Summer vacation--yay!

Today officially marks the beginning of our summer vacation together (well Sydney and me anyway! :) ) Our weekend was wonderful...Saturday Sydney was pretty dramatic but Sunday and Monday were both great days. She is catching on to so many new things nowadays that I am so blessed to be able to spend this time with her! She's growing and changing so quickly and I am thrilled to be with her this summer!
Here are some new things she knows to say or do:
1. says "bi-buh" (translation: big buck) and hold her open hands by her ears--she even did this when she saw a baby deer in a book...she knew that a deer=big buck. I was shocked!
Here she is finding the "bi-buh" in the book!
2. if I ask her if she's poopy and say "we need to change your diaper" she'll take off for her room
3. she knows to go get her shoes (her "doos") if she wants to go outside
4. she'll cook with her little kitchen and give all of us bites (including Maggie!)
5. LOVES stories and being read to...I think we read at least for 45 minutes this morning, one book after another.
6. One of my favorites: she will pick up after herself! Obviously I encourage/remind her and give her some direction, but she will pick things up and place them back where they need to go. I am hoping this will become a habit for later on....one can only hope! :)
7. She is walking all over the place and loves to sit on the bottom stair that leads up to our bedroom. Yesterday she had 6 or 7 books sitting on the steps. I think she feels like quite the big girl! (Hooray for a baby gate--finally...otherwise the freedom she has on our main floor would not be possible!)

We tried going to a park this morning but it was still wet from last night and they were really lacking any kind of toddler toys. Luckily we brought her shovel and bucket so she scooped up some rocks for awhile before we headed home. I'll have to do some asking around for more parks. She is just taken aback by our sprinkler and loves getting wet! She also loves this little tree we have in our yard--here she is noticing the leaves blowing in the wind!
Joe and I decided awhile back that our big family vacation this year is going to be going to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, NE. I am SO excited because I just know in my heart that Sydney will have a blast! She loves animals and being outside so I am thrilled for her (plus I have always wanted to go as well. :) ) No set date yet but we're planning on staying for at least a few days so we can have a flexible schedule to work around weather and everything else.