Our class went to the zoo!

Today our class went to the zoo so Ellie and Tatum invited their friend Ava to join them in the fun.

Tatum had to wear her Panda shirt to see the pandas! :)

Peek a Boo! All the girls wanted to get their pictures taken in these photo booths but Tatum thought it was more fun to play peek a boo.

We went up to see the monkeys which we had missed on our last visit and Tatum was very intrigued. I told her they were called Gorillas but she kept calling them Koalas, I guess that's close enough. :)

After the zoo we enjoyed a picnic in the park...

Thank goodness we brought along the snack lady!

A perfect place to practice our somersault. Such a fun day with our friends, thanks girls!

Another day with the animals

All I can say is WOW! We had a wonderful day at the Wild Animal Park. Our season pass to the SD Zoo gives us a season pass to the Wild Animal Park as well so we headed out there yesterday and started off with a fun hot air balloon ride. Oh my gosh, 400 feet up gives you the most amazing view of everything.

And even though I'm afraid of heights, it was a wonderful ride, Tatum loved it.

Then we took an African safari ride and saw lots of wild animals...

Oh wait, that's not a wild animal. But there's the balloon we were in...

They also have a play ground where Tatum made a friend...

And rode on the Rhino (this shot took lots of coaching)

And the day ended with a bite of her first Dove bar, yum!

And a fun ride on the up and down horsey. Except no horse's on this one, all different zoo animals. Tatum wanted a meow so we rode the jaguar, grrr!

All in all, a fun day for free at the Wild Animal Park, we'll definitely be back.

Daddy to the rescue...

The other weekend I was looking for Garrett and Tatum and I heard voices coming from Tatum's room. When I walked around the corner, this is what I saw...

A home made fort! Oh the fun!


Tatum loved it and brought many of her babies in to "camp out".


I even got in the tent, great construction honey!

And then yesterday Tatum refused to nap. After 45 minutes of talking to herself, she started calling for me. Why I went into her room, I don't know, but I helped her get her Mimi (blankie), rocked her a little, and then put her back in the crib and wow, that was the wrong thing to do. She screamed (am I surprised) and screamed and refused to go to sleep. Just then Garrett walked in from work. I handed him the baby monitor with the screaming and sobbing and went out front to make a phone call. When I came back in, there was silence. And then I found this downstairs...

Apparently, Daddy's shoulder was all she needed... :)

Fun Friends

Mattie invited Isaac, Aaron and Tatum over for a play date last Friday and everyone had lots of fun...

First, Isaac and Tatum had a deep conversation. We were never told the topic at hand... :)

But it must have been funny because Isaac had a lot of smiles...

And Mattie was busy recapturing her youth. Oh, the good times...

And Aaron was busy calling in his bets for the upcoming USC game. He tried to talk play strategies with Tatum but since football doesn't involve princesses or babies, Tatum had little interest. If only Isaac were older and not sleeping all the time... :)

Hey Batter Batter!

Garrett's friend asked him to sub on his softball team last night so we all packed up and headed out to the field. Here's Garrett hitting, what a swing!

He played first base, his old position in high school.

And Tatum had to dress appropriately, no smile though.

She was so excited to see Daddy on the field, she had to yell out to him over and over! :)

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!!

Tatum, Grandma and I went to the zoo yesterday and had the best time. We loved it so much, we bought a year pass! This is Grandma's favorite bear, the Sun bear...

And this is Tatum's favorite bear because he played with a ball...

She didn't like the metal polar bear though and it took some coaxing to get her to sit on it with me...

My little monkey...

But Tatum definitely loved the cats the best, especially the big tigers...

And she was very happy to see that the zoo provided "up down horses" as well...

What a cute pair...

At the end of the day, Grandma bought Tatum a little monkey which she was so excited about. She wouldn't let anyone else hold her "baby oo oo" all night. She enjoyed walking around the house holding him like a baby and rocking him. Such a little mother...

Thanks for enjoying the zoo with us Grandma!!

Fun family night out!

Garrett had a wonderful idea that we go to Dave and Busters for some dinner and fun. I didn't know how Tatum would feel about it but as soon as we found the ski ball, she was won over with the place! Look at that concentration, I think she could go pro! :)

Again Daddy, again!!!

Yeah, 50 points!! I've never seen her so excited!

Of course Daddy was more excited about the car and motorcycle games, Tatum not so much.
Plus, you don't get tickets that way Dad! It's all about the tickets!

Tatum and I tried our luck at the race track, we came in second. There should be a prize for second!

And after a wonderful meal and a night o' fun, Tatum was very excited about her doggy/purse and squishy ball. I think we might have to go back again...

Ava's first birthday

Look at this cute birthday monkey! Tatum's friend Ava turned one and put on quite a wonderful monkey bash!

Look at the cake and cupcakes!

Here's Tatum apparently showing the birthday girl how to properly throw a ball...

When Ava decided ball throwing wasn't of high priority at her party, Tatum was happy to play alone. :)

Then Melissa, Ava's mom, gave all the kids monkey masks and we tried to get a picture of them all together. This was the best one of Tatum. Never try to get a picture of five kids sitting in a row with masks on, pointless!

Ava even had a monkey pinata at her party, such an animal!

And it was filled with fish crackers, raisins and animal crackers, yum!

And then it was time for the birthday girl to dive into her cake. She was so polite and gentle about it. We had a wonderful time Melissa, awesome job! And happy birthday Ava!