The daily adventures of
Miss Princess and Little Man

Raleigh & Aiden

Monday, March 31, 2008

Sea and Sand

Raleigh has had a pretty exciting couple of days! Saturday Grammy and Grandpa went to Sam's Club and picked up a sand and water table/picnic table set. We split the cost and they kept the little picnic table and we got the sand table. Worked out perfectly! I knew this was something that Raleigh would just LOVE and eventually Aiden could use too.






She had a blast Sunday digging in the sand and running the three boats all over the water side of the table. I think her favorite thing to do is wet her hand in the water, coat it with sand, and shake the wet sand off her hands all over everywhere! She must get this from her father, because I am super careful not to get sand anywhere other than where it belongs - serioiusly, not a grain of sand should be on my beach towel, it drives me CRAZY!

Today we went to the Florida Aquarium. Grammy was off with us again today too, which made it all the more fun for Raleigh! We adults felt like $17 was a little overpriced for what was there, but Raleigh had a wonderful time seeing all the fish!


There is a long "touch tank" filled with starfish and other sea life to touch. Raleigh was a little nervous at first, but once Daddy put his hand in the water, she decided it was probably ok. After this she wanted to touch EVERYTHING! Silly girl.Aiden was mesmerized by some of the lights and brightly colored fish. Here he is gazing up at a fish tank with a glass bottom.




There was a small room with a series of tanks all containing different types of seahorses. This is a leafy sea dragon. Aren't they cool looking?




And, this was by far my favorite sign...Who ever though you could be envious of a seahorse, right?

As we were coming downstairs there was a "Birds of Prey" demonstration on the main staircase. Raleigh, in all seriousness, wanted the hawk to come land on her arm. She kept saying "That birdie needs to come land on my arm!" or "That bird wants to land on Raleigh's arm!"Every time we would walk near where the bird demo was, even after they were long gone Raleigh would stick her arm out so that the bird could come land on it! So cute! At one point the bird was kind of close to us and she put her arm out but quickly pulled it back in, like she was seriously nervous the hawk might just consider her arm a good place to land. It had the three of us cracking up!

Attached to the aquarium is this outdoor water park. Raleigh played here for a little while before we went home!




Daddy and Aiden watching Raleigh play in the water...

Needless to say, today was a day without a nap for Raleigh. We had a couple minor setbacks with the potty training, and I think her being tired probably had something to do with it. We are realizing that if she is AT ALL interested in what she is doing, she will tell you she dosen't need to go to the bathroom, and if you try to take her she won't go because she does not want to miss anything while she is gone. This happened today. She just wanted to go see the fish, and wouldn't use the potty. Result? Accident #1 for the day. By 5pm Chris had a pull up on her and had given up on the potty training for the day. I guess tomorrow we'll start fresh....


Weather permitting, we will be going to the beach to get some seashells for Raleigh's new sandbox tomorrow.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Moon Sand Adventure...

Today we got out the moon sand that Great Mimi and Great Papa gave Raleigh for Easter. I had a sneaking suspicion this should probably be an outdoor activity since it looked pretty messy even sealed in the little packages. I was right. Raleigh, of course, loved this just as she loves any thing that involves making a 'messy mess.'
The bucket is looking kind of empty. I think we'll have to buy some additional moon sand so that there is more to dig in. Plus, Raleigh kept forgetting about the bucket and spilling the sand out on the blanket. I think there is a fairly probability of loss when it comes to the sand.
The set came with these little molds that you pack the sand in to and then make different shapes. Moon sand has the consistency of wet beach sand, which is perfect for molding things!
I tried to get a picture of Mommy and Raleigh. Apparently Raleigh only wanted to show us her nostrils though. Gee thanks Ral!
Meanwhile Chole was running all over the yard chasing lizzards! She especially loves to do this under and around our orange tree where my Orchids are.







And immediately after this activity - Chloe was rewarded with this (please note the sarcasm):


Don't let this sad little look fool you....she knew this was coming after running around in the yard!


Aiden has turned into a super smiley and very interactive little guy! He just LOVES to smile, coo, and talk to anyone who will listen!


The perfect end to the second consecutive day of completely dry panties without any accidents! Raleigh had her very own chocolate ice cream cone! She only like it a little though...

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

This place is a ZOO!

No really....it is a zoo!

Yesterday we went to Busch Gardens for part of the day.
Raleigh wore big girl panties ALL day, and didn't have any accidents!



Grammy took the day off work to go with us!

These Flamingos are HUGE! Nothing like the little tiny ones they have at Disney.



And the nice thing about Busch Gardens is that they have rides too! Raleigh is finally old enough to go on some of the little kid rides by herself! She had SUCH a fabulous time!

While Raleigh was riding the rides, Aiden was doing this:

On the Carousel with Grammy!

Still Sleeping!

Digging in the sand...

These next two pics are from last summer, when she was wearing the same overalls (she wears them to the zoo since they are animal themed) but I wanted to show them off a little! My mom MADE these! Aren't they adorable???

This is what I saw yesterday morning when I went in to get Aiden...I guess he's trying to break free from the crib!