Valentine's Day

Today Sammie's class had their Valentine's party and I got to be a "party mom". That's what Sammie calls it. We had a great time. Gmaes, crafts, playing, stories and of course cupcakes and goodie bags. The kids were bouncing off the walls with excitement and when it was time to go Sammie stood at the door, looked back at all her friends and said, "Happy Valentine's Day" with such love. So sweet!


My little Valentine girl.

Valentine's snacks.

And her favorite part-crafts!

Ana+Sammie+Cole= F.U.N.

Ana Banana came over this morning for some good old fashion playdate fun. The morning started off with the girls playing house...and yes, Cole was the baby and they were the mommies. Apparently neither of them is willing to be the dad so they had a very modern family approach to parenting this morning! It was sweet, they were reading to him, pushing him around in Sammie's little baby stroller, and feeding him. So funny. I love that they include him and play so well together.
Then the party moved outside where there was swinging, tents, sand, mud and more reading stories to Cole. Then a lunch party and then goodbyes (which consists of hugging to the floor...every time!)
We love you Banana! Can't believe you and Sammer Jammer are going to be FIVE in six weeks. Sigh. You two are growing up WAY too fast.

Morning at the Zoo

Today Sammie had a playdate with Ana so I took Cole to the zoo...just him and me! We don't get to go do Mommy-son things all that often because when Sammie is at school he is usually napping. So this was a treat for both of us. Next year we'll be together a lot because Sammie will be in kinder (sniff, sniff) but we won't get into that...
It was fun strolling along with him, seeing which ways he wanted to go and which animals he loved the most. It's always been the lions-he just loves them. He also loves the baboons, mandrils, Komodo dragons, and zebras. So cute to hear him saying hi to all of the animals and yelling, "WAKE UP LIONS", "WAKE UP CHEETAH". The animals at our zoo are always laying around snoozing-they're very lazy.
Then, we had our little picnic lunch and headed home. It was a great day with my ColeTrain.

Hikers in Training

Yesterday was a beautiful day. We decided it was a perfect day for a little hike around South Mountain. We haven't been in a long time and it was great. Sammie was not that excited about going but the minute her little feet hit those rocks she was off. She loved it. Cole on the other hand was not so thrilled. His little legs were tired. But he was a trooper and hung in there.

Playdates

It's a new year and we are all finally healthy and back "on the scene" with our friends. Thank goodness! The weather has been beautiful and we are so glad that we have such great friends to play with.
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Ana came over yesterday and the girls played and played. Of course there was dressing up, dancing, a fort, and building castles in the sand. But by far the most entertaining part-playing
baseball in the backyard. Their team was "The Ballerinas" and Sammie's new nickname is "The Arm". The girl can hit a ball like nobody's business..hello Spring little league baseball!!!
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Then today we met Mary and Tyer at Desert Breeze Park. We did it all...fed the ducks, rode the train, had some popcorn, chased birds, played on the playground, went on the swings and played hide and seek...sort of. As best you can play with 2 two-year-olds who don't quite understand what it means to hide:) SO entertaining for Mary and I to watch but poor Sammie:) Another great park day on the books.
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Cole and Tyler "making ice cream"!

Tough choices in life...which shovel?

Sammie digging to the very bottom.

Tyler loves the carousel and waved to us EVERY
time he went around. Such a character:)

Cole pinky waving at Tyler and enjoying some
popcorn.