Wednesday, June 29, 2011

May 18- New playground in town

Columbus has rebuilt the concept of their original indoor playground. It is really great! There are areas that are for certain age groups, though none really stay in one area.
Yes, there are children climbing up there...they are supposed to and it goes higher!
It is designed for ages 5-12. Elise tried to climb on it, but she really wasn't big enough, and she's not that good of a climber anyway.
This is part of the toddler area. Not really sure the purpose of the circle, but she liked sitting in it.
This picture has most of the playground in the frame. See what I mean about the climber being so high?



Toddler slide 

Fun times crawling through on of the tunnels.



This is a small piano/xylophone. Elise referred to them as bells.
This slide is in the area for bigger kids, but she liked climbing up the hill to get to it. It was so big that she had a hard time keeping her feet straight so she would get turned around by the time she got to the bottom.


This is a little bit better view of the toddler area, and you can see most of the playground.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

May 17- what to do with an empty basket

I know, Kristina...I am way behind. 

She thought it was pretty funny to empty the basket of toys and then walk around with it on her head.

 I promise she can see out!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Out with dad- Happy Father's Day

We decided to go to Steak'n Shake Sunday for dinner after we got back from Grandma and Papa's. Elise had a great time with the hat. 

 Really don't know where this face came from, but it is pretty funny.






 She was looking at pictures I took on my phone.



 HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Sunday, June 12, 2011

"Why we love 2-year olds"

I was sent this article in an email right at Elise's 2nd birthday. While I am sure antics are to come, it does make me laugh and hope that I can keep my attitude in check when she is learning to be independent.

http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/development/behavioral/why-we-love-2-year-olds/?page=2

Friday, June 10, 2011

May 8- Strawberry Stuff

 Grandma makes yummy 'strawberry stuff', aka a strawberry fluff pie. Elise really  likes to help Grandma in the kitchen when we visit. And she was lucky enough to get to lick the beaters.



Yep, she's still in her pajamas. Pie for breakfast...it's dairy and fruit, healthy, right?


Now every time we go to Grandma and Papa's she wants to hang out in the kitchen and 'help' in hopes that Grandma is making 'Strawberry Stuff.'

Mother's Day Weekend May 2011

On Saturday Aunt Kristina graduation from Indiana State so most of the family was in Terre Haute. We had a lot to celebrate. On Sunday we celebrated Kristina's graduation, Mother's Day, and my birthday that was coming up. It was a great day and of course all the grandparents loved spending time with Elise.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Zoo trip May 31- Warning lots of pictures

Bob took Tuesday off so that we had a nice 4 day weekend with Dad. So we decided to use the day to go to the zoo for the first time with Elise. We had a really good time. Aunt Kristina and her boyfriend Josh joined us. The only unfortunate part was that it was hot. We got there right when it opened in hopes to actually see the animals out before it got too hot. It worked out great. We got to see most of the animals and there wasn't too many people.  Elise was definitely done and melting by noon.

There is a new Tigers exhibit at the zoo. It was amazing to be so close. We were standing just on the other side of a glass window.



Looking at the tiger.

Monkey!

When we got to the Alaskan Brown Bear he was walking and pacing. So we all had a good time watching him.



The reason Elise has her tongue out is because that is what the bear was doing and she thought it was funny.



He had the right idea going for a swim.







Elise really liked seeing the giraffes. So much so that she wanted to get down and touch them. "Go see them."-to be exact


It is pretty cool how close you can get.


Awww, baby giraffe


Elise was not overly impressed with the rhinos. Although she did want to "see them." She did like the bridge to get to the rhinos because she could bounce on it.










The Cheetah was really cool too because one of them was pacing and walked right past the window. Elise was basically face to face with it.



The desert was nice too because you could easily see all of the animals, and some of them were moving around. Elise really liked watching the turtle.



We were hoping that the Polar Bear would be swimming around because it was such a hot day, but no such luck. Just in time to see him take a siesta. Not that I blame him.



The Sea Lions were funny because they were barking a lot. So Elise kept asking, "what's that noise?"
Kristina and I pet the sharks, but it was too hard for Elise because she was too short. She was also distracted by the picture of Nemo and the sharks. 

Real life Nemo!




Inside watching the Sea Lions.




The Penguins were our last stop inside, but we didn't stay very long because Elise was about to fall asleep and she kept saying "get going."
Josh as a penguin!

We had a really fun time. I definitely foresee more trips up to the zoo, hopefully we can go when it is a little cooler. Elise got a souvenir from the gift shop. It is a stuffed polar bear, Aunt Kristina helped her name him Harry. Now she makes sure that Harry is in bed with her every day.