Bears, Oh My!

I have a few photos I had not uploaded from my phone and then some more recent stuff.

After our busy Zoo trip, Sam fell asleep in the car.  I am amazed by her ability to doze so easily, even with Zoey screaming/singing/talking/etc.  

A few from our Phoenix trip.  Grammy's car had a sunroof and the girls really wanted to stick their heads out.  My car has one too, but they never beg for it at home.

 Zoey loves ring around the rosies.

These signs were in a courtyard right near our hotel.  I thought they were cool.

Sam's school has had a few events recently.

First was the bear hunt.  They read the book and got ready.  They made back packs, maps, packed a "lunch" and went off.  Through water, mud, pretend snow and found their bear, then ran back through all of it and had a picnic.  So cute.

And then they had field day.  It was short, so a few games and a snack.

Sam got to ride.

And then push.

Running in the relay.

We also had a spring neighborhood picnic.  Music was blaring and the girls had a great time dancing.  Not sure where Zoey gets her moves, but it is cute.

A picture in front of my parents Lantana.

Zoey and I went blueberry picking twice in the last few weeks.  Zoey loves the berries and ate more than she put in the bucket.

The next time we went Zoey was fussy and even berries could not keep her happy until a friend came and she fed him berries.  He went to eat one and she said, "No, I get you one."

Zoey was doing great potty training and I tried to stretch the ratio, so we got a few bad days.  This morning started better, so we got donuts for breakfast (plus my coupons for this month are almost expired).  Zoey pretty much dove into hers.

Today was my moms club spring picnic.  Someone else asked about grandparents, so I invited my parents.  Zoey was supposed to eat her fruit and veggies but Papa had chips.

Both girls love sliding.

And bouncing.

And this was a lot of fun today.

April showers!

We have stayed busy.  There has been some sickness, some friends visiting, lots of fun, and lots of work.

I actually missed posting a zoo trip we took with the moms club in late March.

There was a baby elephant born in November.  So cute!

The girls liked the petting zoo.

And posed at the komodo dragon.

The highlight of the trip was the string rays, but I had to help Zoey so no pictures or video, but she was adorable.  Loved them.  Here is Zoey trying to keep her sunglasses on her head like me.  You might notice that is not our stroller or my legs. We went with 2 other moms and kids, 1 left and the other mom, her two kids, and the girls and I stayed a while.  I was pushing Sam and my friends kids in our double and Zoey was enjoying a solo ride.

She loved the train.

After our trip, good friends from Atlanta stayed with us two nights.  We had a great time catching up and letting the kids play.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  We all went back to the zoo.  Nick took Zoey to the carousel while the rest of us toured the dino exhibit.

I did not take many other pictures, but I got this one.  In case you cannot tell, there are 2 sister bears in a tree.  They started fighting and one fell, caught the branch, and dropped to the ground.  We all discussed how they were sisters and fight like Sam and Zoey sometimes do.  Zoey got this stuck in her head and has been talking for weeks how the Samantha bear fell out of the tree.

 A group picture, serious...

And silly.

And although Sam is an amazing reader, she is not as in love with math and science.  With 2 math/science loving parents, we are trying to do something about this fact.  The math she has to do on the computer for school is annoying, it is so fast that she cannot do the calculation and find the number on the keyboard before they flash the answer.  She does great at flash cards.  Nick also decided we should make science a weekly event, so we now have Science Sundays!  Our first was on matter and Nick did the diet coke and mentos experiment.

Here he is explaining solid, liquid, and gas.

A quick video.  The girls were impressed.  Sam has asked when Sunday is about 6 times already this week.  

Monday night while Nick was teaching, the girls and I joined some friends for an Earth Day picnic and hike.  It was such fun.

Zoey the climber.

Birthday pictures

We got back the disk of Sam and Zoey's birthday pictures.  We did one session for both.  There were some scheduling issues, like extreme cold and such, so it got pushed back a bit.  Zoey was a handful and required some bribing to get her to cooperate.  But we got some great shots.  Here are some of my favorites.

Easter in Phoenix

We usually spend Thanksgiving or Christmas (alternating years) with Nick's family.  We all decided those are such hard times to fly and the kids miss out if Christmas is away from home.  So we planned to shift to summer travelling, but this year was an Easter party hosted by a family friend, so we decided to all meet up for that.  Based on ticket prices and length of trip, we ended up spending a week out there.  I do not know how anyone travels regularly with young kids.  There were so many issues and so much on the docket that poor Zoey was so off her schedule.  But there was a lot of fun and unfortunately not enough pictures.  So below is a brief outline of our trip.

We ended up flying out at 5:20 pm our time.  The girls were exhausted and of course there were issues with the hotel.  It took forever to get a pack and play sheet and then they brought up a flat sheet off a king bed.  So it was a super late night and of course they woke up at normal time, which was 4 am Phoenix time.  But I did (nicely) complain and we ended up with a pack and play sheet and $50 food credit.  

The girls did pretty well on the plane.  Zoey wore the headphones about long enough for this picture, maybe 15 minutes total.  But snacks and books kept her mostly placates on the trip out.  Of course, they messed up her tummy, but that is another story.

Thursday was a more relaxed day with an early nap at Grammy and Poppi's, lunch, a bit of shopping and early bed time.  Friday was family picture session at 6 pm, so that required a late nap  at the hotel, which was rough.  Zoey is usually such a good sleeper, but overtired and out of her element meant up to an hour of crying.

Saturday was the picnic/party at 2, so back to early nap at hotel, which was also short thanks to construction above us (it was awful).  But Zoey had a blast hunting eggs, she is a pro now. 

Sam enjoyed herself too.

Sam and her cousin Isabelle.

The grandkids of all the family friends.  Those related to us are Jessica (first on back row in purple shirt, white sweater, braided pigtails), Isabelle (pink and white stripped skirt), Luke (teal shirt, plaid shorts), Logan (stripped shirt and khaki shorts, next to last), Zach (salmon shirt, blue shorts, last one you can see) and Devin who is blocked by Nick's brother but I will show her later.  You can see in this picture Zoey is pushing her way out with her hand on Logan.  Subsequent pictures have her in motion and then out of frame.  Sam is clutching the bear she got as an egg hunt prize.

After the party was play time, some dinner and bed.  We got up the next morning at a more reasonable time (I think we made it all the way to 7).  The we (well Zoey and I stayed outside) had mass at 10 followed by brunch. The bigger kids then hit the hotel pool while Zoey had a nap.

Sam and Zoey on Easter.

 Sam and her cousin Devin had a great time playing Monday.

Zoey had fun too.  This was the empty pool but she also stepped into the full pool and soaked herself.

Zoey and Luke. Zoey was so confused about all the people.  She did learn Grammy and Isabelle, but I kept getting asked, "Mama, who dat?" and I think she just called Luke him/he mostly, but she did say Luke a few times.

Samantha loved spending time with Uncle Terence.  She talks about him a lot and prays for him every night.

The flight home was rough, but we made it and got the girls to bed at a reasonable time.  Sam popped up a lot and had a really hard time waking up for school, but should be back on schedule soon.  It was great to see everyone and the girls loved their cousin time, but I will be happy to sleep in my own bed for the foreseeable future.  Travelling is not for wimps.  

Happy Easter!