HOP-SCOTCH

Impressively, Kelly drew up this hop-scotch path on the sidewalk on Sunday. Zoie loved it when Kelly held her as he hopped along the path. He was quite the "hop-scotcher"!!!

This is what I would call "Toddler Hop-Scotch"! It is more of a run as quickly as you can through this funny path my Dad drew than hopping.
Maybe next year we can figure that one out a little more.

Our "NEW" House

This is our house madeover for those of you who were curious. We painted the house brown, or to be more specific, Beach Cabana, in May. It used to be a pale shade of gray. It now is a rich brown and I love it. This pic doesn't really do it justice, it was evening and I was shooting directly into the sun. These two pics also do not show with the garage door down which makes a difference too. Unfortunately, I never remember to photograph the house when no one is out playing and everything is neat and tidy. I thought this would at least let some of you know how it looked now.

The Wading Pool

We have a couple of great little wading pools here. They are from 1 to 2 feet deep. Perfectly sized for a toddler! Zoie loves them. The first trip she was a bit shy but warmed up quickly. The best part is they are free!

She is a big fan of swinging around in the water and holding her on her tummy and letting her kick in the water.
(Check out those biceps on my hunky hubby)

She also liked the dinosaur slide. I had to help though because it only had an incline to climb up, no stairs, and it was very slippery.
Isn't summer great!

After the Rain

Last Saturday we had a huge rainstorm. We received 2 inches in 30 minutes. This was after we had about 2 inches on Friday. Needless to say, there was water everywhere. Our street was flooded.
So, what better to do after a big rain than SPLASH!!!


Zoie had a great time. She ran up and down the sidewalk for at least 30 minutes.

We even found a frog floating down the street near the curb. She thought that was pretty cool!

FRESH AIR AND NATURE

This past weekend we wanted to do something new so we headed to the Outdoor Campus. It is sponsored by the Game and Fish dept. It offers nature trails and butterfly garden outside and inside they have an aquarium, several amphibians, many wildlife displays and Flopper the bluejay. He was found as a baby and touched by humans so they keep him since his mother wouldn't take him back. Overall it is designed to be an educational experience in nature.

Here we are hiking in some tall grass after smelling some wild flowers.

This is one of many ducks we saw. We also saw lots of geese and other birds as well as a few turtles.

As you can see we had to bring along our raisins. Don't you love her little "hat" as she called it. A lady in the Outdoor Campus gave it to her and I tied it on thinking she would rip it right off. She loved it and wore it the whole time. She still wears it at
home all the time!

Zoie was totally Daddy's girl this weekend. She seems to alternate weekends between Dad and Mom. At one point when she was on Kel's shoulders, she was repeatedly kissing his head and cheek. Pretty sweet girl - sometimes!
We had lots of fun, it seems she may share her parents love for wild animals and the outdoors!

Super FUN Thursday

Yesterday was an eventful Thursday! I'm trying to make the most of summer and all the opportunities it afford. Since I'm working an extra day this summer, we try to pack a lot of things in on Wednesday and Thursday.
Yesterday was particularly full of fun events. In the morning we went to the zoo with my fellow part-time hygienist co-worker and her kids Aubrey and Nicole. It was relatively warm so we left early to beat the afternoon heat. Zoie was so excited, before we left she started making tiger and monkey sounds. When we pulled into the drive of the zoo without me saying anything she started making animal sounds again and was thrilled to be there. I guess that means she is getting familiar with the zoo.

Later we went to the Go Fish concert. They are a Christian band that went to kids music about 5 years ago. They are really awesome, it was a great time for grownups too. It happened to be at our church as it has a new auditorium and light and sound system. It was a benefit for a boy in town and seemed to be quite successful. SNAZZY (at the back of the stage) is the name of their current album.

Zoie had a great time. She clapped to the music. She also waved her American flag and her light that I bought her.

Here's a pic of the Go Fish guys. I took lots of photos but, my camera was struggling a bit with all the crazy lighting. These two were about the only ones I was lucky enough to catch when lights were not going crazy. Note the bald head in the middle. Occasionally Zoie would say Daddy - I think she might have recognized the head.

The FOURTH

Mimi and Papa came to visit for the 4th of July. We spent the Fourth picnicing, playing outside and watching fireworks. Pretty traditional. The weather was wonderful on the 4th. As usual Zoie conned them into reading books to her. I explained to Papa that this can easily go on for an hour. Papa's don't seem to mind.

Here Zoie is playing some music for her baby before she puts it to bed.

Now she is telling everyone to Shhhhh as her baby is sleeping.
(nice party hat Zo)

Again she is still Shhhing everyone because her baby is sleeping.
Note her finger pointing at her nose instead of vertically lying in front of her lips. It is hilarious, she does it this way each time.

Zoie also did some swimming on Saturday. She is wearing her clothes because it was super windy and I didn't think she would really want to get in the pool. I filled the pool early Saturday as it was supposed to be near 90 degrees. Unfortunately, the wind got up and there was lots of cloud cover so the water was pretty cold. She and Libby still played in it some. Libby also has a pool but prefers Zoie's.

Cute wet seat!!!

This is what she enjoyed more than being in the pool. She would fill her ball with water and pour it on Libby. Now that is fun!