Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Chinese New Year at school! Such a fun time for us all...I was thrilled to sub for another parent helper and get to be the one to join in the party.

Chopsticks (I need some of these helper chopsticks!), fried rice, dumplings, fortune cookies with rice pudding and a dragon dance!

Happy Chinese New Year! It's the year of the snake...sssssssss!

Nature Baby!

Today is a gift...we are thankful! (and always happy for surprise humor)

Us lately…

Oh, poor blog. I’ve neglected you! Not a ton to report, however, at this time. We haven’t done much in the way of exciting things lately, as the calm season has just about passed us by and the schedules are getting insane again (and not just with social events…grr). I can’t believe March will be here NEXT WEEKEND!

Here’s a note to catch up on things past for the Adamo team:

1) Sophia’s Princesses & Knights birthday party – had a great time playing with our buddies, Jill & Alexandra, at the party but J and I couldn’t help but comment on Pouty Paula (the birthday girl). Why do some kiddos always turn so grouchy at parties?! We still had a great time. So much majesty! (though Jill and I are both sure the icky sicky virus our ladies caught was from someone at this party…but who?!?!)

2) Penny’s indoor bath – what do you do when its yucky/cold outside and your huge dog needs a bath? You first try taking her to the “DIY Doggie Bath” place, but drive there and realized its closed for good. You then hope to send her to the groomer but realize she still needs those update shots from the vet. Sooo…finally, this happens:

Little treats from Bridget to keep Penny from jumping ship, many Bridget shots with the camera, and eventually a clean pooch. Fun insanity! Oh, then it was immediately time for a Bridget bath. So fun when we found the pink foam my sisters and I used to play with when we were little!

3) Nail Painting Party at Daddy’s School – sweet Jill invited us to share some good, old fashioned girl fun at a great event hosted by one of the teachers at Jonathan’s school. All the 6th grade girls were invited to participate in a mini-workshop after school focusing on how to be a good friend to others, all while getting to do manis on each other! Teachers were invited, too, and daughters were welcome. What a treat! Jill and I were tickled at how much we were getting to see each other…again, what a treat!

On another note, we’re experiencing some new phases of child development over here and most of them are NOT PRETTY. Sheesh! This mom is really being tested, but we’re making it through always with the knowledge that tomorrow is another day…but man, has it been rough. Maybe another reason I haven’t done much snapping of pics lately…way too many sour faces from my noodle doodle!

That’s another post for another day. For now, I think I’ll take a quick nap (that’s right, I said it – I’m going to take a NAP) on the couch while B sleeps. I’ll consider it a gift to myself after staying up past 3am the other night to finish a work assignment. Ah, school. How you keep me on my toes .

Zoo Date with Mom and Mimi

Seeing as how we were gifted a family membership to the Dallas Zoo by a sweet friend a few months ago (and still hadn’t used it!), AND its “Penguin Days” during January and February ($5 admission for EVERYONE, EVERYDAY)…we just couldn’t say no to a Zoo trip with Mimi. I let B play hookie from school and we skipped over to South Dallas. It was BEAUTIFUL outside!

After the carousel, we headed right to the Children’s Zoo area before it got too crazy. Families sure were taking advantage of the great weather and discounted tickets!

First stop – PONY RIDES!

Mystical barn owl:

We could have spent two hours just in the children’s area:

 

Then it was time to feed the birds. Wish I had a good picture of the 6 or so birds that swarmed me upon entry into the area (the pic below is miliseconds after the 2 on my head flew away). The Fort Worth Zoo birds seemed pretty full at our last visit and didn’t want to eat…NOT the case here! I had birds on my shoulders, arms, hands, and head! I was frozen stiff, but they weren’t scary at all. Enough so that B allowed the zookeeper to place a really neat bird on B’s arm…for about 5 seconds. Same bird that REALLY wanted into Mimi’s camera bag. Zookeeper said that’s why this bird has such a long, skinny beak!:

Fuzzy, furry monkeys and the koala! He was AWAKE for once!

On to AFRICA!

We enjoyed a yummy lunch in the company of some lazy Simbas, soaking up the sun:

Found a friend when visiting the silly penguins:

You better believe a good, quality nap was had at the end of this awesome morning! In fact, I think both B and Mommy took a nap! Shhh…that’s NEVER happens!

Plan your trip during Penguin Days while you still can. The Dallas Zoo, while not a big as its Fort Worth cousin, is really becoming a fabulous place. Can’t wait for our next trip!