Some days.....

Some days Mommy forgoes eating healthy.
Some days Mommy and Cupcake make a sweet treat.


Some days Mommy lets Cupcake play with such sweet treat.



Some days she likes it.




But most days, she's my girly girl and doesn't like getting messy....even for chocolate puddin'

Zoo trip 2010

(Still catching up from Chris's week off)

Last year on the hub's stay-cation we took Cupcake to the zoo for the very first time. She continues to LOVE animals so we figured we make another zoo trip. Only this time, we went to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco. It was so much fun to go with her at 17 months. She loves making animal noises and we loved watching her look and look and then discover with joy the next animal.

Her favorite animal both in books and at the zoo right now is the monkey. They had a really neat monkey area with some play elements involved. Check out the joy on cupcake's face:

We also saw all the usual suspects: lions, tigers, bears, rhinos, giraffes, birds, reptiles, mammals, etc. It was pretty hot but we barely noticed until the end as we really were enjoying our family day at the zoo.

We're back...

and that's kind of a bitter sweet thing because absolutely nothing could have been better then a low key week with Dada home. We really enjoy having family time and we just got a full week of it.The first Saturday of the hubs being home we headed to Kiddie Acres for Cupcake First Trip to an Amusement Park. She LOVED it. We started on the Ferris wheel. I rode with cupcake and she was in awe of being able to see over the trees.

Next Chris took Cupcake on the boat ride. Poor Dada could barely fit in the kiddie sized boat but fitting in was the least of his trouble. When the ride started Cupcake was thrilled to be driving and even did a few wooo woooo's at the top of her lungs. Meanwhile going round and round on a 8 ft radius reminded the hubs more of a teacup ride we both avoid than a boating extravaganza.

No park trip would be complete without a carousel ride, right? I made sure Cupcake got on one of the ones that goes up and down and off we went!


Finally came the airplanes. Cupcake has a major obsession with airplanes these days. There is a private landing strip near our home so we always see the cute little private planes coming in for a landing. Cupcake can hear them from miles away and it's like a game who can sign Airplane and point it out first. So, this ride was an obvious favorite. I went in and helped her buckle in first. She made it clear she was determined to "fly" by herself. Just to have the support of the staff I checked with the ride engineer to make sure I need to fly with her. BUT he said she could go alone. Drat. Can't teenagers take a hint from a first time, sometimes protective mother? Kids these days....:) Anyway, I walked out of the gate trying not to cry with the realization of cupcake's growing independence and determination. On one hand those are the dream qualities that I'm working to have on her list of attributes. On the other hand, I was kinda hoping to have a little more time before we full on practiced those. Sigh.

Clearly she enjoyed it....


And apparently I'm not the only Mom who has had to let her fiercely independent first born daughter spread her wings a bit.


Here's a few more from the day and two videos. I strongly recommend clicking the pictures for a larger view. A few of those facials are priceless.

Mixin it up...

We haven't fallen off the face of the earth. We're just enjoying some family time. Chris is off work this week and we're having lots of family fun. I'll catch up on blogging next week and will download all of the evidence of our absence. However, for a certain Gigi who seems to be in withdraw, here's a little teaser.

What better way to prepare for a week with Daddy? Strap on the Mommy/daughter aprons (Thanks Aunt Sheri!) and whip up something sweet. Cupcake proves to be an excellent assistant in the kitchen. If only my finished product turned out perfect every time we could audition for some Mommy and me cooking show and I could live out the dream of cooking, crafting, and homemaking for a career. (A paid career that is). Don't worry, I'm not holding my breath.

More coming next week. I promise it won't be food or sweets related.

Nana's visit

Grandma Sally came to visit this past weekend and we decided she would change her name. From here forward, she'd be Nana to Cupcake and any other grandkids she may have one day. Nana is a word Cupcake can say now so it was an added benefit.

We had a great weekend. We started with a tea party in the front yard, enjoyed meals, I made a carrot cake with local carrots from scratch, saw Chris play soccer, went to the farmers market, had lunch on the lake, made pizzas from scratch, went swimming, worked in the garden, and went to church together. Nana brought Cupcake all kinds of neat treats including a lawn mower and a dress with her initials monogrammed on it. One of the weekend's highlights was Cupcake's first ice cream cone.

Sheez! By the last stream of posts I am sure you think I am a junk food Mom. However, these really are exceptions and that's what makes it cute. Saturday afternoon we were playing with Cupcake when we heard the familiar tune of the ice cream truck. We waved down the driver and Nana treated us to ice cream. Cupcake however decided that Nana's looked more interesting. Here she is with Nana and her FIRST ICE CREAM CONE!!! I think it's safe to say she liked it.

I didn't take as many pictures as I should have this weekend. We were really having too much fun to stop and take a picture so we'll have to just remember. It is so sweet to see Cupcake enjoy her time with Nana. Chris and I even got to run an errand without strapping someone into the car seat. It was a wonderful weekend and we look forward to when Nana will come again!