Zoo with Grandpa

As soon as we got Grandpa home from the airport on Saturday we took him to a new playground we discovered in the Old Hospital section of housing.  Joe had the girls dressed in their Tennessee gear.

I think the girls knew that grandpa was here to play with them.  Jessica remembered and Allison picked up on Jessica's vibe. 

When we got to the playground Jessica showed daddy her climbing tree.

I LOVE these pictures.

 

Then we kinda played musical babies for the rest of grandpa's visit.

 

Allison looks like a baby monkey checking her daddy's head for bugs to eat.

 On Veteran's Day we had perfect weather for the zoo.  Allison was ready to point out stuff to us before we even walked in.

We brought our wagon, even though the girls didn't ride in it very much.

 

We fed the birds.  Allison kept trying to grab the birds and Jessica would shake them off when they landed on her Popsicle stick, she was determined to feed the birds on her terms.  I love these pictures of Joe with the girls.

 

 

Here are some videos of us feeding the birds.

 

 

 

We also fed the giraffes.

Jessica got to hold the cup this time.  I thought the giraffe would knock it out of her hand but she held on tight.  Allison would squeal and babble with delight at the animals but she watched quietly when it was time to feed.

 

We fed a llama.

I loved the momma monkey with her baby clinging to the front of her, I could relate to her.

More monkeys checking us out while we check them out.

We got up close and personal with the goats in the petting zoo.  Alli was dying to get down and touch one so I set her free and stayed close by.

 

 

 

The girls really got a big kick out of the bears.  There was a squirrel in their enclosure and one of them was trying to catch it so they were pretty active.

We posed for a family photo after one of our trips to the restroom.

Allison enjoyed the zoo as much as I thought she would.  She was probably happier than Jessica most of the time.  Jessica is in the struggle for power phase (terrible twos) and she finds it hard to enjoy herself unless she is destroying something or putting herself in eminent danger.

 We rode the train around the zoo.

We had some time to burn before we could ride the train so we played for a bit.

Jessica likes riding the carousel but these little boys' dad put a quarter in the machine and she didn't want it to move.

Not two seconds after she got off the little moving horse, she climbed on the big zebra and demanded that we put quarters in it.  Oh the power struggle and confusion!

 

Jessica enjoyed chasing the free range peacocks and chickens much more than riding the metal horses.  Grandpa fed them so they would come closer.  Jessica got a hold of the peacock once and I heard it shriek.  I so thought we were going to get kicked out of the zoo before we got to ride the train.

Allison crawled on a baby expedition through the grass inspecting every leaf along the way.

Here's a video of Allison talking about the leaves.

Jessica was almost eaten by a snake and that pleased her.

I'm just going to sneak this video of Joe reading to the girls in this blog because I like it so much.

You can really see Allison's temper in this video.  She is trying to throw stuff out of the tub and Grandpa stops her and she yells at him.

 Jessica dressing in her new Poncho, thanks Meema and Grandad.  Allison has a matching one.

Allison's First Birthday

Allison is officially one year old now!  Her birthday party was a blast thanks to all the family and friends who came to help her celebrate.  I have to start this blog with a video of everyone singing happy birthday to her. She patiently waits for her cake like she has done this before!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sweet little girl even wanted to share.

 

She fed some cake to Lady.

And she even let big sister have some.

Here is the cake that I ordered from Publix (cream cheese frosting).

Allison had a dress up/carnival themed birthday party.  I dressed like a clown and learned how to make balloon animals.

Jessica was a fan of the clown wig and I think she wore it best.

Allison wore her super hero outfit for the party.

Jessica was a kitty.

Grandpa learned how to make balloon creatures too.  Together we filled the living room with doggies, swords, octopus, flowers and jester hats.

 

 

 

 

We set up the bounce house in the backyard.

Allison really enjoyed the bounce house (it was her first bounce house experience).

 

Jess, Nate and Kate were all very careful not to squish the birthday girl.

 

I love this picture!

Here are a couple videos of the bounce house.

 

Allison didn't really need help opening her presents but big sister was willing to lend a hand anyway.

Aunt Megan knew how to score cool points: wear a daisy duck hat while holding a cute puppy... irresistible to Allison.

Meema and Grandad sent Allison a few presents in the mail, these girls LOVE getting stuff in the mail.  This peg pounder was a present for Allison but Jessica kinda took it over.  Jessica is really into tools, just like her mommy.

Daddy reading a new book to his little girls.  Thanks for the new books Meema and Grandad.

Uncle Eric got Allison this Minnie mouse.  It was a perfect match to her Mickey.

 Here is a video of Allison opening a puppy from Meema and Grandad.

And playing with the puppy.

 Here are a few bonus videos of the girls that I am just adding to the end of this blog to save time.

 

 

Disney Cruise: Part Two

Our Bahamian cruise landed in two ports: Nassau and Castaway Cay (Disney's private island).  We arrived just days after hurricane Sandy as you can see by the sign in Nassau half gone.

I guess the whole process of getting off the ship was even more exhausting for the girls than for me and Joe.  We didn't even make it off the pier before they were both asleep as you can see in both pictures.  (Don't worry Meema, we only let Jessica's head dangle like that for the pictures.  Joe angled her back on two wheels and gently guided her back onto the boat after we got the pictures we wanted.)  Yep, we walked out onto the pier, took a picture and turned around and got right back on the boat.

Daddy carrying his little princess back to the cabin.

When we got back to the cabin we found these pirate skull caps waiting for us.  Nassau day was also designated pirate day.  Allison was the only one that could pull off the look.

Allison unpacks the diaper bag in this video.

Our room steward left us a pirate monkey after dinner, Jessica was thrilled.

She enjoyed dismantling it the following morning.

 

There wasn't much room in the queen bed after these little girls sprawled out.

The best part about our room was this circular bath tub with a shower that came straight down from the ceiling.

No, wait, the best part of our room was the balcony!

 Our little girls spent a lot of time on their private balcony.

 

 

Jessica's diet consisted of Froot Loops and bananas while we were on the ship.  It was frustrating because there was so much food all right there for her to eat but she refused to try any of it.  Allison, on the other hand, sampled the cuisine with much enthusiasm.

 

The ship had a really cool splash park for the babies.  I dressed Alli in pants and socks so she could crawl around without hurting herself but she made me carry her the whole time anyway.

 

After enjoying the splash park we soaked up some warmth on the sun deck while Jessica ate more Froot Loops.

 

Castaway Cay was a really cool island.  The weather was gorgeous and the girls really seemed to enjoy it.

 

We found someone to take our picture next to this nautical wreckage.

Allison sampling the local sand, she actually managed to eat quite a bit, as I discovered in her diaper the next day, little stinker.

The beach at Castaway Cay was perfect.

Daddy helped Jessica live out her fantasy of swimming like a dolphin.

 

There were stingrays swimming around our feet (their barbs were trimmed).

We rode the "caterpillar bus" back to the ship.

It was all very exhausting for Alli.

The girls enjoyed watching all the little people walking by through the huge porthole.

 The kids club looked like a fun hangout.  It had a TV dance floor and giant bean bags.

And no Disney adventure would be complete without Mickey Mouse Waffles.  Crocodile Jessica nibbled on Mickey's ears.