Baby Animal Days

One of my favorite things of living in Cache Valley is all the fun little family activities that go on all the time here. My favorite Spring activity is Baby Animal Days at the Heritage Center. It was the weekend of Easter (YES! I am REALLY that far behind! My goal for June is to catch up the blog, but we'll see if that happens.) and we had a great time and got some of our family to join us - Curt and Carla and Matt and Mandy and their kids all came up. It was pretty rainy all weekend, except the day we went, so that day was VERY crowded and the lines for everything were really long, but we still loved it! We had SO much fun and the kids loved being able to pet and hold so many little baby animals! Here are some of our many pictures of our fun day!

All ready for a day of baby animals!My cute Rylee! Her bows are bigger than her head, but I thought they were fun!Rylee and Daddy waiting to see the baby turtlesRylee ready to hold the baby turtle. These were my FAVORITE! They were SO tiny and cute - They fit inside Rylee's hand! - I wanted to take them home, but you have to have a teaching license because they are only for educational purposes! Rylee was pretty excited to hold the turtle, until it was in her hand and then she didn't like it much. I think its little feet on her hands creeped her out - She almost dropped the poor thing!Last year, Logan was terrified of the turtles for some reason, but he was really excited to hold them this time and did great! I think Rylee liked the turtles better from a distance...She doesn't want to touch it!After the turtles, we got a yummy snack and then headed to see the goats and the sheep. Logan was in HEAVEN! I could hardly keep track of him because he was from one animal to the next and loved them all.

He gets SO close to all the animals and talks to them in this sweet little baby voice. He is such a funny kid!

I finally got him to look away from the goat for a second for a picture!

Rylee was pretty cautious at first. She would touch a goat with one finger, and then back away to see if it was OK. By the time we were done, she was getting a little more brave, but still not too excited about it. Maybe she is worried about the germs like mommy!I think she felt more comfortable with the ones that were fenced.This is Rylee after she touched a goat. She would touch them with one finger, pull away and then laugh like she was so funny and then try again. Anytime we go anywhere with a map, it becomes an obsession of Logan's and he is always checking it and telling us where to go. I think it is so funny! This is him with his cousin Madi showing him where we are. He gets pretty concentrated!

Next, it was off to see MORE goats and sheep and also some cows and pigs!The kids were pretty excited to pet a REAL baby cow! Rylee and the cow - She is still looking pretty nervous!

The kids petting the baby pigs. They were so cute! The kids were really excited to see them! There were too many kids everywhere so I didn't get great pictures.

Here are Daddy and the kiddies waiting to see the baby ducks and chicks. The line was pretty long for these, but it was worth the wait!Rylee wasn't too patient though, so I had to chase her around a bit and she found a bench she had to sit on! I don't know where that obsession came from but she loves benches and little chairs and things. We finally got to see the baby ducks and they were adorable and the kids loved it! Rylee liked to pet the duck as long as mommy held it for her. She told EVERYONE after when they asked her about baby animal days, "I pet baby duck"Isn't this the sweetest boy ever? He was so happy to hold the little duck and loved him so much! Logan getting up close and personal with his little duck! After seeing this, I was tempted to go and buy the kids some for pets, but Darren reminded me they become BIG ducks!Rylee running around...The baby chicks were cute, too!My niece Madi took some pictures for me while we were holding the chicks, but she couldn't quite get us all in. This is the best one I have of Rylee.Logan loves his baby chick and I think he would have loved to take one home. My two favorite kids!!! The line for the bunnies was SO long so we decided to go for a pony ride instead since we missed out on that the last time. The line was long, but not as long as it had been throughout the day, so we decided to try it and I'm so glad that we did! The kids LOVED it! Here is Rylee watching the ponies - She was pretty excited for her turn. This is them in their helmets ready to ride! I think they were just as excited to wear the helmets as they were to ride the ponies. CHEESE! Does he looke excited or what???Rylee in her helmet - Bring on the ponies!!!Logan's pony was named Sport, so it was a perfect match for him! He was a little nervous when they first put him on the pony, but he did great and loved it after he started going! Doesn't he look like a natural up there?

I love this picture of Logan!Rylee did great, too. She looked SO tiny up there, I was a little nervous to let her do it, but she stayed on! The guy who worked there even had to go over at one point and get her to hold on to the saddle because she was trying to do some trick riding with no hands! My little dare devil!!!What a fun day! When you are this age, does it get any better than a pony ride? I'm so glad we waited so they could try this! We went to visit family that weekend for Easter, both kids LOVED telling everyone that they rode a pony! Rylee was so cute and said "I ride a PONY!" so excitedly with the most expressive face and talking with the hands! It made it totally worth it!!!The kids were POOPED after our busy day! Rylee fell asleep with her little balloon on her wrist. After the Heritage Center, we went to the park with Curt and Carla so Darren and Curt could play some soccer and the kids could play. Then we went to dinner with them. We had a great time! I didn't get any pictures of the cousins all day for some reason that day - I think it was a little too crazy and too many people everywhere - but we loved having them come up to hang out and the kids always love playing with their cousins! We love our family! We will really miss having Curt and Carla close when they move!!! Rylee is becoming very attached to little Rae Rae and they play so cute together.

Rylee's 2nd Birthday

It has taken me FOREVER to get going on the blog again - We seem to have too much going on lately with the new house and baby on the way! I am going to be playing catch-up for awhile so bear with me! My next few posts might be pretty oudated!!! This post was Rylee's 2nd birthday, which was almost 2 months ago, but too much fun and too important to skip! (Warning - This post is LONG!!! I was going to break it up, but then I would be even farther behind)

We had a full weekend of celebrating for Rylee's birthday. I like to make a REALLY big deal over the kids' birthdays, which sometimes drives Darren nuts, but I think they only get 1 special day a year (or in this case 4 days...) so everything should be about them! I like to always do a fun family activity for their birthdays, and since Rylee's fell on a Sunday this year, we went for our activity on Friday (March 27). We went to see Monsters Vs Aliens at the theater. We rarely take our kids to the theater, so they think going is a pretty special treat, and it was fun to do something together. Logan LOVED the movie and laughed most of the way through. Darren and I thought it was cute, too. Rylee did pretty good, but I think she was much more interested in the popcorn, which was also a pretty special treat! My biggest struggle with Rylee was keeping her in her seat - She thought sitting on the NASTY movie theater floor sounded much more fun, and couldn't stop eating all the popcorn down there, even though we had plenty! Here are the kids and D outside the theater after the movie.
I also think the kids should get to choose their own special dinner and since we weren't going to be able to do it Saturday or Sunday, we did it Friday night. My kids favorite is always Spaghetti, so that is easy to do! The birthday girl LOVES her Spaghetti!She gets pretty messy...Logan was happy about having Spaghetti, too - It is his favorite as well!
Gotta LOVE that face! Rylee never uses utensils, because they seem to slow her down and she shoves the noodles in SO fast - they end up everywhere!!!Yummm...She loves to slurp those noodles!

Saturday, we had the family over for Rylee's BIG party! She was REALLY excited about it! I think she was most excited for her "Abby Cake!" Whenever we talked about her birthday, that is what she always said first - "I have an Abby cake!" For those of you who don't know, Abby is Abby Cadabby, who is a fairy on Sesame Street. I have the hardest time deciding on the kids' parties each year, and I first thought of Fancy Nancy, since Rylee loves those books, but I decided that would be more fun when she is a little older. I thought of a Princess party, but decided that might be more fun when she can be more into it, too. Then I thought Elmo would be fun, but Rylee was more interested in Abby! She picked out the cake pan herself at Michael's and talked about it every day since.

Rylee woke up early Saturday morning and LOVED watching me make her cake and was so excited to see it finished! She was also really excited for presents!!! What kid isn't?Here is the finished Abby Cake! I found an Abby cake pan, so it wasn't too hard to make, but it did take me ALL morning and there were some tears a couple times from frustration - I tend to be a BIT of a perfectionist! I could not get the colors to mix the way I wanted them to, but I was pretty happy with how it turned out! The birthday girl having some cereal - She is a bit of a mess as always in the morning, but still cute, even with milk dripping from her face!Here is Rylee at party time! She was so happy to see everyone and loved playing with her cousins. She was so excited, she even fell down several times and scraped up her little knees! Then she had to show everyone her "ouwies" when they came for the party. (Karmann - notice she is wearing the cute dress you got her FINALLY! I was so excited that she was finally big enough to wear it) Cute birthday girl! I love my Ry!!!Mommy and Daddy with the birthday girl!Rylee eating her lunch with some of her cousins. We were REALLY happy the weather was nice, so we could let the kids eat and play outside since we have so much family for our tiny little townhome. And I did do Rylee's hair before the party, but she played so much it doesn't look like it here...Ry was pretty excited to open presents and ripped into them like a pro. She didn't even need help, although she had plenty of it! This is the cute quilt Grandma Webber made for her - It looks so cute on her new big girl bed!Rylee modeling some clothes from Great-Grandma. She is all girl because she gets excited about clothes! Rylee was REALLY excited about her new baby doll from the McCann cousins. She didn't even want to finish opening her presents - She just wanted her doll out of the box!She got pretty excited about this little Princess wallet and make-up set from her Boman Uncles. They didn't know that the lip gloss was REAL and it made quite the mess one day when Rylee decided to put it all over herself!Rylee taking care of her new baby - she is the BEST little mommy! Besides the gifts in the pictures above she got some new Tinkerbell dishes for her kitchen and some other kitchen accessories, lots of new clothes, a cute little Potatohead set, a WordWorld Pig, and some really cute shoes that she loved!
Rylee and her cousin Katey opening a present.
We got a big cake, too since we had so much family to feed! Ready for cake and ice cream!The finished product!Rylee really liked having everyone sing to her! She still goes around singing "Happy Birthday" to herself or one of us all the time and loves to make "cakes" in her kitchen. Blowing out the candles...Cute brother and sister! I love these kiddies!!! I think this the only picture I have of them together that day since they were so busy playing with their cousins!Classic cake eating picture - Rylee loves to say cheese!What a sweet messy face!My pooped party girl after the party! She had SO much fun and was so tired afterwards and crashed on the couch for awhile. Darren went to pick up the cake before the party and came home with these beautiful flowers for Rylee for her birthday. Isn't he the sweetest daddy? Rylee LOVED it!Sunday was Rylee's actual birthday. We woke up to a HUGE snowstorm!!! It was a blizzard! We had a baby blessing to go to in Salt Lake, so we had to rush a little in the morning, but first Darren made Rylee a special pancake and strawberry breakfast.Rylee LOVES pancakes!!! After breakfast, we had Rylee open her presents from us. As I already mentioned, I get pretty carried away with birthdays, so I probably did way too much but it is so hard to stop! The little chair she is in was part of her birthday, and she LOVES it! She is always wanting to sit in little benches or chairs, and now she has her very own. I love how she likes to "relax" in it!Rylee was really good at opening presents "all by herself" - She has to do everything by herself lately!Logan couldn't let her do it by herself too long - This is the present he got her - a Barbie! He was So excited to go to the store and pick it out and give it to her! He is such a cute brother!Rylee loves her new FIRST Barbie! What a sweet hug! I love that they love each other so much!Lots of new clothes! Rylee pulled them out one after the other and stopped for an occasional "Ohhhh.....Cute"!Rylee loves her new "Princess dress" and all her new accessories! Rylee opening her BIG present - a new bike! She loves to be outside and is always stealing the neighbors bike, so now she has her own. Too bad it was snowing on her birthday so she didn't get to try it out for a few days.Rylee and her new Hokey Pokey Elmo!Rylee dancing along with her Elmo. When it started shaking in the box, she said, "He's freaking out!!!" with the most expressive, funny face and moving her hands so funny! We couldn't stop laughing!!!Rylee and all her fun loot! Besides the bike and Elmo and barbie, she got a few new books, an Oliver and Co DVD, a Tadoodles art set, a Little People SUV, her little chair, lots of clothes and her Princess dress, which was also her Easter dress. After Rylee finished opening her presents, we rushed to get ready and head to Salt Lake. It was a scary drive with all the snow, but we made it in time for Baby Sophey's blessing! Rylee LOVES her little cousin and wants to hold her all the time! Someone put her down in the bouncer at one point, and someone else came over to pick her up and Rylee immediately went and told them, "No! Baby Sophey is sleeping!" She is quite the little mother. I'm sure she will be a great help with the new baby...maybe too good!Here is Rylee giving the pretend Baby Sophey a bottle, which is really a little Mylicon bottle. She loves taking care of babies and now all of her baby dolls are named Sophey.
Rylee in her pretty Princess dress with lots of snow! She loved showing off her dress all day! After the blessing, we headed back home and stopped at my sister's house for my brother-in-law, Jay's, birthday cake. Right after I took these, Rylee ran right into the corner of my sister's table and got a pretty big black eye! She is so rough and tumble and is always ending up with scrapes and bruises!

On Tuesday, we had Rylee's little Abby Cadabby party with her friends. It was so cute! It was actually supposed to be Thursday, but Logan was still getting over a cough, so I moved it to Tuesday. Logan's cough ended up being no big deal, but it was a good thing we moved it because Thursday was the day we ended up putting in an offer on the house and it was SO crazy! Since Rylee is only 2 and most of the party guests were about the same age, I didn't plan much or have any party games and I only had a few little girls over.
The table all set and ready for the Abby party to start!

The party getting underway! We started out by coloring pictures of Abby and her Sesame Street friends! The blowers were a big hit, too! Poor Logan was the ONLY boy but he didn't seem to mind too much. No wonder he really wanted a brother!Rylee concentrating on her coloring. Making silly faces! Rylee LOVES to pull this face.

After coloring, we had a little storytime and read one of Rylee's favorite stories - Alice the Fairy - It is a REALLY cute book! I didn't have an Abby book, so I decided a Fairy book would do. Then we opened presents - Rylee always loves that!

Ry and her good buddy Olivia - These two get along so cute! Livi gave her this cute little Barbie type doll that has snap on clothes. It is adorable and Rylee loves dressing her up!

Olivia, Rylee and Kate looking at her new Angelina Ballerina book from Kate

Rylee looks pretty excited about her puzzle from Sky!

After presents, we sang and had cake and ice cream. Here is Rylee ready to blow out her candles!

The birthday girl enjoying her cake and ice cream! Mmmm,..Yummy!

After the treats, I turned on a Abby Cadabby movie for the kids, but it didn't last very long before they were upstairs playing with the toys and having fun. When everyone went home, we had a little goody bag for them, with a cute headband and a fairy wand. It was a REALLY low-key party but lots of fun!

Sky with her fairy wand - I think she likes it!

It was a fun weekend full of celebrating! I love birthdays and especially for the kids. I still have a hard time believing that my BABY girl is 2 years old! She is talking so much and acting so big now! They grow up way too fast!