Asheboro Zoo

We headed to the zoo in Asheboro last Monday. This zoo is amazing! The walkways are shaded, there's a great garden themed playground, and there are tons of animals to see.

Of course we looked at lots of animals. We made sure P got to see lions and C got to see elephants.


When P was ready for a snack, we headed to the center of the zoo. He and Poppa Fred used the map to help plan out the rest of our day.


We took in the Dora and Diego 4-D movie. It turned out to be really good timing, because there was no line. (I found out later in the day, when P wanted to see the movie again, that when there is a line for the movie, it's rather long. Apparently worth it, though, because we waited to see the movie a second time. But I digress.)

Next we headed to the Carousel. By the way, I discovered thanks to my mom's research on the zoo's website that the difference between a merry-go-round and a carousel is that a merry-go-round offers only horses to its riders, while a carousel offers a variety of animals. Maybe this is common knowledge, but in case it's not, there's your random fact of the day.

C chose a polar bear.



P is absolutely positive he is riding a wolf. I was pretty sure it was a black bear (although I was also pretty sure the girl who was next to him was riding a wolf), but once I realized he was firm in his convictions I went with it.


After lunch we hit the playground.



We saw a few more animals, and P eventually decided he was ready to take a break from walking (the pathway around the zoo is 5 miles long, although there are trams). I guess he was pretty tired...

Happy Easter!

On Easter Sunday, the boys got up and put on their Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes.

We headed to church for a yummy pancake breakfast cooked by the men of the church. Our friend Alan teased me because P and C didn't have on matching or coordinating outfits. I actually had a jon jon for C that coordinated with P's outfit, but then my mom sent this adorable bunny jon jon and I thought it was a great choice for Easter Sunday. What's a girl mom to do? (Well, obviously, you know what I did. The proof is in the pudding pictures.)

After some yummy pancakes, the boys set to work helping to flower the cross.

Then they flowered Courtney's hair, and posed for a picture with their friend and her new 'do.



We went to church and heard a wonderful message. I'll take this time to say that Easter is my favorite holiday. How can you not be full of joy during the Easter season?

After church we headed home to find out what the Easter Bunny had left for the boys. (That's right... at our place ol' EB comes while we are at church. That way Daddy A, who leaves early on Sunday mornings to get everything ready for the service, doesn't miss the boys' Easter surprises.)



In case you're curious, P did receive everything he requested. C received similar candy and a Lightning McQueen lego set instead of a DVD. The Easter Bunny also hid some eggs in the backyard, and the boys went to town searching for the treats.



P also discovered a stuffed rabbit that was left by the Easter Bunny. He came with a carrot and a bottle and he makes noise when he's being fed. P named him Herkitt, and Herkitt has gotten quite a bit of attention from my boys. (The same boys who quickly relegated the handmade little lamb pillows in their Easter baskets to their beds "jus' for night nights, Mommy". Sigh.)

After the egg hunt we headed inside for lunch, and then the boys went back outside for playtime with their grandparents. P learned a new party trick.


C did his best to convince people to lift him up onto the playhouse roof, too. When that quit working, he went back to the slide.

We rounded out our Easter Sunday with dinner at Sagebrush Steakhouse. While we waited for our food to arrive, P played hide and seek with an Indian statue.

True to form, C amused himself with snacks. We'll just call this granola bar an appetizer...

We all slept well after that busy Easter Sunday!

Crayola colored bubbles

I don't know how many of you have seen - or maybe even experienced - the new colored bubbles made by Crayola. We had the chance to experience them at our house over Easter weekend, because Grandma Paige brought P a bubble fan that would blow colored bubbles. Now, no one has asked for my opinion, but I'm going to share it here for those who are interested.

First, let me say that the bubbles are, ahem, vivid. When you blow blue bubbles, you will be able to tell as they drift through the air that they are, in fact, blue. They look awesome! The boys were totally enthralled!

When the bubbles pop on your skin or your clothing, there will again be no mistaking that they are colored.

The bubbles are advertised as washable. I must say, the bubbles washed right out of our clothes and towels when I popped everything into the washing machine.

While trying to rub the color off of the boys' skin created a decidedly Avatar-like effect, once the boys hopped in the tub the bubbles washed off without a lot of extra hard scrubbing. I hear you! You're thinking, "Okay, Mama E., what's the big deal? The boys had fun and the bubbles ARE washable." Now, I agree. The color wasn't a deal breaker. One afternoon this summer (probably when the wading pool is out), the boys will put on swimsuits and we'll break out the (as yet unopened) purple bubbles and play with the bubble fan again.

But next time, the boys will be confined to the yard. No bubbles will be opened on our back deck.

Easter preparations

Throughout Lent the boys and I did a really cool sticker-a-day devotional. This year P has really been able to follow along with the basics of the Bible stories we are reading and is starting to understand more of the true meaning of Easter. For that reason, the devotional was one of my favorite parts of the Lenten season this year. That said, we did some preparing for the secular parts of Easter, too...

Grandma Paige and Poppa Fred came to visit us for Easter. They arrived on Good Friday and we kicked off Easter weekend with a visit to the Easter Bunny. C didn't say much besides, "Bunny! Bunny!" P asked very politely for "Tangled Up, jelly beans, and a chocit bunny".

Both of the boys took a spin on some of the "rides" conveniently located right next to the Easter Bunny.

Before we left the mall, Grandma Paige and I headed into Gymboree for a bit. (They were having a big sale and I had a coupon.) The boys were less than enthused until Daddy A helped them find the television in the store.

Saturday afternoon Poppa Fred and Grandma Paige treated P and I to the movies. We went to see "Hop," and I thought it was adorable. P has only been to a handful of movies, but he has always enjoyed the experience... until last Saturday. He begged to go home and said his tummy hurt and he wanted the movie to be over. He was miraculously cured as soon as the movie was finished. In fact, earlier this week he was telling his friends that it was a fun movie and he wanted to go see it again! I think he was so excited to have his grandparents visiting that he just didn't want to sit still!

Grandma Paige baked a bunny cake and she and I decorated it Friday night. We all enjoyed our festive dessert Saturday night before the Easter Vigil at church.

Saturday night the boys went to sleep dreaming of Easter Sunday excitement!

swingsets and haircuts

Friday afternoon, P's friend Grace invited him to a carnival her school was having. Sporting a fresh haircut, off he went for some time on the bouncy houses, playing games, and at the face painting station. When Grace returned to our house, she brought Swiper the Fox with her! Due to time constraints, the face painting artist only had time to paint on a fox, so "Swiper" is missing his signature blue face mask, but P was fine with that. Grace stayed to play for a few minutes, and all three of the kids played on the swingset, in the sandbox, and with an ESPN bat and ball set P got for his second birthday. C is also sporting a fresh haircut, but his has "spikies" in the front. Want the full story?

We headed to the barber shop after school Friday, and on the way P said that he wanted to grow his hair long, like Rapunzel's in "Tangled Up" (Tangled). Daddy A, who is not a big fan of long hair on boys, tricked P into convinced P he wanted to ask Tommy to cut his hair "like Prince Charming". So P asked for a "Prince Charming" haircut and was quite pleased with the result (the haircut we always ask Tommy to give him), and then it was C's turn in the barber's chair. Tommy asked if C would be getting the same haircut as P, and P said he thought C wanted a different haircut than P's. He went on to suggest that C "might like spikies". Now, P had a very brief love of "spikies" himself (as you can see in the header photo of the blog), so Daddy A and I happened to know that if C got the same haircut P had just gotten (and that the boys usually get), and then Tommy put a little product in the front and spiked C's hair up a bit, the product would wash out and could either be reapplied later to "spike" the hair, OR the product could be left out and would leave the "Prince Charming" haircut. Voila! The boys got "different" haircuts, and all four of us were happy with the results. (By the way, Daddy A got a "Prince Charming" haircut on Friday, too.)

the "Big Show" approaches

May 21st, the students at P's dance school will put on their annual recital. P has been very excited about practicing for his "big show" and won't show me or Daddy A any of the dances he's learning in class because it's going to be "an apprise" (surprise). He did tell me that he'll be in a costume and he'll have to show me which one he is before the dance starts because otherwise I "won't know which one of the kids that's dancin' on the big stage is me". (On a side note, he also told me that he's going to get "a ward". I hadn't planned to buy him a trophy - they're optional, and there's no big presentation, the parents give them to their children right at the end of the recital without a lot of pomp and circumstance - but once I knew he wanted one badly enough to talk about it, I fell for the marketing scheme. He'll be getting "a ward", sure enough.) Tickets went on sale (for parents) on March 29th. There is a ten ticket limit (per student) until May 1st, when the general public can purchase tickets. The box office opened at 9:00am, and people were lining up to by tickets at 6:00am. No, I'm not joking. Yes, this is a kid's dance recital (albiet one that has a reputation in town for being very well done). I had been warned by other dance parents (as a "rookie" dance mom myself) that the line would start early and that people in the line would also start calling the box office at 9:00am so that they could receive assistance and purchase their tickets as quickly as possible! What can I say? I didn't want to get a seat where I couldn't see my son dance! So last Tuesday, instead of going to Men's breakfast, Daddy A went to the CoMMA and got in line to buy tickets to P's dance recital. This was the line at 7:15am:

Isn't this CRAZY?

I won't keep you in suspense, because I'm sure you can't wait to find out - yes, Daddy A was able to score four tickets in the third row on the aisle. Now we're eagerly anticipating the "Big Show"!

Maggie turns four

P's friend Maggie turned four just three days after he did. (In fact, his birthday party was on her birthday.) One week after his party, we headed to Maggie's Jungle Junction party. Maggie's mom used her party planning skills to plan a fabulous themed party. There were lots of party games, complete with a Jungle Junction twist. P especially enjoyed "pin the tail on Ellyvan" and the Toadhog pinata. He had a good time looking for Miss Jolly's glasses, too. He modeled the pair he found so I could take a picture. He did tell me to "please take a fast one, Mom, 'cause I gotta go play some more!".

Since it was a Jungle Junction party, it was only appropriate to offer fruity waffles, Pip Pip juice, and smoothies from Taxicrab's smoothie station for refreshment! (Even though the waffles were made with cake, the birthday girl and P were concerned about the lack of cake and managed to talk their way into pieces of "real" birthday cake.)

Happy 4th birthday, Maggie!

Sesame Street Live!

One of the special events we attended while Grandma Paige and Poppa Fred were here was a trip to Charlotte to see Sesame Street Live! This marks our third SS Live! show, and we have enjoyed all of the performances we've seen. This performance we had "Sunny Days" seats, providing our family with a "meet and greet" photo op with Elmo and Cookie before the show. P was a bit cranky at the start of the event, and C loves all things "Melmogase" (Elmo), so I was surprised by the looks on the boys' faces. I expected C to have a huge grin, and P to look frightened. (P originally said he was "skeered" to meet the characters and "needed" me to go with him for the picture.) Their expressions are the reverse of their actions just before the photo was taken. This is what we captured on camera: Our "Sunny Days" seats were in the front row! Throughout the show, characters danced by and shook hands with P and C.

Daddy A snapped a photo of "Melmogase" for C.

C was very enthused about the Elmo balloons that were sold at intermission.

Grandma Paige offered to buy each of the boys a souvenir. P chose these binoculars, and was quite excited about using them to "see better" during the show. (I'm sure glad he had them - it's, ahem, hard to see from the front row and all.)

Even when the boys have outgrown the television show, I hope I never forget "how to get to Sesame Street"!

another birthday visit

The weekend after P's birthday party (and the weekend of Aunt Tiffany's birthday), Grandma Paige and Poppa Fred came for a visit. We had lots of fun with them! When they arrived, P got right to work on celebrating his birthday. He opened presents (this game went with his new "game" - a Leapster - that was one of his favorite presents) right away. Then the boys spent some time playing with Play-doh (with some help from Grandma Paige). When it was time for his birthday dinner, P got to choose the blessing. He was quite certain that we should say "the birfday one an' it's on my plate". Poppa Fred and Grandma Paige brought a Thomas cake with them, and P and C couldn't wait to get a piece! We had lots of fun over the weekend, and before it was time for their grandparents to leave the boys had one more Play-doh session.

All four of us feel very blessed to have wonderful parents/grandparents in our lives!