Red Meal

Just had to share a picture of Ally and her red breakfast. Red pancakes (with syrup in the small section) straberries and watermelon. Can you tell she liked it?

Zoo with Jesse

This past weekend went to the zoo (again). We have a membership, Ally loves it, and so we go a lot. This is my apology for those of you faithful readers in case you get tired of looking at pictures of the zoo. This trip we picked up my cousin's son Jesse who is visiting from Hawaii and brought him with us. Jesse is 7 and was thrilled to "have a play date" his 14 year old brother has had lots of sleepovers and play dates while Jesse has been spending a lot of time with adults. He was so well behaved, such a gentleman and a sweetheart with Ally.

The peacock was in full bloom when we arrived at the zoo. The kids were a little scared of it, since it hissed at you if you got too close! And it squawks really LOUD.

We walked thru the Aussie habitat and saw the kangaroos jumping around.

Then it was off to the gorillas. Here is the baby walking holding hands with her older sister. An interesting fact we learned at the gorillas is that gorillas eat their poop. Did you know that? We witnessed it and were told its natural and good for them.

The copybara was very active as well. Eating, swimming and playing around.

Ally and Jesse posed for a picture outside the snake exhibit.

Ally was determined to climb up all by herself. It was a bit harder for Jesse but he was not about to let a 4 year old show him up.

The truck at the lion exhibit. Jesse asked if Ally wanted her picture too, but she was tired and very hungry at this point and refused. He was so sweet to ask and so happy to have his picture taken.

After lunch we visited the farm animals. The kids and Becky climbed on the tractor.

Then it was off to pet the goats.

and the pig. Of course we all got a laugh out of watching the pig poop right before he laid down for a belly rub. On our way out thru the barn we saw sheep poop too.

Then it was on to the carousel.

I think the quote of the day was after riding the carousel Becky asked Jesse how he liked it and he said quietly "its kind of for babies" Ally heard him talking and she said "what did you say?" and he without missing a beat, smiled big and looked at her directly and replied "that was awesome". Seriously such a great kid.

Ally was so excited to show Jesse how to feed the budgies. It was mid afternoon by then and the birds did not seem very hungry. But we were determined to feed them.

Here is Becky showing off her bird handling skills just after one pooped on her arm.

Yes - sweet kids and poop was the recurring theme of this trip to the zoo. It sure was a lot of fun.

Happy Birthday Mama

June 23 was Becky's birthday. We went out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant and celebrated at home just the 3 of us.

Ally colored a card for mama.

At dinner Ally and I were making silly faces and growling at each other.

Back at home Ally decorated the cake with flowers and colored candles.

The birthday woman!!!!

Sunny Weather in Nantucket

A few weeks ago, we went to visit Aunt Beth for the weekend in Nantucket. It was gorgeous weather, but still a bit cold.

Here we are on our first stop on the "Island Playground Tour".

Aunt Beth and Ally try to see some fish in the water near Childrens' beach.

Ok, forget the fish - this beach has a PLAYGROUND with a BAR!!!

There also were a set of monkey bars. Aunt Beth and Mama both tried to go across, but neither could do the whole way. But then...here comes Mommy! Giving credit to her major gym time lately, she crossed the monkey bars, and also did several flips (yes, FLIPS!) on the bar Ally had been hanging on. She really showed us up!
Soon, we forgot our humiliation and got a shot of the four of us at the playground.

Ally had a lot of fun coloring at Aunt Beth's. She was really into coloring striped cats.

I may not be able to do the monkey bars...but at least I could climb to the top of the rigging at the playground! That's something, right?
We went to collect shells by the lighthouse. How pretty is that sky?
Our little beachcomber had a fantastic time.

Happy Girl

Ally really is a happy girl. She had a great time with Grandma Debbie last week. Ally was so sad to see Debbie leave on Saturday morning she wouldn't talk to her in the car on the way to the airport. But Friday night Ally danced around wearing her crown and twirling in her new pink twirl sundress. After the dancing Ally and Grandma played "bus" Debbie was the bus driver who driver Ally and Junie B Jones all over, to school, camping, to swimming lessons, to the store. It went on and on and on. It was great to see, and Ally really enjoyed the Junie B Jones books that grandma brought her, and she giggled when ever Debbie called her Ally S _____.

Taking a break from dancing for a picture with Grandma and Mama

Cousin Jesse from Hawaii came to visit this week too - he and Ally had a blast playing a very long pretend game of Cat in the Hat. Becky was the Cat, Ally was Sally and Jesse was Nick.

Having fun at this month's cooking class.

We bought Ally her first pair of goggle this week. She has a new swimming class and the teacher suggested goggles for helping Ally to become more comfortable putting her whole face in the water. Ally is taking lessons with her friends Erik, Stella and Andy from school.

She loves the goggles

especially when mama splashes water in her face

so happy and so much fun

No photos for this next bit but I wanted to write about Ally and gymnastics. She had an evaluation session on Saturday. She has been invited to be in an advanced program and they
asked that she come to evaluations so they could see her skills. It was scheduled for 2 hours, but in the end was only about 90 minutes. 90 fun filled fabulous minutes for Ally. Seriously she loved every thing. It was Ally and one other little girl and then about 8 big girls. They all warmed up together and then did basic tumbling skills. Forward and backward somersaults - Ally kept up with the big girls and held her own we were quite impressed She can also balance well and do a split as well. She practiced her cart wheels for about 20 minutes and then moved on to the balance beam and then the bars. Becky and I watched amazed at what Ally can do. Every time Ally came out for a water break she would run over to us suck down a few sips from her water bottle and race back into the gym, a huge smile on her face the entire time. I smile just thinking about her joy and pleasure during the experience.

Dinner with Family

When Grandma Barbie was visiting we had dinner with Uncle Frank. Ally was so pleased that they were both wearing pink shirts!

After dinner we rode the T downtown to see Frank's office. Grandma wasn't so sure about the T.

Ally however LOVES riding the T and was so pleased.

Group shot of all of us.

Happy Family Day

Today marks 4 years since Ally has been home in the US as a member of our family! We started talking about it a few days ago - how it was a celebration and a big day for us as a family. When Becky and I got home from work today Ally showed us what she made.

A card that reads Happy Family Day!

Here we are on our 4th Family Day.

The back of the card reads Mommy Mama Ally

Inside she drew us each a picture, mine is the dot one on the left and Becky's is the shape one on the right.

After dinner it was cupcake time. Red Velvet with pink frosting. Yummy.

Grandma Debbie is here taking care of Ally this week. Thank you for the cupcakes and helping Ally with the card.

And for a walk down memory lane:

2007 (Ally, Grandma Barbie and I had just arrived in Boston from a long flight and mama was there to greet us.)

2008 at home in Ally's room

2009 celebrating with special friends

2010 all dressed for dinner with Grandma Debbie

Four Years. Amazing. Ally is amazing. How time passes so quickly is amazing. I just feel so blessed and so lucky to have been Ally's mommy for the past four years.