Avery's kindergarten class took a field trip to the zoo last month and I was very glad to be able to go as well. We were pretty much free to roam as we pleased and spent the day waking around with her friend, Giana and Giana's mom. Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo is rated #1 family friendly zoo in the country. What a fun, fun day!
Nope it's not just you - Avery is getting so tall!!
Avery and Giana
It's true. Spring is definitely here! We are loving the weather lately and try to enjoy as much as it as we can before it starts to get unbarably hot. We recently discovered a local park that was totally redone and it is now pretty nice. I always feel so blessed to have so many beautiful parks and playgrounds to take the girls to. I don't remember having so many growing up and that's likely because you could only use them for a few months out of the year and the snow and cold winters would take its toll on the playground equipment. 
This park also happens to be right next to a train track. Twice while we were there you could hear a train coming and every child in the park would stop what they are doing and yell, "TRAIN!!" Then they would run over to the fence and watch it go by. As soon as the train was out of sight everyone went back to playing and continued to enjoy the day. Avery is the one in the white shirt.
Paige is always wanting to know more. You really can't get anything done or go anyway without having Paige right on your heels asking a billion questions. She is so inquisitive. It's certainly one of the things that I love most about her but at times it can drive you crazy!! A few months ago the thing she was crazy about wanting to know was how to write her name. She has been able to spell it for quite some time but recently asked her teacher to show her how to write it. Within two weeks she was writing her name on EVERYTHING. You can imagine how excited she was when I told her she would need to write her name on her Valentines for school. I couldn't print them fast enough. And yes, I printed them online because her party was Fri Feb 11 instead of Mon Feb 14 (not sure why) and I totally forgot until about 7pm on Thurs Feb 10 and it was raining so I was not going to store. Turns out she picked Sponge Bob valentines and wrote her name on them all in no time flat. She did, however, ask if she should write her first and last name or just her first name. I told her first was just fine. :) Overachiever.
We were excited to have Aunt Maquel and Sofie visit for a few days last month. It was fun to have a cousin around and the girls all played so nice together. Of course a trip to FL for them would not be complete without going to the butterfly park. We had beautiful weather for most of the week. The 5 degree temps they went back home to were probably a bit of a shock after 60 and 70 degree weather here. Love Florida! 
Lots of Play Doh was molded, cut, formed and played with while Sofie was here.
Uncle Jonathan bought the girls gift cards to Build A Bear so we headed out the day after Christmas to make a couple new "friends." Avery picked a bear and Paige picked a kitty.
Putting the heart in the bear.
Paige stuffing hers.
Avery making a wish for her bear by rubbing the heart on her head.
"Cinderella's" birth certificate.
Paige's kitty, "Jasmine" was not feeling well when we got home. :)
Ok so I am slacking on the blog again. You would have thought that since I was home for almost two weeks at Christmas and New Year's that I would have found a few minutes to actually post something about Christmas. Not so. Instead I prefer to wait until February, Well, February is here so time to post something. 
Opening gifts Christmas morning.
In case you didn't know, pillow pets were one of the hot items this year. My girls are crazy about them!
