Heat Wave!!

Yesterday, we had a little heat wave of sorts... 95 degrees!! According to the weather man, the only place in the US that was hotter was Laredo, TX. Seriously. Texas. It's in the south. It's supposed to be hot there. Not Iowa.

Anywho... we took advantage of the warm weather and introduced Evelyn to the sprinkler!! She wasn't super thrilled, she never ran through it, but she was perfectly happy to stand just in the line of fire and let it splash her tummy and legs. I can tell you what we'll be doing all summer to cool off!

We may have even convinced Daddy that Evelyn needs a "fun" sprinkler - you know, one for kids, not a garden sprinkler. I know. I'm crazy. (At least that's what Ethan tells me.)

Happy Easter!!

Although Evelyn made it to the big Easter Egg Hunt last year, all she did was sit in her stroller while her cousin AJ and I did the hunting. This year, despite the cold, we bundled up and walked down the road to Waukee's annual hunt. What a zoo! Right off the bat, Evelyn started throwing a fit - she did not want to be held back around all the other kiddos waiting for the big start! Somehow, we were able to pause long enough for Daddy to snap a photo.

Evelyn actually caught on pretty quickly, but we didn't end up with too much candy given the number of other, more "experienced" kids around. As long as we were moving putting candy in her basket, Evelyn was happy. That is, until we went to see the Easter Bunny! The funniest part of it all, though, was that as soon as we were done, Evelyn wanted to stand right next to him and watch him. She wanted nothing to do with the candy that the mayor was trying to hand her, and wanted nothing to do with walking to find Daddy (who was volunteering) - she just wanted to watch the bunny! Funny girl.

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday and got to celebrate with those you love. Happy Easter!

Girls' Weekend Getaway

Last weekend, to celebrate Great Gramma Betty's 84th birthday, Evelyn and I made a quick trip to the Northwest. Evelyn and I took our first plane ride since she's been mobile, and I'd been stressing about it for weeks (just ask Ethan!) Much to my delight, Evelyn was just the best little traveller I could have asked for.

Here's Evelyn, all buckled in and ready to go! I think she was probably looking for the flight attendant so she could get more snacks! We spent lots and lots of time walking up and down the aisle of the plane. I am so thankful for understanding travellers - Evelyn must have stopped at every row to say hi and everyone was so patient and happy to see her (at least they acted that way!) every time we passed by. This girl is not shy!

Friday night, Evelyn got to go out on the town with Mommy & some of her best girlfriends (L to R: Evelyn (duh), me, Melissa, Carrie, Katie and Ali). Believe it or not, this was the first time the girls got to meet Evelyn! Again, the little one did not disappoint! She was out WAY past her bed time and was such a good girl the whole time! More than once I heard "There is no way ______ would sit still this long!," or "There is no way I could take ______ out to a restaurant!" I was so proud of my girl and am SO glad my other girls got to meet her, FINALLY!

Saturday was spent visiting Evelyn's Great Nanny and my aunt, uncle, cousins and their kids. Holy cow! What a zoo - one teenager and 6 under the age of 5! But everyone had a great time spending time together and catching up. It's always so hard for me to say good-bye when we all get togehter.

At Nanny's, Evelyn thought it would be fun to lie down in Chuy's bed - you can see what Chuy thought of her grand idea as he tried to get his blanket back from her.

We spent Sunday with Great Gramma Betty, celebrating her birthday. Evelyn doesn't know how good she's got it. Birthday dinner included some of Mommy's absolute favorite foods - Dungeness Crab Macaroni and Cheese and steamer clams. There were also some oysters - not my favorite, but there aren't too many opportunities to eat fresh oysters in Iowa, so I took advantage. :) Oh, and there were french fries with Daddy's favorite food - ketchup.

Here's Evelyn with her Bama and Papa. Always so happy to see them!

We had a wonderful visit. As always, much too short. We are very much looking forward to another trip out this summer!

A Trip to the (Very Cold) Zoo!

Where has the time gone?? These last two months have flown by, and my lack of photos (and blogs) proves it! So, I have some catching up to do.

Way back in the middle of March, we had a sunny (but still cold) day. Since we are the proud, first-time owners of a zoo pass, we thought we'd do a walk through. Not all of the animals were out yet, so not all of the exhibits were open. Our little trip through the zoo ended up taking all of about 30 minutes. The one exhibit that was open, however, was the children's "zoo," complete with goats. Evelyn got as up-close-and-personal as she could, and would have been perfectly happy to get lots of little goat kisses if we'd have let her. From the looks of it, we've got an animal lover on our hands and the Blank Park Zoo will be a frequent stop this summer!

Believe it or not, even with a little snow on the ground, it's been a beautiful day! Evelyn and I were able to walk down to the neighborhood park for one of her favorite things... the swings! This girl has loved to swing since the first time she sat in one. This was just one of many trips we will make to the park this year. Next up... the slide.

"Spring" Cleaning

This morning, I decided to sweep the kitchen floor before corralling Evelyn in the family room. Wouldn't you know, she just had to help! I'd like to think I'm teaching her a thing or two. :)

Piggies!

Evelyn is getting so big... and her hair so long! Every day I am shocked at how long (and sometimes curly, sometimes not) her hair is. So long, in fact, that we can now put it in pig tails! She doesn't still still long enough for me to do this very often, but when I can, she looks so darn cute. And like a little girl.