ZOO

Last weekend, Tom and I took Ella to the St. Louis Zoo. We had a GREAT day. It honestly could not have gone any smoother or been more enjoyable! The weather was PERFECT, Ella was in a great mood, and we just really enjoyed the day together as a family. Here are the pics!

Ella in the car on the way to St. Louis. We left pretty early, so that mess you see on her face is breakfast :)

Ready for a great day!

Our first stop was the children's petting zoo. You can see how excited Ella was to pet the goats. (although when it was time to touch them, she was a little stand-offish!)

Ella and Daddy. I don't remember what they're looking at here....a snake or something maybe?

Ella and Mommy watching the bears. She loved watching the animals, and was actually much more interested in everything than I thought she would be!

Waving to the bears (and every other animal we saw). :)

Penguins. They are so funny!

She has really learned how to ham it up for the camera. She smiles and winks on command (her wink looks like a smile....so either one works when we're trying to get a picture!

Ok, these monkeys were CRACKING me up. I love this guy...he looks totally bothered by all the people with cameras staring at him. I guess he thought he'd just cover his face and get some rest.

Just chillin'. Hey, guys....whatcha doin' back there? Do you see these idiot people???

This guy was so cute. I got right up next to the glass to take his picture, and then.......

THIS!! :)

Ella watching the sea lion show. She just stared at them the entire 30 minutes!

They were so cute.....I wish I could pet one :)

My happy girl.

Baby tigers! SO cute! They were born in April. They didn't come out for very long, but we were able to catch this glimpse of them.

Beautiful Lion. He looks so noble, doesn't he?

Ella and I enjoying a frozen Cherry Coke! Yum!

Last pic at the zoo....as we were leaving. We had a great day!

Ahhhh....we made it home. Here is Ella (thoroughly) enjoying an Oreo cookie :)

We had an awesome day. It was so much fun. Tom and I love to watch Ella see things for the first time. It is incredible. If any of you folks haven't been to the Zoo recently, it's well worth the trip!!

Playtime and Ice Cream

The weather has been so beautiful lately that we've been spending a lot of time outdoors. Ella has enjoyed lots of playtime at the park. She LOVES playing on the equipment and it's nice because they have an area with equipment just for kids her age. Here she is enjoying it :)

Tom and Ella swinging. I love how she is laughing and looking at Tom.

Here I go!

Weeeeeeee!

Check out that ponytail. Isn't it the cutest? :)

I'm not so sure about this thing....

She loves climbing stairs and since we don't have any in our house, this is where she spends most of her time at the playground!

Here are some pictures of Ella enjoying an ice cream cone. This is actually the same time we got ice cream for Cooper for his birthday (see post below). I decided that instead of stressing the whole time about the mess, I'd just let her eat the ice cream how she wanted....mess and all! After all, ice cream washes out!

Yummmmm!!

I guess it's more fun if you get messy :)

This is the life!

Note the bite out of the side of the cone...

Ohhhhhhh yeaaaaaaaah :)

Uh-oh. Melt-down time (no pun intended). We dropped our ice cream because we didn't want Mama or Daddy to help us hold it :(

Post ice-cream mess! Doesn't it look like she's trying to cover herself here? Hey guys, give a girl a little privacy!

Happy Birthday Cooper!

We recently celebrated Cooper's 4th birthday! I can't believe he is that old already, it seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home. He is such a good boy. Here are some of my favorite things about Cooper:
* He is so good with Ella. He has adjusted so well to her. He used to be the boss of the land before she came along, and he has let her steal his thunder, and a lot of attention.
* He is such a good sport when it comes to a toddler pulling, pushing and stepping on him.
* He is so smart. At night when we go to bed, he can be fast asleep but when he hears the two beeps of our TiVo shutting off, he's up and heading to the back door to go potty before bed.
* He lets me rest my feet on him when I sit on the couch.

These are just a few of the many reasons why I love him. We are very lucky to have a dog like him, and I look forward to the day when him and Ella are good buddies. :)
Here are the pics of Cooper enjoying his birthday ice cream :)

Blue Eyes

I think this picture speaks for itself. Those beautiful blues staring up at me melt my heart!

Ella's first Pedicure

A couple of weeks ago, Ella let me paint her toes. I had tried in the past, but couldn't get her to hold still long enough for me to get it done. But this time she did, and let me tell you, she LOVED it. She has to show everyone she sees her pretty toes. She points to them and puts her foot out in front of her as if to say, "See? Aren't they gorgeous?"
I have a feeling that Ella and Mommy will have many more pedicure dates :)