There's Treasure Everywhere
Warning...the answer is probably, "Yes." Do you see where Hannah is?
Our precious daughter, playing in the water in the gutter.
But look how happy she is.
Our precious daughter, playing in the water in the gutter.
But look how happy she is.
My friend, Rachael, told me about this new park in town called Sunset Park that sounded amazing. The kids and I packed our lunch on Friday and decided to check it out.
Other than the bark instead of sand (who wants to play in sharp little pieces of bark?), it was a really cool park. There were so many things for the kids to play on and equipment I had never seen before.
Joey saw another kid do this trick and decided he wanted to try. He was a little nervous, but managed to climb to the top. Here he is holding on for dear life.
Hannah Belle missed playing with her sand toys, but she made due with the bark. She also got a little extra fiber into her diet. Yum! That's what I call a win-win.
This might have been Joey's favorite part of the park. He LOVED climbing on this snake. As we were leaving he said that he wanted to take the snake home with him as a pet. He proceeded to walk to the car with his hands held out in front of his as if he were carrying the snake. Do you want to know what he named his snake? Mr. Lanzone.
Other than the bark instead of sand (who wants to play in sharp little pieces of bark?), it was a really cool park. There were so many things for the kids to play on and equipment I had never seen before.
Joey saw another kid do this trick and decided he wanted to try. He was a little nervous, but managed to climb to the top. Here he is holding on for dear life.
Hannah Belle missed playing with her sand toys, but she made due with the bark. She also got a little extra fiber into her diet. Yum! That's what I call a win-win.
This might have been Joey's favorite part of the park. He LOVED climbing on this snake. As we were leaving he said that he wanted to take the snake home with him as a pet. He proceeded to walk to the car with his hands held out in front of his as if he were carrying the snake. Do you want to know what he named his snake? Mr. Lanzone.
Joey to Aunt Rachel on the phone: Are you going to come to my house? You will love it. It's AMAZING!
Nana: Is Bronson (the fish) still alive?
Joey: Yeah.
Nana: Wow, that's amazing.
Joey: It's a miracle!
Talking about the foods Hannah can eat now that she's one...
Joey: Can Hannah have honey jelly?
Me: There is no such thing as honey jelly.
Joey: Yes there is. I had it a long time ago with Daddy before you were born.
As we were starting to watch The Little Mermaid for the first time...
Joey: If I get a little nervous, just tell me it's pretend.
Added by Aunt Rachel (in the comments): "Here's another favorite after telling Joey I am sick..."
Joey: God will heal you if you pray. He will heal your body! God doesn't have a body he is a spirit...you won't see God in Charlotte!
Nana: Is Bronson (the fish) still alive?
Joey: Yeah.
Nana: Wow, that's amazing.
Joey: It's a miracle!
Talking about the foods Hannah can eat now that she's one...
Joey: Can Hannah have honey jelly?
Me: There is no such thing as honey jelly.
Joey: Yes there is. I had it a long time ago with Daddy before you were born.
As we were starting to watch The Little Mermaid for the first time...
Joey: If I get a little nervous, just tell me it's pretend.
Added by Aunt Rachel (in the comments): "Here's another favorite after telling Joey I am sick..."
Joey: God will heal you if you pray. He will heal your body! God doesn't have a body he is a spirit...you won't see God in Charlotte!
The weather here has been gorgeous (as usual), and we are loving our trips to the park. I recently made an exciting discovery about sand toys: the best ones are free!
I was about to throw away an empty spice container when I had the sudden realization that Joey might like to use it in the sandbox when he pretends to cook. (He makes tremendous imaginary pancakes.) Sure enough, I gave it to him and he loved it. And it's not like he's the only one. Whenever we get out our homemade sand toys at the park, all the kids swarm to play with them. Oh, random park kids, you make me feel so wise.
I no longer throw away anything that can be used as a shaker. We now have quite the collection of old containers posing as sand toys, including empty tubes of Parmesan cheese, cake sprinkles, spices, and chicken bouillon.
To see more fun tips, visit Works For Me!
As I mentioned before, our Zoo/Wild Animal Park pass expires at the end of this month so we're trying to squeeze in a few more visits. Last week I met some friends there.
We ended up walking to an area that I don't usually go to because the animals aren't that interesting. Who knew there was a secret water area tucked back in that area? This was definitely the highlight of our trip.
Joey was a little timid at first...
but ended up getting soaked along with his friends Mollie and Lizzie.
It's always a good time for "Ring Around the Rosy."
In the midst of all the cool animals at the Wild Animal Park, including a sweet baby elephant and a lion that came right up to the glass, this random rabbit was Joey's favorite animal of the day.
We had a great day, but it was also historic. For the first time since Hannah was a newborn she fell asleep in the stroller. As Joey would say, "It's a miracle!" Here she is after her little nap, feeling quite refreshed and super interested in that water bottle.
Maybe we'll end up renewing our pass after all!
We ended up walking to an area that I don't usually go to because the animals aren't that interesting. Who knew there was a secret water area tucked back in that area? This was definitely the highlight of our trip.
Joey was a little timid at first...
but ended up getting soaked along with his friends Mollie and Lizzie.
It's always a good time for "Ring Around the Rosy."
In the midst of all the cool animals at the Wild Animal Park, including a sweet baby elephant and a lion that came right up to the glass, this random rabbit was Joey's favorite animal of the day.
We had a great day, but it was also historic. For the first time since Hannah was a newborn she fell asleep in the stroller. As Joey would say, "It's a miracle!" Here she is after her little nap, feeling quite refreshed and super interested in that water bottle.
Maybe we'll end up renewing our pass after all!
She was grouchy and decided to play peekaboo. It was a weird combination.
Somehow baking cupcakes together ended with Joey shooting bad guys with my beaters with his face covered in frosting.
One of her favorite presents. She loved those barrettes.
Big brother was being very helpful.
Her other favorite present. She actually got two dolls and she carried them around the house for the rest of the day. It's amazing how innate it is for girls to love dolls.
Cuddling with Grandma and her new baby.
Giving baby a baccio (kiss).
What a good day!
My baby is one today, but we had her party on Saturday! When I first started thinking about Hannah's first birthday party, I figured I would just do our "Uno" theme again. Then my mom bought Hannah this adorable dress for her party. Call me silly, but I couldn't imagine Hannah wearing this precious dress with the primary color scheme of Uno.
So we went with cupcakes instead.
Andy and I spent the week before her party making eight big cupcakes out of construction paper. 
I bought some fabric for the drink table. (Now that we are done with that fabric, I'm going to have my mom or mother-in-law use it to make an apron for Hannah.)
This was my favorite part of our cupcake theme. First, I found some directions online to make a cupcake stand out of cardboard and salt shakers. Then, Andy made these little cupcake toppers using Photoshop. Each cupcake cut out had a different picture of Hannah and they said, "Our cupcake is one." I hot glued each one to a toothpick and stuck them into our strawberry cupcakes.
Uncle Timmy's favorite part of the party was the food table.
Here I am making the pizzas for lunch. We had barbecue chicken, veggie, garlic shrimp, and pepperoni pizza.
Cupcake time!
Hannah enjoyed hers.
Pretty little birthday girl.
More birthday pictures coming...
So we went with cupcakes instead.
Andy and I spent the week before her party making eight big cupcakes out of construction paper. 
I bought some fabric for the drink table. (Now that we are done with that fabric, I'm going to have my mom or mother-in-law use it to make an apron for Hannah.)
This was my favorite part of our cupcake theme. First, I found some directions online to make a cupcake stand out of cardboard and salt shakers. Then, Andy made these little cupcake toppers using Photoshop. Each cupcake cut out had a different picture of Hannah and they said, "Our cupcake is one." I hot glued each one to a toothpick and stuck them into our strawberry cupcakes.
Uncle Timmy's favorite part of the party was the food table.
Here I am making the pizzas for lunch. We had barbecue chicken, veggie, garlic shrimp, and pepperoni pizza.
Cupcake time!
Hannah enjoyed hers.
Pretty little birthday girl.
More birthday pictures coming...
Me: Joey, you need to eat 3 carrot sticks because you are 3.
Joey: Do you have [to eat] 29?
Joey (after leaving Babies R Us): Is there a store called Big Boys R Us?
Joey (Spiderman): Do you know who I just called?
Me: No, who?
Joey: Batman.
Me: Oh, how's he doing? Is he saving people?
Joey: Yeah, but Robin is sick right now so he has to stay in the Batcave.
Joey: Do you have [to eat] 29?
Joey (after leaving Babies R Us): Is there a store called Big Boys R Us?
Joey (Spiderman): Do you know who I just called?
Me: No, who?
Joey: Batman.
Me: Oh, how's he doing? Is he saving people?
Joey: Yeah, but Robin is sick right now so he has to stay in the Batcave.
Our zoo membership expires at the end of this month, and I'm sad to say that we haven't taken advantage of it very much this year. I wish I remembered last February when I renewed that having a baby means staying home for two naps a day. That kind of schedule leaves a pretty short window of time that we can leave the house each day, and a trip to the zoo just doesn't fit in that window.
Well, this week I took a meal to a friend of ours who just had a baby, and they happened to live right near the zoo. So after we dropped off the meal, we headed over to zoo. To heck with Hannah's nap! (Ok, really, Hannah has been refusing to nap lately, so I figured going to the zoo was worth sacrificing the chance of her taking a morning nap.)
We ended up having a great time. It's funny because as I was walking around the zoo, it felt like just yesterday that Andy and I were there in December 2005 before we had any kids. I ended up getting pregnant the next month, and here I am four years later taking my two kids to the zoo. Cool!
Hannah Banana did a great job at the zoo despite her lack of a nap. I was surprised by how interested she was in the animals. Even in the exhibits where the animals weren't as easy to see, she always seemed to be looking in the right direction.
The snake area was really cool, and Joey wanted me to point out all of the poisonous snakes. He wasn't interested in a snake unless it had the ability to kill someone. What a boy!
At the end of our time there I told Joey that I had a surprise for him. I found out that since we are members we can go on the "Skyfari" tram for free. Joey was so excited! When we first got on, he immediately looked for a seatbelt to buckle. When he realized there wasn't one, he was a little nervous.
Then he absolutely LOVED it!
Hannah loved it too and got all smiley and giggly when we first took off.
So how did Hannah do without her morning nap? Well, we got home at about 1:30, and Hannah was in her crib until I finally woke her up at 7:00 that night. I guess her big day combined with refusing all those naps finally caught up with her.
Well, this week I took a meal to a friend of ours who just had a baby, and they happened to live right near the zoo. So after we dropped off the meal, we headed over to zoo. To heck with Hannah's nap! (Ok, really, Hannah has been refusing to nap lately, so I figured going to the zoo was worth sacrificing the chance of her taking a morning nap.)
We ended up having a great time. It's funny because as I was walking around the zoo, it felt like just yesterday that Andy and I were there in December 2005 before we had any kids. I ended up getting pregnant the next month, and here I am four years later taking my two kids to the zoo. Cool!
Hannah Banana did a great job at the zoo despite her lack of a nap. I was surprised by how interested she was in the animals. Even in the exhibits where the animals weren't as easy to see, she always seemed to be looking in the right direction.
The snake area was really cool, and Joey wanted me to point out all of the poisonous snakes. He wasn't interested in a snake unless it had the ability to kill someone. What a boy!
At the end of our time there I told Joey that I had a surprise for him. I found out that since we are members we can go on the "Skyfari" tram for free. Joey was so excited! When we first got on, he immediately looked for a seatbelt to buckle. When he realized there wasn't one, he was a little nervous.
Then he absolutely LOVED it!
Hannah loved it too and got all smiley and giggly when we first took off.
So how did Hannah do without her morning nap? Well, we got home at about 1:30, and Hannah was in her crib until I finally woke her up at 7:00 that night. I guess her big day combined with refusing all those naps finally caught up with her.
With Hannah's first birthday coming right around the corner and with her being such a tall chunky monkey, it was time to buy her a new carseat. I always get more excited about this than my kids, but she really did seem genuinely excited to be facing forward with the rest of us.
You know it's a good carseat when this happens...
Safety disclaimer: I did not take these pictures while driving.
You know it's a good carseat when this happens...
Safety disclaimer: I did not take these pictures while driving.
