Dinosaurs at the Dallas Zoo

We spent the day at the Dallas Zoo so we could visit the dinosaurs and see the Dinosaurs Live! Show. It was a warm and muggy day, but typical for June. Olivia took over as the "map reader" while she sat in her stroller and sucked her thumb, while Sofia helped decide where to go. We did our usual route and visited the Giants of the Savannah. Of course, before we saw any of the real animals, the girls had to climb all over the metal elephants. It's always a huge favorite of both girls and they love to climb on each elephant and pretend they are riding them. We usually stop on the way to and from the real animals to climb on the metal elephants. After a bit of fun, we continued on to the African animal section. We watched the elephants and zebra for a while before going over and feeding the giraffes. It's always the girls' favorite thing to do and Olivia is half afraid of that long black tongue that sticks out and grabs for the lettuce pieces, while Sofia loves it and usually ends up with extra pieces of lettuce from kids who are too afraid to get close to that tongue.

After visiting and feeding the elephants, we headed over to the other side of the zoo so we could be on time for the Dinosaurs Live! show at 2pm. Thankfully, Sofia loves to push the stroller with Olivia in it, so I was able to just walk and enjoy the zoo! We arrived at the stage, found a bench and settled in for the show. Olivia grabbed a snack so she could eat a bit while the show started. The man who introduced the dinosaurs was this great Australian guy who was funny and engaging and the kids loved it. Sofia was completely glued! She even asked that the dinosaurs were, in fact, not alive since they really were excellent puppets! After about 15 minutes, the Australian guy, the dinosaur leader, asked for a volunteer and picked Sofia! She was so excited! She ran up to the stage and was introduced by the the dinosaur leader and went along with the whole thing! It was so much fun to watch and she was an excellent volunteer and I'm so glad I made a video of it! It was so much fun! Sofia returned to Olivia and I after she'd run from a hungry dinosaur and pulled an infected tooth from another one! She said it was "so fun"! The show ended and we were able to go "pet" the dinosaurs backstage. They were able to pet the triceratops and hold a baby dinosaur. It was really cool and the girls loved it. Even up close the dinosaurs looked real!

After the dinosaurs, we headed on our way toward the top of the zoo and the train, where more dinosaurs were set up. Along the way, the girls cooled off with one of the misters, which was much needed on the hot, humid summer day. We made it to the other dinosaurs and watched the baryonx "eat" fish and then the girls dug for dinosaur bones. They also found a dinosaur nest full of dinosaur eggs and played in it for a bit before we headed down to see the T Rex and the girls pretended they were being chased. We continued on and watched the end of the Birds of Flight show, which is actually my favorite. After the end of the show, we were able to visit with Sofia's very favorite animal - the owl. It really is a beautiful and majestic bird!

From there we headed over to the kids' area so the girls could splash around in the little river. They both had their swimsuits on under their dresses, so they were well prepared. They had a great time playing and splashing in the water and cooling off. After they were done, they changed into dry clothes and we headed to the car. They were both snoozing after about 10 minutes. What a fun visit!

Riding one of the dinosaurs by the entrance

Our map reader

Climbing on the metal elephants

The littlest elephant rider

Happy Girls!

I get a break from pushing the stroller

Feeding the real elephants

Olivia's turn

Petting the elephant's soft nose

The Dinosaurs Live! show begins

Sofia is completely transfixed!

Getting a little cool reprieve

Checking out the baryonx

Digging for dino bones

Love this photo!

Being chased by a T Rex

Another unexpected cool down

Getting a close-up following the Birds of Flight show

Finishing off our trip with a much-needed splash in the little river

Annual Backyard Camp Out

Last night Sofia and I enjoyed what's become our "annual camp out" following the end of school. She was so excited to camp out and talked about it for days before the actual night. For the first time I had to address the issue of Olivia wanting to camp with us. Our two-man tent is tiny and there is literally no way we can fit another person in it, no matter how small they are. So, I told Olivia that I would camp out with her on Sunday night so we could have our own special night together in the tent.

That morning we invited Sofia's friends Milani, Gigi, Thomas, Vincent and Tristan to come swim over at our house and just hang out. Isabella's last day of school was yesterday so she and Nicole weren't able to come to the swim party. The kids had a blast and swam non-stop from 10am until everyone left around 3pm. We all had lunch together cobbled together from food everyone brought and just enjoyed sitting in the shade and watching our kids play together. Although us "mommies" meet up fairly regularly, the kids don't see each other that often so it was fun to get them together and just let them be together. We've all been friends since I first moved here when Sofia was 11/2, so they have been friends for their whole lives! Thomas is really into making bracelets on the rainbow loom, so he spent most of his time doing that at the other table while all the older girls played together and Tristan and Olivia had a ball together. They are finally old enough to enjoy each other's company.

CK came home and pitched our tent on the lawn behind the pool and we set up the blow-up mattress and put out our pillows, sheets, and two thin blankets. It was 91 degrees today and the heat usually lingers well into the night, so I figured we would hardly be cold. Then, we made hot dogs, grilled some bell peppers and onions and then enjoyed an ice cream sandwich, left over from Sofia's end of the school year party. The girls had actually been swimming all day when our neighbor boy, Brandon showed up at 4pm and so they continued swimming right up until the hot dogs were ready! The girls literally spent ALL day in the pool, which I figured would be good for sleeping in a tent all night. I think the latest we've spent in our tent is 3am, when we awoke to a thunderstorm and Sofia bolted for the safety of the house and a nice bed.

Sofia picked out one of her current favorites - Calvin and Hobbes, we said good night to CK, Olivia and Buddy and were in our tent with our flashlights by 8:45pm. Sofia loved reading the cartoons to me, even though some of them are difficult for her to understand or use words far beyond her 2nd grade level. She thinks the cartoon is hilarious and gets about 80% of them. Around 9:15pm it was finally getting twilight, so we shut off our flashlights and said good night. Our neighbor's sprinklers actually went on around 9:30 and it really helped to cool down the area. It was still pretty sticky hot, even without the rain cover.

Surprisingly we slept pretty well all night. I woke up a few times and had crazy dreams about skunks being right outside our tent, which caused me to wake up and take a good look around our yard. We woke up at 6:30am to two squirrels arguing about something and I had no idea squirrels could make such a noise! Finally at 7:30am we stirred and CK and Olivia came out to check on us about then. Sofia told me she was cold most of the night, which surprised me but then also explained why she was right up against me most of the night. Otherwise, it was a good night's rest and a fun night of camping. Now to figure out when Olivia wants to camp, which should be interesting.

The girls and I kicking off summer by the pool!

The girls and me!

Friends! Sofia with Gigi and Milani

Olivia! Our new little swimmer!

They had a great time together

CK setting up the tent with an audience....

Still smiling after TEN hours in the pool!

Ice creams after our hot dog roasting

Tent is set up and ready to be used....

Reading Calvin and Hobbes just before dusk

Just before saying good night to each other

The next morning....photo taken by CK as he came to check on us.

Sofia's Last Day of Second Grade!

The final day of 2nd grade is FINALLY here and there are a lot of mixed emotions! Sofia woke up this morning looking like she hardly slept and told me over breakfast that she was both "excited and sad." When I asked her why, she said she was excited to not have to get up in the morning and to not be bored in class anymore, but sad to say goodbye to Mrs. Livingston and her classmates. She's certain that Mrs. Livingston is the best teacher she will ever have, and she may be right. Sofia also said she'd stayed up late reading, which isn't a big surprise.

I took a few pictures of Sofia before we headed to the last drop off of the school year. I love the photos of her, because they really show her sweet mixed emotions. Olivia, Buddy, Sofia and I loaded up and headed to school! The day would be a short one with the final bell ringing at 11:45am but Sofia wanted to take the bus home to say goodbye to her bus friends. We planned to host the end of the school year pool party at our house at 1:30, giving us time to get ready after she got home. Olivia was so excited for the pool party, that she had me change her into her swimsuit at 11am and was already splashing around when I had to get her out and head to meet Sofia at the front entrance of our neighborhood.

The bus arrived and Sofia got off and was crying so hard I thought maybe she'd gotten hurt as got off the bus. She ran to me crying and buried her face into my stomach. I asked her what happened and she said "I'm just so sad!" It was so sweet and I felt bad for her sadness. I told her that we needed to get ready for the pool party, which got her excited and took her mind off of being sad.

We returned to the house and set up snacks, Capri suns, and waters to get ready for about half of her class to arrive and swim. While Sofia was getting her swimsuit on, I set out her "graduation gifts" which included a new stuffed owl, the book "Horse of the Dawn," and what soon became her most prized possession - the Harry Potter Time Turner! There was a bit of a miscommunication on the end of the year party and I ended up sending the invitation to our pool yesterday morning. Still, I was impressed with how many kids said they were coming. Sofia wanted to be sure that Mrs. Livingston knew she was invited, so she wrote out a formal invitation while she ate breakfast.

The kids arrived and they all had a great time swimming, going down the slide, shooting each other with water guns and running around together. Sofia's classmates all seem to get along so well and it was fun to see them all play with each other in different groups. Sofia played with each of the girls and looked to be hatching some major plans with Alexa. Several of the parents brought huge boxes of ice cream sandwiches, drumsticks, and crunch bars, so after about 2 hours, I brought out the ice creams and they all went crazy. Several of the kids had been dropped off by their parents, and when they asked for a second ice cream I told them to go ahead. Everyone seemed to have a great time and when Mrs. Livingston arrived halfway through the party, they all went crazy! The each wanted to give her a hug but she preferred a high-five since they were all soaking wet from the pool. She was able to spend about an hour with us before she had to return to her classroom and get it closed up for summer. She sent the parents an email with a photo of her white board which she let the kids write all over with their sweet comments! She sure has a class that loves and adores her! Sofia was so sad to see her go. Most of the kids stayed and played in the pool until around 5pm. What a fun end to a great year and an emotional day!

My last note to Sofia as a 2nd grader

Breakfast!

Formally inviting Mrs. Livingston to the pool party

All set for her last day!

Our sweet toothless girl!

Lots of emotions going on....

Waiting for Sofia to arrive on the bus

She's here!

And she's very sad....

Happy girl now that school is out....

Sofia's "graduation gifts"

Happy girl!

The Harry Potter Time Turner!

Mrs. Livingston's white board with all the notes from her class! So sweet!

Swimming!

Happy end of the year!

Sofia's 2nd Grade Graduation

Today Sofia "officially" graduated from 2nd grade! Sofia is getting more excited for the end of the year and start of summer, but is also sad to have to say goodbye to Mrs. Livingston and her class. CK, Olivia and I headed to the school to get a good seat for the graduation which lasts about 30 minutes. All three 2nd grade classes filed into the cafeteria and sat on the floor facing the stage, away from the parents who were all sitting in chairs behind the kids. Mrs. Allen's class went first and each child walked onto the stage, and spoke into the microphone about their "greatest accomplishment for the year" which each kid wrote down the week before so they could read it in case they were nervous. After stating their accomplishment, they hugged their teacher, walked across the stage to hug Principal Shimmick and Vice Principal Faragher before returning to their spot on the floor to watch the next student.

Mrs. Livingston's class went last and most of the kids in all the classes talked about how well they could read or how they could now do multiplication easily. Sofia got up there and talked about a recent project and also mentioned Mrs. Livingston. Once she made her way to Mrs. Livingston, Sofia said "I, Sofia Lee, feel that my greatest accomplishment this year is my animal research. I really like the way Mrs. Livingston let us do any animal we wanted and how she let other people chose the same animal as others." She hugged Mrs. Livingston and then walked over to Mrs. Faragher and Mrs. Shimmick to hug them both before returning to her seat on the floor. After the ceremony was over, we were able to visit with Sofia and take a few pictures before she headed back to her classroom. Although the kids aren't really "graduating" to 3rd grade, it is great that they have them think about what they've accomplished and what they feel proud of over the past year. I also like that they get up and speak into a microphone in front of all the parents. That said, it's shocking to think that Sofia is halfway done with elementary school!

After the ceremony, my friend Casey came over to our house with her daughter Hannah, who is six months older than Olivia and they will be in class together next year. We had decided to take the girls to the American Girl Store for lunch and they loaded into my car and we drove to Dallas. We arrived just after the store opened at 10am and walked around. Both girls hung out in the Bitty Baby section and played with the displays before we realized we had a long time before our lunch reservation at 12:30. After a while we decided to walk over to the mall and watch the ice skaters to kill some time. Once we were there, Casey remembered a little kid play area upstairs, so we headed up there and both girls had a ball playing! Finally it was time to return for our lunch appointment.

Once we arrived at the cafe, Olivia picked out an American Girl doll to borrow and her high chair for our lunch. Lunch was really quite good and I'm always surprised by how tasty the food is! Olivia woofed down her mac n cheese in about 5 minutes! After lunch, both girls enjoyed a sundae, which was actually quiet amazing! It had two scoops of vanilla and was covered in thick rich fudge and sprinkles. YUM!! Thankfully the girls have little tummies so Casey and I were able to enjoy about half of the sundaes. After, we headed home to meet our kiddos at the bus stop.

Sofia and her "greatest accomplishment for the year"

Sofia's accomplishment

Our sweet girl

With Papa and a squirrelly Olivia

The girls and me

Sofia and Olivia with Mrs. Livingston

With Yulia and Shivani

Olivia and her Papa - love this picture!

Playing with babies at American Girl

Time to sleep, baby!

Giving her American Girl doll a drink of tea

A little tea for herself....

Sofia's 2nd Grade Graduation Video

To watch Sofia's 2nd grade graduation video, click on the following link:

joyflee's video on Photobucket