A Day at the Zoo

 Whoa! I think I finally got this blog to make the pictures extra large. That only took 2 years! (Although I think it was Blogger changing their options, not my incompetence...I think.)

Nicki and I took our kids to the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, MA on Friday. It was a gorgeous day, which made for a perfect time. Here are the 3 boys and Genevieve watching a reindeer.

 Checking out the flamingos. Genevieve never did master this fence though. (Of course I lifted her up after taking the picture.)

 Baby girl LOVES to wear her sunhat and sunglasses, which is a nice treat after battling Sebastien over it when he was her age. She often wears her hats in the house too. Unfortunately, I found out that Sebastien is still allergic to sunscreen. The rash that he got from it (especially on his face) is still faintly visible now, 4 days later. I guess it's time to order more of the expensive, organic sunscreen. :(

 I'm not sure what he's doing here. I did, however, just sign him up for Celtic dance class for the summer with his friend Bella. This pose gives me hope for that at least. Love that boy.

 Lunch time photo op with mommy.

 She saw a sheep and immediately started singing "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and started dancing. That's what she's doing here. Love that girl.



Inches away from a black bear.

All tuckered out after a good morning of walking around the zoo...

...times two.

Look...

Look what we bought. Today.

I'm excited. We're buying this exact Honda Odyssey that had 1 mile on it before we test drove it. After a few other features are put on it, it'll be ready Wednesday.

Woodpeckers

Before I get to the woodpeckers, here is Sebastien fishing in the (remaining) pond behind the house. He proudly came home with Daddy to tell me that he caught a stick. :-)

 This morning Dan spotted this guy pecking away at his favorite tree in our yard. Note his many other holes from previous times. I think the oldest hole is about 3 years old and some are from last spring, and now there are a few more from today. I wonder if it's been the same woodpecker returning to one of his favorite trees or if it's a different one who saw all the holes and figured it must be a good one.

Even more exciting - his buddy (or mate?) joined him after about 20 minutes. By that point we were filming instead of snapping pictures. See the video below. His friend joins around minute 1:53. The friend stayed for about 15 more minutes until it flew away and then did a crazy woodpecker call (seriously it was very similar to Woody the Woodpecker) for about 5 minutes until the original one flew off to join him. I wish I was able to record the call. Oh, and these are called Pileated woodpeckers.

My Little Models

Here they are modeling the wonderful sweaters and hats that Grandma knitted for them.

And here they are with Bella and Avalynn modeling some of Genevieve's new dress-up attire. It's a good thing Sebastien doesn't mind joining in. As you saw in the last post, he especially likes the green Tinkerbell wings and skirt.

Two little princesses sharing secrets.

Genevieve's 2nd Birthday

Can you believe it?! Baby girl turned 2 on Saturday. I am pretty sure these have been the fastest 2 years of my life. Someone explained it perfectly to me recently by saying this time as a stay-at-home-mom consists of SLOW days but lightning fast years. I couldn't agree more.

Anyway we decided to take the kids to the mall for Genevieve's birthday since they always have a good time there. They played on the indoor playground, had lunch at the food court, rode on some quarter rides and even got to see "Cat in the Hat" and give him a high-five. In the evening, we had some friends over for dinner and everyone had cupcakes in Genevieve's honor.

Can you find her cupcake in this picture? It's kind of hiding.

On Sunday I put the finishing touches on her birthday cake. Genevieve loves the color orange, so I made the doll's dress orange. I was happy that she was so excited about the cake and called it a "princess."

At Grandma and Grandpa's house, Becca and I smile with the birthday girl and her cake.

Blowing out the candle.

Yum, yum, yum.

Genevieve is sporting her new backpack and checking out her new armoire full of dress-up clothes.

Someone else likes dressing up too.

Later Grandpa, Sebastien and Rita did a puzzle.

Mommy and the birthday girl.

We love you Genevieve!! ...and we can't wait to see how you handle your terrible twos!

Green Velvet Cake

As you know, Genevieve's 2nd birthday is in 3 days and I needed to practice making her doll cake. Since I've never baked a cake in a glass bowl and then turned it upside down to make the skirt of the doll cake, I decided this was something I should try before the big day. Luckily I had bookclub last night, which gave me the perfect excuse to 1. try the technique and 2. make green velvet cake (for St. Patty's Day) to bring. Thanks to www.lovefromtheoven.com for the idea. (By the way, if you love baking desserts, this is an awesome website.)

 The cake turned out well I think and my fellow book-clubbers seemed to like it too. Speaking of liking, I am really liking this near 70 degree weather we're having today. Spring is on it's way!

And what's not to like about that?

(Bella and Sebastien)

Easter Pictures!!

I'm happy to show off the Easter pictures we took at the mall this morning. Here they are!!

Despite a very uncooperative 2 yr old (well she'll be 2 next week), the pictures came out pretty well, I think. Genevieve only smiled as many times as you see her smile below. Sebastien, on the other hand, was a super-star. Genevieve loved to pet the live bunny, but refused to look up from it or smile...and the bunny kept hopping away to hide behind the backdrop. Sebastien got a decent picture with the bunny (awkwardly) perched on the back of his neck - see further down. The photographer also got a good one of Sebastien with a finger up his nose. While tempted, I opted not to purchase that one. :)