The Evy Chronicles

Back to the Dallas Zoo

Michelle — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 02:37:42 +0000

We haven’t been to the zoo in quite some time, especially since I let my membership lapse in January. I didn’t even consider renewing it this time since we really did not get our money’s worth out of it last year. I have to confess, I really really hate driving down there. It’s not just that it’s far, but the traffic is always scary/bad, and it seems like it’s always too crowded and/or hot. Yes, I know, bad mommy. :p In any case, dance class got cancelled at the last minute this week and we were looking for something to pass the time, so when my friend, Jon, suggested we meet up there, I figured it was as good a day as any. Oh, did I also mention that they have jacked up admission prices? Bleh.

The weather was actually perfect and while there were a lot of school kids there, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it can be during the month of May. Plus, we finally got to see the new Giants of the Savannah exhibit that opened last year. I think this is also the first trip we’ve made to the zoo without a stroller! Hooray! While I did miss having something to dump my bag in, I did not miss having to navigate crowded paths and stairs with it.

Evy was completely obsessed with reading the zoo map. Not only did she point out all the spots that she wanted to go, she also picked out the exact picnic tables where she wanted to have lunch. Funny kid.

I was trying to get Evy to stand exactly under the cutout, but she was being a bit less than cooperative.

Hanging out in the jeep with James. This backs into the cheetah exhibit (divided by glass, of course), and they can actually jump into the back of the jeep!

Love this smile

Riding the metal elephants outside the Savannah exhibit

Now that our napping days are pretty much over, we got to stay much later than we have in the past, which was actually nice because the school groups seem to thin out quite a bit after lunchtime. Although even after a solid 3 or 4 hours, Evy still did NOT fall asleep in the car on the way home.

Egad.

Michelle — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:40:18 +0000

7 months since I’ve updated. I think at about 4 months, I was so overwhelmed by the thought of never catching up that I threw in the towel. But no more! I’m going to go ahead and dive in with the most recent stuff and then work backwards. I will be backdating, so be sure to look at “old” posts going back to October. I have lots and lots of pictures, and really little excuse to have been so lazy. Sorry, family!

Easter

Michelle — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 00:40:27 +0000

Troy and I don’t really celebrate Easter, but when you have a kid, it’s pretty hard to ignore. Especially when they’re bombarded with Easter-related activities everywhere we go. So we relented and decided to make up a small basket for Evy to “find” on Easter morning. We tried to keep the candy minimal – in fact, I wanted to skip it entirely, but after she swooned over the chocolate bunnies at the grocery store, I couldn’t deprive her.

She was VERY excited to eat her bunny, if you can’t tell.

She was even kind enough to share a bite with Daddy.

We also put a package of Peeps in her basket, along with a few other trinkets. Of course, as I feared, all the sugar led to an INSANE meltdown later in the day. One minute, she was fine and ready for her nap/quiet time. The next minute, she was screaming, kicking, thrashing, and even peed the carpet in her room. Ugh. I guess the lesson here is no more sugar. Still, she did apologize for her behavior and the rest of the day was quite pleasant. We even had ham for dinner, which Evy went crazy over! She kept declaring, “this is the best dinner EVER!”

Our big girl is FOUR!

Michelle — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:42:48 +0000

For probably the last 6 months, Evy has been saying she wants a “Yo Gabba Gabba” party. Well, she asked for it, so she got it. I went all-out with the Gabba theme, and made almost all the decorations myself, including DJ Lance outfits for both me and Troy, in addition to a Foofa outfit for Evy.

Dancey Dance Party

Snow!

Michelle — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:28:18 +0000

We’ve gotten a record amount of snow and ice this year. Now, I am normally not one to be a wuss about driving in cold weather, but the lack of salt and sand made the roads pretty hazardous, so we were largely housebound during last week’s ice storms and now, snow. Of course, it did make for some fun pics with Evy, who was very excited about the whole thing.

6+ inches of snow. Crazy.

Ah, the old standby favorite. Snow angels!

I’m realizing that while a white winter coat looks super cute on Evy, it does not make for great pictures, especially against the white snow. Note to self: next year buy a colored coat.

Trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue. I don’t care what people say about snow being “clean,” this makes me cringe. And “snow ice cream”? Don’t even go there.

More backyard shenanigans

Back inside, all rosy-cheeked.

Birthdays

Michelle — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 18:40:45 +0000

Sorry, I’ve gotten a bit lazy about bringing my camera out with me everywhere, so the pictures have been a bit fewer and farther between these last few weeks. The past couple weeks, we had two birthday parties to go to, one for Sadie’s first birthday, and the other for Aldous’s second birthday. It’s kind of fun to go to these playdates and see kids of all different ages running around.

First up, Sadie’s birthday playdate! Surprisingly, Evy really gets into other kids’ birthdays, and she insisted on drawing a card for her. There’s a new Cat in the Hat show on PBS that she really likes, so she decided to draw the Cat in the Hat. She actually got out our copy of the book so she could look at him while she drew him. For a 3-year-old, I think this was pretty darn good! She even included Nick, Sally and the Fish in the bowl!

Here’s the birthday girl:

Of course, cupcakes are the best part.

The next week, we had Aldous’s party. Here’s the birthday boy:

And Evy, playing with Sadie. She is so gentle and sweet with the little kids, it melts my heart

Evy the Artist

Michelle — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 22:24:03 +0000

It’s amazing to me how less than six months ago, Evy could barely draw smiley faces and discernible figures, and now she is drawing very recognizable scenes! Ever since we got back from our summer vacation, her drawing skills have really taken off. One day, she told me she was going to draw a flower. I was kind of like ‘yeah, yeah, ok honey’ because usually she kind of does some scribbles and declares it to be something, and I go along with it. Well this time I just about fell out of my chair when she actually drew a daisy! I was so proud!

So despite already having a pretty full schedule of activities, I couldn’t resist signing Evy up for an art class through the Parks & Rec. Evy is really enjoying it and I’m impressed at how quickly her drawing skills are progressing! I really like the format of the class. The teacher goes step-by-step, showing them what to draw on a whiteboard, and then each kid copies that step on their own sheet of paper. The teacher does go around and give them bits of advice, but mostly he’s just very encouraging and supportive (“Oh wow, you do a great job of drawing very tiny arms and legs!” LOL). And for the most part, the kids draw everything completely on their own.

Here’s Evy’s drawing from the first class. They drew a rainbow, first with pencil, then used crayons to fill it in. She added a “cloud shaped like Evy” in the sky, haha! She was very proud of her work and it has earned a place of honor on the fridge. And she even signed her name on it at the end.

For their second class, they made a “Square Bear.” I was really impressed by how well she did with this. When we got home after class, she immediately wanted to draw another one. Troy was doubly impressed and declared that Evy draws better at 3 than he does now. Heh.

I really think this class has jump-started a creative streak. Evy wants to draw constantly now – not color, but DRAW on blank paper – she actually looked insulted the other day when she asked if she could make an artwork and I suggested she go get her coloring books, haha!

Trolley Ride

Michelle — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:28:08 +0000

There’s a free trolley that runs from the Uptown part of Dallas to downtown. Evy’s never been on a trolley and a friend of mine lives down there, so I thought it might be fun to join them for a ride around the city followed by a picnic lunch. At first, before we’d even been on it, Evy decided that it was scary and didn’t want to do it, but once we were on, she enjoyed it thoroughly.

A little apprehensive when we first started moving.

She warmed up when she realized she could see all the buildings going by

We got off by the Dallas Museum of Art and walked down to the Asian art museum to have lunch. Of course, the kids couldn’t resist the fountains there.

Silly face

She really liked the lions in front.

The Asian art museum is actually free, so we went in to use the bathroom and do a quick browse. There’s a glass walkway that goes over the fountain, which the kids loved.

This was a cool exhibit of drawings all done with cheap ballpoint pens. Evy decided this was her “art” pose. I have no idea what that means.

On the walk back, we stopped to admire the cuteness that is Aldous.

Waiting for the trolley

Ride back. great day!

First Soccer Game

Michelle — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 14:15:55 +0000

We had our first soccer game yesterday. It might have been the most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen. Most of it was spent with the coaches and parents yelling which way the kids should be going with the ball, haha! I don’t know where the coaches and refs find their patience because no way I could do it.

Here’s a pic some of the girls lined up for a little practice before the game. How cute are they in their little uniforms?!

And a bonus video, taken with my phone!

Evy is actually not bad when it comes to kicking the ball down the field, at least, not during practice. Gametime is another story.

Hammy little pre-game pose

She sort of got the ball, once

But then we had our first breakdown when a teammate accidentally kicked Evy in the knee/shin. I don’t think it really hurt, but she melted into tears and came off the field.

It was mostly downhill, after that, but she did play again briefly, towards the end of the game.

Post-game high fives. Not sure what the final score was, in fact, I’m not sure if they keep stats or not.

Go Dolphins!

August Randomness

Michelle — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:41:17 +0000

I just thought I’d share a few pics from this past month that didn’t otherwise warrant their own posts. A lot of these are from my phone.

Going down the BIG slide at open bounce. I’m impressed by how quickly she can climb up these things now. And by how many times in a row she’ll do it!

Trying on silly hats at US Toys.

Standing in the spray at Tom Muehlenbeck. She has refused to do this all summer, until that day – which also happened to be our last visit before they closed for the season.

Excited to be wearing her matching dress with Baby Joey

At the grocery store. She LOVES it when they have kid-size carts! I usually have to be careful not to get run over because she gets a bit crazy with it.