Today Audrey and I went to the Decatur Zoo with some friends. It's about a 45 minute drive to Decatur, but it was free admission day (and their zoo is way nicer than Springfield's) so it was worth the drive.
Audrey was in her "I'm too cool for the zoo" mode for most of the day. I always expect her to get so excited about seeing the animals because she loves seeing animals in books and on TV. But she always seems unimpressed at the zoo. I think it is partially because she's stuck in her stroller a lot of the time. She kind of zones out when she is in the stroller.
I did get her out of the stroller a few times to see the animals I thought she would really like. But she was acting unusually scared around the animals. There was a rooster, and she loves making rooster sounds, so I thought she would love the rooster. This rooster was saying "cock-a-doodle-do" really loud over and over again. And I think it scared her. She kept saying "Okay" (which is what she says when she gets hurt) in this scared little voice while making a grimacing face. Then I tried to take her into the petting zoo to see the goats. And she was terrified. She wouldn't let me put her down and she was clinging so tightly to me, that I didn't even have to hold her. She was holding on to me completely on her own. So, I guess she's not a big fan of goats. (And tonight, when we ask her about the goats and the rooster at the zoo, she does the same grimacing face and says "okay" in her scared voice...it's kind of adorable).
But we did have a good time! Aside from a few rough moments, I think Audrey had a good day. She loved eating lunch, running around with the other kids, going to the reptile house, going on a train ride, watching the carousel and, of course, eating ice cream!! (which is what she was doing in this picture)
Tonight was book club night. We read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, so Heather made a potato peel pie for us to enjoy tonight while we discussed the book. Overall consensus on the book: the title may be weird/long but it is an enjoyable read!
I never get tired of watching Audrey eat watermelon! It's right up there with ice cream at the top of her list of favorite foods.
Today Audrey and I went to the Decatur Zoo with some friends. It's about a 45 minute drive to Decatur, but it was free admission day (and their zoo is way nicer than Springfield's) so it was worth the drive.
I was debating getting out Audrey's pool/sprinkler tonight so she could play in the water. She saw a picture of a girl in a swimsuit earlier today and kept saying over and over, "Hoo Toot (her version of swim suit). Then she would point to herself and say, "Me." And then she would tug on her shirt and say, "Off". Poor girl really wanted to go swimming! But the mosquitoes in our yard are awful now, and I didn't want the pool to become a gathering place for them.
Tonight I took pictures of Anna and her family. Anna is a very active almost two year old. She and Audrey are only 3 weeks apart in age. I know what it is like to try to get a picture of Audrey, so I knew I was going to have my hands full with Anna! And Anna was full of energy! She was running everywhere and would not sit/stand still for even a split second. I got my exercise chasing her all over the place with my camera, trying to get a decent shot. And did I mention that the heat index was 112 today?! Definitely not the best weather for taking pictures outside.
I got to take pictures of Baby Julia tonight. She is four months old and so adorable! She was extremely happy and smiley all night, making it so much fun to take her pictures!!
Tonight we had the Lanters over for homemade ice cream and blueberry cobbler. The kids were excited to eat their ice cream in cones (Audrey's first time to eat a cone!). But...freshly made homemade ice cream is probably not best served in an ice cream cone. It was MESSY but yummy!! 
