Mommy-Munchkin Date

 Clare and I had a FUN date on Sunday.

My sister, who just spent a week in Uganda (with wild chimps and other exotic animals), encouraged us to go see Disney's new movie, Chimpanzee.  Say no more!

While Clare was very excited about the movie, 

I think she was MOST excited about something else...

She was pretty excited whenever she saw the poster for "OUR MOVIE."

This was the "cheeser look" that she had for most of the date.

Cheeser = VERY EXCITED 3.5-year-old

 The theater was packed, so we ended up in the second row.  We even had to ask a few people to move so that we could sit together.  I wasn't about to sit separately from my preschooler, but I could tell that we weren't the most popular people in the theater.  

We quickly become the most unpopular people on the theater when Clare needed to go to the bathroom after only two minutes in our seats...in the middle of the row...that we had just asked people to rearrange for our needs.  Nice.

 The movie was great.  Clare enjoyed narrating the different scenes:

"It looks like danger."

"Scar is bad...just like in Lion King."

"Oh, they are silly chimps."

You get the idea.  :)

 By the end of the show, Clare was hopped up on Sprite and popcorn,

and she wanted to watch it again.

 I enjoyed the movie, as well as supporting the Jane Goodall Institute, but my favorite part was simply having a special afternoon with my little lady.  Rarely do we have one-on-one time, and it was a blast building this memory together.

Thanks for making it happen, Ninnie!  :)

Dyslexia

Do we have two dyslexics in the house?

ERACL = Clare

 This little monkey tends to write her name backwards.

 But isn't she ELBARODA?

ADORABLE, that is!  :)

Oh BOY...

Isaac, who was 17-months-old on the 9th, beats to his own little drum.

I have to remind myself that he has a very different personality than his big sister.  

This little snippet gives a glimpse of his strong will and stubborn nature.

I don't know if it's a second-child thing, or a boy thing, but Isaac is far less verbal than Clare was at this age.  His primary form of communication is screaming.  Even when he's completely happy, he just screams.  He screams for our attention.  He screams when he's running through the backyard.  He screams when Clare accosts him (I suppose the screaming is warranted in this situation).  He screams when he drops something.
He screams, he screams, he screams.

On a more positive note, he also giggles a lot.  He giggles when Clare is around.  He giggles when he dances...and he loves to dance.   He giggles when we chase him around the house.  He giggles when Phil throws him on the bed.
He giggles, he giggles, he giggles!  :)

He is currently obsessed with Elmo.  He has a little Elmo figurine-thing and several Seasame/Elmo books.  He points out Elmo on every page.  No biggie, right?!  I didn't think so until I realized that Isaac might actually think he is Elmo or vice versa. 
He points to Elmo and says, "Isuh."
I'm no expert, but that sounds far more like ISAAC than ELMO.  

You be the judge...

Isaac does NOT like to be fed.  He will eat nearly anything...as long as he is in control.  Take this muffin, for example.  He devoured it...until I tried to help him.  "HANDS OFF, Mama!"  His shirt says, "Just Like Daddy."  I think he is similar to Phil in many ways, except for the "Hands off, Mama" part.  LOL!  :)

This isn't a great picture, but it show a couple of things:

1. His current black eye (second in his lifetime)

2. His mischievous little grin.

He knows when he's doing something wrong (i.e. dumping our remote controls in the toilet...of which we've had to replace TWO now...one of them costing $25), and he runs away with this little grin.  What a stinker!

Just so we remember these details in 30 years...

- Isaac regularly sleeps about 11.5-hours at night (8:00 - 7:30),

and naps about 2-hours every afternoon.

- He LOVES splashing in the water...be it in the pool, bath tub, or YMCA splash park.

- Whenever he cries, he wipes his own tears.  As soon as he feels them falling down his cheek, he scratches it right away.  It's really adorable!

- As much as I thought he was a Mama's boy, he is a Papa's (Corrie's Dad) boy.  I really think he loves Papa more than ANYTHING in the world.

- He likes to pull Clare's hair...especially when she has it in braids.

- Isaac is still reluctant around new people, 

although he is extremely attached once you've won him over.

- He enjoys going down the slide head first..

 His little sparkle lights up my day...every day.

We love him OH SO MUCH!

Happy Easter 2012

Happy Easter...from ours to yours!

We decorated eggs last night, and Clare would have done six dozen if given the opportunity.  I don't know if it was the fact that Isaac was in bed, or that she got to color on food, or that she felt like the creator of something fun, and bright, and special....
but she had a GREAT time!

 I don't know if it was the smell of vinegar that brought us back to childhood memories of egg decorating, or the competition of who was going to create the best egg (note Phil's response in the following video), but Phil and I had a pretty good time as well.

 Some of the finished eggs...

 Do you see Phil's EYEBALL egg?

Easter morning...

Jelly Beans at 7:02 AM.

"May I have this please?"

 All dressed up in her Easter best!

The little guy wasn't too excited...

...until he got his saber back in his hand/mouth.

He's been carrying those things around for days (he tightly clutched FOUR of them as we dropped him off in nursery this morning), and he wasn't going to take a happy picture until he had his saber (a.k.a. pool toy) where it belonged!

 Clare, who doesn't dress up very often, felt like a ballerina.

Wishing you all a blessed Easter...

He is Risen Indeed!

Sea World

Thanks to Daddy's employment with Sea World Parks and Entertainment, our family passes to Busch Gardens allow us to go to Sea World as well. 

We LOVE Busch Gardens, 

but Sea World is always a special treat!

Clare talks about it ALL THE TIME!   She can tell us which roads to take to get to "the big road that goes to Sea World," and she's always asking when we can go back.

 Amusement Park days are full of popcorn, soft pretzels, and ice cream.  Here is Clare "sharing" some of her pretzel with Daddy.  Look at his face.

 Can you see the morsel he received?  :)

 We had to wait a while for the Shamu show to begin, 

and that is when we snapped most of the pictures from the day.

Isaac liked the music, the popcorn, and being tossed around from person to person.

 Clare's smile reveals that the show finally started!  :)

 A snippet of the Shamu Show

 Watching intently!

 I think Clare's highlight of the day was the Polar Bear exhibit.

 There's nothing like experiencing the arctic in a swimsuit.

 I just had to include the next picture.  It "cracks" me up every time, and I can already envision the day when she says, "MOM, why didn't you delete that picture?"  :)

 Just like the Polar Bears

When it comes to her love of animals, Clare is 100% her Daddy's girl.
She has her own little manatee, polar bear, and whale (affectionately named Blanket, Pillow, and Sheet), and I could see her becoming a dolphin trainer someday. 

All tuckered out!

The day was full of rides, shows, and HEAT!

Our little guy was able to do what all of the big guys wished we could do.  :)

Yeah for Sea World!  :)

Who Has the Coolest Daddy???

Phil has an awesome job.  

Not only is it his dream job, but he ENJOYS it as well.  That's pretty rare.

When Clare's school asked him to come in and speak about his job, 

he didn't hesitate for a second.  Clearly, Miss Clare was excited as well!

 Phil brought Halloween Crabs, Baby Emu, and a Baby Alligator!

 The kids LOVED feeding the animals.

Some of them weren't so sure about the gator,

but I think that Clare would have taken him home as her personal pet.

Here's a snippet of one of the feedings...

the kids were giddy and giggly!

I was also excited to join the fun!

 It wasn't intentional, but Mama and Daughter both ended up in dark stripes.

Cute, huh?!

I have a feeling that Clare's daddy will be on the annual list for guest speakers! :)