Another Sunday afternoon at the zoo

Daddy went to the baseball game yesterday, so Em and I spent some time at the zoo. We have discovered that if we can't get there early in the morning, waiting until late afternoon is the best time to go! This trip, we spent most of the time in the Children's Zoo where Em loved the "kitty". The animals were all out and playing though, so she got to see apes, hippos, and elephants up close which was also very exciting!

Easter

We spent Easter down in Louisiana this year. It was great to see all of the family and also to celebrate GG's birthday and Grandad's retirement! On Saturday, we had a crawfish boil and Easter egg hunt. Emmy and Kaleb did a great job finding all of the eggs!
The Easter Bunny brought Emerson a basket full of treats on Sunday morning and then we went to church and had brunch with the rest of the family. Emerson was sad to see Kaleb and Nya and her aunts and uncles leave, but we were fortunate to stay until Monday morning and had a yummy barbecue at Steph and Prentice's.
We had a slow trip back, letting Emmy get out multiple times to run and play. One of our stops was at a fish hatchery where her daddy tried to teach her some fancy fishing skills!

Happy Easter!

Okay, so I'm a little late with the Easter posts. We had a great time with dual celebrations. First, we had a mini Easter on my birthday at Emerson's grandparents' in Illinois. The weather didn't start out too great, so Emmy and Ben had an Easter egg hunt inside. By later in the afternoon, they were able to play outside with their new bubble machines from Uncle Dan. It was the perfect end to my birthday weekend!

Mommy's Birthday

We had perfect weather today, so my wonderful husband and daughter let me celebrate my birthday a day early with anything I wanted to do. We had a fabulous (and very full) day! We started with gymnastics class and then went to the Botanical Gardens where we saw beautiful flowers and the Easter bunny! They have a wonderful kids area there where Em was able to run around and explore. After the Gardens, we had lunch at Pappy's Barbecue. It was recently featured on Man vs. Food, so we have been wanting to try it. Jeff still hasn't stopped talking about the brisket he had! It was all rather yummy. After lunch, we decided to drive out to Purina Farms to see the Easter village. Emerson was able to pet all sorts of animals, but dogs are still her favorite with horses and donkeys as close runner-ups, thanks to daddy's imitations. She loved to cheer for the dogs after they made it through the obstacle course. We couldn't help but laugh when we thought of Jackson trying out the course! On our way back into the city, we finished the afternoon with our favorite - Ted Drewe's! As we expected, Em was sound asleep by 7 pm and we are relaxing with a movie, some Boulevard and junk food! What a wonderful birthday!

Seriously, peas?

Em's favorite food right now is peas - she eats them cooked, dry, frozen - however she can get them. These pictures are from the other night when she was sitting in the big chair watching basketball. She was eating her bowl of peas like a normal kid would eat popcorn. If I wasn't so sure she was mine, this would cast some serious doubt!

Trip to the Zoo

We made a quick trip to the zoo on Sunday afternoon. It was our first time this year, and now Emerson is old enough to really see the animals and react to them. She liked watching the tigers play and really enjoyed being so close to the penguins. We finished off the afternoon with frozen custard from Ted Drewes. Of course, Emerson loved that!

Build A Bunny

We took Emerson to Build A Bear to make a bunny this weekend. She loved it... for about 10 seconds. Although she quickly lost interest in the process, she did enjoy feeding and playing with "Peaches" at home. The final picture shows how a one year old acts after a little too much cinnamon sugar pretzel.

Little Fishy

We finally got some pictures of Emerson during her swim lessons. She loves the water- even going under! She is very relaxed on her back and likes to "swim" to the toys. She is even starting to learn that she needs to kick to move in the water. Her favorite time is when she gets to splash during the songs and do the hokey pokey with her little friend in the class!

Daddy's new office

Jeff finally got to move his office this week! It's not even a block away from the old office, but the new one is in a recently renovated building. Emerson loved running around, exploring the rooms and testing out all of the doors.

We love weekends!

We planned today perfectly - played at the park , went home for a nap while it stormed, and then went for a walk when it was sunny again! We finished our afternoon eating pizza at a sidewalk cafe in the neighborhood which we all enjoyed (even Jackson!).