Fun at the Zoo!

What a fun day! We started by going to breakfast this morning at Jeremiah's (YUM!) -- where all Grayson wanted to do was go back and forth between the rooms with animal heads in them (elk, buffalo, moose!). Then we headed down to SLC to the Hogle Zoo with my parents and my brother JD. Gray LOVED the zoo last year, and I figured he would be infinitely more excited this year, since he could kind of know what was going on a little better. Buuuut, he pretty much just liked wandering around everywhere. Every once in a while, he'd say "raffe" or "e'phant", etc, and we'd go see that animal. But he'd just glance at the animals and keep going. It was weird! Last year he'd stay at the animal exhibits as long as he could! I just don't know why he wasn't interested in the animals this time -- animals are his favorite thing! Anyway, he DID have fun, and it was a good day :) The highlights for Grayson were the train, the water globe (in the front), the sculpture of the rhino, the playground, the squirrel, and the ducks (of all things)!!! Here are some pics:
The water globe thing:


The squirrel:

Poppa taking his turn carrying the toddler:

Playing at the playground:

My cute boy in his cute monkey backpack/harness:


Ridin' the train:

Walking with Nana and Daddy -- making them swing him every time he said "Ready, set, go!"

The rhino sculpture. He didn't want to find the REAL rhino -- just happy with the sculpture.


Daddy's turn to carry him!

Uncle JD's turn!!! :D fun at the giraffe exhibit.

This is at the leopard exhibit -- it kept stalking back and forth right in front of the glass -- it was pretty cool.

The elephant -- he was tearing open these giant lifesavers and eating them :)

The baby elephant! Too cute!

JD is such a good brother to carry the heavy toddler so much! Thanks, Jade!

(just noticed that I never got a picture with the ducks he loved so much. guess I didn't think they were that special. But Gray stayed with them the longest of all the animal exhibits)
Gray had a great time, we avoided sunburn or heatstroke, and we had a fun day with the family! :) He fell asleep as soon as we got to the freeway, and slept almost the whole way home -- then slept another hour after we got home. And when he woke up, guess what he was going on and on about??? The buffalo and moose we saw at Jeremiah's. Hah! I guess next time I'll skip the drive to Salt Lake and just head over to 12th street!!

Hair Cut!! FINALLY!

Grayson's hair has been getting out of control! He's terrified of getting his hair cut, so he hasn't had one in a YEAR! His hair was constantly in his face, and always looked all scraggly. So I gave in and made him an appointment at Cookie Cutters. I made Steve take him, because I'm a chicken, and didn't think I could stand the inevitable screaming/crying/trembling that would accompany his hair cut. Steve was such a good sport to take him and endure it all! From what he tells me, the lady cutting his hair did NOTHING to make Gray more comfortable, wouldn't let him sit in the airplane like he wanted to, and didn't even ask what his name was. I'm not too happy -- we shelled out the cash for what I thought would be a better experience for him -- these people are supposed to be trained specifically FOR that purpose right?! Anyway, he DID get the hair cut, and I LOVE it! He looks like a totally different boy! Case in point:
BEFORE:

AFTER:

He looks so handsome! And like such a big boy!!! :D I suppose it was worth it to get it done, and for the fact that I wasn't the one to inflict the horror. And he got a balloon, which he is ecstatic about. Ah well. Maybe next time we'll just specifically request not to have that particular gal again.

Quiet Time Book!

It's been about a year in the making, but it's FINALLY done!! I made a quiet time activity book of Bible stories for Grayson to keep him busy/quiet during church. I'm quite proud of how it turned out!! I made the whole thing up myself -- no patterns at all -- just my own ideas, and my own free-handing the shapes. My wonderful mother took pity on me and finally finished it for me -- it's been sitting by her sewing machine for months -- just loose pages, waiting for me to get time to sew it together, which never happened. Thank you, Mom! :) Anyway, here are some pictures of the book:

Adam and Eve: the apples, flowers, and leaves are velcroed on, so you match which goes where.


Moses: the ten commandments -- numbers have snaps on them, so you snap them into place in order. The other side is Moses parting the Red Sea -- you just open both sides of the 'sea' to find Moses.


Joseph: his 'coat of many colors' buttons on/off
Jonah: hides inside the whale's mouth


Daniel and the Lion's Den: the lion's mouth zips shut (for when the angel "shut the mouths" of the lions)
David and Goliath: there's a stone on a ribbon that slides from Daniel's sling up to Goliath's forehead


Noah's Ark: you match the animals with their pair (one is glued on, and the pair velcroes next to it); and the dove pulls out of the pocket with a rainbow ribbon.


I LOVE this fabric we found for the cover! It has all the bible stories on it in fun cartoon drawings!


I still need to make some kind of title for the front, but I had to show it off now :D So fun!!

It's Finally SUMMER!

We are loving the semi-hotness that is early summer in Utah. Gray and I have been spending most of our time outside, exploring and getting messy! I'm just glad it's not 100 degrees outside yet! We're enjoying temps in the 70's/80's! :)

I made a few new little crafts for summer. I bought these "Spring" blocks last year, and I love them, so I decided to give them a dual purpose!

I put "Summer" on the back! (they didn't have any "M"s at the craft store, so I made due with "W"s. I'm past it bugging me, though -- I think it's kind of cute!!

I also made this felt flower wreath! Bright, happy, summery colors!


Gray thinks we need to go to Nana and Pop's house every day -- he LOVES it there! They have a fun little sandbox and a water/train table there that he just thinks is the best thing in the world. They also live a block away from the "park" (the elementary school's playground), that he drags us all to numerous times when we're there. My parents are such good sports to humor him! :)

My sister and her little boy Rowan were just here visiting from Las Vegas -- we had so much fun with them! It's so weird to see Gray as the "big boy", and see Row try to copy everything he does! Such cute little guys!

Hm. Well, that seems to be all the pictures I have taken lately. I'll need to fix that...