Sun and sand

This past week, Eva, Sophia and I drove to California with my parents. We went to help Auntie Alisha work on her house and to bring the kids to the beach. Eva loved the water and her and I played in the waves coming in. I think that Sophia really enjoyed being outside and the salt air. Here are some pictures of us at the beach...

Near Alisha's house was a city park, so I took Eva a couple times. She loved the swings! Here she is walking to the park and on the swings...

On one of the nights, Auntie Alisha helped carve a pumpkin for Eva. Alisha did a great job, seeing as though she had no pattern!

We spent the longest at the beach on the last day we were there. Her is Sophia with Mama and Auntie Alisha with both girls...

A fun-filled day...

This weekend is the Festival on Phelps in Apache Junction, AZ. There are booths where people can sell their wares, as well as booths for organizations and city departments. Today we took the girls down there and one of the booths was selling home-made products from goat's milk. Eva loved the baby goats and I am sure if she was older she would have begged us to buy one (they were for sale).

Well, there also is a midway. Eva has seen them setting up for the past 2 days and wanted to ride on the rides. Here are the 6 rides that she was on.

The merry-go-round...

Dizzy Dragons (sort of a Mad Hatter's teacup ride)...

The Safari Train...
The bug ride...
The BIG Slide...
And, the Ferris Wheel...
Her favorites were the Dizzy Dragon and the BIG Slide!!

Say goodbye to the binky!

About 2 weeks ago, I forgot to give Eva her binky for bed on Friday night. Shane reminded me on Saturday that she didn't have it, but I forgot again on Saturday night. Well, Eva never asked for it, so for the past 2 weeks, she has been binky free!! Say goodbye to the binky!

Hip Hip Hooray!!

More Zoo pics...

Here are some of our favorite animals from the zoo.

The javalinas, or "collared peccary"...

The savanna area had giraffes, gazelles, Watusi cattle, ostriches, and vultures. They were all so cool!

I really liked the warthogs! Kinda creepy looking though.

The zebras were so cute and we could get so close! Here is one of the little ones...

The elephant area was one of Eva's favorites because we participated in feeding them. All the kids could throw carrots into their environment! This one liked the hay better.

For anyone who wants more info about the Phoenix Zoo, click here.

The Phoenix Zoo

This past week, we went to the Phoenix Zoo for the first time. For those who aren't aware, our zoo has been voted as one of the nation's top 5 zoos for kids! We arrived shortly after opening, at about 9:45 am and Eva was super excited. There were a lot of cool animals to see and Eva thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of them. Here are some pictures with Eva...

First are the Galapagos Tortoises. They are so BIG!

There was a frog statue where we stopped to rest and I couldn't resist having Eva sit by him!

Here are the Orangutans. There was a BIG daddy, 2 smaller ones and then a baby. So cute!!

We came across this fake Saguaro cactus and lo and behold, it was a slide! Eva loved it!

In the Children's Trail area, they had cool fake animals that the kids could touch and climb on. Eva was on a warthog, this baby elephant, and sat by the meerkats. She wanted me to get on top of the big elephant, but I had to decline.

They have an area called Harmony Farm, which is truly a farm - barns, windmill, tractors, horses, sheep, you name it. Well, they also have a petting zoo with goats. Eva had to go to almost everyone of them in there. You could take a brush to brush them and she really liked that!

Eva even wanted to hug one!

Here is Eva on one of the tractors.

Eva thought the turkeys were interesting and put her finger in the fence. To her surprise, this little guy thought her finger was a tasty treat! No injuries, just a shock.

Well, the zoo closes at 5 pm and we happened to leave at 5:30.

This is the entrance sign before the gate to the zoo. As you can see, we are truly one of the last people to leave the zoo, including the employees!

Well, poor Sophia had one picture taken at the zoo, in the stroller.

At Mama's house

I am very thankful to my Mom for watching Eva and Sophia for 2 hours while I work out at the gym. This past Friday, we took some pictures when I came to pick them up...