Best Zoo Trip EVER!

On February 28th, we took grandma with us to the Brookfield Zoo (for FREEEEE!)

We were told that the cold weather would make the animals more active and that it was the best time of year to see them, but I was still skeptical...

Until we got there! And let me tell you, it was DEFINITELY cold and the animals were DEFINITELY more fun to watch!

We saw sleeping wombats that looked like giant dead rodents sprawled out all over the place...

And witnessed a pretty gnarly fight between two Addax (One of which was missing a horn!)

We watched wild dogs hunt down and kill a tree as a pack (yes, a tree.)

Then we took a few small detours to play on some of the fun statues they had in the park before heading over to see the giraffes.

Which brings us to the awkward moment of the day! The giraffes started acting pretty weird while we were watching them and then all of the sudden two of them started to mate. Nature will be nature, but I wanted to get out of there before the girls started asking questions! I hurried them out while a man in the back chuckled at our blushing cheeks and quick retreat. Meanwhile I was pleased to have avoided the graphic questions that would surely come from my 4 year old. 

Unfortunately, I found out the next day that she had reserved all the embarrassing comments for her preschool class to whom she animatedly exclaimed that her favorite part of the day was watching the giraffes jumping on top of each other!

Besides the excitement with the giraffes, we also got to hear this tiger roar repeatedly as he stalked his territory...

and we got to see this snow leopard stalk Lily through the glass barrier!

Then we stopped for some random photo opportunities before heading over to the...

DOLPHIN SHOW!

We sat down and ate lunch while we watched the dolphins do tricks. Then the host asked a trivia question and I got the answer right. I was rewarded with a water proof camera case, some playing cards with animals on them, and a giant splash from the dolphins! Brooklyn was a little mad that they got her wet at first, but once she started to dry out she thought it was pretty awesome!

After the show, Brooklyn called her daddy on the phone and told him all about our awesome adventure...

Grandma played with the girls on the playground...

And Lily shouted Shakespearean sonnets into the sky!

When all was said and done, we finished off the day with a trip to the indoor aquarium...

where we got to visit with the penguins (Lily's FAVORITE animal!) It was seriously the best zoo trip I have ever been on (despite the ridiculously cold weather) and I am so glad I got to share the experience with my mom and my sweet kiddos!

The Wonderful Thing about Mothers...is Mothers are Wonderful Things!

The day after my dad left town, my MOM came flying in!!! We were sad that they couldn't vacation together, but felt very blessed to be able to spend time with both of them on our home turf!

As if the girls hadn't been spoiled enough by Grandpa, Grandma came bearing gifts as well. Both girls received a stuffed animal and tons of hugs and snuggles from Grandma Uda. But since she arrived in the evening, celebrations were cut short and we had to usher the girls off to bed with promises of fun when they got up in the morning.

The next day (after a little grandma time) we packed up the girls and went grocery shopping. My mom filled our freezer and pantry up in a way that we've never experienced before! And lots of food meant two weeks worth of very happy, VERY full bellies! (THANKS MOM!)

The day after our marathon-grocery-shopping-trip was Friday, and to our surprise... it SNOWED! Normally that wouldn't be unusual for this time of year, but it was only the second or third snow storm of the season and the FIRST where I actually had to shovel my own driveway! Me and the girls bundled up and left grandma inside to stay warm. Then we hurried on outside and began our hour long task of shoveling the snow. I was pretty sore when all was said and done, but the girls had a blast!

As for grandma...well she was busy making hot chocolate for us all and when we came inside we got to enjoy a day snuggled up by her side watching movies and drinking cocoa!

On Saturday, my mom's best friend Sally (from JUNIOR HIGH) came and picked her up for a weekend sleepover. She lives only about an hour northeast of us so it was the perfect opportunity for them to reconnect. Then on Sunday we went to pick my mom up and were treated to an AMAZING pork chop dinner complements of Sally and her amazing cooking skills!

Monday morning we decided to check out the new library down the street from us. (New to US, but not new to the area!) The girls had tons of fun exploring the building and playing with the train sets and Lego's with their grandma.

Soon I left the girls with their grandma so I could get a library card, but to my dismay, I found out that I live in an "unincorporated area" and thus, do not receive public services without a fee. (i.e. if I want to check out books at my public library, I have to pay $170 for a library card!!!) Needless to say, I was pretty disheartened by the news since the "FREE" library was always my fall back outing when it gets cold outside. But grandma had an idea to cheer us all up...

And she treated us to lunch at Culver's!

Where she taught Brooklyn how to shoot mommy in the face with her straw wrapper...DOH! (Naughty Grandma!)

And Lily and I enjoyed sipping down our Root beer whilst planning our adventures for the rest of the week!

To be continued...

A Long Layover... that we LOVED!

On Saturday, February 18th, my Dad stopped in Chicago on an extended layover so he could visit us over the holiday weekend!

He came bearing MANY gifts to spoil us with, including hotel shampoos and lotions, balloons, beads, puzzles, hatching dinosaur eggs, glowing masks, buckets of candy, and multiple coloring books! Lily especially liked the beads and balloons and kept herself busy for hours stringing the beads on pipe cleaners and chasing the balloons around our living room.

Brooklyn, on the other hand, had been waiting for a month for Grandpa Uda to come and teach her how to use the rock painting kit that Grandma Hanks gave her for her birthday. She stuffed her cheeks with the candy grandpa brought, and then wasted no time in persuading him to sit and paint with her.

On Sunday, we went to church and then came home to some good naps and a dinner with our friends the McConkies. After the McConkies headed for home, Brooklyn convinced Grandpa to sit and color with her again.

She drew him a picture of a mermaid, while he drew a picture of her favorite Pegasus/Unicorn. As you can tell, she was tickled pink over the amazing resemblance. (Which she should have been since she sat and nagged grandpa about every detail while he was drawing it!)

Monday morning soon rolled around and we woke up to a dance party! Despite his bad back, grandpa couldn't resist Brooklyn's invitation to dance with her when she said, "Do you want to come play with me Grandpa? We can dance your wrinkles out!"

And by the time they were finished dancing, I think he may have actually lost a few wrinkles... as well as his breath!

 

After dancing , we got dressed and drove over to Ty Warner Park. It was deceptively cold with the humidity and wind chill, but that didn't stop the girls from enjoying all the playground toys with their grandpa.

Their favorite part was when grandpa pushed them on the swings. If you look close, you can see the pure joy on their faces!

Soon we were chilled to the bone, so we packed up the kids and drove over to Costco to pick up a few treats and enjoy a quick meal. Lily was being pretty ornery by then and didn't enjoy the pizza we gave her for lunch, or our very presence in her midst for that matter.

 

But Brooklyn was in HEAVEN and enjoyed every last bite of her cheesy treat!

When we were done eating, the girls went down for a nap and me and my dad watched the Hulk and enjoyed some one-on-one time. Then Kevin got home from work, we ate dinner, had FHE, put the girlies to bed, and watched the movie Abduction before heading to bed ourselves.

Anyway, my dad had to leave early this morning and get back to work. I was very sad to see him go but SO grateful that his boss allowed him to extend his layover to come see us. After he drove off for the airport, I wanted to sit around and mope for the rest of the day, but then I remembered... my mom will be here tomorrow to spend 10 days with us! WOOHOO! We are truly blessed to have so much family and so many friends who have been willing and able to come visit us out in Chicago land. Thanks to all of you who have made the effort. We enjoy every second we get to spend with you.

Lily is 2!

On February 12th, our sweet little Lily turned 2! Here is a little of what she has been up to lately:

She LOVES to color with her big sister... and unfortunately, she also loves to eat markers, crayons, chalk, and paint.

She is a very snugly little koala bear and would prefer to be in our laps if there is ever a reason to be sitting down.

The girl can EAT! She is not nearly as chunky as her big sister was, but she eats twice as much. Any time Kevin and I go into the kitchen she will start shouting, "I'm coming mommy!" and then she will pull herself up to the table and giggle happily until food is placed in front of her. She is currently eating 7 times a day!

Lily loves to read, and hide in random places. She can often be found in a box, laundry basket, or closet, reading books and singing the theme song for Dora the Explorer. Speaking of which, she also worships Dora, Diego, and Curious George.

She is a BIG tease. She loves to run away from us while laughing hysterically, tickle, tackle, and tumble, be thrown around by her daddy, play tag and hide and seek with Brooklyn, and run into the couch at full speed over and over again just to see my reaction.

(Oops, I spelled "horrid" wrong and can't fix it now...my bad!)

Lily also has a moody side. She makes some of the meanest crusties I've ever seen, picks on, harasses, and beats up on Brooklyn frequently, can plant herself solidly to the floor if she doesn't want to do something you told her to, and will revert to cat mode if she thinks she is in trouble...

Yes, "Cat Mode". Whenever Lily feels busted or unwilling to comply, she simply drops into cat position and meows. If you chew her out, she will meow. If you tell her not to meow, she will meow. And let me tell you, as a parent, you begin to feel very stupid arguing with a cat!

Lily is also very physical. She can climb over anything and loves to jump, slide, and run. But she likes to use her fine motor skills as well. She is very into puzzles, Lego's, and stacking ANYTHING!

On the brainier side of things, Lily has learned to sing the ABC's, say her prayers, and repeat scriptures. She also likes to count to 20 and tries to count to 100 by tens.

Her birthday was on Sunday, so it was pretty low key. We went to church and when we got home, we let her open presents before nap time. She got a laptop from her grandma (so she would stop stealing Brooklyn's) as well as the cute "princess" dress she is wearing in the picture.

And Kevin and I got her this letter magnet toy to play with while she waits for one of her many daily meals to cook! We let her play with her new things for a minute and then put her to bed. Later that evening we had a nice dinner with our friends from Green Trails Apartments, gave Lily a birthday doughnut, and then put her to bed.

We are so grateful to have Lily in our lives and look forward to watching her continual growth. She is a very special little person and we are lucky to have her!

January: Pack, Party, & Paint!

Now that I finally finished updating my blog on 2011, it is time to catch up on 2012! 

January was a crazy month for us. As soon as we got back from vacationing with the Riggs we started to pack and look for a new house to rent... and by the end of the month we were living in a new home!

The whole process was really kind of nuts! We didn't know where we were going to live, just that we had to be out of our townhouse by the end of the month. During each day of the week I would pack up the non-essentials until the girls went down for a nap. Once they were down I would search the internet for listings of houses to rent. And as soon as Kevin came home at night we would head out to view different places.

We saw some REALLY ghetto homes but with the help of an AMAZING realtor, we found a place to rent with 2 weeks to spare! During those 2 weeks we were frantically packing everything else up and getting utilities and all that jazz switched over to the new place.

At first I felt bad that the girls got neglected of "mommy time" while I was packing... but then they started making forts and castles in the box maze that was our living room, and Brooklyn started making some pretty interesting art out of the boxes and other little things she found laying around!

Not only did the girls find ways to entertain themselves, but Grandma Hanks came out to help with the move and she threw Brooklyn an awesome little princess party amidst the chaos. Grandma managed to avoid our cameras (mostly with threats) but she is the one presenting Brooklyn with the cake in this picture.

Brooklyn didn't seem to mind that her birthday was right in the middle of our big move. She was convinced that we got her a new house for her present and that Grandma came out JUST for her birthday party. Plus, she got everything she asked for, including a "princess" dress, a rock painting kit, and a new umbrella!

But the partying couldn't last forever! Soon all the big kids had to get back to work. There were several things that we needed to fix at the new place and we also painted and cleaned it since the landlord and/or previous tenant neglected to do so. But it was fun painting in good company and great to have the extra help from Kevin's mom.

On a more random note, right before we moved in we did some last minute shopping to get an area rug, some curtain rods, and a new sofa for the living room. Kevin took this picture of Lily when we were picking out the sofa and I thought it was so cute I just had to post it!

Anyway, when moving day came everything went off without a hitch. We had the first batch of helpers from the Elder's Quorum show up at 9am to pack our things in the truck and drive to the new place, and had arranged to have the second batch show up at our new place 3 hours later to unpack. But by the time the second batch showed up we were already moved in! So instead, we enjoyed each other's company and a little pizza before sending them home with our thanks and appreciation.

It was a very busy month for the Hanks family but we are now happily unpacked and enjoying our new place. We are very grateful for ALL the help we received from family and friends and feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives. Also, a special shout out goes to Mom Hanks for flying out here JUST to help us move! It was so much easier with your help. We will post more pictures of the house as it comes together, as well as some pictures of the fun stuff we've been doing in February. Until then... PEACE!