Summer "activities" and day with friends!

These very hot days we've been experiencing have really given Sydney and me some cabin fever. She's been sleeping in late enough that it's already too hot to play in the morning (well, who am I kidding? It's HOT at 7:30 anymore!) and it's still hot long after she goes to bed. So yesterday I got crafty and made some "Play Clay" aka play-dough. She didn't know what to think of it at first but kind of got the hang of it later. I made her some "jewelry" to wear and she loved that!

Pointing to her necklace (don't worry it isn't choking her! ;) )

Later we took a short trip outside so she could try painting. Donning her very big, over-sized paint shirt we tried our hand at water colors. She kind of went out of order with the brush: brush in the water, dip in paint, dip in water, paint on paper. I didn't expect her to get it right away and it was just the experienced I wanted to give her. She seemed to enjoy it! We'll have to try finger painting one of these days!
Today we met our friends Tiffany, Ed, and their son Noah and our friends Brenda and Steve in Olathe to eat at a BBQ restaurant. It had been TOO long since we had been able to get together so we really enjoyed each other's company while the kiddos were nice enough to let us get some conversation in in between peas being thrown and fries being snuck away. ;) Noah was quite entertaining as he growled across the table at Sydney and made us all laugh! Sydney had her first french fry, which she very slyly snuck from the pile I had removed from her tray! Tiffany said she heard her say "mama" and watched her sneak it from the pile! :) After lunch we went to Bass Pro Shop where our friend Brenda introduced Sydney to the basics of camping, i.e. a tent. She was scared at first but grew to love it! We may have to try a camping trip to see how it goes! Noah joined her later and they had a good time climbing in and out of the tents!

"Sydney, how old are you?"

Yesterday during snack time I told Sydney she could only have "1 more" vanilla wafer and showed her 1 with my finger. She did 1 back to me and said her version of "one." I thought hmm....we could be on to something. So after some practice this is what we came up with!

Mmm....blueberries!

Thanks to my failed attempt at a patriotic cheesecake on the 4th of July Sydney had her first true taste of blueberries. I had given them to her before but she didn't take to them like she does now! Joe gave her some from his cheesecake and she inhaled them! Afterward her little fingers were stained purple and so was her tongue! Luckily it came off of her face! Since then I've put the leftover blueberries on her waffles, which she loved, and just this morning mixed them in to her pancakes. She devoured her pancake and wanted another one!
I also tried something new today with her...I let her feed herself her yogurt. This was a huge step for me because I knew it would be messy and I try to avoid messes like this if at all possible. Once I just let go and let her try it, she did great! Yes she was messy but not as bad as I originally thought. Not to mention the fact that she was very proud of herself and another great part: I got things accomplished while she was eating! So here it is, play by play. :)

Scooping some yogurt up......just got to make it in my mouth.......success!

Returning home and celebrating Independence Day

We returned from Omaha Thursday evening and we were all ready to be home! We unloaded everything and then Sydney got to play out back for awhile. I sprayed off her little slide and she had a blast climbing up the ladder and sliding down! It was a great summer evening and we were just enjoying being back home.

She loved being sprayed by the hose!

Finally! A slide just her size!

We had a wonderful weekend to celebrate the 4th of July! Aunt Bailey came down Friday evening to spend the weekend with us and Sydney was thrilled to see her. Saturday Joe took Maggie fishing while us girls hung out at the house. For supper I put together shish-kabobs for Joe to grill, made some potatoes and cheesecake for dessert. (It was supposed to be patriotic with blueberries and strawberries but the result wasn't quite what I had envisioned--still tasted good though!) Sydney ate a great supper and was ready to play basketball in the driveway with her Dad and Maggie. We were trying to keep her busy until fireworks time and it worked! She did great at the fireworks show and even said "whoa" a few times. :)

Day 3: Omaha Children's Museum

Wednesday we were able to meet my sister's friend Kacia and her daughter Gracie at the Omaha Children's Museum. This place is awesome! I wish we had one near us because we'd go every week. We could have spent all day there, there is so much for her to do!

Sydney immediately was drawn to the farm animals, especially the pig (could it be because it's the perfect size for her? :) )
We went to a get-together at a friend of Joe's and his daughter had a play set with a big slide that Sydney just fell in love with. So here she is watching Gracie go down the slide ahead of her!
Next we went to the "super market." She had a blast picking out everything she wanted to "buy" and putting it in her basket. She loaded up on oranges and green peppers and onions (things we eat all the time at our house!) and found a nice block of swiss cheese. She's a cheese fan and was excited to find this!
While we could have shopped forever, we kept moving along. Sydney joined Gracie at the water table and like most toddlers, she loved getting wet and splashing and making a mess! The water was quite chilly but Syd loved it!
We kept trying throughout the day to get a picture of the two girls together but there was just TOO much going on to distract them, so this is the best that we got. Still turned out pretty cute!

Day Two: 2nd half of the Omaha Zoo!

We began day two of our vacation at the aquarium but unfortunately only have video from there. The penguins, sharks, and other marine life were too exciting and beautiful for still shots! :) Our next stop was the Desert Dome. It's amazing! We were shocked as it kept going on, and on, and on!

Meerkats! I love meerkats-they are so funny to me. We spotted some that were sharing an exhibit with a very small relative of the "big buck" Sydney loves so much. This "deer" couldn't have been more than 3 feet tall but she kept pointing and saying "big buck" over and over again! :)

More meerkats!

She spotted the fox that was taking a rest.

We went to the Cat Complex after the Desert Dome and Gorilla House (only video of those guys and gals too!) and she found this lioness. She could have stayed here all day long, waving, blowing kisses, and "loving" on her (by pressing her face to the glass). :) It was so cute. If she only knew what this animal was capable of! :)Look what I found Mom and Dad! (at the petting zoo)

This little goat made her so happy! She found him in the barn and just sat right next to him as if he were her very own. :)Some bunnies I believe...

Our family saying "goodbye" to the Henry Doorly Zoo!

Day one of our first family vacation! The first 1/2 of the Omaha Zoo...

We arrived in Omaha Sunday (6/28) afternoon. We were hoping that by leaving at Sydney's nap time that she would sleep some of the way...some is an understatement. She slept maybe an hour out of the 3 1/2 hour trip and needed to be entertained the rest of the way. She did pretty well though thanks to plenty of books, snacks, and trees to look at outside! That night we ate at Famous Dave's (Joe's pick) and got ourselves ready for our first big day at the zoo.

When we arrived we didn't really know where to start (it's such a huge zoo!) so we saw this sign for Lied Jungle and decided to head in. It didn't look big from the outside so I wasn't expecting much...it ended up being this huge indoor rainforest. (I think I read one of the largest of its kind in the world! We sure underestimated it!) So here is Sydney at our first stop, near a waterfall and below us were Madagascar Tapirs.

Here she is with some parrots (or macaws, I get then confused).

She is also really in to birds right now and spotted this bird! She kept her eyes on it for the longest time!

Once we left the rainforest we headed towards the giraffe house. We were about to walk inside before we spotted them eating leaves outside! (How we almost missed them I'll never know!) Accompanying them in their area were ostriches and black footed penguins.
And here's Sydney checking out the giraffes!

Inside the giraffe house there were some birds (kind of misplaced if you ask me...) but she was checking them out with her daddy!
They look thrilled don't they?
We found a giraffe she could actually love on! :)
Our next stop was the zebras, one of Sydney's favorites! She started spotting them in her book and sticker book (although she can't say "zebra") she gets excited when she sees them. She could have watched these guys all day long!
Next stop: Red River Hogs. We were fortunate enough that they were both right by the fence, so it gave Sydney the opportunity to stretch her legs and see them up close. She was thrilled to pieces to be so close to them, and didn't want to leave them behind! (It's in the bottom left hand corner--hard to see.)
Another Red River Hog!
Sydney with the Bongo she found. :)
Refueling with some raisins before taking on the Rhinoceros exhibit!
Sydney and her daddy with a rhino. Please excuse the raisin in her mouth; she started hoarding them as he took her out of her stroller. :)
Sea lions (see the baby on the rock! So cute!)
Sydney enjoying her lunch by the sea lions!
All of the Koi in the Monkey Island pond.
And Day One is....DONE!