106 degrees of icecream

Today the temperature got up to 106 degrees at 5pm! And while it was a miserable drive heading home from work with the AC on full blast, Sophie spent part of the day outside participating in field day at school. Thankfully we left a large bottle of spray on sunscreen at the day care and it looks like they are doing a good job applying it liberally. She came home with a little field day medal (which she was so proud of showing me) instead of a sun burn. We decided to celebrate by beating the heat and eating icecream.

*Notice the plastic metal around her neck? She was so proud of that.*

From TX to PA

Last year when Gabriel turned 3, he gave up his 'binkies' and gave them to "Baby Sophie". Likewise, this year his brother Patrick turned 3 and it was time for him to give up his pacifiers as well. Now when although the Tomkos are no longer in Camden, and to be honest, neither are we... Lindsay still took some time to explain to Patrick that he was giving up his pacifiers and sending them off to "Baby Sophie".

We appreciate the thought. And decided that in return to keep up the illusion, I had Sophie color a "Thank You" card for Patrick. I addressed it to their place in Pennsylvania and sent it from our home in Texas.

Hopefully it reaches the the Tomkos in PA. And hopefully we can continue to keep our correspondence, whether it be electronic or written.

Date with Dad- Zoobilee

On Saturday, the Dallas Zoo sponsored Zoobilee. Since Brian spent so much time at SMU, it was a perfect opportunity for him to spend some tme with Sophie. I was merely the photographer and stroller-pusher.

They went on the Carousel, which (again) Sophie was too frightened to do without being held.

Sophie loved being held and showing Dad around the Zoo.

They saw Penguins...

... Gorillas....

.... Birds.....

.... Crocodiles......

.... Chimpanzees....

... Meerkats.....

....Flamingos....

....and Elephants.

We also placed our feet in some elephant tracks. It was cute to see how little Sophie's feet were compared to that of an elephant.

It was nice to see the two of them together.

Texas Sky

You never know how much you miss the open sky when it is no longer available. In Southern Arkansas tall pine trees often blocked our view of the sky. This is no longer the case and we have beautiful view of the skies here.

Horse, Horse, Her Apple for a Horse

Near our house there is a park. And at that park there are horses. And those horses like company... and apples.

With the weather being hot and beautiful, we try and spend the evenings at the park, walking, playing on the playground, and visiting the horses, which are super friendly.

Yesterday on our trip to a park I took an apple from our refrigerator, cut it into quarters, and then took it with us for the horses. I showed Sophie how to feed the horses, instead she decided that she wanted the apple for herself.

The horses knew exactly what she had and were eyeballing her apple the whole time. Eventually, Brian was able to convince her to give the horses the remaining bits of her apple.

Needless to say if Sophie is ever in need of a horse she can find one at the park... provided she's willing to give up an apple.

Swimming on Sunday

Previously we had no plans for Memorial Weekend, which was pretty disappointing for me considering I'm a travel bug and love excuses to travel and do things. Thankfully, Shauna (Brian's co-worker and fellow SMU student) saved the day and invited us to her Memorial Day Party. AND it was a Pool Party!

So after Sophie's nap we drove up to Shauna's place where Sophie inevitably wanted to get in the pool and wear her new ruffle bikini swimsuit (which has been hanging in her closet for some time and she has been begging to wear it for awhile).

Sophie stayed in the pool longer than any of the other kids. She loved splashing, and playing on the stairs, and sitting on the float while Mom pushed. The water was a definite highlight for her. And on the way home, she kept telling us that she "played in the water".

My highlight wasn't so much the pool as it was the company and the babysitting. After luring Sophie away from the pool (after playing for over an hour in it) I convinced her to change, eat something, and go inside and play with the toys. Shauna had 2 babysitters there to help wrangle and play with the kids so the adults could relax and talk. THAT was MY FAVORITE part. And Sophie didn't mind it too much as the sitters kept her occupied with toys, bubbles, chalk, movies, and food.

By the time we were almost home, Sophie was asleep in her car seat. THANK YOU SHAUNA! That was an excellent Memorial Day party!