Dallas Zoo

Last weekend we went to Dallas because Uncle Mike needed Wayne and Chris to help him with his taxes and a few other things.  We needed to stay out of their way, so me, Ash, Mama, and the kids spent the day at the Dallas Zoo.  We had sooooo much fun and so did the kids!!  Ash had an interview that morning, so Mom picked me and the kids up and then Ash met us later when she was finished.  When we first walked in, we saw the carousel, so that's what they did first.  Then we went to the African Savanna section first.  As we walked along, we kept seeing little animal statues, so Pearce, Nathan, and Charlotte loved to climb on those.  We saw all kinds of animals, but we didn't even see everything by the end of the day!  We had so much fun just taking our time, walking around, eating lunch, getting snacks, and just going at our own pace and not being rushed.  The most fun thing, I thought, was when we got to feed the giraffes!  We went to pay for the lettuce leaves and the girl said she thought the giraffes were all full and that a lot of people have been waiting for more than 15 minutes trying to get the giraffes to eat their lettuce leaf with no luck.  So, we decided to chance it and got us all a leaf of lettuce.  Well, as luck would have it, we were all lined up with everyone waving their lettuce at the giraffes and one giraffe came right up to us and ate the lettuce from each of us and only us!  After that, we started heading to the children's section of the zoo, but came across a stand with "sweet treats."  Pearce wanted chocolate ice cream, and Nathan, Charlotte, and I each got cotton candy :)  Then Nathan decided he didn't like his cotton candy and really wanted Dippin' Dots ice cream and started whispering that to Ash.  Ash kept telling Nathan that that's what he chose and he couldn't have Dippin' Dots.  You could tell Nathan was disappointed.  Mom noticed him whispering and looking sad, so she asked him what was wrong.  Ash tried to interject and Mom's exact words were "Nathan, haven't I told you to not ask your mother?  If you want something, just ask me!"  So Nathan said he really didn't like his cotton candy and wanted Dippin' Dots instead.  Mom gave him money and told him to go get what he wanted.  Well, then Pearce decided he didn't like his ice cream and wanted Dippin' Dots, too.....then Charlotte!  It was so funny because only Mama would say oh well, throw away what I just got you and go get what you really want!  I ended up eating Nathan and Charlotte's cotton candy, plus my own, so it wasn't a huge waste :)  So after the second round of sweets, we went to the children's area where there was a cute water attraction where kids could wade in the water.  Pearce started out with his pants rolled up, but pretty soon he just played in his undies and undershirt.  I just knew he would be too tempted to get his clothes soaked!  After the kids played in the water for a while, we went to the petting zoo to pet goats and then decided it was time to go since it was close to 4 and we had been there since 10:30!  But, we had one last stop to make....the gift shop.  Nathan, Charlotte, and Pearce each got to pick something out.  Pearce got a remote control tiger car, Nathan got a football Lego thingy, and Charlotte got two stuffed lion cubs.  Thank you, Mama for such a fun day at the zoo!!!!

 

Pearce had no problem touching the model of giant elephant poop!

Life Lately

February has been busy, busy!!  Between mourning the loss of Blankie, swim lessons, bday parties, and other activities, we've been going nonstop.  So, blankie first :(  Pearce had a really hard time letting go of BB's when he turned 3 but he did it.....and then latched on to Blankie.  This was totally my fault, and I admit it, but oh well.  A few days after we said goodbye to BB's, he found Blankie and honestly, I never thought he would start to suck on it because he was sooooo attached to BB's.....I really thought nothing could replace BB's, so I didn't worry.  Well, sure enough, he started sucking on Blankie and then it escalated to him taking Blankie everywhere and sucking on him all the time.  I gave up, I admit that.  Plus, Mama made Blankie, so I did kind of like that he chose something that was meaningful.  Anyway, we said when Pearce turned 4, Blankie had to go.  The day after his birthday, was the day, and Pearce knew this.  But Pearce talked me into one more night with Blankie....I'm a softy.  So, two days after, was it.  He had gotten his bear from Build A Bear and this is what he was going to sleep with to help him.  Also, Pearce has been wanting the new Batman Batcave, so in a moment of weakness, I told Pearce when he went a week without Blankie, we would get that for him.  Man, that was motivation......it also cost 60 freakin' dollars!!!!  Oh well.  So, the first few days and nights were really hard, but Batcave and Tigey helped get him through it and when a week went by, Daddy and Pearce went to Walmart and got the Batcave and Pearce was very happy!  He sleeps with Tigey now and has no trouble going to sleep....and no, he does not suck on Tigey :)  I've hidden Blankie in a closet and, just like BB's, I am not washing Blankie ever.  I love that I can still see all the places where he sucked on him including chocolate milk stains from sucking.  Why does it have to be so dang hard to grow up???

Last week, Pearce had his class picture at school.  He had to wear his school shirt, but of course, I had to add a little more pizazz to the t-shirt, so I put this cute checked button up on under his t-shirt.  Adorable!!!!

One of my friends invited Pearce to be her little girl's dance partner at a dance class she is taking.  Pearce wasn't too sure about it at first, but he did so great and it was so cute to watch!!!!  I wasn't able to stay in the class with him, so I just watched from the window.  His teacher told me after the class that he was such a great listener and participant and he even got a certificate for being the most awesome student!  This is a drop in thing for only $5 every Tuesday evening and the kids learn different types of dances, so we'll probably go back every once in a while.

Last week, Pearce started his swim lessons that Pops and Mimi got him for his birthday.  They are private lessons and just what Pearce needed!  I could not believe how well he did for his first lesson.  I think age 4 is the perfect time to really learn how to swim.  I was so impressed with how much he learned in just a 30 minute class.  The key for Pearce is that it's one on one.  Plus, his teacher, Caleb, is awesome!  For some reason, Pearce really responds well to males and Caleb is just a really great teacher.  He goes Wednesdays and Thursdays this month and then I'm really considering getting him another month's worth of private lessons and then finishing out with group lessons.  We also go to the Y several times a week for Pearce and I to swim and practice what he's learned.  I do it for Pearce because although the water is "heated" it's not heated enough for me!  Pearce is motivated to learn how to swim because there is a water slide at the Country Club that Pearce really wants to go on, but in order to go on it, the kids can't wear a floatie and have to be able to swim to the side on their own. 

Last weekend, Pearce got invited to a birthday party and it was so much fun!  The best part was Pearce getting his face painted for the first time ever.  Pearce waited so patiently and then told the lady he wanted a blue tiger....so a blue tiger is what he got!  The only sad thing is that later on, the mom told all the kids to go outside for the piñata.  Pearce looked at me with big eyes and told me he had always wanted to hit a piñata because Caillou had on at his birthday party :)  So we go outside and all the kids are bunched up together.  Finally, the dad gets the kids in a line and each child got to pull a string from the piñata.....each string pulled weakens the bottom and you never know which string is going to make the bottom fall out.  So, Pearce is so excited and there's just one girl in front of Pearce...and she pulls the string that makes the bottom fall out.  All the kids scramble to grab a bunch of candy and Pearce looks up at me and just starts crying because he didn't get a chance at the piñata :(  So little tiger's stripes start running down his face and no amount of candy or toys could get him to stop crying.  Finally he stopped and then looked at me and said "Mommy is my paint all messed up now?"  Poor baby!!!!!  I took Pearce back to the face painting lady and she fixed Tiger right up!  I'm going to get Pearce a piñata just for fun and we're going to use a bat to hit that thing!