Southwick's Zoo

As many of you know, we don't "do" birthday parties - instead, for each of the girl's birthdays, we take a special day trip with them.  We have been doing this since Elizabeth's first birthday.  Emily turns five this week, so last weekend, we took the girls to Southwick's Zoo in Massachusetts.  I am continually disappointed by zoos, but read that this was the best zoo in New England. Based on our experience visiting other area zoos, it was by far.  We spent more than four hours wandering around the zoo, looking at all of the different animals and exhibits and the girls really loved it.  We also surprised them by inviting Lee's parents to join us - they walked right passed them at the zoo, they were so surprised!  When our day at the zoo was over, we had lunch/dinner at a local restaurant (thank goodness for Yelp) and then headed home.  As we put her to bed that night, Emily told us that it was her best birthday ever - and it's not even her birthday yet!!

Just through the gates and she's already very excited! 

Enormous tortoise. 

It's a whole different experience being with a reader - when we couldn't answer Elizabeth's questions, she simply walked over to the signs and figured things out on her own. 

Emily and Grampy 

Grammy and Emily search for the baboons. 

The chimps were amazing. 

I was a little freaked out about the lack of hair/fur on these guys, but apparently, they are in the midst of shedding for the hot summer. 

The zebras had a huge track of land - but this one kept wandering closer and closer to us. 

Lee tormented one of his buddies all day by posting photos on his FB wall - here he is in action. 

Giraffe 

They had a huge deer feed and the girls were able to feed a bunch of deer right from their hands. 

Majestic 

My favorite sign of the day - and based on some of the human antics we witnessed, even this sign couldn't help. 

Family photo (taken by Grammy) 

The girls with Grammy and Grampy 

Southwick's Zoo street signs.

Connecticut Trails Day

Connecticut Trails Day is an annual celebration of the outdoors organized by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association.  Each year, during the first weekend in June, there are close to two hundred different scheduled walks in several of Connecticut's state parks and forests, including family walks, long hikes and kayak and canoe excursions.  On Sunday, the girls and I decided to join the family hike at Wadsworth Falls State Park in Middletown.  Although this state park is relatively close to our house, we had never visited it and were excited to see what it had to offer.  The Rockfall Foundation, which supports environmental education and conservation, organized our group hike and our group leader was outstanding.  The girls were at the front of the pack for almost the entire hike and really enjoyed learning about different trees, bugs, toads and seeing tadpoles in a vernal pool, up close and personal (they and I were even mentioned/photographed in two different local news blogs - the Middletown Eye and the Durham Patch (there are several photos of the girls in this set)).  Until recently, Emily has not had the physical stamina for hiking but after seeing how well she did this weekend, I definitely think that a lot more hiking is in our family's future!

Ready to hike. 

Water bottle at the ready! 

Checking out the trail map. 

Giant Mountain Laurel - I honestly had no idea that they could grow to be this big!

The girls chew on the bark of the black birch tree, which native americans used to brush their teeth.

Little Falls 

Lucy, on her way back from the vernal pool, with buckets of tadpoles. 

Emily, checking out the tadpoles through the pond scope. 

This was probably the most exciting part of the afternoon. 

The eggs of a yellow spotted salamander. 

Bark from a (fallen) white birch tree. 

Pierced!

Last year, when Elizabeth was first learning to read, I told her that she could get her ears pierced once she became a good reader.  Although her reading progressed in leaps and bounds, Elizabeth has not really been interested in earrings.  She is really good with pain - but not so good with the fear of pain - so sticking a needle in her ear was not going to happen.  A few weekends ago, the girls and I went shopping and they brought their own money.  Emily bought the first pretty thing she laid eyes on, but store after store, Elizabeth just couldn't find something worthy of her money.  She did notice, however, that there were lots of pretty and reasonably priced earrings and so we discussed getting her ears pierced.  I told her that it would hurt, but not as much as a shot at the doctor's office.  When she decided she wanted to do it, we had to call Lee to get his permission (she learned how moms and dads do not make important decisions without consulting each other first!) and to see if he wanted to come along with us for moral support, which of course he did.  We purchased a pair of stud earrings (an adventure in and of itself) and then took her CT Ink to have her ears pierced by a professional.  Although she lost her courage for a bit between the first and second ear, she rallied and proudly left a few moments later with both ears pierced.  Since then, we have been disinfecting and turning her earrings several times a day and having serious discussions about how she can only wear "good" earrings (studs with hypoallergenic posts) for at least 6 months, so that her ears can heal nicely.  I must say, Lee and I were very impressed with her toughness!!

Holding the earrings that she picked out at Claire's.  Nervous anticipation.

X marks the spot. 

First ear.

One down, one to go. 

Jeff was a rock star and was able to calm her down for ear number two.

Holding Daddy's hand helped a little too. 

Pierced ears!

Long Weekend

We spent our Memorial Day weekend close to home, getting a lot of things done around the house.  We did a lot of weeding, planted the garden and mulched as much as we could.  But most of the time, we just enjoyed spending time together.  We went out for ice cream; tried out a new restaurant a few towns over; played in the rain; and ran around until we just about dropped.  It was a fantastic way to spend our holiday weekend!

Playing in the driveway with spray chalk from Aunt Sylvia. 

 Elizabeth and Elizabeth 

Playing in the rain (after the parade was cancelled). 

The rain didn't dampen their spirits, but it resulted in a change of clothes.  Good thing we had a patriotic back-up outfit!

The green bean plant that she started from seed at school. 

Planting with Daddy. 

The pumpkin plant that Emily grew from seed at school. 

First experience with sparklers! 

Emily was initially freaked out but after a while, she came around.