Zoo Visit

On the 3rd, the weather was so nice. Daddy took the day off and accompanied us to the zoo in Tacoma, Point Defiance. It was a nice chilly day with a little fog.

A little peak of Mount Rainier in the distance.

Mommy had called the zoo to find out when ET's feeding time is. That's Lauren's favorite animal there, the 3,000 pound male walrus. The first feeding was right when the zoo opened so we made our way to that exhibit first! So much for saving the best for last!

ET was loving Lauren. After his feeding he stayed at the glass for quite a few minutes staring at Lauren and even "kissing" the glass. This photo was too precious....Lauren's expression says it all!

He is HUGE! He turns 30 in June and they are having a big celebration for him. Walrus life expectancy is only 40 years, so they are hoping that the breeding program takes effect soon!

The sea otters were extra active as well that morning. They have a new one, Libby who is less than a year old.

Lauren even got to pet Herald on his morning walk, the star of the summer amphitheater Wild Wonders Outdoor Theater. He's a local celebrity!

Lauren and daddy with the monkey just lounging. He'd keep his eyes closed the majority of the time until he saw a photo op.

The Malayan Tapir in the Asian exhibit

By the end of our loop, Lauren wasn't having much fun because her cheeks and hands were cold. So we sought refuge in the South Pacific Aquarium. Here Lauren is showing us where the fish splashed us when we were with the cousins las time.

The shark tank.

The seahorse....I think she was a little confused at how small they were.

Checking on Nemo and Dori.

Lauren riding the ET on the carousel. However, she still doesn't like the up and down....so needless to say......

....we swaped to the bench seat. Thankfully the lady was super nice and there wasn't another soul on the thing. Lauren enjoyed sitting still and wanted to go faster. It's the up and down that gets her!

Daddy and Lauren checking out the boats before we left.

It was great. We had a yummy lunch at a BBQ joint and headed home. It was a wonderful family outing!

Birthday Party for Brianna

Last week we went to one of Lauren's playgroup friend's birthday parties. Brianna turned 4! It was a Princess dress up party. However, Lauren took "princess" another direction. First she wanted to be a Pirate Princess. Then I tried to talk her into at least Tinkerbelle. But with only a few minutes left to get ready she decided to go with Jessie from Toy Story. So we took what we had and threw together a costume.

Here she is before we left with Bullseye.

On arrival, Lisa had some crafts for the girls. Grandma Pieroni helped the girls make bead necklaces. We finally had to talk Lauren into taking the hat off!

Playing "pin the crown on the princess". Lisa couldn't have hung it any higher, right??? Of course the Birthday Girl won. Not sure if she had practiced the night before OR that she could see out the the bottom of the blindfold!

The gourmet cupcakes Lisa scored from a lady whose opening a cupcake shop in town. They were ridiculously good!

Brianna the birthday girl making a wish.

Katelynn and Lauren enjoying the frosting!

Some of the party goers: Lauren, Katelynn, Brianna, Gabrielle and Olivia. They chose to hold hands which we thought was pretty adorable!

It was definitely a busy day!

More snow!

Today we woke up to the weatherman actually being correct. We ended up with about a foot of new snow when it was all said and done on top of the stuff that never really went away from the weekend. Our place in the snow looks so pretty! You can see Miss Lauren in the far right corner by the house.

And again the backyard....

Lauren makeshift sledding again....she had to be carried to our little knoll. The snow was way to deep for a 3-year-old. She said, "Daddy this is too much snow!"

Biscuit wouldn't venture out in it because she'd get lost if she stood still. The only way she'd make it was constantly bounding!

Lauren showing us how deep it was on her.

Taking a break and just lounging in the snow. It's hard work trying to walk in the stuff when you are only 3!

In the afternoon we took another crack at it and built a snowman. This is Lauren's "Frosty". Pretty cute huh?

That's suppose to be the end of the snow. By Friday it should start melting....only time will tell!

Snow....Snow....and more on its way!

So we've been having some snow here. Just a half inch here and a half inch there, but by Sunday it made enough to play in. . . before it melted and made for interesting driving weather after a 25 degree night. Here's Lauren enjoying the snow. Thanks so my Oly friend Lisa, she had snow bibs to use! Didn't realize I didn't have any in the closet until I saw snow in the forecast!

Lauren digging in the snow like Biscuit!

Snow angels are one of her favorite things to do.

She got pretty good and our yard was covered with angels!

Cheesey moment!

Had to get out the Gator to do some 4-wheeling! It really didn't 4-wheel very well as the snow just packed on the tires. But she made a circle in the snow and was very proud of that circle!

Our brush pile looked kind of pretty in the snow for a brush pile!

The back yard....the big maples look so pretty with a little snow and without leaves.

We did some improvised sledding off the knoll in the backyard. Took the lid off our garbage that holds the kindling and it worked like a charm once the snow packed!

A little blue sky peaked through and started melting the snow. But we got a couple of drifts today....and the next 2 days it's suppose to hit us pretty hard.

Biscuit loves to play in the snow too! She just runs and digs and runs some more!

Lauren making her way through the snow!

So I know this face meant I was in trouble with a snow ball.....but c'mon, she's still cute even armed and dangerous!

Birthday Party at Chuck E Cheese

On Saturday, Lauren was invited to one of her playgroup friends' Birthday parties at Chuck E Cheese. Just what Mom wanted to do at 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning! However Daddy cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed and did the laundry, so who's having a birthday party this weekend?? But seriously the place was pretty empty and it was a good energy burner! Just not so sure about pizza and cake at 10 a.m.!

Here are the party goers.

The cake!

Miss Ellie, the birthday girl! She turned 4!

Learning to do the "Birthday Dance".

The Birthday girl with Chuck.

Lauren looks really annoyed in this pic, but she was REALLY into Chuck and completely annoyed with Mommy at this point.

Lauren had a great time. She got a balloon, a Chuck E. Cheese cup and a ball.....so I think she thought it was HER party. I see a Chuck Birthday Party in her future.......OH GREAT!

Summersaults

Lauren has been practicing her summersaults or "flips" as she calls them ever since Mommy's friend Kerry showed her how at her birthday in October. So when a deal popped up on Living Social for 8 weeks of gymnastics at Alley Oop Gym in Olympia, mommy thought why not? We start today at 4 p.m. Wish us luck!

Our 3 year old's Anthem!

Lauren loves this song. Thank you Toby Keith for another 3 minute hit!

Christmas Catch-up

This year for Christmas we didn't have to travel as all of our family thankfully came to us! Memaw and Papa started off the festivities Christmas Eve. Here's a pic of Lauren opening a present from Gram Gram.

Her very own shopping cart! She was pretty excited and it's something she uses every day!

Her stocking the next morning from Santa.

I don't think she knew where to start!

Her and daddy both got Light Saber and have "good guy/bad guy" fights almost every night! Now she wants a green one like Yoda.

A picture of Memaw and Papa with Lauren with Mommy's new iPad! I'm feeling all "techy" now and have a hard time putting it down!

Memaw and Papa went home on Monday which gave a couple days to recuperate. Lauren had gotten sick the week before, typical Lauren, always sick around Christmas but normally not so much any other time of the year. So we had a few days of being lazy in our pajamas before the other side of the family arrived.

On Wednesday night we had Round 2 of Christmas. Aunt Emmy's gift of a fishing set for the bath was and still is a huge hit. After this present, things got crazy....so apparently I forgot to take any more pics!

On Thursday, mommy and daddy went to the doctor to find out Lauren will be expecting a baby sister in May. She's pretty excited but a little confused as to why the baby sister is still in mommy's tummy.

Nana made the girls super cute Christmas dresses. Lauren's was a little big, but she calls it her princess dress. So maybe it will still fit for Halloween and she can be a princess with a fancy tiara or something!

Overall it was a whirlwind holiday, with visitors and lots of memories. Thanks all fo making the trip to spend the holiday with us!