Zoo Day

It was way too nice to not be outside today. So, we went to one of our favorite hangouts, the zoo! As we were getting parked, I asked Harper which animal she wanted to see today. Very authoritatively, she said "The elephant and I want him to spray water out of his nose." The first part we could definitely do, but I wasn't so sure about that last part. However, when we got to the elephants, they were congregating around the watering hole throwing mud on themselves to keep cool. Close enough!

Next up were the flamingos. I always like the flamingos. They remind me of Pinkalicious, a cute kids book where the main character eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink (kind of like how flamingos are pink because they eat shrimp and algae that contain pink and orange pigments).

I usually judge the success of our zoo outings by whether or not we can avoid the petting zoo area. Today was not my lucky day.

After a good hand washing, we leisurely strolled through the rest of zoo and I practiced the fine art of cell phone nature photography.

This Never Happens

Looks like someone played hard at school today. 

She fell asleep in the car and then continued her siesta on the couch when we got home. In fact, she's still snoozing as I type this. At this rate, she'll be up with me at 4am to watch the Royal Wedding.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Professional Egg Hunter

Today we went to the annual McKendree Easter egg hunt. Steve and Penny Hooper have been holding this wonderful event at their house for the last 37 years! Today marks the third one that we had the pleasure of attending.

2009

2010

2011

I hear that this is the last year the Hoopers will be hosting an egg hunt. I completely understand, but I'm really hoping they reconsider. Come on, just 7 or 8 more years! Please?!?

We had a fantastic time. The weather was beautiful and the eggs were plentiful!

Last year, Harper's basket runneth over with eggs. This year, I wised up and got her a bigger basket.

Taking a break to check out the loot.

Well done, kiddo!

After the hunt, the Hoopers have all kinds of snacks and activities set up for the kids. Harper blew bubbles for at least an hour.

All in all, it was a fabulous day that culminated in an epic nap. She's still sleeping in fact, which has given me ample time to pillage inspect her eggs!

Egg-cellent

A few days ago, Harper colored Easter eggs for the first time ever! She concentrated very hard on making each one the perfect color.

Here, she is explaining that she can't look up at the camera because she has to pay attention to her eggs.

I have to say, she really was very gentle with the eggs and they all turned out great!

She also tried really hard not to make a mess...that is until we ran out of eggs and she discovered that she could also color her fingers!

Thank goodness it all came off in the bathtub!

She Prefers Baby Dolls To Bunnies

Last week Harper and I met our buddy, Katie, for lunch and bunnies. And by bunnies, I mean that we went to Phillips Toy Mart to see their annual display of bunnies.

If you are ever in Nashville, I would highly recommend going to this toy store. Whether you have kids or not, this place is an experience. They've been in business since 1946 and every millimeter of their store is jam packed with toys (and not just the every day run of the mill toys that you find at Target. I'm talking about some of the coolest toys I've ever seen.)

But getting back to the bunnies... Every year they have a different theme for their display. This year it was The Year of the Rabbit (which was very appropriate, because Katie and her husband are about to move to China!).

Katie and I thought the bunnies were awesome. Harper was a little more impressed by the array of baby doll accessories in the isle next to the bunnies.

I love the expression on Katie's face in this one!

I tried and tried to get Harper to stand in front of the bunnies and smile. This was the best shot I got. If it looks like she is in pain, she is. Posing for pictures is torture when there are baby dolls to inspect.

Hippity Hoppity

Easter's on its way.