Posted on

Zoo, Blocks & Umbrella: The Random Files

ZOO:

We went to the zoo a few weeks ago with Barry’s cousin Cheyenne and her family. It was delightfully fun and by the time we were in the car on the way home, Maggie was asleep before we left the parking lot. Being at the zoo sometimes makes me feel sad for the animals, but this time I really noticed how much Maggie enjoyed everything. We got to see the zookeepers give the elephants a bath and the highlight for Maggie was seeing a penguin “help” the zookeeper power wash the penguin exhibit. 

We’ve been meaning to spend some time with Cheyenne, Rod and Allie for a very long time, it was nice that it finally happened. I’m sure that we’ll be getting together for more adventures sooner than later. 

BLOCKS:

Before Maggie was born, my aunt hosted a baby shower in honor of Maggie. The women in my family were asked to bring a gift that had special meaning to who they were. The gifts that I/Maggie received were some of the most sentimental and important ones to this day. One of the gifts that Grandmother Miller, Barry’s paternal grandmother, gave was a set of blocks that were for children 2 years and up. We stored them  in the closet and have brought them out from time to time, but now the time has come for Maggie to really get into them. They’ve taken up permanent residence in her toy area and she hauls them out on a regular basis. I love two things about these blocks: 1. That they came from her great grandmother  2. That they have a suitcase that makes them nice and tidy to put away. 

 

THE UMBRELLA

One of the gifts that we got Maggie for her birthday was an umbrella. I weren’t really sure how much she would like it, but the child loves her umbrella and any time that it is raining she suggests that we take it outside and prance around with it. She doesn’t really like for anyone else to hold it – because obviously the pink and orange polka dot umbrella is made for her. 

Posted on

Easter – What We Did

Holidays can sometimes be stressful for us because we want to be everywhere at once and we often miss seeing one part of the family or have to leave early/arrive late. This year Easter seemed to come early and for a variety of reasons it worked out that we didn’t have to zip from here to there with too much of a fuss. We ended up meeting up with Barry’s side of the family for breakfast at The Farmhouse and then Linda treated us to a tour of RoozenGaarde, which wasn’t too crowded considering it was Easter Sunday. 

The tulips weren’t quite out yet, but the daffodils sure were putting on a show. Since we tend to take pictures in fields to mark holidays, it seemed appropriate that we break the rules and take some shots with Brian and Darcy. We had to make sure that the ‘flag guy’ wasn’t looking when we ran down the rows. After our tour of the gardens we headed back up to Greg and Linda’s and eventually over to Barry’s grandparents house for lunch. 

Linda had hidden eggs around their house and Maggie finally discovered the joy in plunking eggs in to her bucket. While we ate candy and looked at our easter baskets  (Thanks, Linda!), we took shifts hiding the eggs for Maggie, who would go wait in the bathroom down the hallway for us to hide the eggs. I think next year she’ll really flip over the Easter Bunny…should be fun.