A Few Pics from Our Most Recent Zoo Trip

Zebra and Giraffe

Bear

Tiger

Penguins

Mommy and Baby Elephants

(If you noticed the pipe that Lizzie's holding in several of the pictures and were wondering... That is her "telescope.")

At the Library

Hello, Ann Arbor!

Yesterday Emily and the girls took a day trip to Ann Arbor (an hour from Toledo) to visit friends. It was our first time ever to visit Michigan (unless you count a layover in the Detroit Airport a few years back). It was way fun!

First we met up with Rebecca (Walker) Jones and her three kids at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History.

Hall of Evolution -- Hadrosaur

We didn't take this picture, but check out the cool rotunda. One neat thing about living out here is that so many of the buildings are older and have a lot of character. This building, the Ruthven Museums Building, was completed in 1928.

Afterwards we grabbed some lunch at McDonald's and paid a surprise visit to Megan (Murphy) Haycock. We got to meet Bevan for the first time and had a fun visit. We look forward to seeing them again soon! :o)

Playing Dress Up

Yesterday Liz found last year's Halloween costume in the bottom of the toy box. She put it on and told me, "I'm a butterfly!"

New Fave

We checked this book out at the library two weeks ago, and Lizzie loves it! She asks for it every night before bedtime.

Random-ness

I wanted to get a picture of the girls in their "fall" clothes. (Yesterday was a rainy day, so I had to dig out all their long pants and long-sleeved shirts.) But the girls were too busy reading to pose for a picture, so I figured this was just as good--or better.

Riding the trike--too cute!

A slug. Liz is thinking: "Ew, Daddy. Keep it away from me!"

I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture, but there are giant holes in this bag of bread. How did they get there, you ask? No, not mice... Heidi. Instead of asking for a snack, she bites through the bag to help herself to some bread. Grr.

Another trip to the art museum, this time with the whole family. :o)

Yesterday

Yesterday we went on a quick outing to the zoo.

I took this picture as we were leaving because I wanted to show Lizzie's excellent color coordinating of shoes and socks with her outfit. But then the girls started acting up for the camera. This picture  makes me laugh, because Heidi is doing her cheesy grin, and Lizzie is trying to wink. She totally reminds me of Allison as a little girl in this picture.

Here's is Lizzie at the zoo, combing the goat's hair. You can see Heidi in the corner of the picture; she was a lot more timid about petting the goat, but she eventually did--while hanging onto my leg for safety.

Sunday Dinner

This Sunday we had the "traditional" Sunday dinner: pot roast, mashed potatoes, veggies, and rolls. The rolls were extra special, because they were dairy free. It's been a long time since we've enjoyed rolls because of Liz's milk allergy. But it was Heidi who went to town on them. I think she ate four or five last night. Here's a picture:

 

And here's the close up, with her cheeks full of rolls. :o)

Friday Fun

We haven't figured out babysitting yet, so (instead of date night) we've been going on family outings on Friday evenings. This past Friday we had dinner at Costco and did a little exploring:

We went for a walk around Franklin Park Mall and let the girls play in the play area there. Then we went for a walk around University of Toledo campus. The buildings and grounds are really beautiful! We went inside University Hall (above) to see if we could climb the bell tower, but we could only go up six floors before access was restricted. Still really cool!

P.S. The best thing about Costco is that we can feed our entire family for less than $2 a person. Oh, and Emily doesn't have to cook or clean dishes. :o)

Toledo Museum of Art

Today we took a little trip to the TMA. We visited the Family Center, where the girls played with some toys and painted. Then we went upstairs to the "Color Ignited" exhibit and had a small storytime.

I think it's super cool that Toledo has so many fun, free things to do for kids. Between parks, libraries, museums, the zoo... There is always something to do!

Apple Fest

Today our ward had its annual Apple Fest. We went to one of the metroparks, where we played on the playground and ate some dinner. It rained on us a little, so we all got wet. Here is a picture of Emily and Lizzie with the Maumee River in the background:

 

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Lizzie is a pretty good talker nowadays, and she says some pretty funny things. Here's my favorite from this week:

On Thursdsay night during family scripture study, Lizzie was "reading" from 3 Nephi 11. She was pointing to the pictures and talking about the Nephites, and then she pointed to the big picture on the right and said: "And Jesus came in a rocket ship!"