Oliver & Mommy go to the zoo with Aunt Tricia & Ace

Today we had so much fun at the Dallas zoo. Oliver & Mommy met Aunt Tricia & Ace at around 9:30 and we spent the morning exploring. The first thing we did was ride the monorail to explore the Wilds of Africa. This was Oliver's first train ride and he wanted to be a big boy and sit in his own seat, rather than on Mommy's lap. Next, we went to the children's area where Oliver & Mommy fed birds, then Oliver & Ace rode horses (both real and wooden) and were able to pet a guinea pig and rabbit for the first time. Next we saw the monkeys, tiger, giraffe, then the elephant, and last it was time for a carousel ride. Oliver picked out a camel for his first carousel ride and he had so much fun. We loved spending the morning with Tricia & Ace, thanks for coming guys!

Video of Oliver riding a wooden horse

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Oliver loves to play outside

As is common amongst most children, Oliver loves to be outside. However some days it is just too hot and humid to be out exposed to the elements. When that is the case, we open the garage, bring out a fan, and play with his outside toys (trucks, train, lawn mower, wheel barrow, tricycle, bubble blower, etc.). Today was a very hot day and Oliver would take breaks in front of the fan and long drinks of water to help cool himself off. Here are some pictures of our little playing dressed only in his crocs.

Oliver's hand & foot paintings

Oliver had so much fun creating pictures with paint today, although I think most of the paint ended up on him rather than the paper!

Happy Independence Day!

We woke up early this morning and went to the Plano Independence Day Parade. We found a nice place to watch the parade under some huge live oak trees that provided lots of shade. This was Oliver's first parade and he loved seeing the people, the motorcycles, the fire engines, the floats, and everything else about the parade except the heat. We took these pictures while we were waiting for the parade.

On the way home Oliver was practicing his counting: one, two fire engines!

Daddy was able to snap a rare peaceful moment of Oliver and I snuggling before bed time.

Oliver has a brand new kitchen

As you may already know, Oliver absolutely loves to play with pots, pans, spoons...basically anything that resembles cooking. Lately, I have been searching for a kitchen that was not feminine and that was big enough he could use it for years. I finally found it and Oliver just loves it. He sat on the floor with me as I put it together for him and he would get so excited every time something new came together. He squeals every time he sees the kitchen and weeks later he still plays with it daily.

Oliver made his friends breakfast in his new kitchen...he was so proud!

We have a turtle living in our back yard

We woke up this morning to a turtle crawling around on our back porch. Update: The turtle actually lives under some bushes in our back yard and comes out whenever the sprinklers are on.

Oliver is a silly turkey

Sandra Boynton is my favorite children's book author. Her books have darling characters and Oliver and I love her rhymes. One of Oliver's favorite books of hers is called "Blue Hat, Green Hat". The book is about a turkey who puts all of his clothes on the wrong way. We always exclaim "silly turkey". Well lately, every time Oliver gets dressed he wants to be a silly turkey. This is his silly turkey/caveman look that I captured today.

Oliver is twenty months old

Here are some pictures that I really liked from Oliver’s nineteenth month, several of which were taken on Memorial Day. We spent a few hours on Memorial Day at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve. The day was mainly overcast, so we were able to snap some good pictures of Oliver exploring and playing in his very first stream which he loved. The temperature here has been very hot but little Oliver still enjoys spending as much time as possible outside. We have had some fun searching out parks that have more shade so the swings are not so hot. Oliver’s language exploration has really blossomed this past month. He tries to say almost everything we ask him too (only a portion of which actually sounds like the real word), but it is very exciting to see his vocabulary grow daily. He is such a blessing in our life and we are all very happy!