Fun in August

On August 10th, Annalise's little friend Anna turned one. Her birthday party was the Saturday before, but we took the babies to the zoo to celebrate the actual day, which fell on a Tuesday. It was Annalise's first time at the zoo, and a bear was the first animal we saw, who apon our arrival promptly walked right up to the fence in front of us, turned his rear to the crowd, and emitted a shockingly enormous amount of diarrhea. Patrons screamed with laughter, and scrambled as quickly as they could for their cameras. I considered it, but refrained.

Though we saw lots of fun animals, Annalise's favorite part was crawling around on the grass.

Her other favorite part was being held by Audrey...

and also giving Audrey hugs.

Two days later, on the 12th, Annalise's triplet cousins turned two. Since they were in town we could celebrate with them!

Annalise's birthday party was two days later, on the 14th, and two days after that was her actual birthday, which we commemorated by making our first trip to the Children's Museum. I thought she would like it. What I didn't know is she would fall ballistically hog-wild in LOVE with it.

When you walk in you can stand behind a huge "frame" and have your picture taken.

While Annalise couldn't care less about that, they had MIRRORS there. And if you are Annalise, you nearly lose your mind with the joy that comes from seeing yourself in a mirror.

And in fact, you find random mirrors everywhere you can, just to catch a glimpse.

There were fish tanks to peer through,

lighted tables to "ooh" over,

"water falls" to pat,

blocks to play with,

stairs to climb,

pits of debris to play in,

dollies to cuddle,

(even while taking a break for a cuddle yourself...)

but MOST especially...

there was the water table. This was the highlight of the trip for Annalise, and where we spent the most time.

As we dragged her sodden self away, I spotted the smocks, a bit too late.

At home that evening, she played kitchen with Grandma Raychek, one of her favorite activities.

Grandma "fed" Annie,

and Annie "fed" Grandma.

Then Mommy blew her some birthday bubbles,

and it was time for the crazy-haired lady to call it a night.

The next morning, Grandma flew home to California. Annalise was not pleased to see her go.

Annalise spent the rest of the month enjoying her "new" Little Tikes Climb and Slide (best $15 I ever spent on Craigslist!)

as well as her new water table (Mommy knew it would surely be a hit based on the amount of joy derived from splashing in the toilet).

A wonderful August, all around!