Denver Zoo Free day

Don't ask why. Maybe I was trying to be a good mom or I just wanted to get Ellie out of the house but we went to the zoo free day last week. It was an interesting experience. The day was sunny but a little chilly to start out. so we bundled up to walk around.

Ellie's awesome outfit and of course her new Minnie doll.

 Ellie was so excited to see animals but she really wanted to see elephants. She forgot about all that for a bit when she made a new friend to run around with. The 2 of them would just run ahead and bypass all the animals.  Sadly we had to go our separate ways but then Ellie focused on the animals again.

We thought the bear in the background was funny blocking the door like that.

 Although she was most excited to see elephants, she didn't get to see any. They are receiving a new habitat that opens later this year but since their place was finished, the elephants had moved there (behind construction lines) to become accustomed to the new home.

We did see lots of other animals, among them were snakes, lizards, fish and crocodiles which really seemed to make her excited. The one down side to the day was a small accident at the furthest corner of the zoo making it so we had to walk all the way back to the car to change Ellie's pants.

Spring was in the air and the animals were becoming twitterpated. We had to leave 2 exhibits before Ellie could see what was happening and yell or ask questions about what the animals were doing.

Peacocks and geese are so use to people that they walk right up to you to beg food. Ellie thought this was great until she decided to try a new game; sneak up on the peacock and blow on it's tail feathers then run away. What a silly girl.

Ellie stomping in puddles after blowing on some peacock feathers.

Obviously I wasn't great at taking pictures this time around but we did have a good time.

Feeling Crafty?

So I have been in a crafty mood lately. Some days I even act on it. Here are a few things I have worked on.

A friend and I threw a welcome baby shower at my place for another friend. Here is what the table looked like. I made the chocolate, lemon, and lime sandwich cookies, filled with white chocolate and cream cheese frosting).  I threw together the flowers in the vase using dish rags in the bottom. Also, I food a recipe for baby boy shower punch, which is blue with floating rubber ducks on top. I am very proud of my creative moments.

Last year, I bought a red heart on clearance after Valentines day not really knowing what I would do with it. Luckily this year I found a matching one during a sale and decided I didn't want just plain red hearts hanging up. You don't get a close up of what these really look like and I hoping no one notices the crappy job of painting. I still like the way they turned out.

A while back, when I started teaching myself to crochet, I bought a bunch of yarn for projects. Sadly as this one wasn't turning out like I thought, it was pushed aside. Recently I decided to finish it. No, we are pretty sure the baby is a girl so I am not sure what to do with the blanket for now but I like the way this turned out in the end. Just don't examine it too close.

FYI; crocheting blankets, even smallish baby ones, takes quite a while.

In addition to my crafts, I played mechanic and changed a burned out blinker on our car (which is quite tricky when you have to lay down on your back while 30 weeks pregnant to reach it). I have also worked as carpenter and handyman; changing Ellie's crib to a toddler bed, replacing weather strips around the front and garage doors to help keep the cold out, and replacing a missing screw in the rocker chair in Ellie's room. 

I have felt fairly productive lately, can you tell? 

Breckenridge Snow Sculptures

After going to this last year, we decided it was something that we wanted to do again. So we made the drive to Breckenridge. We went the day after the sculpting was finished so we didn't find out the winners. If you are curious, here's the website that shows the winners and more professional photos.

The size of the block of snow each sculpting team starts with.

As you can see, the day looked nice even though it was roughly around 30 degrees. Most of the pictures we have were the ones we liked and coincidentally were sculpted by teams from the Americas (North and South, which includes Canada). They seemed to tell stories. European and other nations seem to be into abstract art which I don't understand.

Front view (fyi, I love the walrus with his head through the hole)



Back view




Ellie loved this mommy and baby bear one.

Check out the claws on this bear.



Back side showing baby bear.



After spending time looking at the sculptures and then braving the bathrooms (which involved some creative removal of clothing so it wouldn't take me 10 minutes to get everything back on), as Ellie is potty training, we went to the snow castle ruins built specifically for kids to play on. Someone at this festival was a genius or had kids to have this area. Do you know how hard it is for kids to see snow sculptures and not touch or climb on them?

Ellie crawling through a tunnel.



Ellie and mommy looking out of the castle tower.



Ellie and daddy with the Budwiser horse carving.

Looking at Jake's outfit explains why I was climbing on snow castles pregnant instead of him. One of us dresses to play in the snow.

Ellie enjoyed herself by throwing snow at daddy's bum and putting it on mommy's legs. Ask her, see will tell you about it. She even let me buy and put on snow gloves (after our first snow adventure and frozen fingers). We didn't spend a lot of time up there but I almost wish we had. We had been on the freeway only about 10 minutes when everything came to a screeching halt. It was 5 and had anticipated making it home by 6:30ish to have dinner. Well an accident that completely shuts down the freeway over a weekend with the International snow sculpture championship in Breckenridge, some X-games/dew tour activities in Aspen, in addition to any day ski person traveling back to Denver turned a hour and 20 min drive into a 3 hour one. It was pretty bad. Luckily I had packed a few bottles of water, a bag full of snack foods, and the ipod with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on it. We survived to enjoy dinner at 8:15pm.

Still enjoyed Breckenridge, although now that we know about the Ice Castles in Silverthorne, I think we will try to hit both places the next time we make it out for the snow sculptures.

Our favorite car seat

After our accident in October, a few people have asked what car seat Ellie was riding in. Here it is, the Safety 1st Comfort Air 65 convertible car seat. I know, when I first saw it (and the price), I thought Jake was crazy for wanting it so bad. It's definitely not the most expensive one out there but higher priced than others I had looked at. Everyone always jokes about the "side speakers" on the car seat too. After that accident, we replaced it with the exact same one, only slightly different in colors. Wouldn't you?

Ellie's life saver.

Crazy Ellie Talk

It's about time again to have a record of the funny things Ellie says. I am trying to remember so many things because I laugh all the time at what she tells me.

• She calls a flamingo a pink-cock until I correct her and then she calls it a flamin-ingo.
• She likes to pick random times (generally only 3, 8, 9 and 30 o'clock) and uses it as an excuse to do things. Some examples; "It's 8 a'clock. It's nap time." "Mommy, its 30 a'clock. Get dressed up and go to the store." "9 a'clock? Time a take a tub."
• Often I hear her half singing songs but usually jumbled together. "Twinkle, twinkle little star. How a wonder what you are. R S T U V W X Y an Z. D E F. X Y Z Now I know my A B C D F's next sing with me." This morning in the shower she started this, "I'm singing, in the water." Funny thing is we haven't watched Elf in a long time, long enough that she shouldn't know this from the movie.
• At seemingly random times, she will repeat something she heard on TV or a movie (we are learning to be careful about what she sees and hears).  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse often talks about Goofy's stinky shoes or his pineapple underpants. "Steffie has stinky shoes." "Mommy look at these daddy pineapple underpants" (referring to daddy size underwear not Jake's underwear specifically).
• Now Jake has taught her to put her fist on your cheek and say, "I gonna punch you in the face." I had seen him do it once or twice to her then she said it to me the other day.
• We have to be careful with music as well. She recognizes "I'm sexy and I know it" (if you couldn't tell from the previous post) and often says "I know it" as an echo to that line and "I wiggle" when she hears the song.
• Learning to share and interact with other kids affects her as well. A couple of times, even days after having a friend over or kids here playing, she will act traumatized about things that happened while they are here. "No Elena take Minnie." "Kate play at her house." "Baby Josh bonked my head."
• She is bossy and sassy as can be, especially with kids at playgroup. If she has a toy in the shower with us, she will tell me, "Mommy wash Ellie and Ellie wash (Minnie, ducky, orange, number B etc.)" Yes, she has brought a toy orange into the shower and she calls all letters "numbers". At playgroup, if a child hasn't listened to their parent after being told to stop doing something, she will place one hand on her hip, wave a finger in the air and repeat in a sassy tone whatever the parent told the kid. "No Gavin. It's Ellie's turn. No takin' it away." It's hard not to laugh but also very embarrassing. (Someone please point it out to me if they see me do this to her.)
• Many times I have told her that she is driving me bonkers. One day she walked over to me, placed her hands on my cheeks, shook my face and said, "Driving mommy bonkers." Now occasionally, if I look annoyed with what she's doing she'll ask "Ellie driving mommy bonkers?"
• Along with the previous point, she is a very loving and concerned child. She tries to discern my moods or feelings and will ask if I'm tired, hungry, etc. Then she will try to give advice. Some of it works, like "Mommy take a nap". Others not so much, "Ellie make dinner."

I love this child and hope that she continues to be happy and funny as I can always use a good laugh.

Having fun at home

After such a good time visiting family, I was a little worried about how to keep Ellie entertained being back at home. But I shouldn't have. We know how to have a good time.

About a week and a half ago, it snowed. Since this was the first snow (even while in Utah) that we could play in, we took advantage. I had mentioned it to Ellie earlier in the day and it was all she talked about. She even woke up from her nap excited and running to put snow clothes on.

All bundled up and ready to go.

Not quite sure where to go or what to do.

She walked on the sidewalk for a while like we were just walking around the neighborhood. Then I showed her she could walk in the snow, kick it, throw it, jump in it, etc. Some of those ideas took her a little longer to get used to doing but she shortly became a pro.

I showed her how to make a snow angel but she was hesitant about laying down in the snow. She really liked kicking it and watching the snow fly every where. 

Yes, I had to push my child down so she would lay down for a snow angel.

Mommy and Ellie snow angels.

While out there, we saw some neighbors (a mom and little girl) and walked over to say hi and let the kids play. At that time, we realized we were in the same ward. It was kind of a shock but its nice to know someone lives that close. The girls had a blast. Finally after about an hour of playing, I made Ellie come inside so I could make dinner but also warm up her hands (if you notice in the first picture, she only has those cheap knit gloves. She wouldn't let me try on or buy any others.) By the time we walked across the street, she started to feel/not feel how cold her fingers were and cried. It was so sad but I got some good cuddles because of it and now maybe I can buy real gloves.

A few days later, we were being artists and I turned on some music. Ellie loves to dance and she learned about this song from my brother and sister while getting ready during our visit to Utah. This never ceases to make me laugh.

Natural History Museum of Utah

While visiting family in Utah, we decided to go to the Natural History Museum of Utah up by Red Butte Gardens. Previously it was the "Museum of Natural History" *wink* (if you've ever seen "We're Back") located in President's Circle at the University of Utah.

We had quite the group and had a lot of fun. Those who came; Grandma Connie, Cassie, Becca, Kristine, Gracie, her friend, Brody, Ben, Stef, Jeff, Annie, Macy, Kelsey, and Braden. Sadly because there were so many, we mostly crossed paths while exploring but still glad so many of our family could come.

The picture below is of a wall projection that is interactive. The plant images sway when its windy outside, they grow when it sunny and all sorts of fun things.

Of course playing in the water was a favorite activity.

Walking on glass floor to see a dinosaur dig site.

Don't worry. Ellie has a matching water spot on her shirt too.

Wall of triceratops skulls. So cool.

Stef in a hole in a archeology dig area.

There was so much to see and do that I forgot to take more/better pictures. One of Ellie's favorite things was smelling scents for different flowers. A warning; some of them are not pleasant. It was fun to walk through all the areas and learn about so many things. We really enjoy visiting places like this with family and friends.