By Geri Imler on 5/20/2009 5:36 PM

Today was the Zoopolis 500!  Dave and Michele happened to be in town today so we took the girls down to the zoo to see the animals.  When we got there, we saw huge crowds and didn't know what was going on.  Then we found out it was a BIG day at the zoo...the Zoopolis 500!  All kinds of events were going on, including a "Got Milk?" stand that had a big (fake) cow and free milk, which was great for the girls throughout the day!  Then there was the parade of animals (which was a huge fake cow, meerkat, and rhino), a real tortoise shell that the girls got to touch and see, and the appearance of race car driver Tony Kanaan.  He is currently in the second row for starting the Indianapolis 500 race (position 6), and he drives car #11.  But the most exciting part would have to be the actual race of the tortoises!  They were hilarious!  There was Lyn St. James, a medium size female, up against a few really small ones, and the huge, GIANT tortoise, AJ.  It was funny watching the zookeepers trying to get the tortoises to head towards the food and keep moving!  AJ did NOT want to race today, and just sat there looking around.  Tony Kanaan even come down and tried to coax him with some watermelon, which turned into a staring match between the two of them...too funny!  The winner ended up being Lyn St. James, and she enjoyed her food and glory in the makeshift winner's circle.  Other things the girls got to do today included seeing a new monkey on exhibit (and, boy, was he loud!), watching a dolphin show (which was pretty cool, and where Emma kept clapping everytime they jumped out of the water), going on a carousel ride with Gramma and Grandpa, and enjoying lots of other fun animals.  It was absolutely beautiful here today, and the girls got pretty tired out from the whole morning zoo excursion.  They fell asleep in the car and then in their beds right when we got home.  Overall, a fabulous day!  Did I mention how much we love our zoo membership?!?

     

The girls with the "Got Milk?" cow (left), and our new monkey friend (middle).  Gramma and Abigail walking together (right).

The girls watching the llamas with Gramma and Grandpa (Abigail in green hat, Emma in pink hat).

  

Emma and Gramma on the carousel (left), and Abigail and Grandpa on the carousel (right).

   

Tony Kanaan, race car driver (left).  Lyn St. James (the winner!) alongside a smaller tortoise (middle).  Tony Kanaan trying to coax AJ to move (right)...see how big AJ is in relation to Tony!

  

Grandpa pushing around the girls in the stroller (left), and two pretty worn out girls ready for a nap (right).

By Geri Imler on 5/17/2009 9:32 AM

        

Last weekend we went to the Indianapolis 500 Pole Day which qualifies positions #1-11, and it was a great day for everyone!  We had gotten the girls these big ear protectors for the loud sounds (they are actually for shooting ranges), and we weren't sure if they would keep them on or not.  Well, they ended up thinking they were pretty cool wearing them around, so they had them on most of the time.  In fact, when we took them off, they asked for them to be put back on.  During Pole Day, you get to walk around and sit wherever you want.  So we started out in the stands right next to pit row, which is always cool as you can see what is going on in the pits and the people that are involved in there.  You can even see the drivers pretty upclose.  We ate our lunch while watching in the stands, and the girls really got a kick out of watching the cars zoom by.  They would follow them with their heads and then would say, "zoom zoom" to us after they went by, and Emma kept asking for "one more" car to go by.  After awhile in the stands, we took off walking around the in field to the first corner, where you can get right up next to the fence and road.  The girls ran around and played the rocks there, filling up their stroller with them and just being kids.  Later we walked around a bit more, and the girls were hilarious.  By far my favorite part of the day was when we started walking around because the girls held each other's hand, and then they decided to dance around together, which they thought was hilarious.  It was so adorable!  They even fell down together a few times and would help each other up, then dance some more!  Too funny!  After strolling around for a bit, we then went up into the grandstands to watch some more qualifying.  The amazing thing is that even though we were right up next to the track and the cars were so loud when they went by, somehow Emma managed to fall asleep in the stroller for like a half hour.  Abigail during that time was too interested in what was going on to sleep, so instead she played peek-a-boo from her stroller seat while enjoying some popcorn.  We stayed about three hours and had a wonderful time!  Check out how cute the girls were in their "ear muffs" and playing together.

  

Emma and Abigail with their ear protectors on, and them walking around, playing in the rocks.

     

Abigail (left) watching the cars while Emma (middle) puts rocks in her stroller.  Abigail (right) looking oh-so-cute!

     

Mommy and Emma (left) as she points out cars to me (look at her squished face from the ear "muffs").  Emma and Abigail walking hand in hand together...so adorable!

     

The girls dancing together.  Abigail smiling in the one on the left, and Emma smiling in the one on the right.

One of my favorite moments!  The girls just enjoying themselves as sisters and friends.

   

Emma falling asleep somehow with all the noise (left), while Abigail plays peek-a-bee in her stroller (middle).  Emma still staying asleep even as the cars zoom by (right)!

  

Tim enjoying the day of racing, and one of the cars that qualified that day.

By Geri Imler on 5/10/2009 8:26 AM

So far it has been a wonderful Mother's Day, which actually started yesterday for me.  My family is so wonderful!  We had a great day yesterday when we headed to the Indianapolis 500 Pole Day, which was awesome!  The girls were so cute, and I will post photos later.  We went out to eat for dinner at Red Robin (which I love), and then stopped to get a Dairy Queen cake, which I enjoyed most of last night and will continue to do so today.  Also, on Friday, a gift arrived for me....two dozen red roses from the girls with a heart warming message!  Now today I woke up to cards colored by the girls and a great breakfast.  Sleeping in, the Indy 500, dinner out, Dairy Queen cake, roses, and of course, those precious cards with hugs and kisses from my girls....who could ask for more on Mother's Day! 

    

So, I wanted to send out to all those wonderful mommies and mothers out there, for all you do each and every day, which is so very much.....

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

By Geri Imler on 5/7/2009 6:02 PM

So the girls get to watch a show on TV usually before naptime to help them settle down, or as I like to call it, they have "down time."  Lately I have been putting on the show called "Little Bear" from our On Demand, and the girls just think it is hilarious.  I mean, I love to sit there and watch them watch the show because their little eyes light up, and they really pay attention to it.  And the best part is when they spontaneously laugh outloud at things on the show.  Don't get me wrong; the girls giggle and laugh all of the time, but for some reason, watching them laugh outloud at the TV makes me feel like they are so grown up.  It is neat and interesting to see what they find funny, too.  And the sound of it....I am sure that any mom would understand that you just can't get enough of that sound...the sound of joy and happiness and laughter....the sound of contentment.  It is a "real" laugh, not one that is brought on from tickles or being silly with them.  But a real chuckle from their tummies, a moment that I think about often before falling asleep at night and which brings a smile to my own face.  Anyways, I just think it is so precious and cute, so here are some photos from today's down time when they were laughing at the show.  Also, with the weather being so nice (when it is not raining), the girls have been outside in their backyard playing like champs.  They love to be outside, and it is a nice change of scenery for me, too!  Here are some cute ones from playing and having fun outside tonight.  Hope everyone got to enjoy the weather like we did!  In other news, Baby Girl #3 is doing just fine, and I am almost 25 weeks along now.  The girls are adorable with the whole thing, as they will tell you that a baby is in Mommy's belly, and they like to come up and talk to my belly and the baby.  They tell the baby what their name is and then tell it to go "nigh nigh" in my belly.  Too cute!

   

Abigail laughing at the show, "Little Bear."

   

Emma also finding the show quite amusing. (That is a sticker on her hand.)

 

Playing in their sandbox

     

Abigail showing you a duck and a goose (left), while Emma gets ready to go down her slide (right).

By Geri Imler on 5/6/2009 7:13 AM

Just wanted to send out a big CONGRATULATIONS to Brad & Andrea! 

And welcome to the world, WILL!

Thinking of you all!

By Geri Imler on 5/4/2009 8:30 AM

We had a busy weekend around here!  We went looking for new twin beds for the girls, and ended up ordering them on Sunday (how exciting!).  We went looking for new bedding for them, and ended up finding something we are going to try (has to go with the paint colors in there already as we don't want to repaint again).  We visited the Children's Museum for a little bit to play and ride the carousel.  And we went to an Indians game as it was a gorgeous day here yesterday!  We parked at the zoo, walked over to the game, and enjoyed some lawn seats where the girls got to run around and play.  It was so nice as we could basically sit on our blanket as the girls ran back and forth to the fence.  We got them a big tub of popcorn, which they ate a ton of and kept coming back for more.  They didn't really watch much of the game (which I knew was going to be the case), but were interested in everything else that was going on like all of the sounds on the loudspeaker, all of the kids running around and playing, and the crowds.  Tim took them to get temporary spray-on tatoos, too, which they thought ware so cool.  Abigail had a tiger on her arm while Emma had a butterfly on hers.  Some observations that are amusing:  Abigail doesn't care if her shoes are on or off, but Emma doesn't like grass on her feet so had to have hers on during the game; Abigail loved to carry around the popcorn tub while Emma loved to carry around her Blankie; the girls kept cracking up at this other little girl there who kept talking to them and dancing to the music; Abigail ended up dumping the popcorn in the grass later on, but that didn't hinder them from eating it, as both girls picked through the grass whenever they wanted a bite to find a piece of popcorn; and Abigail knew we parked at the zoo, so when we went back to the car, she had a bit of a meltdown, repeating, "zoo, zoo, zoo" over and over because she wanted to go in.  Also, you will notice that Abigail's eye still has viral conjunctivitis.  And the hats that say "Big Sister" are a gift from MawMaw, so thanks!  Overall, it was a great time at the game, very relaxing and fun.  Here are some photos:

  

Sitting with Daddy and Mommy at first as they check out the game and crowd.  (Abigail is in purple, Emma is in white)

  

Daddy with the girls at the fence in front of our blanket.  Emma and Abigail laughing at the other kids. 

     

Emma being silly (left), and Abigail running around (middle).  Both girls enjoying the big tub of popcorn (right).

     

Hanging out at the fence together (left).  Emma with her Blankie and thumb (middle).  Abigail with her tub of popcorn (right).

Both girls trying to find pieces of popcorn in the grass to eat.  So silly!

By Geri Imler on 5/4/2009 8:02 AM

We did travel to Lima for a few days when we thought Abigail just had a virus.  Tim was away in Texas, so we stayed with my sister for a few days, but mostly just hung out since Abigail was still running a fever all of the time and was so sick.  It was nice to have help, though, with my family around.  Plus Emma got to play a ton with her cousins while I took care of Abigail.  Here are some cute photos of the girls just hanging out. 

  

Emma likes to hide a lot, and here she is trying to cover herself up and hide in a huge quilt.   And here's a close up of just how cute she is!

  

There were brief moments when Abigail, being full of Motrin and Tylenol, felt okay to play.  Here is one of those moments when she put animals in a train.  You can see in the second photo how her eye was looking, and this is when it was looking "good" in terms of the virus.

By Geri Imler on 5/4/2009 7:37 AM

Sorry that there have not been many blogs lately.  I thought I would do a little catching up today, though we have not been able to do a whole lot since Abigail got sick about a week and a half ago.  To update that, she is better in terms of fever, eating, sleeping, etc.  But she still has viral conjunctivitis in her right eye, which makes it swollen and fully of discharge.  She has seen a doctor three different times, and as of Friday, it is still just a virus in her eye that has to run its course (which could last two weeks).  Anyways, we were pretty housebound with the fever part of this virus, which lasted several days, but we did get to go to the zoo the day before her fever hit.  We took the girls with my mom to the zoo for the morning last Saturday when it was really nice out here.  The girls just love the zoo.  They know exactly where they are at the minute we pull into the parking area.  This zoo trip was full of a few firsts for them:  they got to feed a giraffe, and they got to watch an elephant getting a bath.  Both were super fun!  I was not sure if they would be scared to give the food to the giraffe (which was a piece of fruit), but they just handed it up to the massive animal and didn't get scared at all.  For the elephant bath, they just kept talking about how the elephant needed a "tub tub" as he was dirty and needed to get clean.  I really enjoyed watching that as we were in the stands right up next to the elephant and could really see him upclose. Plus it was fascinating to watch this animal lift its legs and feet to be washed and eventually completely lay on the ground.  They even washed his tusks and got him to stick his huge tongue out at us!  So cool!  Here are some photos from our time at the zoo. 

The girls love to watch and feed the ducks.

      

The girls feeding the chickens (Emma in hot pink, Abigail in light pink)

      

Elephant Bath Time - Lifting a foot, getting washed off, and laying down

     

Some other wildlife from the zoo...a duck, flamingos, and a turtle.