Sea Life Aquarium

Joelle and I went to the Sea Life Aquarium.  It was very neat.  Joelle really enjoyed herself and practically ran from one section to the next.  She found a "Nemo" fish and lots of sharks! 

There is a section where you are able to touch sea stars, anenomie, and crabs.  Joelle wasn't too sure what to think about this.  She was a little leary about touching the fish, but ended up really enjoying it.

Here we are at the entrance.  She was so excited to see some sea horses!

As you can see by her big smile, she really enjoyed it.  We really liked all the different types of sharks they had as well as their "Ray Bay" area.  When she was standing next to the tank, there were around 6 or 7 rays hoovering!!  After you finish in the Aquarium, you come out to a little play area.  I am pretty sure she had as much fun there as she did seeing all the fish.  The only thing she was not keen on was a tune that you walked through and the bottom was glass.  She didn't want to walk on it because she was scared.  I practically had to jump up and down on it so that she would see it wouldn't break, and even then she went through really fast!  All in all it was a great day!

Memorial Day Weekend

This year instead of having people over to our house and cooking, we went over to a good friend's house.  Steve and David have know each other since the days of Applebees.  David and Veronica have been wonderful friends and we were soooo looking forward to the get together.  Steve and David put the kids to work!  Joelle had a blast feeding Georgia, the turtle.  There was also a very intense game of Phase 10 going on as well.  David warned us that his mom was a card shark, and he was right!! 

The kids got to put the rub on the meat.  They also had the opportunity to put it on the grill.  The plan was to sear it and then put it on the smoker for the rest of the cooking. 

Believe it or not, that is not the smoker!!

David and Megan are so eager to cook.  When I was their age, there is NO WAY I would have prepped a whole chicken for the grill.  I still like to wear gloves now!!

<The end result was some really delicious beer butt chicken!!  There was a taste test and David's chicken won.  Which was just fine with Megan.  We went to the pool and there were many races between her and David and Megan won each one.  We had a terrific afternoon with some terrific people. 

Mother's Day part 2

After having a wonderful breakfast and getting my cards, the day was for relaxing. Joelle and I went swimming. Well, the pool was still pretty cold, so we only got our legs wet. Then we dried off in the sun. A very good day!

Why Not to Teach Your Child Their Colors

I was the proudest momma when Joelle learned that the green light on the street lights meant go and the red light meant stop. She is so smart, she even learned that the yellow light meant slow down! I know you are smiling, can you figure out where this is going???? On two separate occassions I have learned just how well she pays attention to what is going on around her. As I approached a street light, the light turned yellow. I was to close to the light to stop, so I had to turn. After the turn, Joelle said, "Mom, yellow means slow down," in a slightly annoyed voice. I explained to her that of course I slowed down, didn't you feel it when I slowed down. She looked at me in the mirror and with disapproval in her voice, she said, "No you didn't mom." Great, now I have a full time back seat driver who apparently is on the look out for her colors and what they mean!

Spring Carnival!

My school had its Spring Carnival on May 29th this year. I took Joelle with me so she could have some fun. I had to go in the dunk tank right away and my friend Courtney kept and eye on her. She had fun watching me waiting to get dunked, but quickly found other things to keep her occupied. When I was done, we went to the Sponge Bob bounce house. It was perfect, 4 and under only! At first she was a little unsure about it, but she soon found her courage. Here is a little video of her coming down the slide.

Later on we went to get her face painted!! Of course, she had to have a star!
She fell asleep instantly that night when we got home. She had a great time and had her fill of candy and treats! It is so much fun to see her get delight out of the simplest things. I hope she always stays that way.