Neighborhood Elf!

Once again our best in the world neighbors, the Ritzes have outdone themselves with spreading Christmas cheer - especially in the spoiling of Elizabeth & Cate! (For anyone who is reading of this tradition for the first time, each day from December 1st - 24th, the Elf (aka: Marie) hangs a stocking on the back door and puts wrapped treats in the stocking every day as we count down to Christmas.)

Here's what was included this year:

1 - Countdown to Christmas pillow that looks like Santa's belt/suit
2 - Fruit-flavored marshmallows
3 - Wolly Willy "Magnetic Personality" for Elizabeth; Christmas cup with straw for Cate
4 - Princess coloring & activity book
5 - Letter to Santa kit for Elizabeth; pink sock monkey ornament for Cate
6 - Christmas water color book
7 - Dress up doll sticker book for Elizabeth; snowman blanket for Cate
8 - Set of four Christmas lollypop rings
9 - Christmas pencils, sharpener, and eraser for Elizabeth; snowman bowl for Cate
10 - Disney princess tin purse with $1
11 - Snowman Pez for Elizabeth; bear in a mini stocking with $1 for Cate
12 - Gingerbread man ornament for Elizabeth; snowman ornament for Cate
13 - T'was the Night Before Christmas activity book
14 - Christmas headbands for Elizabeth; snowman ringing a bell ornament for Cate
15 - Gummy bears
16 - Colored pencils
17 - Art paper for Elizabeth; pink yarn-haired doll for Cate
18 - Connect the dots book
19 - Strawberry Shortcake coloring book for Elizabeth; Mickey Mouse stuffed animal for Cate
20 - 6 Christmas activity pads
21 - GIANT(!) sucker
22 - Animal cookies for everyone; The Spirit of Christmas book for Elizabeth; polar bear stuffed animal for Cate
23 - Jelly Belly lip balm set for Elizabeth; Little People "Fun with Baker Bob" for Cate
24 - "E" stocking with $1 for Elizabeth; "C" stocking with $1 for Cate

The Elf RULES!

Seriously, the Elf rules!!! And not just the Elf on the Shelf...as "Mimi" that's what Elizabeth named our Elf on the Shelf rules! Elizabeth took such delight each morning in locating Mimi in her new hiding place. And we took such delight in getting better behavior out of Elizabeth by threatening her with, "Do you want Mimi to have to tell Santa ___?"

Once again, our best neighbor ever, Marie (and Jim) Ritz spoiled Elizabeth (and us!) with the hanging of the stocking on the back door beginning on December 1st -- and putting presents in it each day until Christmas:

1. Water color book with brushes for E; "The Autobiography of Santa Claus" book for Reid & Me (to eventually share with our girls)
2. Santa placemat
3. Hot chocolate
4. e ornament
5. Pink hoodie jacket
6. Chapstick (Hershey & Jolly Rancher flavors)
7. Candy cane with hard candy in it for E; c ornament for Cate
8. Santa coloring book
9. Barbie nail polish
10. Orange and cookies & cream candy
11. Disney princess stick on earrings and rings (1 for each day of the week!)
12. Dr. Seuss - Big Blue Book of Beginner Books (6 books in 1)
13. Merry Christmas bulb ornament with a Santa hat on it
14. Pencil with eraser (like a wand)
15. Tootsie rolls (in a bank) and $1
16. Magic growing clown fish egg
17. Glitter heart tattoos
18. Department 56 snowman snack set (cup and plate)
19. Snowman white chocolate suckers
20. The Lorax card game
21. Santa tissues
22. Flute horn
23. Princess magic water color paint book
24. Wooden top (toy) and Teddy Grahams

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Welcome Baby Cate!!!

I've been waaaay far behind on my Blogging (somewhat due to technical difficulties where passwords were changed to my gmail account, which is what I have to use to access my Blog...I didn't change said passwords, and couldn't fix the situation -- as when I attempted to recover my password, it kept asking me the name of my first teacher and then telling me I was wrong! I adored my kindergarten teacher and remember her and her name fondly...so I can assure you the problem wasn't with my recollection of my first teacher's name (tried my 1st grade teacher, whom I also adored and recall her name, which failed miserably.) Anyway, Reid had to get involved in order for the technical difficulties to disappear...

I've been a bit busy as well...which somewhat explains my neglecting my Blog...but perhaps not for as long as I have been neglecting this Blog...

Anyway, I'm back in the saddle and promising (once again) to be better about keeping you up-to-date via my Blog! Yada, yada, yada...

So...back to welcoming Baby Cate (if you say it like Elizabeth does, it will sound like your mouth is about half full of peanut butter!)

The Thursday before Thanksgiving, November 18th, Reid was on his way with the women's basketball team to Shippensburg for a tournament. When he was about an hour away from Shippensburg, I called to tell him that I was experiencing some early signs of labor...and as quickly as Elizabeth came, I just wanted to put him on alert. He made numerous calls -- had several people put on alert, and through the kindness and generosity of the Hansen family, who upon arriving at the hotel, cleaned out their van and gave Reid the keys to it to send him back home to be with me...and the Malernee family, who provided a taxi service to the Hansens to get them back to their van, Reid was able to get home shortly after midnight that night. I also called my folks who came up in the wee hours of the morning. Mind you, at this point, Dr. Coleman was only telling me that I would likely not make it to my due date in the middle of December...and she also talked with us about the possibility of inducing labor so that I would not only make it to the hospital in time, but would also be there in plenty of time to get my epidural...

So, Reid gets here...my mom is here...and a week later the rest of the Amoses (Rick, Carol, and the newlyweds, Rikki & Doug) are here to celebrate Thanksgiving...and no Baby Cate. Around this time Dr. Coleman sets a date to induce labor of December 2nd (which we would change the following week to December 1st since the Toppers had a home game on the 2nd and we were worried it would make Reid's schedule a bit too tight!)...

On December 1st, Reid & I take a few early morning pictures of me before leaving for Wheeling Hospital for Baby Cate's birthday. We are at the hospital at the scheduled time of 6AM. It took forever to answer the questions that were required before the real show could begin...like "during your pregnancy did you use any recreational drugs or stimulants (including caffeine!)," "do you meditate?," "did you crave chalk?" Seriously? Seriously.

The "show" didn't actually begin with the pitocin drip and Dr. Coleman "breaking my water" until shortly after 9AM. At that time, Dr. Coleman put the call in for the anesthesiologist to come for my epidural. I'm still texting updates at this point...but stop around the time that the anesthesiologist comes for the epidural. The epidural worked so well for Elizabeth's birth that I was giving Reid updates on the Syracuse vs. Gonzaga men's basketball game...with Cate...not so much. The anesthesiologist arrived around 9:25 AM, at which time I'm feeling the contractions (not fun!) She got a "wet stick" on the first attempt (wet stick = seeing spinal fluid = not a good thing!). The second stick went in without a problem, but didn't work...in other words, nothing was numb... Reid & Mom were allowed back into the delivery room around 10:10 AM.

For the next 40 minutes, the contractions came on harder and quicker. And there was one particular swear word (rhymes with duck) that I was quite fond of using at the conclusion of each contraction. Fortunately Mom and Reid have been exposed to me using "the bomb" on an occassion or two. (Reid later reported that there may have been one nurse in the room for at least one of those, bless her little heart!)

Around 10:35, Reid lest the room to get the nurse, Patty. She and the rest of the nursing team came in immediately to finish preparing the room for Dr. Coleman. Reid recalls that Dr. Coleman arrived between 10:45 and 10:50 AM. After pushing through three sets of contractions, Dr. Coleman held Victoria Catherine up for me to see at 11:00 AM!

(Note: I only said "fudge" with Dr. Coleman in the room. How's that for respect???)

Reid, like he did with Elizabeth, cut the cord. The nurses took pictures with my camera...the entire staff at Wheeling Hospital was truly amazing!

We are so amazingly blessed!

Later that day when Elizabeth got to meet her baby sister, she said, "Thank you for giving me a baby sister, Mommy!"

A short while later as Cate was stirring, Elizabeth said in a most irritated voice, "Mom! She stuck her tongue out at me! That's not very nice!"

Elizabeth, with a little help from Grandma, welcomed us all home from the hospital with a "surprise" Welcome Home Baby Cate party on Friday, December 3rd. She served things that start with C: cake, cupcakes, cheese, carrots, cauliflower (and a few other veggies). She is such a great big sister already!

Playing Catch Up

For starters, I'm still damn proud to be a Mountaineer! Last week, Da'Sean Butler threw out the opening pitch at a Little League baseball game in Bridgeport and then stuck around to sign autographs. How cool is that?

In addition to work, which has been crazy...and Reid's schedule, which has also been crazy...and Elizabeth, who is growing like a weed and today (while Daddy was at a work function) had a crazy meltdown...we've been good. Busy, but good. I'm also trying to pick up some more skills on PhotoShop -- just in time for Alex's 3rd birthday party invitations.

I held my annual Champions Dinner this year on the Saturday of the Masters. Seriously, one of the best meals that I have ever made for the Champions Dinner. And, unlike Phil's 1st dinner (sooooo excited he won, BTW!!!) of the lobster ravioli, I didn't have to spend the entire day in the kitchen making the meal, which meant I actually tasted it and liked it! We were happy to have Johnny Lynch, Eric & Leigh Bovaird as guests this year. Unfortunately the Martins had to cancel out, but we're looking forward to them joining us next year... Anyway, here is what I served from 2009 Champion Angel Cabrera's menu:

• Locro (Argentine Stew)
• Carne Asada a la Parrilla (grilled meats with Chimichurri Sauce) -- the pile of Fred Flintstone-like meats took up my entire Fiestaware pizza tray...
  
• Ensalada (heirloom tomato salad with onions, green bell peppers and Sweet Ginger Vinaigrette Dressing)
• Potato Salad
• Sweet Bread (very dense beignets)
• Grapes in Grappa with Mascarpone
  

Speaking of the Martins, it's so great that P.J., Jason, John Patrick, and Jackson have moved back to WV...and are practically our neighbors! John Patrick and Weezie get along famously; and we're looking forward to getting to introduce them all to the Koeglers -- long over-due for that! Tomorrow night P.J., Jason, Reid, & I will be going to the Wheeling Symphony for the "Music of Champions."

Thankful Thursday

Today, I'm thankful to/for/about:

• My Mom - who is just a rock star. I miss her dearly but am so thankful for the time she was able to spend with us.
• Elizabeth's continued health. She's so amazing! She is all about smelling things these days - truly a new experience for her!
  
• The Amoses for coming to the Friendly City of Wheeling for Elizabeth's birthday...and Aqua Sand. The novelty has not yet worn off, so I'm thankful for that, too! (I'm not-so-thankful for Disney for still making crappy stuff -- as the arm from the replacement doll has broken...same way as the one she got from Santa. I hate Disney Store products!!!)
• The Koeglers for being fun to hang around with! Sorry, Campbell, that Elizabeth "had an accident with Spike." (She sat on the remote control for Spike the dinosaur, which turned him on and he started moving. To say that Cam isn't a fan of his remote-control dinosaur when he is on and not sleeping would be a great understatement!)
  
• The Toppers getting their quality win over A-B tonight -- and the Falcons for upsetting WV State in Fairmont. That combination puts the Toppers in 1st place in the conference.

Some Elizabeth funnies:

• Two days after E's surgery, Friday, January 22nd, we were watching the Haiti relief program on TV. She loves to dance and was ready to get down. I had given her a dose of hydrocodone just to "make sure" that she would be pain free for the night and would be able to get a quality night's rest. She eventually got the rest, but I'm pretty sure that the hydrocodone didn't play a big factor in it. She was so high off of the stuff it was the last dose we would give her. At 10:30 PM she said, "I don't need my undies on because I'm going to dance!" while she proceeded to strip nakey and dance.
• Tonight at the game, Elizabeth spotted a few girls that were dressed for the evening -- in a club, not so much for a basketball game. Regarding one girl who was in a halter-top, Elizabeth said, "Mommy, why is that girl not wearing a shirt with these?" (pointing to her shoulders.) I asked E if she liked that girl's shirt to which she replied, "No. It's not very cute."
  

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful to/for/about:

• Dr. Christopher Tiu! Yesterday her performed Elizabeth's surgery of removing her tonsils, adenoids (about 90% of them at least), and put tubes in her ears. He said she was "perfect" after the surgery. Her ears were really infected - much more so than what he initially thought. In our last consultation with him, he thought that she wouldn't need drops in her ears or an antibiotic after the surgery, but that wasn't the case. He was quite surprised that she never complained about her ears hurting her. Her tonsils were about the equivalent of an adult having two golf balls in the back of their throat. Her adenoids were completely blocking her airway, so she was never able to breathe from her nose...until yesterday! She barely snored last night (and Dr. Chris said that post-op she would likely have swelling and would snore for a few more weeks.) The nurses at the hospital were so good to Elizabeth, too. We are so thankful to everyone at Wheeling Hospital!!! Her surgery was delayed for nearly two hours as the hospital was dealing with harvesting organs in the OR in which Elizabeth's surgery was scheduled. I'm thankful, too, for the generous soul that offered his/her organs which are saving and greatly enhancing lives
  
• Elizabeth - she is an amazing 4-year-old little girl! She never complained with all of her discomfort prior to surgery. She's been so fabulous post-surgery - only four times saying that her throat hurts. She says her ears don't have bubbles in them any more (that is all the more complaining she ever did when she would have an ear ache). The majority of her complaints that she has lodged thus far after the surgery is that we are making her rest on the couch or not run from the living room and her play room.
  
• Reid - for being the strong one when the nurses and anesthesiologist wheeled her off on her bed yesterday while she was still awake. (She wasn't crying, she was definitely "loopy" thanks to the drugs, but I wasn't the rock in that situation.) He's such a good Daddy!
• Grandma (& Papi) - for coming up to stay with us and to help care for Elizabeth (her love of cleaning products is just a bonus!) She got her last Wednesday, just in time to help out with Elizabeth while I was in "God Bless Texas" for work. Plus, she has been such a good nurse to me during my various surgeries, it's just an added comfort to me! Papi, too, for being so good about lending us Grandma (not that I think he had much to say in the matter!)
  
• Nana & Papa - for their loving support of us, and most especially Elizabeth. E was allowed to take her precious Lambie and her Christmas quilt that Nana made her back into the surgery with her...so wonderful that she had her comfort items with her!
• Aunts, Uncles, & her cousin Alex...who when he saw a picture of her in her hospital gown he said, "Go see EP. Make her happy." What a sweet boy he is!

I'll be curious as to what Elizabeth remembers from her surgery. I was 8 when I had my T&A. I have very random memories, none of them were too scarring (unless you count waking up and your Mom not being in the room, but your Grandma was there boozing it up with something from her thermos.)

Seeing her in the recovery room was tough. She didn't know what was going on, or to some extent who we were. She cried so hard and couldn't really be comforted. When she saw the heart-rate monitor on her finger, she tried to rip it off. Then when she saw the IV in her left hand (when they had been prepping her right hand) and tried to rip it out. A nurse, Franny, quickly came over to remove those items before Elizabeth took matters completely into her own confused little hands. Then Elizabeth, still crying and confused, tried to stand up in the bed. Her legs were weak and she quickly fell back down. I scooped her up and held her. With me holding her close to me and Reid able to wipe away her tears and stroke her hair, she finally calmed down to where she stopped crying and quickly fell asleep.

We stayed in the recovery room with me holding her for about an hour. Thankfully another nurse, Jo Ann, was able to track down Dr. Chris before he went in for his third procedure of the day (Elizabeth was his first) so that we could get discharged.

Her voice is markedly higher at the moment. Dr. Chris said it would most likely change following the surgery. I'm curious at this point, though, if it will stay as high as it is right now...as I am guessing that it is partially this high as a result of the stress on the back of her throat.

Elizabeth truly is a remarkable little girl. I'm not just saying this because she is mine...she is one amazing kid.

Elizabeth Rings in the New Year

Happy 2010 to All!

Elizabeth stayed awake on NYE to ring in 2010 with us. She had been in her playroom quietly hanging out watching Season 1 of the Brady Bunch...without sleeping. So, about 10 minutes until midnight, Reid had her come into the living room to watch the ball drop with us. We're concerned that her counting skills have been severely hurt with watching Dick Clark do the countdown. How sad that has become, "Firteen, tehve, ten, leben, nie..." Most kids these days will have no clue how important Dick Clark was to music or folks like my mom (or even me to a lesser extent) in their teen years. They will just have this image of the guy rising up from his coffin every New Year's Eve to botch the countdown...truly, truly sad!

Today, while cleaning up in my scrapbook room, I found $40! Score!!!

Elizabeth is thrilled with her easel and art stuff, which I have set up in the scrapbook space. She wrote her own name on the wipe board today - check it out!!! She may have been set back in the counting department thanks to Mr. Clark, but she wrote her name today, which is HUGE! She was so proud of herself, and rightfully so! I took pictures of the writing (especially since it was done with a dry-erase marker!), and she wanted her picture taken with it, as well as her picture with her Daddy and the writing. She's growing up so quickly!

She's been quite active...downloading the Chipettes (from Alivin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel) singing "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" on Reid's iPhone...and has been walking around singing, "All the single ladies...put a ring on it...uh oh oh, uh oh oh..." for the last two days. So, with the found money, we went to see the movie this evening. It's really cute!

Then for the ride home, despite it being only 12 degrees outside, Elizabeth insisted (and we indulged) in a trip to Cold Stone Creamery for some lemon ice cream (sorbet, but I'm not going there to correct her...I'll just be happy when she masters the "lie down" thing)...then off to see the lights at Oglebay for the last time this season. She blew kisses to Willard (the Snowman) and Frosty the Snowman, his wife, & kid. Goodbye lights, we'll see you next year!

The Neighborhood Elf

Elizabeth has been visited by our neighborhood Elf (Marie & Jim Ritz, our next door neighbors!) Starting with the first day of December until Christmas, Elizabeth has a stocking (a HUGE stocking that they gave us to use for this purpose) that she hangs on the handle of the back door. At some point during the day, the Elf stops by and drops off a present for her! (Yes, we know that we have the best neighbors in the whole wide world!). Here's what she received from the Elf this year:

• 10 Santa-themed candy bracelets
• Farm animal peg puzzle
• Sesame Street Colors, Shapes, & Opposites Flash Cards
• "Ratatouille: I Smell a Rat" scratch & sniff book (and no, it doesn't smell like a rodent!)
• Circus coloring book and washable crayons (oh, how well the Elf knows E!)
• Silly Putty
• "If You Give a Pig a Party" book
• Pig (from the aforementioned book) stuffed animal
• 4-pack of Play-Doh (E: "What color is this?" Me: "Aqua." E: "No! What color is this?" ...to infinity and beyond!)
  
• Spin & Go Colors game
• Cotton Candy (yummy!)
• Slinky
• Snoopy Christmas cup & plate
• Mickey Mouse Club House lip balm (or as Elizabeth says it, "Mickey Mouse Club House - Come inside it's fun inside lipstick.")
• "Dick and Jane: A Christmas Story" book
• Pretty pony tail holders
• Gloves & a coaster with the monogram A (she's so me with that - as she loves her coaster on the table in the kitchen for HER drink!)
  
• Set of 3 Christmas bracelets
• Expandable snowman washcloth & box of Mac & Cheese crackers
• December 20th - a bit over-the-top: Elizabeth = snowman ornament; Kennedy = snowman bowl; me = kitchen towel with trees on it; Reid = a golf ornament
  
• Holiday marshmallows
• Jigsaw puzzle
  
• Disney Princess slide puzzle*
• Picture Story Pad (draw a picture & tell a story pad)*
  

* It should be noted that we left to go to Nana's & Papa's house on the evening of the 22nd. The Elf made sure that we had Elizabeth's presents for the 23rd & 24th. Marie & Jim are too much! We are the luckiest people to have them as our neighbors!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Hail Wheeling!

I told Reid last evening that the deer must have had a great feast on the hydrangea bushes in the front of our house. The hydrangeas were chewed to shreds!

Apparently we got out of Wheeling at the right time. On Tuesday, July 21st, a hailstorm lasting for more than 30 minutes hit Wheeling. Our next door neighbors, Jim & Marie (the greatest neighbors in the world) phoned to make sure we knew to look over our property. The pictures they took of the aftermath showed hail stones from very small to nearly the size of golf balls.

Here is a picture that someone in the area snapped of the storm (no idea who or where):


I guess the deer didn't have a feast after all.

So, after talking with Jim & Marie, we set about to inspecting around our home. Fortunately, no major issues with the house. A few vents were dinged. Some paint was chipped off the house (not good, but it could be worse.) All of the stained glass is intact. Even the glass-topped patio tables are free of damage. The landscape lights show indentations, one is cracked on the top.

I started taking pictures of things like the landscape lights, the plants (I know that is hostas pictured and not the hydrangeas!) -- pictures that could help us should we need them for insurance...

The greatest damage was done to Elizabeth's table. (Doesn't she really look pathetic?) To make matters worse -- Elizabe th inspected her "colors" (colored chalk) and noticed that the lid to one of the containers wa s cracked (gasps!) She insisted that I take a picture of this, too!

"Daddy's Party" is a smashing success!

Congratulations - West Liberty UNIVERSITY!!!

It was quite exciting to see above the fold in this morning's paper "It's West Liberty U: School Marks New Era." (You can read the article that ran in the Sunday edition of The Wheeling Intelligencer here: http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/523579.html?nav=515.)

Reid has been saying for weeks now if the school becomes a University again next year, he is going to quit (wink, wink.) Robin has assured us this won't happen.

Elizabeth and I went up to the Hilltop yesterday for part of the festivities.

What could have been a three-ring circus, especially with needing to move the concerts indoors due to threatening weather (it was pretty cold in the evening, so even though the sun was out during the day - and the rain held, it was a good move, for more than just the threat of rain) was so well executed. (Yes, this from the hyper-critical rather objective person when it comes to events!) In the ASRC they had the bands -- all of whom were outstanding (another thing I'm rather hyper-critical of), some of the food vendors, information tables, apparel sales, and some inflatable play houses. On the quad (where the band stage was originally intended), they had several carnival rides, more food vendors, and some carnival games. Thrown into the mix of all of that was a car show (earlier in the day when Elizabeth & I were still at home), an illusionist Craig Karges (who was phenomenal -- although on the ride home Elizabeth was worried about him pulling the tape off of his eyes), and fireworks at midnight.

Elizabeth dubbed it "Daddy's Party." And it truly was a heck of a party -- one should just not to do so much work for their own party. Despite what Elizabeth might think, I believe Ron Witt, Director of Alumni Association, and Tammi Seacrest, Director of Marketing (who brought E the Mickey ears that light up -- with her name on them!), deserve some huge kudos, too! And Webmaster Jesse Gagich, who wasn't enjoying the festivities so that he could ensure that the new website went live last night while the fireworks were going on (http://www.westliberty.edu/intro.html). If you haven't seen it, it's really "pretty" -- and the welcome from West Lib's most famous alum, Brad Paisley, is quite a nice touch.

E was quite hesitant to play in the inflatable houses, although on our drive off the hill she recalled things a little differently. She did eventually manage to go through the "patapiller" a couple of times and jumped in the "tiger's bouncy house" for about 10 or so minutes. She really enjoyed the carnival rides outside -- the cars and airplanes (only riding in yellow "arrowplanes" since "yellow's my very favorite".)

Congratulations West Liberty University!

Reid is now off, as of 9:00 AM, to Glade Springs for the 2009 NCAA Division II Atlantic/East Regional and NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship until Wednesday as a member of the DII National Golf Committee...and then on the 16th he is off to Blaine, WA, (110 miles north of Seattle, 35 miles south of Vancouver, BC, Canada) for the DII National Golf Tournament.

And then...

No and then...

The Good Zoo at Oglebay

Wheeling has so many great things for kids! On Saturday morning, we met Jason, Sarah, Campbell, and Will Koegler and Kristin, Claire, and Max Seibert at Oglebay's Good Zoo.

Claire will be 4 in August, Campbell is nearly a month older than Elizabeth (the two of them are 3), Max is 2, and Will is 19 months. Reid was quite ecstatic that Elizabeth was the tallest in the bunch!

I find it much easier to keep up with just Elizabeth when I take her out shopping or the like than to help 2 other moms keep track of 5 kids in all. Plus Max is fast and has no issues with running away from a poor pregnant Kristin. (Kristin's husband, Justin, was working, so that must have been additionally stressful for her!)

The Good Zoo is really nifty! We started out with the kids playing in the room with the nasty looking mole rats. Actually, we kind of sped past the meerkats as they are pretty stinky before getting to the room with the turtles, mole rats, etc. Elizabeth and Claire especially enjoyed playing veterinarian to the stuffed animals! Too cute!!!

Somewhat surprisingly, Elizabeth was excited about the train ride. (This was the beginning of the end of the fun at the Boo at the Zoo in October. People were dressed in costumes and jumped out of the woods in a couple of places during the Boo at the Zoo...E spent the rest of the time with her eyes closed!) It was a bit chilly for my liking, but the kids all had fun on the train ride. Toot-Toooooot!

We spent quite a bit of time at the playground. I think the kids would have been happy if that is all that we would have done for the day. Then we were off to the lorikeet cage, which was pretty nifty. Only a few seconds after we stepped into the cage both Reid and Sarah had attracted a few of the lorikeets. Fortunately none of the birds landed on the kids, although Campbell did have one on his arm for a brief bit.

Then it was off to the kangaroo enclosure. There were at least 5 kangaroos in the enclosure, and you can get surprisingly close to the animals. There are a few signs that tell the people to stay on the sidewalks. I can only assume that the roos stay in the grass area...but Will, more than any of the other kids, would throw that rope over his head and off he'd go to chase after the kangaroos. Pretty funny!

Then we had lunch. The Seiberts departed for home. The Amoses and Koeglers took the kids to the model train exhibit. Campbell and E would run along side of some of the trains, which was pretty cute. The Koeglers went home and Reid and I took Elizabeth back into the room where she could doctor the puppy a bit to help it feel better. She also needed to show the turtle, who was eating his "salad" that she was wearing a shirt with a turtle on it before we went home.

We had a great time...and Elizabeth is ready to go back to the zoo with her friends!