Naples Zoo and some other stuff

Well, the girls went to their first zoo yesterday. My father and I took them to the Naples Zoo in Florida. It went -- OK. Since my Dad is a veteran, he got in for free that day and I got in for a $11.95 as a veteran's dependent (though I'm NOT, since I'm 26!). The girls were free. That was a plus, since pretty much all the animals were asleep and the girls couldn't see them since they weren't moving. (Or maybe they saw, but weren't interested!)

It was also 94 degrees and BRIGHT and SUNNY. I managed to avoid them getting sunburned, but neglected myself and got a little burned. I also managed to leave their sippy cups in the car, so we gave them each a can of lemonade and they spilled a bit at first, but when it got a little less full they were able to drink well from those.

The girls LOVED the fish and turtles in a pond that you walked over -- of course that was all free since it was at the entrance to the zoo! They also liked the zebras, which moved, and a swinging monkey. The only other animal that they could see was the bears, which started to wake up and move before the bear show. Other than that? Nada.

Here is the ONE good picture we got of the girls peering at the massive fish and turtles just below the pond surface:

Lily is on the left. There is also some video, but not the kind I can put on here. Here are a few other pictures just because...

Lily kissing Evie. Evie didn't complain too much!

Sunny Florida...and Happy Father's Day

Since the girls and I are in Florida, we are going to post a bunch of pictures and videos on here for Daddy back home in New York. The girls are enjoying their kitchen, little red car and the swimming pool. Oh, and the black ottoman box that they can get into...

First up: The Box. Two shots, one of them both sitting and one of them both standing.

And this is the little red car. We have to avoid letting them buy a red car when they are of driving age, otherwise we'll have little speed demons on our hands!

This is Lily, laughing so hard her eyes were closed (I swear...it wasn't my crappy camera skills.)

And this is the both of them with little duckies that my father got from the pool place as a little free gift for Father's Day.

AND lastly, a video.

This is the girls in the pool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34Q9OolGF1Q

Just follow the link, my computer is being stupid...

More to come!!!

Before-party stomping...

Here is Lily, mostly, before the party. Trying out her new sandals...

Lily and Eve's second birthday party

The party was yesterday and it went well. We had hoped for better weather, but the rain held off until everyone was leaving, so even though it was window, overcast and a bit chilly outside the kids were still able to go out and play for the most part. And they had a great time, running around in the yard and later on, drawing on the driveway with chalk.

Of course Lily and Eve most enjoyed walking as far away from everyone and the house as they were able, so someone had to basically trail them the whole time. Evie especially. They liked their cakes (each had a cake, instead of one big sheet cake) and they loved all their presents. Here is a slideshow of a few pictures:

http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/gwenneth2032/Second%20Birthday/?albumview=slideshow

It'll take you to Photobucket. Everytime I tried to embed a slideshow, it bombed on me...

Another blog...

I've taken the leap.

A new blog.

About my book-writing.

Visit http://battleofthebook.blogspot.com/ if you're interested.

Musical Short

Lily figured out her Dad's harmonica. She didn't do it for very long spurts, but I caught her this one time with the video camera. So here you go, Lily's first harmonica performance:

And so she isn't left out, a cute picture of Evie I uploaded today. There are a bunch more pictures where it came from, but my headache is making it hard to deal with the computer screen. For those who don't know, I've been working on a book *after spending many years coming up with the idea* and that has meant a lot of computer time. So my migraine today is colossal.

That's the package their Easter present from my parents came in...

Something for Sunday

I felt like posting something, so here...something happy in the wake of Evie's ER drama. It's funny, but my current obsession with the television show "ER" really did pay off Friday, since I was well aware of everything that was being said and done! It was nice not to be in the dark about things.

First up, Lily being weird...
Lily after we "washed" her hair with a rag. She had all kinds of oatmeal mess in that hair. I had to strip her down, there was so much on her!

Evie peering through a DVD case she got for Christmas.

Evie giving Maddie a kiss at Christmas.

Enjoy!