Zoo time

We spent the morning at the zoo with our Wednesday mamas.  It was so nice to get some fresh air and everyone had lots of fun.

We spent a lot of time checking out the hippos.  Of course Jake had to get in with us!   By far her favorite animal we saw was the rhino, though.  So sweet!

Violet and Felicity played in a house at the Children's Zoo

On the farm

 Last week Violet and I packed up and headed to Tremont!  We spent a few days on the farm to keep Grammy company.  It was so fun!  Violet was an excellent traveler.  She did well in the car and slept well in the pack 'n' play in Riley's room.  She fondly called it the "little bed upstairs RiRi's room."  We ran errands, played on the farm, and even got to see some friends.   I had a renewed appreciation for small town life.  A place where literally everyone knows your name (or someone in your family) and will charge your food or gas to your account still exists, people.  It was a great trip for all of us!

Exploring the farm with RiRi

So many cats!

These moo cows had a few visitors and we hope it was fun for them.   Little did they know the next morning they would be loaded up and taken to a place where they would become...well, um, steaks!

It was super windy, but I think the wind blown look works for us.

This is my favorite picture of our time there.  Little girl out on the farm.  And the sky!

Chickens, roosters, and dogs oh my!

The two big dogs scare everyone but her.  They are huge and bark loud but really are nice dogs once they smell you.  They would knock her over accidentally and she would laugh and laugh.  She kept asking to see more dog dogs and she just loved them both.

Enjoying an after school snack with Uncle Logan.

Reading bedtime stories with Grammy

The sunrise was so beautiful.  It was shades of purple, pink, orange, and yellow.  Amazing.

We enjoyed the Children's Discovery Museum in Bloomington a lot!  We met Ashley and Ben there and those two ran around and gave the moms a workout :-)

Driving the tractor.  No recreational facility in central Illinois would be complete without a tractor display!

Of course she gave the babies their bottles...

Driving the cars on the tracks

Painting what she called a blue airplane.  Can you see it?

So fun!

Catching Up

And THIS is how she can easily climb out of her crib.  She's just turning the light off before a nap!

Makeup!

Date night!  I know it's blurry, but I felt it was important to see the whole outfit.  Thanks to Riley for letting me clean out her closet and take lots home with me.  Love the new sassy skirt! Oh, and check out my handsome hubby!

Counting...

She loves to count!  So far she just does "one, two, one, two, one, two" and it's so cute!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Violet got two special Valentine's packages in the mail and she was very excited!  Thanks to all the grandparents for making her day so special :-)

She loves her cards so much she couldn't tear herself away to look at the camera...

Decked out in pink at the Little Gym

A special lunch with friends

You know these two are Valentines!

Snow!

Saturday mornings are our special Daddy/Vi time. Normally we go to the park or the Science Center, but this week it was too cold out and too early for anyplace to be open. We woke up to a great surprise: SNOW! Right now, Violet is in a big snow phase, probably because we get so excited for her if there is even a dusting on the ground. After getting all bundled we went outside to play.


Her she is crunching in the 1/2 inch of snow. She loves her snow pants, snow boots, and gloves. After a few minutes, she started asking for her polar bear. She saw the Super Bowl commercial where the Coke polar bear is sliding on the ice and was cracking up at the TV.

One of her favorite books right now is Duck and Goose.

We decided to try to make a snow goose. This is our best attempt. You can sort of see a beak.


After making a snow goose, she insisted on making a snow mommy. So we wrote a message for mommy in the snow in the front yard. We couldn't stay out for too long, because it was so freezing!

Two!

Videos!

Catching up

We use big girl cups now!

Everything tastes better in these cups :-)

She helped me clean the fridge and did a great job!  Mostly, though, she loves using a Magic Eraser.

Hiding

We had a fun day with big Jake!

She insisted on wearing her snowsuit for a full 2 days - when it was over 60 degrees.  Crazy kid.

Ella pushed her on a scooter at the park