So we're stoked for a number of reasons that she's walking now, but it was a definite bonus that she's sure footed enough to compete in the egg hunt this year.  We made our way up to the Salcido Compound on Saturday for the usual shenanigans and enjoyed watching her run around the yard and attach herself to all of Dom's stuffed animals.  She also added a degree of difficulty challenging Mama to ravioli making one handed.

She must have sensed the excitement Sunday morning when she woke up and pointed to all of the presents and baskets saying  'hey! what's that doing there?!' She was happy and curious and decided to celebrate by helping herself to an impromptu jelly bean sampler before church.

 

 

As bizarre as hiding eggs in the yard (in her case - in plain sight) and collecting them into a basket may be, I'm happy to say she 'got it' and successfully collected most of them, until she happened upon an actual hard boiled egg that she enjoyed throwing more than she enjoyed hunting.

 

Commandeering Dom's fox as her escort

 

Golden egg!

Eggs are filled with goldfish? Delicious!

 

Stripe city

 

They could share clothes

 

 



Egg hunting is hard work

 

 

Where the Wild Things Are

So maybe its good marketing, or possibly just good math, but either way the San Diego Zoo/Safari Park makes it almost impossible not to get a membership if you're a SD resident. So we sacked up and have been getting our money's worth these past few weeks (take that, math!)

Around 10 months old her first 'what does the ___ say?' was the elephant, complete with 'pffffft!' and hand raising motion (have I mentioned she's dramatic?) so seeing her come face to face with her all time favorite animal was one of my best memories to date. She immediately identified her pachyderm friends making the sound/arm motion, waving to them, trying to get their attention and dancing like crazy entertaining all of the spectators.  It was absolute pure joy seeing her favorite characters from her books alive in the saggy, gray, flesh.

 

Her most recent trip there to see the butterflies and lorikeets was equally as fun, although her recent mobilization makes it an adventure on many levels.  She is rarely ever without a furry friend tucked tightly beneath her arm and this trip was no different. Luckily we were wise enough to leave her beloved fox at home and it was a good thing we did. She takes wonderful care of her babies (despite burying them in the sand, setting them in the middle of a busy crowd to see what they do and dangling them from ledges) you may think we should have seen it coming when you look at the first picture, and we did of course, except we didn't foresee her using her newfound kicking skills to tee him up and send him over. She may have been just trying to send her friend back into the wild, but the park employees thought it best to send him back with us:)

 

In addition to our many trips to the Safari Park, we also tagged along on a field trip to a petting zoo in Orange County.  While not the slightest bit intimidated by the goats and sheep, she really found herself among friends with the guinea pigs and enjoyed feeding them lettuce and carrots. Happy to say we left with all our fingers and toes and a happy goose!

Photo cred: Jamie

These guys are just her size

 

Add caption