Zooperific!

I love the Zoo! Always have.

I still remember going to the LA Zoo and getting small animals made out of plastic from a vending machine that MADE it while you waited! It was the coolest thing. Does anyone else remember that machine??

So, of course another stop in our What to Do in Phoenix search was the Phoenix Zoo, which was actually voted one of the Top 5 Zoo's for Kids in the Nation! I would say it definitely lived up to that title.

Note to self: MORE globe, LESS asphalt.

mkthanks.

Look Ma, MONKEYS!

So Emma decided to pick her own outfit that day and WOULD NOT change for anything. I saw my Dad kinda sit back and watch me when I was ineffectively coaxing her out of her chosen ensemble. He was enjoying every minute of this whole "Parenthood" thing. And in the end, he said, "I think she looks beautiful".

Um, okay. I think you can give fashion advice when you learn there are other shirts besides Tommy Bahama shirts out there.

Giraffes!!

Hungry Giraffes!!

Sidenote: the woman here in the picture heard me speaking some German to Emma and we later learned her daughter lives in a town not far from us. We had a nice conversation, and it was actually nice to find a use for my German outside of Germany.

We had a great time, and made some great memories with my Dad! Another spot that comes highly recommended by the Spoerhase Five - although it was only two of us, and I'm not technically a "Spoerhase". Does that make it any less of a recommendation?? :)

Kids Museum

The Phoenix Kids Museum was great! I had read about things to do with Kids before we left, and that was top of the list - now I see why.

There were so many things to look at, play with, and listen to there that we could've spent all day there! Of course the Emma was a hot, crying mess when I had to CARRY her out of there.

This will definitely be on the list of things to do the next time we're there...or you're there!

You can read more about it here, but it comes highly recommended by the Spoerhase Five.

She was fascinated by these little air pocket thingies (technical name??)

They had a 3 story high "climbing tree" made out of all recycled parts.

You could actually get into this suspended flying tub, super cool!

Ahhh, happiness.

Ain't she purdy??

Drive thru Car Wash

(on tricycles).

I was kinda sad my legs were sooo long. -that's the only time I can say that! :)

16 hours, from door to door

That's right.

16 hours from door to door. Frankfurt to Phoenix, AZ - where my Dad is living

Emma did great! She didn't sleep too much, but when we were getting off the plane I had so many people (I never even saw sitting near us!) come up to me and say how delightful she was.

Delightful? My Emma? Whythankyouverymuch!

One thing is for sure, this kid loves to fly...looks like we're in for an expensive few years. :)

We may be coming from the cold of Frankfurt.

But we come prepared for sun.

Of course Opa (Grandpa) Randy was thrilled to death with her.

She can do no wrong by him -

she starts a fire, he says, "look how evenly that fire's burning!"

So we enjoyed our first few days being lazy and going on carousel's and riding elephants.

I mean, what else does Phoenix have to offer??!

I'm not dead...I just feel like it

Sorry for the lack of posts for the past few months. There's a slew of explanations but I will try to post about most of them, and keep my whining minimal. :P

Quote of the Day

"Silence is Golden".

I don't really know who wrote this...

but I know they have kids.

Ahhhhh, silence. I miss you, too.

Graduation Day!

So the kiddos have finally graduated to eating something other than milk!

We started with Avocado, same as Emma, and I noticed again the trend of Romy being more like Emma...she did really well with the avocado, even manhandling her own spoon; while Henry was pretty lackluster about the whole shibang.

We have since moved on to rice cereal, and Carrots & Fenchel. Same old story: Henry's not really a good eater while Romy will basically try anything. Hopefully Henry stops being so picky!! ...or Mama finds a food that he actually LIKES. Either way, it's a nice step towards independence!

"Go on, Henry! Try it!!" - Big Sister Emma

I think this is sign language for, "Bleeeeeeeekkkk!"

FAIL.

SMILE! Picture Day!

We finally got around to having some "professional" (read: not by US) photos of Emma & the babies taken.

So we went to the park with Emma, the babies, Papa...and a dirndl (typical Southern German dress, typically worn at Oktoberfest). However, Emma decided her favorite outfit was her birthday suit and promptly stripped down to play in the fountain. It was super warm that day, so it was OK.

I'm so excited for the pics, and happy to have the moments of my sweet Emma immortalized on film. Olga kept asking me, "Is she always this happy?". I was proud to say, YES!

Emma always on the run!

Olga had to work that day.

Photoshooting over.

Dirndl & Vans...that's my kid.