down for her nap.

This was the first time either of us had dyed eggs, and she was a pro! 

 She did a great job, and was very steady with the egg holder.

 While she napped, I put a trail of eggs from the door of her bedroom all the way down the stairs,

through the kitchen, and out into the  backyard where her Easter basket was waiting!

She had another egg hunt waiting for her in the backyard.

And quickly named her new friend Baby Cottontail.  Love!

Her hair is quite a mess because she slept pretty hard, but it didn't get in her way.

She had a great time, and was so excited that the Easter Bunny came while she was asleep to hide the eggs we dyed.

It was a really fun Sunday, and she didn't get too full on sugar.  We spent some time outside with her new bubbles that were in her basket, which I think she liked more than the candy!