Georgia Rain

Last week we had afternoon/evening thunderstorms all week. We have a door that leads to the backyard and we had it open one day while a quick storm passed through, and I got these cute videos with my phone.

This first video is short, just shows Keira's surprise at the thunder. She didn't like it and refused to go back to the door without me, but she wanted to keep watching outside.



In this second video (which runs a little long, sorry), I try to get Zuri back to the door, but she wants to stay on my lap. When I keep trying to get her to stand, she tells me that she wants to "sit down." She also wants the thunder to "stop it," which I didn't get at the time. It wasn't until I was watching a playback that I realized she wanted the thunder to stop. She was fine with the rain and "oohed" at the lightning, but she didn't like the thunder.

It's Time to Say Goodbye

Well, we have finally done it--no more binky!  It has actually been a lot easier than I thought.  The hardest part is nap-time.  I thought for certain that we would be waking up several times during the night to soothe Zuri--when she would wake up at night, she would find her binky and go back to sleep; if she couldn't find it, she would cry until we came in and found it for her, so I thought for sure that we would have several sleepless nights.  Not so!  Yay!  She has been sleeping seamlessly through the night even without her binky!  Whoohoo!

We are going on a full week without the binky.  I guess it helps that for the last couple of months I have been limiting her binky to only bed and nap times and when we travel.  I wanted to completely eliminate it a few months ago when her last tooth came in, but I knew she would need it while we traveled (to help with her ears).

She doesn't even seem to miss it--except when we first put her down for bed or a nap.  She is usually really easy to put down, but without her binky, it has been taking her longer to go to sleep.

My little girl is growing up!

More Park Fun

It is definitely getting warmer here!  Yesterday it made it into the low nineties, but with the humidity it definitely feels hotter.  We have been blessed with evening thunderstorms which help cool it down at night and give fun lightening to watch (from the safety of the inside, of course).

We took an adventure to another park in the area.  Each park is so unique that I am so amazed.  I can't get over how well maintained these parks are--really puts Utah parks to shame.  It is really great to have such nice places to venture to so close.

Zuri had fun throwing the mulch (pine needles--that's what they use out here for bigger areas) into the water.

She got a kick out of watching the wildlife.  We saw a pretty crane as well!

Of course we had our pick of playgrounds.  There were three different playgrounds, and she had fun on the slide, but her favorite is once again the swing.  She spent the majority of her time on the swing and didn't want to get out. 

She got to experience the big person swing, which she loved.

Zoo Atlanta

Saturday we spent the day in Atlanta.  We first went to the zoo, and then spent some time in the city.  Atlanta is a good forty minute drive from our apartment.  The zoo was twice the price of the Hogle Zoo in Utah--wow!  It was a perfect day out, 80 with a nice breeze.  One really cool thing about Zoo Atlanta is that there are trees all over--so even if it had been really hot, there would have been plenty of shade. 

Zuri wasn't as interested in the animals as I thought she would be.  One thing that I did notice, is that most of the animals were kept farther away than I am used to seeing.  I know with the Hogle Zoo they are definitely a lot closer!  Anyhow, there were a lot of nice things about the Zoo Atlanta, and we got a few good pictures.  Enjoy!

They had a parakeet room where you can go in and feed the parakeets as well as watch them fly around.

Don't worry, the parakeet flew away before she was able to grab it, but I was surprised at how close it let her come!

                                                                        Gorilla

                                                       White peacock strutting around

We stopped for lunch at the play area; Zuri loved this more than the animals

Up close and personal with a lizard.  She wanted to touch, but they recommended children under five not touch the lizard because of potential bacteria.

We also stopped to watch a wild animal show, but of course was more interested in playing with the rocks than the animals on the stage.

They had an awesome panda exhibit, both an indoor and outdoor area.  This panda happened to be indoors and would frequently go around the room.  Zuri was able to go right up to the glass and watch.  This was her favorite. 

There was also a petting area.  Zuri was so excited when we first got in that she went fearlessly up to one of the goats that was eating and petted its belly.  Well, the goat didn't like that and charged her.  He got her with the top of his head, a soft blow because J was able to whisk her away from most of the impact.  She took it like a champ though, and didn't even cry. After that she was a lot more cautious.  Zuri would only pet the animals with encouragement from me and one hand in mine.
 
After the zoo, we were headed back home and decided to take a detour into the city since we were already there.  We had fun exploring!

Just for Fun

The other day J was mowing the yard and Zuri and I went outside to watch.  I brought bubbles to help entertain her, but as soon as the lawn mower started, she got scared and wouldn't leave my side.  I tried to get a couple pictures but she was so worried about the lawn mower that I couldn't move more than a foot away.
The first picture is my attempt at getting her to smile--but she is focused on the lawn mower.  The second picture is after J is all done and she was finally interested in the bubbles.

Funny thing is, she never used to have an issue with the lawn mower.

Georgia Parks

The parks here in Georgia are like none that I have ever seen! They are huge, and absolutely amazing. Here is an excerpt from the county website:

Gwinnett's Parks

The national award-winning Gwinnett County Parks & Recreation Department has it all—ball fields, aquatic centers, community centers, museums, trails, skate parks and more! Gwinnett County Parks & Recreation operates 32 parks and facilities and has one of the most ambitious greenspace programs in the nation with over 8,000 + acres of park land. Seventeen new parks are currently scheduled for future development.

In addition to phenomenal park land acquisition, new facilities include four community centers, four aquatic centers, two tennis centers, a roller hockey rink, two skate bowls, a playground for children with special needs, as well as several ball fields and dog parks.

...and they are not joking! The closest park to us is Bogan Park, which is about a five minute drive:

Bogan Park offers an indoor aquatic center with two pools, a community center and gymnasium, a baseball/softball complex with football field overlay, sand volleyball courts, outdoor basketball courts, picnic pavilions, playgrounds, and two miles of trails.

Yesterday, I had the car, so Zuri and I went investigating. I actually got lost at the park! It was crazy! At the entrance you see the community center where they have the pools/dance/karate, etc. I drove around and stopped when I saw the playground. Zuri and I got out of the car, but there was no one around. It made me a bit nervous that the only people I saw were workers (maintaining the fields and grass--and a cop, just cruising around), but Zuri and I headed to the playground anyway. The playground was situated between around three baseball/softball fields.

Zuri was already playing when I noticed the sign--the playground was for kids ages 5-12 (it was around ten in the morning); no wonder no one was around, the kids were all in school! I knew there had to be a playground appropriate for Zuri's age, so I drug a screaming Zuri back to the car so we could find another playground (I know it is silly, but I didn't want to walk around the park--which was ginormous--and leave my vehicle so far away in an empty parking lot). I finally found an area with lots of cars, and tada another playground, this time with lots of kids playing. Zuri had a blast, and I got to meet a few pretty cool people.

Here are some pictures that I took at the park!

If you look in the bottom left-hand side of the picture, you can see the sign says for children 5-12. In the background is one of the fields.

One of the many cool features of the park are the canopy shades they have over the playground (this is still the older child playground).

Zuri sliding down the slide at the first playground.

Yay! We found the right playground!

At first Zuri thought the bridge was like stairs (it was a movable bridge), so she crawled across them. By the time we left...she was running across!

I had to pick J up at the mall (that is where he meets his boss to carpool), so I took advantage and went a little early so Zuri could play (and I could browse a bit). I went into the Barnes and Noble, and discovered they have a story time hour with the little kids--we are going to have to go! They have a little area all set aside with little chairs and a stage.

In the play area of the mall, Zuri was being really funny. She would go down the slide, come run up to me, jabber incomprehensibly and then go play for a bit. I tried to get a full circuit of her doing that, but every time I would try, she would play for longer and I would put the camera down. Of course, as soon as I did, she would come back up. Here is what I did get!


We then went to meet J and Zuri literally dragged him to the fountain! They both had fun getting wet!

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday Zuri!

Zuri turns two today. Crazy. We didn't do anything too out of the ordinary today, mainly because she has had two birthday parties already, but we did get her a balloon and a cupcake. She went down for a late nap (darn that time change), so we haven't had a chance to give it to her yet. She is still asleep as I write this.

I took a trip down memory lane and created a simple slide show. There are many baby pictures. Even though she is still so tiny, she has come a long way. Zuri is full of life and personality, and I look forward to watching her grow!

Enjoy the slideshow!
(Hint: if you want the slide to pause, simply place your mouse over the picture, move it away when you want to continue)