The Stoop

This evening Hope enjoyed a refreshing cold cup of milk out on the deck / patio. She likes to sit on the step and watch and listen to the birds (we now have some since we invested in some trees last year).

Yep, she's the boss.

Little People Gym

On Thursday mornings I take Hope to a gym class. Admittedly, it is probably more for me than for her. While I do have lots of fun, Hope is also smiling and giggling for the entire 45 minutes that we are there. She loves climbing on the mats, ringing bells to a song, bouncy ball time, walking and running in a circle, and especially playing with the parachute.

Today, Hope had a great time playing with a little boy named Phoenix - and I think Phoenix had a great time playing with Hope. The pictures are quite blurry, especially the first one, but they were so cute together.
He is quite a handsome little boy.

Her last class for this cycle is in three weeks. I am hoping to be able to take more pictures at that one (with a real camera), so stay tuned for more from the gym.

Here Kitty Kitty

Joe may not have an appreciation for this beautiful creature......

But his daughter certainly does......

Zoo Day

Today, Hope and I went to the zoo with other children and parents from Hope's daycare. Hope had a great time. She noticed the animals and enjoyed watching them move around. It must have been National School Trip to the Zoo Day, because there were bus loads upon bus loads of other kids. I think Hope enjoyed watching the other kids as much as the animals (and some of them were one in the same). It was sunny and very hot.

Hope fed a giraffe. She wasn't the least bit scared.

The baby elephant was out and about.

The elephant calf is a boy named Samson. He is two years old. His mom's name is Felix.

Another giraffe.

We had a great time in the petting zoo. This is my daughter, Hope, next to a goat's rear end.

Hope loved "brushing" them. She knew what she was supposed to do with the brush.

Another buddy.

After the petting zoo, Hope found a toddler sized International tractor. Her legs were a little to short for her to sit on the seat. She loved sitting below the seat and even figured out how to make it go in reverse.

After the tractors, we left the zoo because Hope was exhausted. Now that she actually enjoys watching the animals, it takes us a while to get through the whole place. We will have to return another day to visit the rest of the animals, including two of my favorites - the prairie dogs and polar bear.

Yard Sale Bargains

Yesterday was our community yard sale. I joined the group of moms that leaves early to scavenge the neighborhood for the best pick of toddler/preschool toys that the moms of now school age children are trying to get rid of. This is how I will probably spend the third Saturday of each May for the next three or so years. It was worth it.

I found a stroller/car seat combo for Hope's baby dolls. It was a hit. She loves carrying the carrier around the house with her baby dolls or stuffed animals in it.

She also loves the stroller.
She pushed her monkey around in it. She is soaked because she helped me wash the play kitchen set that I found for her. And her mouth is covered with spaghetti sauce. But she is happy. I was hoping to find her a slide, and I luckily found one! She can practice her climbing skills with this.

She wasn't afraid of the slide.

Hope loves to be outside and enjoys playing on the deck. I found a little kitchen set and washer/dryer to keep outside for her to play with.

I was also hoping to find a little playhouse, and I found a great one with a big "Sold" sign on it. Oh well...there's always next year, or maybe Amazon.com.

The Start of an Ordinary Day

This video clip is not anything particularly spectacular, it's just an ordinary part of Hope's extraordinary world. She is eating scrambled eggs and strawberries for breakfast. Hope loves to have a bowl with utensils. She mixes everything together. This breakfast wasn't too bad, she only threw a couple pieces of strawberries in with the eggs. Except for the couple if bites that she gives Abby at the end of the clip, she ate the entire egg and four strawberries. She had about half of a pancake to top it off.

Blond Curls

Hope has a head full of wild hair. It's pretty light, with curls around the sides and back, and the top is really long with some curl. She is a pony tail or pigtail girl every day. There's no letting her hair down to go out in public with her. To quote what my nephew Devin said a few weeks ago when he saw her first thing in the morning, "Hope, you have some big hair!" Where did it come from?

I think the light (blond?) part comes from Joe. Here is a picture of Joe as a young tyke with blond hair. Will Hope's stay light (blond?)? Joe's didn't. But it is possible that she got a blond gene from me too, and then maybe it will?

Now for the curls. When I was digging through old photos, I decided I couldn't just post a picture of me around Hope's age. Particularly since based on the pictures I have of my siblings, they had a lot more curls at that point than I did. While I had some curls when I was young, my hair got a lot curlier as a teenager.

My sister, Kathy. She had some big curly hair with the must have pony tail.

Me - I had to pick this picture just based on the awesome sofa my parents had. But it makes it hard to see the hair do. There's a little curl, but not nearly as much as my sister's. I did have the must-have pony tail though.
My brother, Darren. The must-have pony tail wasn't an option for him. It looks like my mom wet the top of his hair a bit so that it stayed down for this picture. I'm sure my dad was dying to cut it off so he didn't look like a little girl.