Riverbanks Zoo

Today we took Emma to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC & had a great day. It actually rained on us most of the way there but when we arrived the clouds cleared up & the sun came out. As soon as we got on the interstate to come home, it started raining again, so we timed it perfect.

We ate lunch as soon as we got there (Emma didn't eat much = a few bites of her pb&j & few bites of apples) at the picnic tables & then we were off to see the animals. Emma wanted to feed, pet & ride/hold all of them until it came time to actually feed them. She wasn't fond of feeding the goats, especially the one who nearly jumped the fence to get the feed. I was really hoping to feed the giraffes but they ran out of feed by the time we got  there so I just took a lot of pictures. They are just so cool. Emma's favorite were all the monkeys. 

She did really good especially since she walked almost the entire time we were there but she started to melt about 1:30pm while we were at the elephant exhibit. We gave her a snack & some milk which helped but we knew so was close to being done. She starting saying, "somebody's tired" which is what we say to her all the time & asking to go "night night with yellow pacie" so we knew our day was done.

We let her pick out a small animal at the gift shop & she picked a really cute giraffe (named baby G), although she probably would have picked a monkey but she has a ton of them already so I tried to discourage another one. We all had a great time & we can't wait to take her back again soon.

 The baboons were so funny, especially the baby 

(which is on the shoulders of the large one)

 The male lion decided it was time for the female to go away & 

they started fighting as soon as we walked up.

 As you can see, he won & she got down.

 Monkeys swinging, they did all kinds of tricks for us.

 On the carousel with Daddy

 The aggressive goat that Emma would not feed.

 My favorite, the giraffes

 The babies were so cute.

 Elephant exhibit

Meerkat

 Odd little monkey

 Orangish/yellow kangaroo

 An owl from the Carolina Rapture Center in Charlotte

 The flamingos were cool too. They were more orange than pink & quite noisey.

 Emma on a lizard

 Emma on a turtle

Lazy kangaroo

Mother's Day 2011

This year Mother's Day was a bit comical for me because Emma kept telling me it was my birthday. She knew I was getting presents/cards & so was Karen, Gram, Beverly, Grammy, Nana... and she kept saying, "its probably your birthday Karen, Beverly, Nana ________ (fill in the blank). She thought it was all our birthdays. It didn't help matters that the night before we celebrated Kaylee's 15th birthday, so she still had birthdays on the brain. 

We went to church with Gram, my mother's mom & then all went to lunch, except Chris who went to the Wells Fargo golf tournament after church. But before Chris left, we made some much needed pictures under the tree at Archdale. 

So tonight Chris took me to supper for a post Mother's Day dinner. I picked O'Charley's & must say I was less than satisfied. Not that my food wasn't good, it just ended up not being what I really wanted once I started eating it. Now the plan is to go to Lowes later in the week & pick out some plants for our front yard. Chris got me azaleas last Mother's Day but they all died. I think we have serious problems with our soil. In fact most of our flowering plants are dead except my lilies which I think will live forever. So wish us luck as we attempt to plant more.

 This is the best we could get of all 4 cousins.

Who knew it would be so hard for 2 teenagers & 2 toddlers to all look at the camera & smile.

 Emma was so over taking pictures. Note the folded arms 

(something she does often but I think this is the 1st pic we have of it)

 I had to tickle her to get this smile

 My sister Beverly & her daughter Morgan

2 1/2 yrs old

Saturday Emma turned 2 1/2 yrs old & it still blows my mind how fast she is growing up. Everyone continues to tell us how fast it goes & man are they right. 

Her newest accomplishment, if you can call it that, is being able to turn door knobs to open doors. Which means she is no longer confined to her room for naps or bedtime, she can open the door & come out & she does just that, a lot. This morning she walked in our room at 7:15 am saying "Mommy, I'm awake, I open my door" & I wasn't even awake yet. Its rare that she wakes up before me, I normally get up 7 - 7:30 but I guess I was extra tired. So I guess we have moved into another new phase, her comes Emma, ready or not.

Her imagination is starting to shine. She plays with her Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse or Little People toys & acts all kinds of things, even episodes of shows she has just watched. I love watching her little mind in action.

She sings & dances all the time. Her favorite songs right now, Ring Around the Rosie, B-I-B-L-E, Jesus Loves the Little Children, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with ABC's mixed in.

She is constantly asking, "what does that/this says" translation - what is this/that? We are not real sure why she asks it like that, but she does.

Playing with her sand table & just talking away

 Smelling a flower, although its fake to use in her sand table