Visit to the Racine Zoo
We spent about three hours at the zoo, but only made it as far as the playground and the petting zoo. Olivia immediately bonded with a tiny baby goat, and spent much of her time admiring it's downy-soft ears.
At the playground we played elaborate games of "where's the little girl" and "I'm coming down the slide" which kept us busy for much of our visit.
We can always come back later to see the other animals.
Successful Flight
Our trip to the midwest marks the first airplane ride that Olivia is likely to remember... and it went pretty well. Upon arrival in Milwaukee, I asked if it would be okay to take Olivia up to see the cockpit. The pilot and co-pilot were very kind, welcoming us, letting Liv get up in one of the seats and even offering her a pilot's hat to wear. (She was shy and turned it down - boy was I bummed about that!)
To top it off, the pilot even took a digital photo of us and emailed it - if that isn't sweet I don't know what is. So big thanks to Captain Larry!
Everytime she sees an airplane now, or a picture of one, she says "The pilot flies the plane in the cockpit." Let's hear it for the expanding vocabulary...
First Glimpse of Lake Michigan
Livvy immediately wanted to go to the beach after a long day on airplanes. We walked down to Lake Michigan where she immediately set to picking up rocks, tossing them in the water and running in and out of the waves. It wasn't long before she got pretty drenched from a wave, which left her feeling cold and cranky.
Reading with Mom & Sarah
Books remain an important part of Olivia's day. She loves to read before bed time and can often be found reading by herself, telling herself stories over and over. One challenge we've found is that we have several picture narratives -- books with no words. Jenny and I each tell the stories with variations that are only know to oyurselevs and Livvy says "Read the words... no not those words, read the other words." When we try to explain that there are no words, she points to the copyright page and insists that we read thsoe words. The explanation hasn't helped.
And you know that Olivia likes you a lot when she asks you to read her a book.


