Tulsa Zoo

On Ommy's last full day with us, we decided to spend the day at the Tulsa Zoo.

The animals were fun to look at, but the best part about the zoo for the kids was the Merry-Go-Round.  Getting clear pictures of the kids on the carousel was pretty difficult because it was moving so fast.

The kids would have happily stayed on the carousel for the entire evening, but we had to pry them off of it in order to head back home.

This is a glimpse of the sadness that ensued when we told them that they were done riding the carousel.

A Walk Around Lake Fayetteville

After our Easter egg hunt, we headed over to Lake Fayetteville for a walk to enjoy the beautiful day we were having.  The kids rode their bikes, while the adults walked.

We came across a dam during our walk around the lak, where we stopped and looked around and took some pictures.

As we continued along, we came across a playground and Stella and Des had a great time playing there.

Stella and Des would climb up to the top of this very tall slide.  Des mostly climbed up to the top using a very open, curved metal ladder without anyone helping him (but we were right there by the ladder ready to catch him should he happen to slip).  He was so proud of himself after he successfully reached the top of the platform each and every time he did it.

We never did make it all the way around the lake because by the time the kids got finished with the playground, it was way past lunchtime and we were all pretty hungry.  So we headed off to lunch before we all went home for a nice long nap.

Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday, we set up our own egg hunt for Stella and Des at the local school's playground.  While Dada hid the eggs at the second playground area, Ommy, Stella, Des, and I played at the first playground for a little bit.

Then Dada told us to come on over to the second playground to start the egg hunt.  You didn't have to tell Des twice, he was ready to go hunt.

The second playground had two sets of playground equipment, so one side had Stella's eggs and the other side eggs had Desmond's eggs.  And they both contained the same number of eggs with the same exact prizes in each egg.  This way, we could make sure that all was fair and equal =:)  And now the hunt was on!

 

I love this next series of pictures of Des getting a pair of eggs and the smile on his face after he puts them in his bucket.

 

Des was also the one to find the big prize that was hidden underneath all the mulch between the two sets of playground equipment...

 ...a Tigger and Pooh kite for the two of them to share!  Look at that smile on his face.  Priceless!!!!

After the hunt, it was time to open the eggs and check out the goodies inside.

Back in the car on our way to our next destination, Des managed to eat all of the candy prizes that were inside the eggs!  The private egg hunt was a huge hit in the Z household!

At the Library

Before Stella's soccer game today, we headed to the library, which is always a treat for the kids.  Stella and Des just love playing on the computers in the children's section of the library.  This picture of the two of them with their headphones on just cracks me up.

Des's favorite thing to do on the computer are these electronic coloring pages.

Kindergarten Registration

Stella got registered for kindergarten today.  It's official...my baby girl is growing up.  First the lost tooth, now this!
 
Stella starts her first day of school on Aug 16th.  Even though it is only roughly 2 weeks earlier, I was not prepared for that because in NJ, we always started school the day after Labor Day.

Also, kindergarten is from 8 to 3 PM here...another thing I was not prepared for.  I am used to half a day kindergarten schedules.

Come mid-August, both Mama and Des are not going to know what to do with ourselves when Stella is in school all day!  We sure are going to miss her a lot though.

Stella Lost Her First Tooth

While brushing her teeth last night before bed, Stella lost her very first tooth!  She was excited at first, but then when Dada took the tooth off her lip and she saw the blood on the tooth and on her gums, she freaked out.  She cried for awhile but we were able to calm her down.  But we didn't get a picture of her new missing tooth smile until tonight.  Stella is now waiting for Ommy (who's coming this Fri) to bring her tooth fairy pillow so that she can collect her loot from the tooth fairy.  So it took a month from the time Stella told us her tooth was loose to when it actually fell out. 

Easter Egg Hunt

Our city had their annual Easter egg hunt at the Boys and Girl's Club of Fayetteville.  So we decided to check it out.  They had the egg hunt broken up by age groups.  The 2-3 year old's were first to go and that was Mr. Des's group.

Here's Des setting out on his Easter Egg Hunt.  I was allowed to accompany him but I couldn't pick up any eggs for him.
 

Des did pretty well, picking up about 12 eggs or so.

Next it was time to open up the eggs and eat the treats.

Then it was Miss Stella's turn to hunt for some eggs.  She didn't pick up as many eggs as she could have because she was interested in checking out each egg before she put it in her basket.  And towards the end of the egg hunt, she was skipping along swinging her basket and some of her eggs fell out of her basket and before she realized what happened, other kids swooped in and grabbed her eggs.  That resulted in some tears but nothing some yummy ice cream couldn't fix.

 After Stella finished off her ice cream, she went with Dada to see the Easter Bunny, while I stayed behind with Des who had no interest in getting anywhere close to the Easter Bunny =;)

Stella then came back and enthusiastically told me how she gave the Easter Bunny a big hug and took pictures with him.  Only when I got home and looked at the pictures did I realize that Stella was not all that keen on the Easter Bunny as she was letting on.  I love how rigid she looks in the first picture while somewhat reluctantly letting the Easter Bunny hug her and how she is pulling away from him in the second picture.

 There were pony rides there but neither of our kids wanted to ride them.  Stella did get her face painted (with a heart of course), but Des didn't want that either.  Overall, we had a good time at the city's Easter Egg Hunt.