Giraffes and Ice Cream Cones

For our Friday night date night, the hubbie and I went to the zoo for their annual “Brew at the Zoo” charity event.  The highlight was (surprisingly) not all the free beer and food samples.  The highlight for me was some alone time with these tall guys and gals.

I love giraffes.  I love them because they are tall like me.  I think their skin color is breathtaking.  I was able to feed a giraffe but darn my camera phone.  The photo came out really blurry.  I need a new phone, but that’s a story for another day and a wish for Christmas.  But I did get this cool shot.  Check out her huge tongue!

On Saturday night we all went out for a family dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.  I was craving some avocado egg rolls.  And a glass of pinot.   The kids love the bread basket and they split the pasta dish from the kids menu.  (That was a tip from our waiter and he was right. It was an enormous portion.)  We walked over to the ice cream parlor for dessert. We ate our drippy cones outside on a bench while the sun was setting. 

Annabel was done first and opted to do a little light reading while she waited.

You gotta love Florida.   We’ll still be hanging outside in our T-shirts and shorts (and Hello Kitty skirt sets) for at least another month.  Happy October.

Yo Gabba Gabba! Live!: Winners!

Thanks to everyone who entered the Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! contest!I used a random number generator to pick the winners.

FIRST PRIZE:

A four pack of tickets to KIA Motors Presents YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE! THERE’S A PARTY IN MY CITY! The four tickets are for the 7 PM show on October 27th at the Times Union Center for the Performing Arts in Jacksonville, Florida.

The winner is:

#6.  The sixth comment is from Rachel Simpler.  Congrats Rachel!

SECOND PRIZE:

- The Nickelodeon DVD “Yo Gabba Gabba!: Clubhouse” released on June 15 and featuring performances by musical guests Erykah Badu, The Killers, Jimmy Eat World and more.

 - And the “Yo Gabba Gabba!: Music is Awesome Volume 2” CD.   Jam-packed with Super Music Friends & all of the songs you’ve grown to love including those from Weezer, MGMT & Jimmy Eat World.

The winner is:

#5.  The fifth comment is from Cecilia.  Congrats Cecilia!

Reminder that the YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE!: THERE’S A PARTY IN MY CITY! tour will hit 60 cities across North America and you can get your venue and ticket information by clicking HERE.

Don’t miss out on the fun!

Yo Gabba Gabba! Live!: Win Tickets!

So there’s this kids television show called Yo Gabba Gabba!  Have you heard of it? 

YES? 

Of course you have!  And even the celebrity dads are getting in on the fun! 

VERY cute, Brad.

Well, DJ Lance Rock and the cast of Yo Gabba Gabba! have put together a live show for families and they are coming to a city near you!It’s the YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE!: THERE’S A PARTY IN MY CITY! tour. (Say that three times fast.)  The tour will hit 60 cities across North America and you can get all the venue and ticket information by clicking HERE.

And here’s some fun info about the live show:

The state-of-the-art production features music, singing, dancing and animation.  The show is an interactive experience that offers audience members of all ages the opportunity to witness their favorite characters come to life.  Joining the characters on stage will be hip-hop legend Biz Markie to teach kids how to beat box with “Biz’s Beat of the Day”.  Special guests will join the party on stage for the Super Music Friends Show and Dancey Dance segments. 

Are you excited?  I am.  Especially since the cool people that put together this tour just gave me some awesome prizes to give away!  You can win TICKETS!  Check it out:

FIRST PRIZE:

 - A four pack of tickets to KIA Motors Presents YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE! THERE’S A PARTY IN MY CITY! The four tickets are for the 7 PM show on October 27th at the Times Union Center for the Performing Arts in Jacksonville, Florida.

SECOND PRIZE:

- The Nickelodeon DVD “Yo Gabba Gabba!: Clubhouse” released on June 15 and featuring performances by musical guests Erykah Badu, The Killers, Jimmy Eat World and more.

 - And the “Yo Gabba Gabba!: Music is Awesome Volume 2” CD.   Jam-packed with Super Music Friends & all of the songs you’ve grown to love including those from Weezer, MGMT & Jimmy Eat World.

All you have to do is leave me a comment below and tell me your child’s favorite Yo Gabba Gabba! character or celebrity guest.  This contest ends Sunday, September 12th at Midnight EST.

I will pick  two winners at random.  Be sure to leave your contact information or come visit PopMommy.com on Monday, September 13th when I announce the lucky winners.  (Tickets will be left at will call.  DVD and CD prize pack will be mailed.) If I cannot contact you via email, or you do not respond within 48 hours to my email, I will have to pick a new winner. 

*Please note that I received a four pack of tickets to attend YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE! THERE’S A PARTY IN MY CITY! with my family and I will post a follow up about my experience.  All thoughts and opinions are always 100% my own and I was in no way compensated monetarily for this contest.

YO!

Feel The Heat

It’s HOT. 

The high was 100 degrees today.  And yesterday.  I KNOW that I live in Florida, but the heat just sneaks up on me every summer.  I feel like Spring is five seconds long and then we just zoom into four months of sticky, uncomfortable heat and humidity.  I know all my family and friends up north are laughing at me because I don’t like the cold either.  But the EXTREME summer heat is what gets me. 

It’s also a challenge with the kiddies.  It’s now too hot for our morning park play dates. It’s two hot for long bike rides. It’s too hot for strolling around the outdoor town center.  And when we ARE outdoors, I just chase them around with big hats, SPF 50, and bottles of water.

Thank goodness for our neighborhood pool, cold smoothies, our backyard baby pool, and slip ‘n slides.

Weekend Fun

It was a super busy Saturday.  There was a Gymboree sports class and a Where the Wild Things Are art class and a pirate themed birthday pool party and a Mommy Group block party in the park.  I wish I had more photos, but here are some snapshots. 

I was lucky to get one photo of Annabel and it is so funny.  Please notice the pink plastic bracelet she is wearing that I bought her at JCPenney just hours before while Daniel was taking those sports and art classes.  She was my shopping buddy and she was an angel.  Daniel never stopped moving the entire day and he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.  We were all exhausted.  We all had a blast.  We spent Sunday just relaxing and playing around the house.  It was the perfect ending to a fun weekend.

PS: I really, really want/need an iPhone to improve my photo quality.  (Hmmm…Mother’s Day is coming soon…hmmmm)

I Love a Good Park

I love a good park.  And I don’ t mean a playground.  I mean a serious “Parks and Recreation” PARK.  A park with lots of trees. (I LOVE trees.)  A park with dirt paths and perhaps a creek.  A park with leaves and rocks and sticks to pick up.  I finally found a really cool park  near my house.  We will be going there A LOT. There is much more to explore. 

I just love a good park.

BTW, I would love Leslie Knope’s job.  I really would.

Pumpkin Patch ’09

We were so excited to head out to our local pumpkin patch again this year.  We have been going to the same location for three years now.  It’s so crazy to think that the first time we were there, we only had Bean and he was only this big:

Then, we had Annabel and took her for the first time last year:

Of course, two days ago, Bean had a fight with his new train table and the train table won.  So I knew all the Pumpkin Patch 2009 photos would feature this lovely, front-and-center, eye and nose cut:

Oh well, off we went!  It was a beautiful day.  The sun was shining.  Mr. (not scary at all) Scarecrow met us at the entrance:

We grabbed the pumpkin wagon and went on our search for the perfect pumpkins:

Annabel loved playing peek-a-boo in the pumpkins.  (She will play peek-a-boo anywhere and at anytime. )

Here’s Bean on the same blue tractor he rode the first time we came to the patch:

There are also TONS of gourds and small pumpkins for sale.  I always buy a bunch to use for my dining table centerpiece.  I so LOVE these little guys. (Bean included!)

It was a great day, er 27 minutes, at the Pumpkin Patch.  See you again next year!

OMG! It’s Elmo!

Our family of four ventured out to see our very first live performance event, Sesame Street Live: When Elmo Grows Up.  I really wanted the kiddies to see Elmo and company for their very first live event.  They love Sesame Street and watch it every single day.  They know, and love, all the characters.  They know the songs.  But the show was not coming to OUR neighborhood.  Bummer. It was coming to a neighborhood a million miles away.  (Or, so it felt. ) But I decided to go ahead and order tickets for the next town over.  It would take us 90 minutes to drive there.  90 MINUTES.  That’s how long the show is!

But guess what?

IT WAS SO WORTH IT!

The mini road trip was not bad at all.  I loaded the car up with snacks and every Sesame Street book and toy I had in the house.  It was 90 minutes of Elmo and Abby Cadabby build up.  When we arrived, the first thing we did was… BUY STUFF.  We were prepared, but, MAN, is that stuff expensive.  We spent $30 in five minutes on an Elmo light up twirly thing for Bean and a stuffed Elmo doll for Annabel.  NOTE:  I WANTED to get Annabel the Abby Cadabby doll, but they did not have any!  I was shocked!  A mom behind me groaned about it too.  Every little girl wants the pink fairy doll, don’t they?  Abby is just too cute for words.  They had the Elmo doll (of course), Cookie Monster, Big Bird, and Zoe.  I don’t get the Zoe doll.  She is barely in Sesame Street at all.  Maybe they sold out of Abby? Oh well, it really didn’t matter.  Annabel can say “Elmo” now so once she saw the little red furry monster doll she started shouting “ELMO!” and the choice was pretty clear.  (Never mind that we already have TWO other Elmo dolls at home, right?)

The show was a blast!  We had great seats on the floor.  Daniel and Annabel loved it.  They were either frozen in awe or laughing, screaming, and dancing.  I had so much fun too.  Every character from Sesame Street was in attendance, including Grover, my favorite. There were super cute musical numbers and I loved the theme of “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  They ended with Elmo’s World and Mr. Noodle was there!  Very fun.

There was even a short intermission.  It was just enough time for a balloon man to walk in front of all of us parents with 100 huge Elmo balloons.  And all of the kids start screaming and begging their parents for one.  And, OF COURSE, we had to buy one for Bean! ( And, get this, they were only TEN BUCKS each!  AHHH!)

Okay, so the entire thing was a LITTLE pricey, but the memories were definitely PRICELESS.

(This blog NOT brought to you by the Visa card, although it was used.  A LOT.)

We heart you Sesame Street!

Feeling Better

It was a really long week.  Everyone was sick.  First, Bean got it.  Then, my husband.  Then, me.  And finally, Annabel.  It was a yucky, germy, summer cold. It meant saline drops and Infant Tylenol for the kiddies and NyQuil and rum filled tea for Mama and Daddy.  The week also included ALOT of INDOOR activities.  There was an excessive amount of television watching (Sesame Street, Little Bear, and various Baby Einstein videos) while we all relaxed on the couch or floor pillows. 

There was also an overwhelming amount of hours spent tinkering with the GEOTrax train set.  Setting it up.  Breaking it down.  Setting it up.  Breaking it down.  You get the idea.  I really did love the extra book reading moments, sticker fun, and, of course, the cuddle time.  But, by Saturday morning we were all ready for a little Vitamin D on our bodies.  I was also personally ready for some retail therapy.

We went to one of my FAVORITE stores: HomeGoods.  I SO LOVE this store and I rarely get to go there anymore.  It’s really hard to maneuver around the place with a double stroller and I am terrified of steering into the ceramic bowls and glassware.  There are too many awesome things to buy at HomeGoods.  I can’t always control myself.  Don’t even get me started on the holiday items.  On Saturday, there were already two long aisles and one front store display of just HALLOWEEN decorations.  I picked up a front door welcome sign and a cute ghost plaque.  Then, we all cruised to the kids section.  I really wanted this train step stool and some picture frames, but we managed to leave with just an adorable pink princess growth chart for Annabel and a fun fishing game for Bean.

I have been looking for a growth chart for both kids that was wooden and stable. I also wanted something that was unique.  This is the wooden growth chart we bought for Annabel’s room:

My husband laughs because “why does everything girlie have to have a unicorn on it?”  (Hee).

There wasn’t a “boy” growth chart version for Daniel, but the cashier said to definitely check back again because they get new stuff on the shelves every week.  “Come back again??”  “No problem, lady!”

Bean loved his new Melissa & Doug magnetic fishing game.  He even shared with his sister.  Everyone is FINALLY feeling better.  Amen.

Happy Fourth of July!

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