Monthly Archive

For the conclusion of our fabulous anniversary weekend getaway, we went to the Kansas City Zoo for the afternoon.

Kivrin and Dan watching a monkey together.

Kivrin liked to watch the meerkats. And to stand on her own at the fence, with the animals at eye level.

Kivrin and I admiring some monkeys.

Kivrin giving the lowland gorilla a friendly wave hello. (He was lounging, which I’m sure she admired!)

This was the view from our lunch (peas and tofu for the baby, nachos and pretzels for the parents) at the zoo. The farthest little animal on the right is the brand new baby zebra.

Kivrin and her daddy went to admire the lions and this one was right up close!

It was pretty obvious when Kivrin was done for the day! We went through the new rainforest exhibit while she was sleeping, and she slept the whole way home to Topeka. It was a wonderful weekend away, but Kivrin was happy to see her bath toys, her trucks and eating in her high chair while watching the cats. All her favorites!

Behold Kivrin’s absolute joy at a bizzare monkey toy she charmed out of our waiters  at the Mexican restaurant near our house (El Agave)…she left a huge mess of rice everwhere, we left a big tip to compensate for the mess and then they gave her a present!

Kivrin discovered at the big Barnes and Noble on the plaza that she could push around the stroller herself!

At the same store, Kivrin and I discovered TRAINS! neither one of us is very good at playing trains yet — Kivrin throws them and Lissa tries to hook them together backwards, but we both had a good time.

This is a naptime reenactment of how Kivrin hogged the king sized bed all night for our big anniversary trip. Although she does not sleep across the pillows at the top (yet) I think she gets this bed-hogging from her Aunt Leigh Anne!

Although the water in the outdoor pool was cool, Kivrin loveed swimming and splashing.

This picture doesn’t look like much, but it illustrates three of Kivrin’s newest hobbies — the first, holding socks. She likes to carry around socks (clean, dirty, doesn’t matter to her) like little dolls. The second activity is dragging around grownup shoes by the laces. She likes to carry a pair and walk around dangling them with her. The third activity is lounging. Kivrin likes to lounge on mommy or daddy, or course, or on the bed or the couch. Here she is lounging on the floor, with her feet up on the stroller.

Kivrin entertaining herself (an iphone video during dinner)

Lissa and Daniel took a special weekend trip for their 5th wedding anniversary, and Kivrin came with us! We ate dinner at Buca di Beppo on the Kansas City Plaza, figuring (correctly) that at a busy family style restaurant, Kivrin would enjoy herself and fit right in! She even got to sit in a booster seat between us in a big comfy booth. All of the waiters and waitresses stopped to get smiles from the baby, and Kivrin had a blast!

Kivrin signing her version of “more” and getting a bite of mashed potatoes.

Kivrin chewing on the heel of the bread and playing with her monkey.

Kivrin and I got Daniel some “daddy cakes” for his birthday. Kivrin didn’t get any of the supersized deluxe glamorous cupcakes for herself, but she eyed them with interest.

Besides all of the other valid reasons for child labor laws, let’s face it, babies are not good helpers. Here Kivrin is helping me snap green beans that Carrie’s dad grew for us. While Kivrin likes to pull things out of the bowl even occasionally put things back into the bowl, she decreased the over productivity of our task by a large amount.

Kivrin was equally unhelpful with the ribbons of my fairy-skirt-making project, although she enjoyed them A LOT.

This was supposed to be a picture of Kivrin walking, but she came in for a cute little snuggle instead.

This is also supposedly a picture of Kivrin walking at the Topeka zoo on July 11th (about a week after she took her first steps). We figured she would want to toddle around a bit,  so we didn’t bring in a stroller or sling, but every time we set her down, she plopped down and refused to move! So, we lugged her around the zoo the old fashioned way, in our arms.

I’m sure we’ve posted similar pictures before, but look, Kivrin’s waving to the elephant. That never gets old.