Comparison: First & Last Day of Preschool

First Day of Preschool - August 2008

Last Day of Preschool - May 2009

This look just melts a Mommy's heart! :)

Wow... it's amazing to see how much she has changed...

Good Music, Puppies, Waterfalls, & Fish

Good Music - Puppies - Waterfalls - Fish - What more could a little girl want? :)

We happened across some sort of Adopt-a-dog Festival at the Riverfront on the way to the Oklahoma Aquarium. They also had a very good (and very young) band playing.

Elise really got into it...






Couldn't sit still any longer - had to start dancing...




After Elise performed her little 'jig' to the band -she was ready to check out the puppies.




After lunch we decided to head back to the car, only to be deterred by the waterfalls...

Next, we headed to the Aquarium. Elise was pretty spunky - ready to check out all the fish - and not rrreeeeeeaally wanting to get her picture made...

So we did the 'twirl and grin' trick real quick. :)

Her favorites were the turtles. They had them in a low tank with a wide ledge the kids could sit on - so she tried to crawl in the tank and almost licked the water - ewwh! The seahorses were a close second to being her favorite - she seemed fascinated with them. She thought a small alligator was a big 'wizword'.

She also enjoyed the touch and explore tank, probably because she was allowed to play in the water and touch things. She really liked the feeding tank, and she almost swiped two different little boys' feeding sticks. She was very sly and almost had it away from them before either of them or I knew what was going on... [sneaky sneaky]

Trip to the Zoo

For the first part of our Memorial day weekend, we loaded up and headed to the Zoo! We tried to time the trip for Elise to take her nap on the way - so she would be fresh when we got there. Didn't happen... she sang and chattered all the way there. However, she did really great! I would have to say her favorites were: the train ride, the children's park, the monkeys, the elephants, and of course all lizards, turtles, and frogs (since she likes to look for those around our house). She must have had quite the day because we buckled her into her carseat about 5:15 and she was "out" at 5:17! Here's a recap in pictures...


Watch out Zoo - here we come!


Daddy and Elise waiting on the train.


All aboard - just waiting for the train to take off.

Elise is crazy about turtles and

"wizwords".

Ice cream was a quick way to "lure" her back into the stroller. :)

Elise really enjoyed looking at the playful monkeys.

Aren't they cute!

Some type of catfish - and yes - it is bigger than Elise.

Elise studying the kangaroos.

Most of the time Elise is very expressive and excite-able - but she just seeemed to "soak" all the new animals in - like a little sponge.

A little family teeter -totter action. :)

Elise imitating a lion roar.

But he was actually snoring...

"Bye Bye Elephants - See you later"

When she woke up back at our hotel room - we had quite the time telling her we had to stay in the room - because she was ready to go back and see the elephants and monkeys. She mentioned them several more times - so even though we didn't get as much reaction out of her as normal - I would say she really enjoyed the zoo. :)

Family Picture

On Mother's Day, we took Baby Dedication family photos for the First Baptist Church of Springdale. We had a total of 24 babies being dedicated! :) Yeah!

When I thought the family photos were done, I retrieved Elise from her Sunday school class to try to capture a quick family photo. (Matt set the camera and handed it to one of our friends to take the picture.)



However, right before we tried to do our family pics, there was another family Matt was capturing images of when I brought Elise outside... so I immediately grab my 'toys/attention getters" to help Matt get the best look/smiles from the family. Well, Elise ALSO becomes the photographer assistant - grabbing other items and putting them over her head and squeaking them or shaking the shiny pompom. In fact, she was much more interested in doing that for me and Matt than actually being in the picture.... hmm... wonder where she gets that from... :)

Riding bikes

Riding "I-cycles" are a newer activity at our house. Most days it consists of making a circuit through our kitchen, living room, and front hall. However, when it's nice outside - that is the favorite choice.

Like Father like Daughter... ;)

Like Father like Daughter... need I say more? :)

Elise and her buddy, Larry the Cummer

**Note** We watch and play with Veggie Tales - a lot. Larry, the cucumber is one of Elise's favorite characters - right after Junior and Laura.

As I was fixing Elise's lunch, I was about to slice up a cucumber. Well, Elise didn't want that at all - she wanted the 'cummer'. ("Cummmmer, cuuuummmer!") So, I gave her the cucumber to see what she would do. Well, she takes "Larry" for a bike ride, all the while hugging "Larry" to her chest, and then decides to watch a movie with "Larry the Cummer". However, I check back later with her, and she is eating it - peel and all! (not a very nice way to treat your buddy!) :)

I think this is a look of slight remorse - but I could be wrong.... ;)