Zoo and Camping

We joined the zoo the other weekend and we had a great time. If you have never been to the Birmingham Zoo or have not been in awhile, we strongly recommend a visit. It is a great size for children, with many varieties of animals and a little water area for those scorcher days. We didn't stay much more than an hour and we saw so many birds and primates. Everyone really had a great time!

The Lorikeet exhibit was the best. You can purchase a cup of nectar for the birds and they will swoop down and land on your arm and gulp up the nectar. Auntie Kariann was a little freaked out, check out the photo album for more zoo pictures. Sydney loved it and wanted to "pet" the birds. That would have been interesting! =P My friend Amy has been telling me how much Eamon loves the Babe at the Zoo class they have, so we finally went this week and we had so much fun. Sydney petted a rooster (Colonel Sanders) and two snakes, a milk snake and a corn snake. We saw the goats, the rhino, and hippo. Come join us for a class sometime or find one that suits your childs age http://www.birminghamzoo.com/programs-classes.asp


Sydney's first camping trip with our Young Families group from church was so much fun. She loved being outdoors and had a great time on our hike while riding on Daddy's back. She fell asleep probably 5 minutes after this picture and did not wake up until we were almost back at camp. We had 6 children, 8 adults, and 2 dogs. We are almost outnumbered!

Holy Week

Our family had a great Easter and we hope you all did too!

Our week started out by receiving a package from my Grandma Kay (Sydney's great grandma). It was Sydney's Easter dress and it is absolutely gorgeous. The vintage fabric that she used was my mom's grandma's so Sydney's great-great grandma and is very delicate. She made the bonnet and petticoat out of that fabric.

I was able to participate in Holy Thursday at our church this year where the priest washes 12 parishioner's feet, symbolizing the last supper. It was a wonderful and moving experience and I would recommend taking part if you get the chance.

And on Easter our family helped greet all the Easter attendees and we had a great time seeing everyone in their Easter outfits. Mass was packed of course and our church even had mass in our parish hall also. Our priest said his faith was restored in the resurrection due to all the new faces. We only pray they continue to come.

Sydney is turning one in a little less than a month and she is such a good girl. Here are a few tidbits about Sydney:

• She has started to stand on her own and is doing that very well, but is yet to take her first step.
  
• Her favorite foods are broccoli, black beans, string cheese and applesauce.
  
• She is very smiley and loves to go shopping with me so she can meet all the new people.
• Sydney loves to play in her playroom and she will even play by herself for about an hour. Her favorite things are books, her soccer ball, and she loves to look out the window and listen to the birds.
  
• The only times she is not talking away, is when she is sleeping, which she is still sleeping so much. Sydney sleeps about 11-13 hours at night and still takes two, two hour naps during the day. I wish she would keep this up it has given me some extra time to work on some projects and spend time with Scamper. He recently has chewed up some pillows and Eric's hat, trying to get more of our attention. We hear you Scamper!
  

Here are a few Easter pictures and there are more in the Picasa album. Hope you are all doing well and please come visit us anytime. You can also find us on Skype if you want to video chat.

Having a bad day? Watch this.

Easter Duck Dance

This is the duck that Uncle Luke (Eric's younger brother) gave Sydney. It was an instant hit!