A Conservationist at Heart

Since my background is early childhood education and primarily English language learning, I'm trying really hard to remember to seize those teachable moments to help Cora learn to speak well.  The beach presented some great opportunities to introduce lots of new vocabulary.  Cora learned seagull, beach, ocean (though the way she says it is not exactly for polite company), seaweed, and shells among other words.  It was so funny to watch her because John and I would scrounge around in the surf to find something we thought would be interesting to her.  But, when we showed little missy our treasure (i.e. seaweed or shells), she would tell us "no!" and throw it back into the ocean.  It actually became a game.  We would scrounge around to find something while she yelled "more shells!"  And then, she would take what we found and throw it back in the ocean.  Funny how she has us wrapped around those sweet little fingers!
Shell captured. . .

Shell released!

Kites

One of John's favorite things to do at the beach is fly kites.  Our kites are somewhere in the labyrinth that is our garage.  (Ten years of my teaching materials has made our garage a little bit of a, umm, mess.)  But, John found this cute little kite for Cora to fly.  It's a purple fairy kite - how sweet is that for little missy?!  Daddy got the kite all ready for her.

And, Cora flew it like a pro.

Fun times at the beach!

Beach Vacay

The week before last was VBS at our church.  I got to do Pre-K Bible story and music.  This basically means that I got to sing lots of songs and act goofy all week.  Of course, I loved it!  But, let me tell you, it was exhausting!  I don't know how I managed to teach full time and be pregnant.  So, come the weekend, I was ready for a vacation.  I taught a test prep class on Saturday morning, but afterwards, we headed for the coast.  John has a real soft spot for Port Aransas.  He's been going there since he was a kid.  Now that his generous great aunt has a condo there, we get to go become beach bums more often.

I was slightly apprehensive about how Cora would react.  The last time we went (almost 2 years ago), she (and we, by default) did not have a good time.  But, a lot changes can occur in that amount of time.  This trip, Cora was our little beach bum.  By the time we left on Friday, she was blonder, tanner, and practically a little mermaid.

Cora was a wee bit tentative at first.  She was a little unsure about the waves rolling in and out.  But, soon enough

she was submerged in the water.  You can probably tell there was a lot of seaweed this week.  It was mildly annoying, but in a strange way, I think the seaweed served to filter the water a bit.  The water was nice and clear and gorgeous!  Yiayia and Dado took to the clear water like fish!  Here they are way out in the surf.

The one thing Cora did not care for was the Coast Guard helicopter flying over the beach.  Here she is clinging to my leg and saying "Mommy, hold you! Hold you, Mommy!" over and over.  (And, yes, that is me rocking the maternity swimsuit over my already baby bump.  I like to be large and in charge while pregnant!)

(Don't judge. . .I'm not as pale as this picture makes me seem. . .bad lighting. . .yeah, that's the story!)  We can't wait to take the little beach bum back to the coast for another fun vacation.

You're Two!

Cora, you're two!  Where did the time go?!

Here are a few of your new and favorite things:

• You love Blue's Clues as much as ever.  You've even started singing the Blue's Clues song.  
• You love to run, climb, and jump.  You have been able to jump for a couple months now, and you use the living room ottoman as your personal trampoline.  You also love to play "hands."  You will run up and grab our hands and want us to swing you around in a circle.  We can tell you are going to be our little roller coaster buddy.
• You love the water.  You were a little tentative in the ocean, but you will jump into a swimming pool with no fear.
• You love to kick a ball around.  You can kick with your right foot, and you are working on 'dribbling' the ball.  Looks like your dad and I may have to suck it up and put you in soccer after all!  (But, I think we'll start with gymnastics first!)
• Your vocabulary has absolutely exploded.  You amaze us at how quickly you pick up words.  The other day, out of the blue, you told us 'vamanos.'  Who would have thought you'd be bilingual! ; )
• You are such a good sleeper.  You go to bed without any ado.  Sometimes, you will ask us to go 'night-night' because you are just plain pooped from being on the go all day.  We love how easy your bedtime routine is!
• You are still my little carb queen.  You would eat crackers all day if permitted.  But, you also like most fruit, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, macaroni, grilled cheese/quesadillas, peanut butter, black beans, corn, and of course, fries and pizza.  You kind of steer clear of vegetables, but we sneak them in when we can.
• You love books.  You have your favorites that you rotate through.  You don't like to hear the book just once.  In fact, mommy and daddy have a lot of your books memorized because we read them 4 or 5 times in a row.

We love you so much!  And, we've been humbly thanking God for these past two years.  You are our greatest treasure here on earth.  We are so excited about what the future holds!

One of the Coolest Things Ever

I do not live in the wilderness.  Although, as of late, I've seen and heard of more wildlife in my neighborhood than I would care to admit. . .do tasers work on coyotes?!  So, my biggest hope for our Alaska trip was that we would see some wildlife in nature.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some zoo, but there is something awe inspiring about seeing a critter in its natural habitat. . .from a safe distance, of course!

On the Thursday that we were in Alaska, we journeyed south-ish down toward Seward along the Turnagain Arm.  It was a really pretty drive.  The mountains just kind of rise out of the water.  They were snow-capped and beautiful.  We stopped in a couple of places so we could hike or take pictures.  My favorite was the hike that we took pretty early in our journey.

City slickers on the trail!  Cora wanted to walk, and I'm glad that we let her walk for the first part of the trail.  You'll see why I'm so glad later in the post.  We were told by some hikers that a couple of moose were hanging out near the trail.  And sure enough, after about 15 minutes, we stumbled upon

this young bull (I think!  Remember, I'm a city girl!!)  And, this

big guy.  They were both pretty oblivious to the paparazzi that had swarmed around them in the form of my family.  Somewhere along the way, Cora had retired to the stroller.  And,  I am so thankful for that because a short time later while we were still furiously taking pictures of the coolest thing we'd seen so far, a hiker who passed by casually asked us if we had gotten some pictures of the bear.  THE BEAR!!  Excuse me??!!  We ventured a few more feet around a curve in the trail, and sure enough, there was a momma black bear foraging on the trail.  SO COOL!

So as we furiously took pictures of the momma bear, she caught sight of us.  And, then, an even cooler thing happened, her cubs scampered up a tree right by the trail.  Three baby cubs and a momma all within 100 feet of us!

This is the best picture I have of the cubs, but isn't he a cutie?!  The others are a little higher in the tree.  Without a doubt, this was my very favorite thing that happened in Alaska.  How often do you get to see a bear, much less a bear and three cubs?!  

We commemorated the event with this family picture.

Of course, Cora was thrilled to take the picture!  But, what a great day!

Thunderbird Falls and Eklutna Lake

My brother knew some really great places to hike while we were in Alaska.  He took us to a great hidden gem called Thunderbird Falls.  The hike was a bit more strenuous than I was used to, but it was worth it when you get to the falls.

Cora and Hannah enjoyed peeking from the safety of the observation deck.

What you can't tell from the picture was that Hannah was serenading us with various Christmas carols and choruses from Disney movies.  She is an excellent entertainer!  After stopping at the observation deck, we ventured down to the river bed where you get an even more beautiful view of the falls.

Spectacular!

In addition to the scenery, this was my favorite thing I saw that day.

As if the warning to stay on the trail wasn't enough, the state of Alaska will show you in pictorial form exactly what will happen if you don't heed the warning!  You will not just fall, but you will fall head first off of the vertical cliff!

After lunch in Wasilla - no we did not see Sarah Palin - we headed to Eklutna Lake.  The scenery was amazing, AND there was snow on the ground!

Cora and I played in the snow together before she ran through the little streams feeding the lake.  That water was cold and muddy.   Girlfriend got to ride home in just a diaper!!

A portrait to remember our day.

It's Genetic

Lately, the fact that Cora has no less than 1749 stuffed animals/dolls in her crib has been weighing on my mind.  Due to the onset of the terrible twos a series of unfortunate events this afternoon, all 1749 items ended up on the nursery floor.  So, this evening before bedtime, I asked Cora to choose which animals she wanted in the crib.  I kid you not, she chose all 1749 and even selected two more from the basket of stuffed animals on the floor.  I was a little concerned that she would not be able to find a place for herself to sleep amid the menagerie, but I was not about to take on the apocryphal battle that would come should I ask her to edit her choices!

 I had the chance to ponder this whole sequence of events while John was reading Cora her bedtime story.  It occurred to me that I used to sleep with at least 1700 animals in my bed, too.  I remember lining them all up in a special order.  And, I also remember knowing in the morning which animals were missing (i.e. on the floor) before I looked for them.  And, I turned out normal. . .right?  right?          chirp, chirp, chirp

Here she is among the zoo.  I am really amused by the fact that Tigger (one of them; there are two Tiggers in the crib) has found a very, umm, interesting position to sleep in.  And, poor Bidey has found himself stuck under little missy.  I never hear the animals protest, so I guess it's okay! 

January 7, 2011

I'm not normally the kind of person who plans her New Year's events way ahead of time.  Usually, the day before, we call around and see whose plans we can intrude upon.  (Thank you to all our sweet friends who let us intrude!)  But, this coming year, I can be pretty certain I will be doing one of three things:  cuddling a baby, writhing in agony, or being large marge the baby barge.  That's right, in case you missed my subtle post yesterday, we're having a baby!  Life as we know it will never be the same.

Here's our little teddy graham as the ultrasound tech called it.  I'm 10 weeks along, and normally, I would wait until I'm totally out of the first trimester before we told the world, but it's true what they say about the second baby.  Your body just balloons up.  That combined with the lovely morning all day sickness made it almost impossible for me to keep it a secret any longer.

Cora seems pretty pumped about the idea of a new baby.  In Alaska, she very much doted on baby Miriam her 5 month old cousin.  We'll see how she takes it when the little teddy graham gets here!

Wordless Wednesday

Alaska Zoo

On Tuesday, we experienced the Alaska Zoo.  Y'all know by now that we are zoo junkies.  I like to check out the zoo in whatever city I visit.  Cora gets pretty pumped about the animals, too, so it works out well. . .unless it's naptime!!

Mema and P-pa bought Hannah this nifty wagon with trailer which was so vital for our zoo visit.  It held two kids AND all their gear.  John had the task of manning the wagon.  Here are some of the animal highlights we saw.

Polar Bears

Snow Leopards

Sea Lions

A Pack of Wolves (who put on a howling show just for us - so cool!)

And, a very friendly Alpaca.

There were many other cool animals, but since I am not an expert at using my camera, I mostly got really great closeups of the chainlink fences with a blurry animal in the background.  hee hee. . .guess I need more practice!

Bear Square

On the Monday that we were in Alaska, Celeste took us to this cute little tourist trap called Bear Square.  It was a really kid friendly place where you could try out some of the adventures that most people think of in Alaska, but in a virtual manner.  There was virtual dog-sledding, virtual deep-sea fishing, virtual skiing, and a virtual hot-air balloon ride.  My niece, Hannah, was very adventurous and wanted to try everything.  Here she is mushing. . .

And deep sea fishing (with P-pa's help). . .

It was a big one! Notice the concentration.

Here she is beating me at skiing on the Wii.  (How embarrassing!  Beaten by a 5 year old!)  

I just noticed that we are both holding imaginary ski poles.  Funny!

I decided to try fishing, too.  I really look the part! wink!

It's MUCH harder than it looks!

But, I ended up with the catch of the day.

You can tell Cora was so thrilled about it!  She kept freaking out whenever I'd put on a cap.

Notice I'm the only one with no cap on in this picture.  Cora would have no part of it!

There was also a small theater where they show a really fun and kid friendly documentary about bears.  Hannah cozied up to her new polar friend.  Cora was pretty anxious at first, but she absolutely adored the movie.  She was clapping and squealing for all the cute bears.  By the way, did you know that brown bears and grizzly bears are the same thing?  And, brown bears can be brown, black, and blonde.  Very educational.

After Bear Square, we unfortunately lost John to a grizzly attack.

But, I really can't blame the bear.  It was lunch time!