A WILD Adventure!

Today was a beautiful day - it was sunny outside and in the 70s - who could ask for more? We had a great day full of outdoor time. We spent the afternoon at the Philadelphia Zoo. This was Lucy's first trip to America's first zoo. As we expected, she loved it! We got to see polar bears swim, lions roar and zebra run. Lucy visited the petting zoo and loved watching the wandering peacocks.

Later in the day, Lucy watched with excitement as Daddy put her new slide from Poppa and Nana together. She had lots of fun sliding. She also helped out by watering the flowers on the patio for Daddy. Here are some shots from our great day.

Daddy & Lucy with Daddy & baby hippos?

I think this is the closest Lucy Girl will ever get to petting a hippo!

Lucy followed this guy around for quite some time...

This isn't a real cow, but it was still neat to see Lucy try to milk her!

Brushing a goat in the petting zoo.

Kenzie with a zebra in the background

Back at home sitting at her table from Nana and enjoying a well deserved drink!

Supervising as Daddy assembles the Lookout Treehouse Slide from Poppa and Nana.

Wheeeeeeee!

Using the "lookout" to see Kenzie.

Watering the patio flowers.

Longwood with Nana Kathy!

Lucy has been enjoying the warmer weather that has headed our way. She has had more opportunity to play outside with the kids in our circle, she especially likes all the attention she receives from Molly next door. Lucy just thinks she is great. She also gets to play outside everyday at school if it isn't rainy outside.

Nice weather also means lots of trips to Longwood Gardens, and we were there again the first weekend of this Month. This time Nana joined in on the fun with us. It was a beautiful sunny day - but a little sticky for May due to an early heat spell. Lucy kept cool by playing in the indoor and outdoor fountains - her very favorite activity at Longwood.

After visiting the gardens and fountains, we went out for ice cream - Nana's treat! Lucy loved it, and so did we!

Lucy needs sunscreen if she is going to be out in the hot sun - here is sitting nice for her Daddy while he makes sure she is well protected!

Two pretty girls at the Italian Water Garden

Chatting Away

Lucy has been chatting up a storm lately. While she still babbles quite a bit, she has also begun to pick up speed with her English vocabulary - which is really nice for Brian and me so we know what Lucy wants. Here is a partial list of Lucy's words to date - keep in mind, though she has said all of these words, some are not consistent...

Uh-oh (her first word and still tops on her list), Momma, Dada, bye-bye (ba-bye), ball, baby, bubbles, balloon, bee, bowl, bear (she likes the "b" words), nana, applesauce (though comes out in a bit of a jumble), get down, pick-ups (as in Gerber Pasta Pick-Ups), hi, kitty, geese, Miss LeeLee (says my leelee), Miss Debbie (says m deb), more, yes and my favorite - please! Lucy just started to say please, with reminders. It comes out more like plee... and she says it with a cheesy smile so it is so cute. Lucy is so proud of herself for her growing vocabulary and so are we. Interestingly enough, although Lucy says yes, she does not say "no." She will shake her head vigorously to let us know she is in disagreement, but she has yet to say the actual word. How lucky are we?

Life is Better at the Beach - Even in April

The three of us headed to Wildwood for a weekend with friends Tom and Patti. We had a great time despite the chilly weather!

Lucy is enjoying a walk on the beach. Daddy even let her put her feet in the water. Lucy seemed to love it, even though it was VERY cold!

Lucy has a set of stacking and nesting cups. She is very good at nesting the cups, and has been for some time. This is the first time she successfully stacked the cups and she is basking in the glow of her accomplishment. Go Lucy!

Florida Fun - Disney!

After we left Tampa we drove to Orlando to take Lucy to Magic Kingdom. She had a blast! We rode on a shuttle bus, the monorail, a ferry boat and a train - not to mention a few rides! Lucy was a busy girl and was quite tired as a result. We discovered she loves the Mad Hatter's Turning Teacups, but does not like Pooh's Adventure. There is a lot to look at on It's a Small World and that means a LOT of pointing. Lucy loved lunch - pizza, fries and applesauce - three of her favorites! She also enjoyed cooling off in Ariel's grotto (twice).

We arrived in Orlando Monday late afternoon. We are just about to leave to head over to the Contemporary for dinner at the California Grill. Lucy is very excited to be in Disney World!

Lucy was a very good girl on the monorail - she always held on to the pole!

Here we are after dinner with the Grand Floridian and a beautiful sunset behind us

Tuesday morning we headed to Magic Kingdom. Here we are after just arriving on Main Street. Lucy is too excited to wait for her dad to take the picture!On the Carousel with Daddy

Having so much fun - this was one of Lucy's favorite rides - she cried when it was over because she didn't want to get off of her horse.

Cooling off in Ariel's Grotto - it was a pretty hot day, so Lucy enjoyed a chance to get nice and wet!

Lucy LOVES the teacup ride, can't you tell?

A nice lady in housekeeping gave this balloon to Lucy and she was so excited. Of course, we also had to leave it behind, so hopefully she shared it with another excited child.

Florida Fun - Tampa Time!

Brian, Lucy and I headed to Tampa in the beginning of April to visit Uncle Bill, Aunt Amy and Quinn! We had a great trip. Our hosts were so wonderful and we all really enjoyed seeing Quinn - she is so much fun and so very cute! Lucy and Quinn got lots of chances to play together. We went to see the Mets play a spring training game against the Orioles - but I don't have any pictures of that. Here are the ones we did take:

Two cute girls playing together...

POOL TIME!
Quinn enjoys playing with her mom

Lucy LOVES the noodle!

Here is Quinn with her Daddy...

...and Lucy with her Momma.

Quinn is stylin' in her shades!

Lucy's so cute in her suit!

The girls enjoy an afternoon snack together

We ate at Tampa Bay Brewing Company - a favorite of Bill and Amy's. Here the girls are checking out a keg and Lucy thinks something is very funny.

Quinn already appreciates all that goes into a fine brew...

Lucy likes to eat lemons - this is the resulting face

We tried to get the girls to pose for a nice Easter picture - this is the best one I got. It is really hard to get a 12 month old and 16 month old to sit still for the camera!

Quinn is enjoying the book we brought for her - "Bee and Me."

We can't wait to see the whole family again really soon! Thanks for such a fun trip.