Tricia, David, and the Little Ones: Another Visit

Well, after being in the West for a week, Sophia and I headed East to visit the other grandparents and Uncle and Aunt. Sophia and I spent a lovely week with the Gerhard family, seeing lots of grandma and grandpa, and lots of Uncle Adamo and Auntie Kristine. Lots of fun was had.

The first thing that caught Sophia's attention was the brand new baby doll and stroller that grandma had purchased for her enjoyment (and ours too). Along with the stroller came a lovely Easter Bunny purse, which had a scarf in it just for Sophia. So every time she wanted to push the buggy around, Sophia went through the ritual of putting on the scarf and putting on the purse, and then making sure baby was in the right place. Once all was good, strolling could happen. It was funny to watch. Unfortunately, all of the proof of this is on video, but I do have picture of Sophia with the scarf at her other favorite toy...the "mano" (Aka the piano)

Ah the piano...Sophia spent a lot of time composing the next great symphony on that stand up piano. Actually, her favorite thing to do was to hit the keys while "singing" Hallelujah! She learned that song in church and is one of her favorite things to say!

One of the new adventures was heading to the Assiniboine Zoo (we did the aquarium in Vancouver!). It's a huge place, which in the winter, closes at 4:00 pm. This isn't normally a problem, but when you arrive at 3:00 pm is certainly limits the amount you can see. Seeing that it wasn't too expensive to get in, we girls did it twice. That way we saw more! I think Sophia had a great time. After the first time, she was constantly saying: zoo zoo monkey monkey. Yup, a good time was had.

Popping out of an egg in the bird exhibit. If only it were that easy! Check out that grin!

Checking out the donkey at the barn.

Of course, we had to chase the chickens. Thankfully, as chickens go, they were pretty patient.

A big, fat, noisy groundhog ---not a gopher...

riding around in style...not easily maneuvered style, but style none the less.

A Gibbon (you know, a kind of monkey)

Sophia and the monkey, checking each other out.

Camels...the two humped kind.

Another special outing happened for Sophia, she got to check out the Manitoba Children's Museum. This time Uncle Adam was able to join the girls. There were LOTS of children at the museum....LOTS. That's what we get for going on a Saturday with out a dozen birthday parties going on and a mini-concert. Yikes. But did explore the whole place, and even hung out for some of the music!

Hanging out in the dining car of the REAL train they have in the museum. Sophia way more interested in checking out what the other kids were doing, though.