Zoo Lights

Since we had a zoo membership this year, we decided to head up to see the zoo lights. Instead of going on a rainy day, we settled for freezing cold. We almost didn’t go because today was the day Phaedra decided to start showing symptoms of a nasty cold, but Eleanor overheard us discussing it and got her hopes up. I asked Grant if he wanted to go see the lights at the Z-O-O, and Eleanor perked up, “Are we going to the zoo?” Apparently, spelling doesn’t always work anymore.

Eleanor was excited and impatient the whole time we were gathering warm clothing, packing a sack-lunch dinner, and getting ready to go. After all that, we put her in the (eventually) warm car, took a long drive, and even got a little lost.

It was no surprise that this is how excited she looked in the car.

Phaedra was bundled up as could be.

They had a marching band just past the entrance playing Christmas songs. Listening to them really got the blood pumping on a cold winter’s night. Eleanor seemed impressed by the band, but none of us could stand still for too long in that cold.

Grant wore his headlamp with the red light on so he wouldn’t shine it in people’s eyes. We didn’t see the sea lion at first, but it was attracted to Grant’s light. It kept swimming past to try to get a better look at it. Then it put its face right on the other side of the glass, and would follow Grant as he moved back and forth. It was really cool but also quite humbling standing so close to such a large creature. Grant said that alone made the trip worthwhile.

This spot had lit up fish swimming by in the air.

Anaconda in the trees.

This chomping crocodile was just off the path.

Munching hippos and a few crocodiles lurking in a pool of lights.

When we were stopped at one point, I looked along the side of the stroller to see Phaedra’s curious little mitten reaching out to touch the Christmas lights. It was so cute. Eleanor, of course, joined in when I pointed it out. The picture doesn’t do the moment justice, but I want to remember it.

It just isn’t a trip to the zoo without visiting the (closed) petting zoo. Eleanor wishes she could pet EVERY animal in the zoo.

All the trees below us were lit up, and it was a beautiful sight. The pictures don’t show it as well. Oh well. We had a lot of fun. We promised Eleanor we would ride the train the next time. It had lights all over it, and it would have been fun. We were about to go until we saw the huge, long line. Since we were already heading back towards the car, we couldn’t convince ourselves to wait in that line. I’m glad we went when we had a zoo membership. I don’t think I would have liked to pay the entrance fee just for zoo lights, considering how they had a large part of the zoo closed off. We enjoyed it, though. It was a fun alternative for those who aren’t near temple square.

Our Giving Tree

No, this is not a new form of group time-out.

What are they looking at, you ask? What could be so interesting?

We were getting ready to go somewhere. We pried them away long enough to get their jackets on, and then they were back to putting their heads in the corner.

This is what they found so interesting. A ladybug.

She has a little friend on her shoulder.

Before opening presents of any kind this year, our kids have been able to enjoy a very special gift from our Christmas tree, the gift of ladybugs. I don’t know if any wrapped gift under the tree will be able to compare. Who needs an advent calendar when you can search the house each day and find a new ladybug? Eleanor likes to hold them when we find one, but then she quickly decides she wants it off of her. She doesn’t have the patience to ask me to help her get it off, and plucking it off with her other hand must be out of the question, because she usually just shakes her hand as hard and fast as she can. After several times, I have to tell her she can’t hold the ladybugs anymore if she does that. I just feet too bad for the poor little buggers.

Phaedra isn’t much better. As she musically squeals the word “Buuhhhh!” she jabs and pokes at it with her finger. She squeezes too hard when she tries to pick it up between her finger and thumb, and if we’re being honest, I have had to tell her to spit one out a time or two. After a few times finding a ladybug, Phaedra got comfortable with holding one in her hand and letting it crawl on her. Even when she holds one, she still pokes at it and squeezes it too tight. I try not to let too much torture happen while still letting the girls explore.

I can always tell when one of the girls comes across a ladybug on her own. It isn’t long before they are both crouching in one spot, and I occasionally hear Eleanor’s nervous voice admonishing Phaedra, “Gentle, gentle! Gentle, gentle!”

Each time we have found a ladybug, I let the girls watch it and play with it for a while before I explain to them that we need to let it go live outside where it can find food (and hopefully not freeze to death). The first morning after we brought the tree in and got it set up, as I released our first ladybug, I opened the front door to a scene reminiscent of Hitchcock’s The Birds. I hope all the birds weren’t there feasting on all the ladybugs that might have dropped off the tree as we brought it into the house the night before. I wished my ladybug luck as I flicked him off my hand to what I hope was not certain doom.

I hope our ladybugs make it, and I hope they can recover from their curious observers.

Fuzzy Navel

Tonight, as we were getting the girls ready for bed, Grant was reading scriptures out loud while I changed Phaedra’s diaper one last time for the night. Eleanor was sitting on the couch. When Grant looked up from reading scriptures, he asked Eleanor, “Why do you have your toe out of your jammies?” I looked up to see that Eleanor had unzipped her jammies, pulled out one foot, and was holding on to one of her toes.

“I’m putting lint in my belly,” was her matter-of-fact reply. One look at her belly button showed that she had been taking the lint from her toes (there was plenty of it from her fleece-footed jammies) and putting it in her belly button.

Realization came to me. “She’s trying to be just like you!” I said to Grant. Then I laughed and laughed and laughed.

Gooney Bird

This is my gooney bird husband pretending to ice skate on our frozen pond.

~sigh~

I love that man.

Oh Christmas Tree

Last Monday, we decorated the Christmas tree as a family. I never try to do a theme or specific color scheme with my Christmas tree. We use the same ornaments year after year along with any new ones we acquire over time. This is how it was in my family when I was growing up, and I have such fond memories of when I got to help my mother decorate the tree. For me, that’s what Christmas is about. It’s about creating fond memories as a family that will last a lifetime. It isn’t about trendy decorations or how perfect everything has to be. That being said, one of these years, I really ought to get a decent tree skirt :)

When Grant put up the tree, I kept telling the girls not to push on it or play with the branches because we didn’t want it to fall over. Eleanor got creative and decided that blowing on the tree would be a happy alternative. Phaedra quickly mimicked Eleanor’s actions, and we had two little girls walking around the Christmas tree and blowing on it.

Eleanor and Phaedra loved helping decorate. I handed any non-breakable ornaments to Phaedra, and she dropped them on the lower branches. If I helped her put them on so they actually hung from the tree, she soon decided they needed relocated. We have clusters of ornaments in some areas and patches that have hardly anything. As you can see, our tree is mostly only decorated above my waist level. There are two reasons for this. One is that my waist level is about the highest Eleanor can reach this year, and she likes placing ornaments high on the tree. The other is because I placed the more fragile ornaments where Phaedra hopefully can’t reach them.

The Christmas tree has proven to be quite the temptation for Phaedra.

She knows I’m watching her, so she attacks the other side of the tree.

This is her innocent “I’m just looking at it” smile. If she thinks I’m not convinced by this, she blows on the tree to show that she knows the acceptable way to interact with the Christmas tree.

And maybe I’ll just give it a little bump with my belly.

Even with her mischief that causes all my ornaments to be spread around the house, I have to love that face.