Papa's Visit

My dad went to Tucson during his spring bring from teaching to help my sister and brother-in-law install sod in their backyard. He came up to visit us on Saturday. Amelia enjoyed seeing him and was sad when he had to leave to go home.

Amelia showing papa how she goes down the slide.

Papa taking Amelia for a ride on the swing.

Amelia scooping up the sand.

Digging some more sand; making sure to stay on the sidewalk.

Papa reading Amelia a bedtime story.
I told Amelia to go get a book for papa and she grabbed her potty book.

Amelia loves this book about the potty. There is a girl who is learning to potty train and she has a potty for her stuffed teddy bear. Amelia tries to potty train her stuffed animals just like the girl in the book.

Phoenix Zoo

My mother-in-law wanted to do something with the grand kids during spring break so we all went to the Phoenix Zoo on 18th. Amelia and I waited on the bridge for everyone. While waiting, we watched people feed bread to the ducks and turtles.

Amelia saw the turtles in the water and said, "Toor-tul," which is how she says 'turtle'.

Amelia with cousin Roxie

Amelia with cousin Londann

Amelia with cousin Rowdy (he just broke his leg a few days earlier)

Amelia styling with her hat and glasses

Amelia got a rocking elephant for Christmas two years ago and we named her Ellie since she is an elephant. When we got to the elephants at the zoo, she said "Ellie" because she knew they were elephants.

Large tortoises, who can live to be over 100 years old.

Amelia looking for the rhinoceros iguana.

Macaw

Andreas bear. Amelia is good at saying 'bear'.

Javelinas

Amelia hanging out with grandma Betty

Londann, Cayden, and Roxie riding on the camel. The age minimum is two so Amelia wasn't allowed to ride just yet.

Flamingos

Zebra or "be-be" in Amelia talk.

Amelia with the "raff"

Me, Amelia, and the giraffes.

Group photo:
Me, Amelia, Anita, Brennan, Alisa, Rowdy, Betty, Melissa, Caliann,
Cayden, Romel, Roxie, Londann

Tiger

Rhinos

Wallaby

Amelia taking a nap near the end of the zoo trip. It only lasted 30 minutes and she missed the petting zoo area :(

St. Patrick's Day

Amelia and I had a fun filled St. Patrick's Day! We started off with green eggs and ham. I then dressed Amelia in all green with some pigtails. I tried to turn whatever I could green, hence the green cottage cheese. I had made some brownies and to make them festive, I added coloring to the white frosting, and voila, green frosting!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Green eggs and ham for breakfast, with milk in a green sippy cup :)

First time using hair ties! Amelia finally has just enough hair to make pig-tails.

The entire green outfit

Green cottage cheese
(don't worry it was just dyed with food coloring, not actually green from being old)

Enjoying the green cottage cheese

A green frosted brownie with a shamrock on top for dessert :)

Cold Water Anyone?

After talking with my sister about kiddie swimming pools, I decided I should find one for my little Amelia while shopping at Super Wal-Mart for groceries.

Let's backtrack to when I was a child:
There was the blue hard plastic shell kiddie pool, with a built in slide I think. Fun but not easy to store unless you have a backyard or empty garage.

There was the blue plastic pool where the sides are thin, stand up to make the pool shape, and had pictures of animals around it. Also fun and easier to store. (I saw this type of pool while shopping).

Fast forward to now:
Individual sized pools for kids, inflatable with an air pump, nice soft cushioned sides which help with injuries, animals around the sides, and Velcro butterflies. And all for $10! Perfect for our small front lawn area and for my sweet baby girl.

I set it up after we got back from shopping around 5:15pm. The sun was out and it was warm. Amelia loves playing in water, even though the hose water used to fill up the little pool was quite cold. I even set up a beach chair and put my feet in the pool. Amelia had a blast and I know we will do it again in the near future...it's getting hot really quick here in AZ.