Preschool petting zoo

Last week, a traveling petting zoo visited Lilly's preschool. As you may imagine, Lilly could not wait to get to school that morning. A wide variety of animals patiently tolerated the preschoolers' petting... a llama, chickens, cow, pigs and other critters too. While Claire and I couldn't stay around to play, Lilly's teacher snapped this photo of her and sent it to me today.

 Cluck Cluck Cluck! Have a great week, everyone!

Koala day at the zoo

We arrived at the zoo early this morning to see the koalas; they are on loan from the San Diego Zoo for a few months. In celebration of the koala's arrival, the zoo offered face painting and all sorts of activities. As you can guess, Lilly and Claire didn't pass on the face painting...

The elephants posed for photos also... such tame elephants to allow little kids near them or under them...

 The elephants aren't real, of course... but still great for a snap shot or two.

 We are pleased to report we have welcomed the arrival of fall, despite the hot weather. Our home is adorn with pumpkins galore- fake ones that can survive the heat, of course. Happy fall everyone!

Nails?

We have a new favorite activity at our home... painting nails. After every bath, Claire emphatically demands, "Nails. Nails." She loves to have the old polish removed, "Bye Bye Nails," nails clipped and new polish applied. We have 10 or so colors ranging from yellow to pink to blue. Sometimes they choose the "rainbow"... a different color on each finger or toe. But last night they opted for a different color on each foot and hand. The girls wanted to match...

Lilly has already asked for orange and black for Halloween. Watch out world! Nails at the Z's will never be the same.

Awaiting baby...

Claire has been quite fascinated with the bassinet ever since we put it in baby's room.

Several times we've caught her trying to climb inside. On this day, before we left for work/preschool/childcare, Claire managed to make herself right at home. We actually couldn't find her when we were ready to get in the car- what a crack-up, don't you think?

Hamster Heaven?

Lilly's preschool class has a class hamster and lucky for us, it was Lilly's turn to babysit Nugget overnight. Joy. Prior to the big event we talked with Lilly about the dangers of the hamster meeting the dogs- that Belle and Sue would kill the hamster if given the opportunity. So, now the hamster is at our house- Belle and Sue are oblivious to it. What is Nugget's biggest threat? Claire. Yes, little Claire doesn't know her own strength and has attempted several times to squish the thing. Let's hope we don't have to visit the pet store for a replacement.

 

Lilly introduced Nugget to her zhu zhu pet friends...

I know what you are thinking... no, we will not be purchasing a hamster of our own any time soon.

Labor Day Weekend

Though in retrospect we think we were crazy for doing so, we spent part of the weekend at the zoo. Boy was it hot! We were only there for a few hours in the morning, but the heat was crazy! Luckily the heat didn't stop the girls from enjoying the zoo.

Claire was all smiles as we watched the turtles from the bridge.

 I think this picture is really funny of Claire... She must have been waiting for us to ask if she wanted to ride the carousel.

 And ride the carousel we did, of course...

Lilly's choice this time was the eagle...

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Claire's choice was our favorite backyard friend, the hummingbird.

 No matter how many times we visit the zoo, we always take a ride on the carousel- the girls love it!

 To save energy, Lilly hitched a ride on Dad as he pushed an empty stroller...

Of course the girls escaped the heat at the splash pad. Lilly made sure Claire was well hydrated for her romp in the water. What a nice sister!

We hope you had a great weekend too!

Healing Hannah

You've all heard a thing or two about Lilly's best friend, Hannah, who has cancer. Yesterday Hannah underwent her sixth surgery for what was hopefully removal of the last tumor in her brain. Today, less than 24 hours after the surgery, Lilly and I visited her in the hospital. Remarkably, Hannah was discharged from the hospital this evening, having to only stay one night... unbelievable progress! It's amazing, but Hannah makes brain surgery look easy.

Here's a photo of Hannah and Lilly taking a ride in one of the wagons... this is often how they  transport kiddos around at the children's hospital.

Each floor of the hospital has a play room that is open several hours each day. Hannah and Lilly painted pillow cases, played games and painted artwork. It's funny, but the play room is one of the reasons Lilly likes to visit Hannah in the hospital so much. One thing that caught my attention was the tiny MRI machine someone had made for the Barbie. Isn't this a crack-up?

Only in a hospital play room, right?

 Welcome home, Hannah. Our prayers are with you as you continue to heal. :)