Newport Aquarium

Over the weekend, Mandy, Jeff, Blake, Vera, Adam and I decided to try to beat the winter blues and get out of the house for a day trip to Newport Aquarium. Vera was so excited for her adventure with Blake.  As we were leaving the driveway, Vera very seriously looked at Blake and asked, "Blake, do you like sharks?"   

When we arrived, we immediately saw a huge mass of people waiting outside to buy tickets to the aquarium.  It was very chilly, and no one was dressed warm enough to stand outside for 30 minutes for tickets!  Evidently the rest of Ohio and Kentucky also had the same plan to beat the winter blues and get out of the house.  (I'm sure the holiday weekend and kids getting in free had nothing to do with it!!)  It was packed!  But, we lucked out in a few ways.  Mandy & I found a warm spot inside with the kids while the guys waited for tickets.  I spotted two people we knew from our area who were toward the front of the line.  I went over to talk with them, and they bought our tickets for us so Adam and Jeff didn't have to freeze waiting in the long line.

When we finally got inside, it was super-crowded and difficult to see everything, but we made the most of it.

Because it was so crowded, Vera (and Blake) had to be carried almost the entire time.  Dad was a trooper in carrying Ms. Vera while mom carried the coats and bags.  No strollers were allowed!

There weren't too many exhibits that were at eye-level for these two munchkins!

When we went to the Frog Bog, there were less people and these two got to run around a little bit.  They had fun pushing buttons and checking everything out.

 

Vera searched for all of the creatures from Finding Nemo.

Here's Mr. Ray.

We spotted some really giant fish!

Cool jellyfish!

Lots of SHARKS with really sharp teeth!  This was mom's favorite part.

And Vera said that seeing Nemo and Dorie was her favorite part of the trip.

These are the best pictures we could get of these two lil sharks!

Blake was more excited about running around!

There was an exhibit with a pool to pet the sharks.  Vera and dad watched carefully.

Blake tried to drink the water on the ledge and splash in the pool.

And Vera had a bird's eye view of the penguin exhibit.  There were lots of them, and it was feeding time so they were fun to watch!

We rounded out our day with some yummy food at Applebee's on the way home.  Everyone was tired when we got back, including the moms and dads.  The kids were very well-behaved all day, and we were glad for a fun day out of the house!

Go Tigers!

We joined the rest of the Pearson family for Versailles' last basketball game of the season to cheer on mom's cousin Kyle and dad's cousin Kendall.  It was an exciting game, but unfortunately Versailles lost by one point! Vera had fun cheering with Bailey, running around, and eating junk food.

The girls got to meet the Tiger, who offered high fives and pictures.

Go Tigers!

So Loved!

It's Valentine's Day, and there's no question that Vera Lou is so very loved!

At least two weeks ago, Vera and I needed to pick up a few things from a store in town.  When we parked the car and were walking into the store, Vera saw Valentine's Day balloons being advertised in the flower shop window.  The one that caught her eye was the Dora balloon.  She asked lots of questions about it, and then asked when she could get it.  I explained to her that maybe if she were good, she'd get one for Valentine's Day.  Needless to say, this little girl did not forget about the Dora balloon.  Her sharp eye spotted it when we went to Sideliners and even when we were stopped at the traffic light in town!  This week, while eating breakfast, something about Valentine's Day was mentioned, and Vera announced that she wanted a Dora balloon and pink lollipops for Valentine's Day.  Sure enough, today when she came home, a Dora balloon and pink lollipops were waiting for her.

Both sets of grandparents also sent nice treats and cards. 

And, to no one's surprise, Patty went above and beyond for Valentine's Day too.  Vera came home with a goodie bag filled with sweet treats, small gifts, and cute crafts.  Vera brought cookies to Patty's house for Valentine's Day, and she couldn't wait to pass out the valentines she made for her friends. 

Patty sent us this picture from the Valentine's Day party.  Cutest kids!!  I'm curious how many attempts it took to get such a good picture!  Patty is the best!

From L to R:  Ryan M. ("Little Ryan,") Ryan T. ("Big Ryan,") Vera, Reece M., and Max

20 Weeks (and Growing!)

There's no hiding that we're going to have an addition to our family!  The last few weeks, my belly has really popped out.  Vera's been sure to remind me, almost daily, that my belly is getting big.  Occasionally, I find myself waking up on my stomach at night.  I'll cherish it for a few more days.  It isn't going to last too much longer. 

20 weeks 5 days     Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 

Hair Twirling

Vera is still a hair twirling machine!  I often catch her twirling her hair when she's watching TV.  She especially twirls her hair when she's tired and trying to get comfortable. 

This week, Vera and I were rocking in the chair as she fell asleep while twirling her hair.  The next morning when she woke up, she had a huge knot in her hair from the twirling.  I tried de-tangling spray, combing it out, and some water.  I wasn't successful.  She had the hair twisted so tight that it was a jumbled and knotted mess.  Unfortunately, I resorted to cutting the knot out of her hair.  Crazy girl!

Ariel

Ariel has a button on the back that switches her languages between Spanish and English.  Vera thinks it's funny to switch her language back and forth.  This week, she had Ariel speaking Spanish.  She pushed the button back to English and then announced, "There!  Now you're talking like a big girl, Ariel!"  Evidently talking in Spanish must equate to "talking like a baby" in Vera's mind.

Making Valentines

The cold and snowy weather has forced us to find fun things to do inside.  Last week we had two days off due to the weather.  On Monday, I decided to do some crafts with Vera to spend some quality time together. 

I did a little searching on Pinterest and decided to make some Valentines with paint and painter's tape.  Vera simply couldn't wait to get the paints out.  I don't attempt painting projects inside the house with her very often, so I certainly could wait for the painting fiasco to commence! 

A paint shirt was the first priority.  This freebie from the fire department made a perfect paint shirt.  After all, it'll be at least 2nd grade until this shirt actually fits Vera. 

Secondly, Vera watched as I made creations for her to paint using the painter's tape.  When I showed her the hearts that I made, she jumped up and down and said, "Love!" and quickly ran to put them on the table.  She was very outspoken in choosing the colors of paper we'd use, and she also didn't fail in asking a zillion times when we were going to get the paints out. 

This one was my favorite.  Vera wasn't too thrilled about painting her hands.  I did the painting, and then she smeared them onto the paper.  She was too preoccupied with painting by herself to really care about the hand prints.

She did a good job painting, though I had to constantly keep her on task.  She was worried about getting paint on her fingers and the table.  I had to keep reminding her to paint close to the blue tape. 

When we were finished painting, we had to lay down and take a nap so the paint could dry.  Here's the projects waiting to dry. 

For whatever reason, I can't get this picture to rotate.  But you get the idea, right?

Vera was not at all happy about taking a nap and so I promised her we'd make more Valentines later.  We used markers and glue to make some more paper valentines when she woke up.  I was surprised to find some Valentine stickers in my stash to help decorate them.

Vera still hadn't had her fill of Valentines, so we made a few heart mosaics with tissue paper. 

I cut up all the little squares and explained to her what we were going to do.  Shortly after we took this picture, she gave a big sigh.  Pink and red squares went floating everywhere.

After we picked up all the squares and I covered the heart in glue, Vera quickly caught on to the decorating process.

And she did a great job!

We had an excess of tissue squares, so Vera insisted that we make more.

Now we have to work on distributing these to Vera's many Valentines this year!