New Teeth, a trip to the zoo and the cutest 2 and a half year old - EVER!

Des broke two new teeth on the top, the jury is out if they are the front teeth or the ones beside the two front teeth?  Seems crazy that we can't tell, but it's the truth.  Need to get a photo to take a poll.*
We went to the zoo on May 29th and it turned out to be a really great day.  We purposely went early in the year thinking if the weather is not quite as warm, the animals will be out to play and frolic.  So wrong - it turned out to be a beautiful day (28) which is a little warm for the animals.  It was a good choice to go in May as not a lot of people were there so we were able to see all of the animals and did not have to wait at any displays.  We had a great day with the girls.  We went with Carey and Chris (seasoned zoo 'veterans') and their girls Cora and Mya.  All in all it was a great day.  My favourite part was the giraffe enclosure.  I love giraffes.  We all decided to go on Safari to Africa once the kids are all in University (only 17 more years - LOL).  I really want to go to Timini, the giraffe hotel in Kenya see: http://www.giraffemanor.com/ So it is all settled that we will break the bank to visit - Africa 2028!

 Beautiful female Rhino lying in the mud.  One of the first animals we saw as we entered the zoo. 

 This is a statue of a monkey that died as a result of someone throwing 'people food' into him.  So cute, but Violet didn't want to sit with him (I think she was afraid) so I got in the photo with Vi, Cora and Mya. 

 Peacocks roam freely on the zoo grounds.  So beautiful.  Cora and Mya were a little bit afraid and Carey and Chris had to execute operation distraction every time one came around. 

 Vi and me in front of the elephants. 

 These are pygmy hippos, the big ones were in hiding!  I think their enclosure was being cleaned or renovated. 

 Gorillas.  Beautiful.  So amazing to see the mommy playing with her youth.  So much like humans. 

 The girls loved the penguins.  They are new to the zoo this year.  Carey said they replaced the seal exhibit.  So cute.  They swim - SO FAST-

 Vi running at the penguin exhibit.  I could just eat her up!

 My favourite...

 Des was so great at the zoo.  Didn't fuss, slept a lot but did bite mommy hard during a feeding.  Hope that ends soon.

 Snuggling with my sweaty boy.

 Polar bear was doing a repetitive loop in his pool which was amazing for us to see him swim and move but a little bit concerning that he is very, very bored.  Just kept doing to same circle in the water. 

 Spider monkeys - they use their tail like an additional limb.  So neat to watch them climb and swing - the tail has independent movement and grip. 

 Vi loving Swiss Chalet after the zoo.

And crashing on the way home.  Granny gave the kids some money to buy something at the zoo - Violet picked the pink Monkey and we all (well - we all know how much I love giraffes) picked the giraffe for Des. Thanks Granny!

Violet is going through yet another cutie pie stage right now.  She dances all the time when we aren't around.  We are going to try to catch it on camera.  Yesterday I saw her dancing in a circle around Desmond when they were alone in her room.  So cute.  She is saying some very funny things too.  Often repeating us but we keep saying we need to write them down because we are going to forget them - and I already have - will need to remember some and post them!


*Update since this was written - Des has an upper middle tooth breaking now so it turns out he did get the ones beside his front teeth first.

A cold spring so far...

Spring in Ontario has been cold this year.  Yesterday was my first day taking the kids outside to play on the blanket (something I love to do in the summer).  Violet helped me with some yard work and then with dinner.  She cut the ends off the beans with the knife Granny gave her.  I was so glad it worked because when I tried to teach her to break the ends off, she basically broke the bean in half.  She was a great helper.  Here are a few recent photos.
We had Carey and Chris and the girls over on Sunday to watch Tangled.  They all got to paint their nails and watch the movie.  Then we had a great dinner together followed by lot of book reading.  All three girls love to read!

 Here is Vi helping me with dinner yesterday.  Cutting the beans.

 Vi snuggled up to pop after gymnastics.

 Violet loves to do my workouts with me.  Here Andrew caught her doing one of my least favourite moves on the ball.  Vi looks like she likes it!

 Snapped a few shots of Des today when we were playing on the floor.  He is such an interactive little boy.  Very destructive, not sure what we are in for when he starts to move around.  It cracks me up how differently he plays with the same baby toys Vi had.  Ripping off the musical animals from above him, etc. 

 Who wouldn't love that face?

Finally got a shot of Vi and Des in the sweaters Chris' mom gave us at Christmas, now I need to send a LONG overdue thank you card.

Easter 2011

First Easter with 2 kiddies was pretty fun this year. Desmond was his usual self - happy and smiley (even with a cold), and Violet was super cute running around collecting a trail of chocolate eggs into her basket that lead to a small cache of treats and presents.  Funnily enough, she pretty much didn't even notice the presents - just the eggs and other small things like her "lipstick" (chapstick) and princess bandaids.  Yes, princess bandaids she's been asking the Easter Bunny to bring for weeks. She puts them on for the fun of it, no cuts to cover or anything practical like that.  She just likes to wear them. She can even see through the covers enough to know which is which (Aurora, Cinderella, Belle, Ariel, etc) and "sorts" them.  Her fascination with Princesses and Pink are getting out of control, but it's so stinking cute sometimes! (Sometimes!!)

We bought the movie Tangled for her which she saw in at the movies with Marn, Candace and Sadie, and now (because we've told the story a few times to different people) every time she sees or hears us talking about the movie, she looks at me, starts laughing and says "you thought the horse was Yogi Bear!"  If you didn't hear the story; I was told they were going to see Yogi Bear that day and not told anything different.  So at bed time that night, I was asking Violet about the movie and she kept saying something about a funny horse.... and I kept correcting her that it wasn't a horse, it was a bear! After many, many corrections and confusion she was convinced that it was a bear - until the next day when Marn told me they went to see Tangled! When she told me, I just started laughing as everything made sense.... Marn was confused as to why Violet kept saying there was a bear in the movie!

Violet didn't want to wear the bunny ears this year like last year (I think because they are blue and not pink), so Desmond got them and wore them without complaint. At Mom's after some attention he got with them, she tried them on for a bit, but it didn't last long...

Here are a few pics... we mostly video taped this year at our house and I forgot our camera for Mom's house - I miss the pictures, though, so I'll be sure to take more pics than video for next functions! These 2 were borrowed from Teresa who's camera ran out of battery 5 minutes into photo taking.... !  I'll update later with more that I find.

Sickety sick sick

After Florida, Violet got the sickness.  Not fevered, but stuffed up, cough and gooey eye.  Marn took her to the doctor to check her out and she came back with some meds and eye drops. She's doing better this week since about Sunday.... and now it's Desmond's turn!  He's been stuffed up, coughing, fevering on and off, and crying a lot.  His "voice" is so hoarse it's so pitiful and sad. He kind of cries, but not all the time, just sort of moans and babbles the words "ma-ma-ma-ma" or "ba-ba-ba-ba".  It's seriously the most pitiful thing you could hear.  I need to video it... So he hasn't been sleeping well and has been very needy the last few days.
And back to me!  My throat is still a bit sore, I'm still stuffed up and feel like the cold is "moving" into my head.  The most irritating thing I have right now is that "tickle" in my throat.... so a lot of dry coughing trying to scratch it.  I can handle the rest easily enough. The coughing is driving me!
Marn seems to be better for the most part and hopefully stays that way!

We're looking forward to Easter Weekend with hopefully a healthy family.  Getting some garage cleaning and house organizing done, then visiting and eating with friends and family. I would like to spend a good portion of the weekend doing low-key stuff around the house, but that never seems to happen. Too bad I don't get Monday off as I feel like I could use a 4-day break.

Great Vacation?

We had a great ending to a 'so-so' vacation.  Andrew and I were sick (off and on) all week until Friday.  We had a beautiful day Friday and Saturday and spent them at the beach.  It was great.  The kids loved it!  It was Desmond's first time in the water and Vi's first time in the Ocean. The first two times in the water, Desmond didn't like it and cried, but as the week wore on, he loved it and went right in with us splashing around.

forcing a smile on my face, trying not to puke?

Our condo was directly above those two people's heads.

He didn't like the taste so much... lol

Thankfully my parents were willing and able to help us watch the kids when we were down and out in the sickness.  Unfortunately now that we're home, Violet has now come down with something - ear ache, stuffy nose and red eyes.  So far Desmond is ok, but it'll be a miracle if he stays that way if Violet has anything to do with it! (constantly kissing him and touching his face).

One of the highlights of this trip for me was (almost) swimming with the dolphins.  Every day we had dolphins swimming by and not very far out (near the buoy's) so one afternoon I swam out hoping to get near some.  Well they came by about 20 yards in front of and on both sides of me.  I yelled out to Marn to check it out and as I was looking out, she yells back at me - apparently there were dolphins between me and the shoreline and I missed them!  I didn't know this until I got back to shore when she told me... bummer, but very cool!

sun burn anyone?

First day sunscreen application mishap.... ouchy!

My right knee was the same colour as my right foot in this pic.