Thanksgiving and the Zoo

Thanksgiving was a nice, quiet affair with just the four of us. We had a lot of good food. Here's a sample:

The rolls for dinner

The cinnamon rolls for breakfast



The hickory smoked turkey


Look at the smoke ring... yummmm... it was really good, will definitely try it again.


The pumpkin cheesecake


And the normal stuffing, potatoes, noodles, and Martinelli's .


Ezra was already eating before we got it on the table.

Dinner ended up being quite a bit earlier than expected, but that's what happens when you try a new way of cooking things.

It left us with most of the afternoon free, so we put up the Christmas tree.


We all really like it. Ezra had been talking about how much he wanted to decorate the tree since Tuesday.

We broke tradition and went shopping on Black Friday; I guess it counts as shopping if you go to the grocery store and hardware store in the afternoon for some necessities.

We spent most of today at the zoo. Ezra LOVED it. Emma liked it too.

Ezra has been constantly wearing his beanie ever since we bought it for him. Best dollar I ever spent.

This was Emma the whole time, when she wasn't asleep. We were surprised at how content she was all day long.


Ezra liked seeing all of the animals. He would point them out when he finally saw them. Some of them were hard to find.
The elephants were even hard to find. The first time by the enclosure, you could only see one of them, and it was laying down sound asleep. First time we've ever seen a sleeping elephant that any of us could remember.


The monkeys were a hit, of course. Ezra didn't care for the few snakes that we saw, so it wasn't a big deal that the reptile house was closed. His favorite by far were the tortoises. He got really excited when we saw the big turtles, which he called tortoises after we told him that's what they were. He even ended up with a stuffed tortoise which he has carried around ever since we got home.



He kept pointing at the frog statue, so this one required a few takes to get a picture with him actually looking at the camera.

We almost couldn't get him out of the giant clam shell.
There was a little park with "Little People" animals and characters and a little barn. Ezra thought that the little horse and cow were the best ever, since you could ride on them. It took a bit of coaxing to get him off of these to start heading towards home.

It was a really fun day, but by the end of it we all felt about like this sleeping rhino:

Teething, Folding, & Rug Burns...

It was nice to have everyone out last weekend. The weather was nice, and we all got to spend a decent amount of time together. The kids especially loved it.

Since it's been cooler, we've been able to keep windows open all the time, and go outside more.

Ezra loves to be outside. He really enjoys playing in the yard and at the park.

Emma has been teething the last little bit. She chews on anything and everything that she can get her hands/mouth on.


She has two teeth, and then a third that just barely popped through today. She's working on 3 more as well, so it has been interesting. She's a really happy baby in general though, so even when she's grumpy it's not too bad.


It's pretty easy to get Emma to laugh. Her and Ezra get each other laughing back and forth pretty often.

She's always going. Today she managed to loop herself through the diaper bag strap and carried it around for a bit.

The last few days, Susan has been doing origami with/for Ezra. He gets excited about it, and Susan has fun doing it with him.


So, funny story. Ezra has a pretty nasty rug burn on his forehead and nose.


Yesterday, Susan could hear Ezra moving around and laughing. She figured that he was just doing something funny and laughing. When he got into the family room, she saw that he was crawling with his face pushed onto the floor. So today, he's been rubbing it because it itches. Guess that's how you learn...

Nice long walks...

The weather has finally gotten to be nice, so we've been able to go out on some nice long walks. It's been good for all of us. The last couple of times we've gone, both of the kids have fallen asleep by the end. The double stroller was definitely a good investment.


The kids sure have grown, and enjoy playing with each other. Emma found Ezra's tunnel in the front room tonight, and had to go exploring. Of course he had to follow her in.


Ezra has a new favorite: Eggnog! He would drink eggnog all day long if you let him.