My 30th and Dora

Yes, I shared my 30th birthday with Dora. What more can I say? I have definitely entered a new decade. Here are the girls and me (plus baby Henry) at Zest near our house last weekend. The rain stopped just in time for us to claim the patio, and we all had a great time. There were boys there too, they just didn't make the picture.

See, here's a boy - my boy. Mark met me when I was 22. Now I'm 30 and so much more mature (ha!)

Here's my friend Mary who shares my birthday weekend. I missed her big party when we were in Chicago, but we still managed to celebrate together.

Of course Melina and Matthew were there too. Here are the sisters (and a little cleavage - sorry about that family members!)

And finally, my two good gal pals - Maggie and Ashley. Maggie turns 30 tomorrow (the 23rd) so we'll all be 30-somethings in just a few hours!

Now here's when the weekend got really exciting - Storytime Live with Dora and all the Nick Jr. gang! Mom and I took Evie, and she loved every moment. She literally did not move the entire show. It was great seeing her face light up as the show began.

Thanks Yiayia for treating us to a wonderful day of Dora!

The Zoo Part 2

We visited the zoo for the second time in two weeks and decided to become members. That polar bear is too darn cute - as are my girls as they explore all the animals that don't live in barns. (We were pretty limited to cows and goats for a while!)

Here they are with the other kids checking out the otters.

And me and Miss Nora (with her new hairdo) at the polar bear exhibit.

Both my girls and me ... will they ever look at the camera and smile at the exact same time?! Doubtful!

Today we went with our good friends Ashley and Reece ...

And Laura and new baby Henry. He had a poop explosion right before this picture, but Laura was an extremely cool and collected first-time Mommy - bravo!

Here the girls have found a place to relax before the next animal adventure.

Both fell asleep in the car on our way home and had a wonderful afternoon. The zoo is such a great way to start a beautiful fall day!

Off to the Deanna Rose apple fest tomorrow (yes, more cows and goats!)

Our Little Artist

Evie started art classes this week and loved every 60 minutes of painting with Miss Marina. I took a million pictures - here are a few ...

She had paint in her hair, on her nose and all over her arms.

See all her masterpieces!

Here's the little artist outside of class showing off the mess she made and singing "I'm an artist, I'm an artist ..."

Next week we're working with glue!

Back to School

Evie literally ran to the front doors of her school today! She was so excited and made sure to remind me several times that Nora and I couldn't stay with her - only "kids" not "babies" or "Mommies!"

Nora wasn't so happy about that - she was out of my arms in a second once we got to Evie's new classroom, playing with the toys and kids, following her big sister around. Evie, too, was off without even a glance back at poor me. Nora even cried when I picked her to leave.

My girls seem to really love school - that's good, right?!

Here are Evie and Nora outside of school this morning. I know, I know, Nora isn't wearing shoes ... again!!!

Hope you're having a wonderful first day back at school, Miss Evie! We miss you and love you!

- Mommy and (sleeping) Nora

Animal Lovers

The girls and I went to the zoo today to meet the new polar bear, and we couldn't have had more fun! This polar bear was such an entertainer - he kept swimming right up to the window. I felt like I was the kid today - so much fun! Here's Evie nearly nose-to-nose with Nakita.

We've also been to Deanna Rose farm three times in the last week. Here are the girls after a near pond catastrophe.

I think I took this right before the near pond catastrophe. You can imagine two children 2 and under with lots of water around!

On another visit, this time with Yiayia and Papou, Evie caught her first fish! We forgot the camera in the car but Mom may have one on her phone ...

Just a sidenote, in addition to our animal adventures, Nora has started chatting up a storm. New words include "ta da" with arms over her head, "doggy," "cheese" and "Papou."