Monkeys and Elephants and Baby Giraffes, oh my!

We thought we'd take a leisurely trip to the Greenville Zoo on Black Friday instead of braving the malls and shopping centers. It was just about as crowded there since it was a beautiful 69-degree sunny day. We had lots of fun seeing the animals, playing on the playground, and hanging out with Melissa and Grandma.

Look at me! (thanks, Melissa!)

Monkey, meet my monkey.

Grandma is showing me the elephants!

This looked like a car, but now not so much...

Lions, what lions? I want a snack break.

Cheese!

Bamboo hill. Let's run up and down 14 times...ok? Ok.

Thanksgiving and the ZOO!

We went to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving and got to see cousins Madeleine and Micah! Also, Aunt Jessica and Uncle Justin and Uncle Matt and Melissa! 

I never end up taking a whole group picture...sigh.

So sweet. They're gathered around an iPad. Technology bringing them together....

Micah and Shepard

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the toys, cousins!

 

 

 

 

Next up...pictures of the ZOO!!!

School pictures

I'm a sucker for the school picture. I just have to get them. They couldn't get a class picture of his spring class, which made me sad, as we really liked his teachers and classmates. So, this picture is priceless to me. These are his "school friends" that we go see each day. They are such a big part of his life right now. He comes home singing all kinds of songs these days, like "Baa, baa black sheep," his ABC's, "Bringing home a baby bumblebee..." It seems he is constantly learning new things.
Here are his friends and teachers, Miss Lecara and Miss Leah.

L-R: Front-Trevor, Xavier, Rylen; 2nd-??, RJ, Devin, Shepard, ??; Back: Miss Lecara, Aiden, ?? Hayden, ??, ??, Miss Leah

I need to work on the girls. A lot of the boys he's been with since he was tiny.

They have group time in front of this wall each morning and discuss what month, date and day of the week it is. They go through their shapes and colors. It's terribly cute to see. None of them can sit still for more than 20 seconds.


 Who's that handsome little man!?!?!

It was 90 degrees outside when they took these "fall" pics. I didn't know there would be a full-length pic. Oh well. Please note the blue bandaid on the big toe.  :)

More "big house"

Mommy does some painting.

Shepard has been trying to sort out the "new house/big house" and "old house" since the move. His school is a block from the old house, so every time we go to school, he starts saying "old house!" Plus, we've had a few dinner "picnics" at the old house, so he's starting to associate the empty Pinevalley place with pizza or Chick-fil-A parties.  :) He really likes helping us vacuum and sweep as we try to ready the old place for its next phase of life. He also likes to grab the empty rollers and paintbrushes and paint in "Shepard's area."
I think he's adjusting pretty well. It's been an insane few weeks of unpacking, finding, saying "don't touch that!" We're trying hard to keep his schedule the same. Of course, "fall back" isn't anyone's friend when you have a toddler. We've been getting wakeups anywhere from 4:15 - 5:45 pretty regularly. This morning, he sorted himself out and went back to sleep somewhere during the 4's. I didn't hear from him again til the 6's. That will work.

Here are some pics from the last few weeks as we've been painting/moving and even taking SANTA pictures at school today. 

Headed to school in my sock-monkey hat!

Pops is on trash duty.

Gigi is sure she can get it off.

The mantel was attached with supersonic nails.

One our many "picnics" at the BIG HOUSE.

"Uncle Map" cuts in the paint creatively.

Getting rid of the "fence" in our dining room.

Thanks, Uncle Justin and Aunt Jessica. Labor of love.

Sure. They're smiling now. The wallpaper beat them down. Thanks, Uncle Map and Pops.

Cousin Madeleine tries to corral the tidbit.

Ho ho ho! Pictures with Santa day.

Pictures with Santa day!

Movin' on up...

We are soooo excited to be moving to a new house this weekend. We'll have twice the space as before and lots of nooks and crannies and wide open spaces for little man to play in. Here are a few shots of him at the new house as we visited and did some painting, etc. before moving.

Helping pick out some matching flooring

A big front porch is great for running

Hey, does that cute boy live here?

"Helping" Gigi

Lunch break!

Climb the ladder!

I did it!

What's this?

Cousins hangin' out

Whirlwind. Halloween.

Halloween was yesterday. Tidbit got to wear his jammies to school and have a party and trick or treat with his friends around the gym. We were pretty stoked to get him adorned as a garden gnome and go back over to his school/church, where they have a "trunk or treat" with lots of fun stuff.
We talked about the costume ahead of time. He got to try on the hat and beard on Tuesday. He wanted no part of that beard, but I thought he might still go for the hat...we talked about going to get candy and seeing friends and "decorations." He has been using the word decorations a lot as we pass by neighbor's homes that are decked out. He ate a delightful dinner of rice, veggies and chicken, so his belly was full. (that always leads to a better time for all involved)
It took some doing to get him dressed in just the costume part. For some reason the shoes became an issue...I tried to just slip the cute red elfin shoes over his current shoes. NOPE. NOT HAPPENING. We had several attempts at "getting in Mommy's car..." For some reason, he just would not go in the car seat. There was screaming, stiff-body moves, squirming, pleading...
We went inside and had a cool off in his room. I was ready to give up. I explained to him again what we were going to go do. Get candy, see costumes, look at decorations...we made one more attempt for the car. Again...NO DICE. That kid was not going anywhere in the car seat. His mind was made up to drive, so nothing would do except the driver's seat.
So, that was halloween. I did snap a few pictures in the 20 minutes he wore the costume.

Must get milk!!!!!

Gnomes need refreshing beverages too. (moving box in the shot)

Ride in Mommy's car...except I want to DRIVE.

I guess he doesn't know exactly what he missed this year. I knew if I could just GET HIM IN THE CAR SEAT, he'd have fun. We were pretty bummed. Perhaps next year. We'll go easy like fireman or cowboy...or let him be a space bee or whatever he wants.