the many talents of a consummate actress

Contrary to what you might think, I was not planning to take these pictures. It's rare these days that I can pull out the camera, and not have her request that I take her picture. I was actually taking pictures of her dad, but she had just tried on her ballet recital costume (I know, a riot huh???), so how could I not? Here she is channeling her best Good Ship Lollipop. She'll be appearing in theatres locally starting on June 18th. :)

Oh, and the other most requested activity? "Mommy, measure me!" Look how tall this little weed is getting!

maryland zoo at baltimore

Emma's had the good luck to compare zoos in three different states. Yesterday, we went on a class field trip to the Maryland Zoo at Baltimore. After the San Diego zoo, I have to be honest, I didn't have super high expectations. In reality, I was very pleasantly surprised. The zoo is easy to get to, easy to park, easy to navigate, and was not crowded in the least. It had all the 'classic' animals, and for the 2-5 age group, the size is just perfect. You can see the whole zoo in a few hours, and get a decent workout in if you bring a stroller. Since Emma had been fighting a fever, I told her that we wouldn't pass on the scheduled-months-ago-class-field trip, but that she should conserve her energy as much as possible by riding in the stroller. She happily obliged and we both had a great time.

The class met up at the entrance, and we met again for lunch, but in between we were able to wander around on our own. We spent a lot more time there than I had planned, because we were just enjoying it so much. The fresh air, the cool breeze, the exercise and the warm sunshine. I think we've been so desperate for great days like this!

I will spare you the graphic details (some people even took pictures!) but let's just say that spring love was in the air. Almost all the animals were out, and spring has definitely brought out the love hormones. A loooooot of the animals were in heat. I'll spare you a bad joke about the size of a giraffe's neck, but it was quite comical. :)

We had fun on the train ride, the awesome giant tree-trunk slide, feeding the giraffe's, an ice cream sandwich and the carousel. We saw lions, penguins, elephants, chimps, polar bears, snakes, vultures, the Baltimore Raven, gazelles, warthogs, ostriches, zebras, rhinoceroses, cheetahs, and our favorite of the day, the Snowy Owl. Only the camels seemed to be on vacation. It was so great, that I think we'll definitely be back. Our next stop: the National Zoo. Can you believe she's never been?!?!









And here's the African elephant munching on some out of bounds snacks :)

Easterrific!

We had a great weekend. Rounding out our spring break week with dying eggs and enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. Emma had a blast hunting for eggs, and was especially tickled at the Easter Bunny's generosity this year. It's not every year that she'll wake up to find a dollhouse waiting for her, but she has had this on her "list" for ages. Easter Sunday couldn't have been more beautiful and we spent it outside the whole day. Between the sunshine, the chocolate marshmallows, and rolling down the grassy hill for an hour, the little one was tuckered out. She was in bed, asleep by 7:15. I couldn't have asked for a better day!

easy like Sunday morning

Just my favorite little, doing her favorite activity, in her favorite spot.

wordless wednesday

word to your mom.