Yellow River Game Ranch

Emily's class took their annual trip to the Yellow River Game Ranch and Donald and I were able to go along for the ride. She had an excellent time petting all of the animals and sharing her animal crackers with them. I think she ate as many animal crackers as she shared with them, but who's counting? She was absolutely exhausted by the end of the day, even though she took a nap in the car on the way home. Come to think of it, we were both exhausted, as well!

Let's get this party started!

Feeding frenzy at the front gate. We learned that deer love broccoli.

A little fruit to balance out the cracker-carbs.

Watch out for the teeth! Abby learned this lesson the hard way!

Eat the cracker, not the fence!

Possibly the best picture of the day.

I love this!

Spending time with the pigs. Very bristly!

Little Miss Doolittle

She was so proud of catching the rabbit!

Posing with a friend

The peacock showed off for us. He screamed all day long!

Visiting General Lee's house. Emily told us he must have died. We finally realized that she thought the marker out front was his tombstone! Not quite sure what this pinup girl pose is all about.

A change of clothes and it's time for lunch! She asked that we close the back of the car so that no one would see her "nakedness."

She was too punch drunk tired to even smile for a picture at this point. Time to head home!

Yarrr!

Emily discovered a stash of pirate-wear that I purchased to use during storytime at work and had a grand time dressing up. She ran around the house poking things with her hook and yelling "Yarrrr!" at the top of her lungs. Hope my students enjoy this stuff as much as she did!

Happy Easter!

We enjoyed a wonderful Easter Sunday spent with family, friends, and lots of chocolate bunnies. Below is a sampling of pictures from our day, beginning with discovering the Easter Bunny's basket of purple goodies and ending with a very special prize Easter egg. Wishing you a day that was just as wonderful!

Just look at that nightgown. And I swore I'd never buy clothes with characters on them!

It's a chocolate bunny with purple butterfly wings! I found him buried in the couch cushions later that day.

Looking sweet before church. She insisted on buttoning up the cardigan.

Had to take Giraffe to church with us.

The very rare family shot. We traded photos with another family at Providence.

Love this picture. She wanted to swing for a bit after church at the playground.

A quick picture before they raced to strip off their dresses and tights!

More Easter goodies!

The girls love Bobby. Or Adam. Whatever you want to call him.

Racing for eggs at the Farr House

Showing off their loot

She found the prize egg - a Dixieland token! Thanks to Auntie Yam for coming up with a spur of the moment prize for the Easter egg hunt! Now who's volunteering to take them to Dixieland to spend that token?

The Providence Marketplace

Amy and I took the girls to the Marketplace at Providence Methodist Church with Cici while Donald was in Philadelphia. The evening didn't start out so well (take a peek at the first picture) because there was general grumpiness and face making. However, things drastically improved when they saw the camel. They got to ride a camel, pelt Goliath with ping pong balls, make jewelry and pottery, dance around a fire pit, and eat some really delicious chicken legs. Yum! Lots of fun. I can't wait to go next year!

This is the face of grumpy.
Shoot low boys....

Goliath makes me giggle. I love the way they stuck sandals out from under his toga!

She nailed Goliath in the fun bits with a ping pong ball. Vicious!

After a VERY long wait, it's time to ride the camel! Amy and I read the weight limits and decided that we should let the girls ride alone. No need to punish the camel any further...

They got the grumpy camel. He must have picked up on their earlier bad mood.

Surly.

Channeling her latent Laura Ingalls Wilder tendencies with a little weaving

Dying some clothes. Green is the new black this season.

Abby pounds out some jewelry

Emily's favorite part of the night - we danced for about five songs!

She informed me later that she ate everything but the bone.

Dressed up for a picture - I love how the outfit contrasts with her pink Converse!

Build a Bear

Mimi, Papa, Donald, and I took Emily and Abby for a trip to Build a Bear during Winter Break. They each got to create a new friend to bring home with them and had a great time picking out their animals and accessories. Hootie Moon came home with with Abby and Lela Leopard was adopted by Emily. Gotta tell you....those hard Skechers that Lela is wearing aren't comfortable to roll over onto in the middle of the night! Funny thing - while we were looking for a parking spot at the mall, Johnny Cash was singing "Ring of Fire" on the radio. Emily (who loves this song) started singing, "Where oh where is Build a Bear?" along with the tune. Such a funny girl!

Future's So Bright

These are my new favorite Mommy and daughter pictures. Such a sweetie! And she really knows how to rock a pair of sunglasses. We had lunch outside together at The Half Shell last week (yum, by the way, if you haven't tried it) and we both wore our shades. The waiter told me he had never seen shades as big as mine or as cute as Emily's!

Another Snowy Day

What's up with all the snow this year? In Emily's five years, she has seen more snow than I think I've seen in my whole life! We geared up for another frosty day with the Kai Lan sock cap and headed out to take some measurements of the snow. This snow was better than the last for making snow balls and Emily had a blast taking shots at us. She has a pretty vicious arm for a four year old! So, is there more snow in the forecast?

Fabulous head gear

Ni hao! Emily decided to rock out the Kai Lan sock hat and I couldn't help but snap some pictures of her in crazy poses. Also check out the layered pajama look that she's sporting. This is what fabulous looks like. Now stop laughing at her head gear.

Comfy Cozy

What is it with little people wanting to squeeze into tiny spaces? We have pictures of Abby sleeping in a plastic storage tote. I noticed that the Carsons have posted pictures of Laney siting inside of all kinds of things - including a colander! We snapped this picture of Emily getting cozy with all of her animals inside Donald's suitcase after he returned from a trip. Perhaps Papa shouldn't have spent so much time building her a lovely big girl bed...

Blast from the Past

While watching Extreme Cake Challenge on Food TV (how lucky am I to have a daughter who likes to watch the food and decorating channels?), Emily was intrigued by the beauty pageant cakes the chefs were creating. She wanted to know if I had ever been in a pageant and if so, what I wore. Coincidentally, (well, not coincidence - I save LOTS of stuff) I had in my hope chest the dress I was wearing when I won my first pageant tiara...and the tiara, as well. It was a little large on her but I think we definitely have a contender on our hands. We practiced three point turns and waves later on. Not really, but I did play "announcer" just like Mimi used to do for me. And without further ado, introducing Miss Emily White, contestant number 7. She enjoys drawing with markers, eating plain noodles, and really does want world peace.