Princess Day at the Zoo!

The zoo was sponsoring a special day this month to get people to come at a time that nobody would generally choose to come to the zoo, in the middle of cold February! The theme today was "Prince and Princess Day". Kids were encouraged to dress like their favorite prince or princess. There were going to be all sorts of royal greeters from Renaissance to Disney, royalty in all forms! If you were a member of the zoo, you were allowed inside a special, roped off, area, to take your own close-up photos with all the popular Disney prince and princesses, a total hit with my Disney loving princess, Kayli!

in the middle of our "photo shoot," we turned to find our friends Rose and Yi Mei, standing right behind us! Kayli and Yi Mei headed over to the Disney Dance Fun, where they participated in some dance games. There were also posters, stickers, coloring sheets, and other make-and-take things for all the kids.

now it was time to head outdoors, and we were prepared for the cold, thirty-something degrees! Funny thing, though, there was NO wind, so with the sun shining overhead, we didn't even need to wear our gloves! It was perfectly comfortable weather with our basic winter attire. The girls had a great time watching the polar bear, then riding the carousel...

then playing and playing at the Discovery Barn...

I just love to watch these little guys...

Kayli was enamored with this little guy...

It was hard to pull Kayli away from here. She kept saying "Take another picture. Take a picture of him climbing the wall. Take a picture of him...(he is pretty cute)

on our way out we stopped to talk to the "Renaissance Royalty" and she gave Kayli a ticket to the next Renaissance festival. Now, if I can only figure out where to put this ticket so I'll remember I have it when August rolls around!

I would say that the Princess/Royalty part of this day was sort of like a "pep rally" for our upcoming trip to Disney. In just a few short weeks, we'll be on that Magic Express to the most magical place on earth...Disneyworld!

Happy Valentines Day!

While I worked on the evening of Valentines day, Kayli's babysitter helped her make this cute Valentines house...

Kayli also made me this nice picture to let me know that she and Sprinkles love me!

Kayli was thrilled when I told her I bought her a "Wild Kratts" DVD as a Valentine surprise. She loves watching this show, which is all about wild animals and their habitats. The Wild Kratts are two humorous brothers that take you on adventures as they teach you about the various animals. I surprised her with this present when I arrived home from work at 8:30 p.m. So, of course we stayed up late to watch almost all of the episodes on this exciting new DVD...

and, the next morning, after "sleeping in", we started our morning with pink pancakes...

and a small surprise package of goodies for Kayli...

the little "rag doll" is filled with rice, which can be heated in the microwave. This makes her a great warm "snuggle friend" in the winter!
Kayli's school had their Valentines parties earlier this week, on the 12th, since parent-teacher conferences were on the 14th. As usual, there was lots of yummy treats, and the room parents planned some very cute/fun games like this "pass the hula hoop while holding hands" game...

 and then, this little boy is thinking "hmmm, I've got the hula hoop, what can I do with it now?"

"Aha, I caught Kayli in my hoop!"

here is Kayli's desk with all her "loot"...

and here's the "magic heart" art project they did using painters tape, where you paint over the tape then peel it off after the paint dries, and voila...

Happy Valentines Day!