Breakfast with the Easter Bunny!

Well, my resolution to update more has NOT panned out well! I am sorry for any of you faithful readers who have been itching for a Charlotte update. 


For Easter we did something extra special.  We went to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore for Breakfast with the Easter Bunny! Boy was it fun! This was my first time going to one of the Zoo's breakfast events, even though we have been zoo members for over a year.  I chose this event because I love breakfast and animals and Easter. We were fortunate enough to have people come with us on this adventure! Charlotte and I were joined by GG, Aunt Jenna, Cousin Holden and Holdens Grandmother Mary. 


I should start by saying how impressed I was with the organization of the event.  While standing in line, they told us what table we would be seated at.  It was nice to have assigned seats.  It was a sold out event, so I imagine it would have been sucky to fight for a table with enough sits for the six of us.  The best part of this event is that Holden and Charlotte were free because they are under two.  A lot of times places who have kids free under two, require the kids to sit on laps, so I was pleased to see they had seats for the kiddos too!


When we walked into the mansion house, it was decorated for Easter and all the kids got a free small stuffed animal.  Charlotte chose a duck.  Then we found our table, and boy did we luck out, we were right near the food and where there was a set up for Easter bunny pics!


We went to eat first, and the food was great. I should mention they had Hershey kisses decorating the table, so of course Charlotte ate one of those pre-breakfast.  They had mini muffins, apples, bananas, French toast sticks, scrambled eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. YUM! I had about an entire plate of bacon, one of my favorite foods, that I don't buy or cook, so I gotta stock up.  The hashbrowns kinda sucked but everything else was great.  Charlotte ate a lot of mini muffins, eggs, and a French toast stick. 


While we were eating the Easter bunny came around to meet everyone, he stopped at every table.  Charlotte LOVED the Easter bunny, she cried when he left and spent the rest of the breakfast looking for him.  She met up with him several times.  In our family photo she wouldn't turn around for the camera because she was hugging him.  She found him to show him the craft she made too.  It was too cute! I liked how accessible the Easter bunny was, much better than the mall. 


They also had a craft table set up, it looked like two different crafts, however Charlotte only did one.  She got to color a bag to collect Easter eggs in.  She had a great time coloring and it was nice they had activities to keep the kids busy. 


The description of the event said to look out for the zoo's animal ambassadors and their handlers for pictures and things.  This was the only disappointing part of the event (although didn't make a different to Charlotte) The animals were two rabbits, which were super cute, but it was in a pen, and you couldn't pet it or really get your picture with it.  Charlotte had fun looking at the rabbits and waving to them (if you ask her what a rabbit says, she says HOP HOP HOP, so she spent time shouting HOP HOP HOP at them) but it was disappointing you couldn't pet them, when we saw the Flemish Giant in the zoo, we were as close as we were during that breakfast, so it wasn't anything extra special, so a little disappointing, but didn't ruin the event in the least.


After the breakfast we got to tour the zoo, which was a lot of fun! We did the Easter Egg Hunt at the Bunnybonanzoo event they had and went around to look at all the animals!


It was a great day! Charlotte laughed and ran and had so much fun! She is so grown up and engaged in activities now.  It is impossible to have a bad time when you hang out with her.  All in all, the Breakfast with Easter Bunny Event is recommended.  I hope we are fortunate enough to go next year :)

Elf on the shelf

I, like I'm sure everyone who is reading this, has undoubtably seen the elf on the shelf pictures all over the interwebs. Charlotte is 3.5 this holiday season so I thought she'd get a kick out of it! Prior to starting it out, I posted in a moms group I'm in "elf on the shelf, yay or nay?" And received mixed reviews. I figured, why not? Let's try this thing out! 

To start, I feel like the Elf is a little pricey. But what are you going to do? I added a little skirt for our elf, because obvi. She comes nicely packaged with the book, which was important for us, as we didn't know all the rules. 

The first thing the book instructs you to do is make the Elf. What did Charlotte choose? Elsa. Of course she chose Elsa. Other rules include, no on can touch the elf or she loses her magic, she can't talk back, but likes of you talk to her so she can report to Santa every night. 

Well, coming up with ideas wasn't too difficult, because Pinterest. But existing them was a different story. Also, sometimes I'd get ready for bed, and be excited about finally sleeping and then forget the stupid elf and have to get out of bed and come u with something fun! 

The elf is not poseable. Pinterest lies. And her hands were sewn together, so I did cut them at some point. A lot of people I know where more clever than I and added some small wires into the arms/legs to make the elf more flexible. This single mom does not have time for that. 

Overall Charlotte really enjoyed having Elsa around. It actually helped us in the mornings getting ready for school/work, because it gave her motivation to get moving and get downstairs to find Elsa, so that was a plus. 

Honestly, as annoying as it was, it was also incredibly fun to watch her little face light up! I'd do it all over again, and now have to next year, because she's already talking about it haha! Here's the kicker though...I LOST the damn elf. She's somewhere in the house, but not sure where? I moved her and then had to set up a giant castle, and have no idea where I placed her...oops, but I figure I have a whole year to find her right? 

I'm sharing some of Charlotte's favorite elf mischief :) if you're on the fence about doing it, just go for it, nothing beats the look on her face in the mornings :) 

Christmas Part Two

Yea yea, no Christmas Prt one yet, but I still haven't uploaded my camera pictures yet :) I'll get there! 

We had christmas prt two today with my brother who was out of town for Christmas. 

Charlotte is growing and changing every day, she was a cutie today and said some funny things. She talks so well and so much. 

I think her favorite gift might have been the whoopie cushion. She thought it was hilarious. She got her first care bear and of course more frozen paraphenila. We had Chinese food, and she played mom moms organ. 

Quick post, but that's today's update :) 

I'm back!

I haven't updated in a very long time :( for that I'm sorry, both to anyone who actually reads this stuff and to Charlotte! I started this to capture memories (between two jobs and playing with her, who has time for an old fashioned baby book any more?!) so I want to keep it going, keep those who care updated, have a place to express myself and have a place to put down in writing all the fun adventures me and my little one have! 

Well Charlotte is two now!! She's super grown up and all over the place! She's a talking maniac! Here are some quick fun facts :) 

Favorite song: shake it off by Taylor swift (literally screamed at me once when I turned the car off and it was still playing! 

Favorite food: Pizza

Favorite phrases: not yet, sit a minute, go away monster, um, hi mommy 

What did you do at school?: um, Emma 

Favorite show: curious George 

Favorite place to go: GG's and science center 

Favorite toy: babies 

Favorite game: putting everyone and everything to night night 

There you have it! A quick update into our lives :) Charlotte is about 24lbs now, and growing every day! She's not nearly the little peanut she used to be, but sometimes late at night when she's tired and wants to cuddle I have glimpses of my sweet baby girl who I used to rock and rock (now she's my sweet toddler girl who goes to bed by herself) 

Everyday presents a new challenge for me and for her, but I'm doing my best to take it one day at a time and savour the little moments when I can catch my breath! 

She's growing so fast, I've said it before and will say it again, it's incredibly bitter sweet, I year for the days gone by of my tiny sweet baby, but my heart overflows with the joy and privilege of watching her grow up and being as present as I can be in all aspects of her life. 

There are many things I'm not good at, and even more I've failed miserably at, but one thing I know, is that I was meant to be a mom, and more than that, was meant to be her mom. I am ever thankful and blessed, even in my most challenging moments that I get to call this sweet little girl mine :)

Oregon Ridge Nature Center

Sorry that it's been so long that I've blogged, but boy have we been busy! I will def be overloading you all with a ton of posts the next few days! 

In the earlier winter we went to Oregon Ridge nature Center! It was my first time there, but it was very fun! 

ORNC has an indoor nature area and it looks like a lot of walking trails, there was snow all over the ground (and falling from the sky) so we didn't get to explore the outside as much as I would have liked. 

Inside they had lots of animals and tanks to look at as well as some exploratory things, when we went there was a free animal encounter program and they brought out their opossum for the kids to get an up close look at. They talked about the opossum and there was a free craft to do. Charlotte did not sit through the informational part, so we walked around the nature center, everyone else was inside the meeting room looking at the animal, and listening, so we had the place to ourselves, and one of the employees was kind enough to take one of the turtles out for the kiddo to touch and see! 

It was a fun way to spend the afternoon, and I very much look forward to going back when it gets warm outside. The best bonus is that this place is free. I love a deal!!

Charlotte things of note: she wore her snow boots and was very excited about that, she loves walking on her own up to the nature center, the road/sidewalk was all salted bc of the snow, and she shuffled her feet and laughed the whole time (it was a whole new sensation for her), she said turtle at lot, which was one of her new favorite words at the time, she giggled when she got to pet the turtle and loved his "hands", she loved walking in the snow, and tried to jump in it, but it was a little hard for her, she had a ball! 

Irvine Nature center

If you've never been to the Irvine nature center it's a real treat and the price is affordable because its free! Charlotte and I were blessed with amazing weather this weekend so went to check it out. 

Inside they have lots of animals to look at and lots of things to touch and learn about! They also have a cool party room and do birthdays there, taking note for the future! 

Outside there is even more fun stuff to do! The trails are awesome, we did a short flat one with no hills, perfect if you have a toddler, or want to go with an off road stroller. On the trail they had a little aviary where we got to see a hawk and an owl, also an opossum but it was creepy haha. There was a beautiful overlook with a gazebo and beehives so you could check out the bees. 

The real gem is the outdoor classroom, where they encourage you to get messy with nature! There's a place to play in the  sand and dirt, trees to climb and even a musical area! 

Charlotte had so much fun! She loved the walking trail and even picked up a leaf or two to take with us. It was a lot of fun to watch her explore the outdoor classroom! She made mud pies and stirred them up with a stick (she may have even eaten some dirt haha) she dug in the sand, snacked at pint sized picnic tables and climbed tree stumps! 

This place is definitely worth checking out! It really encourages natural play and imagination and gives kids a chance to look at animals up close! It's great for kids of all ages!