Zoie is 2!!! (Part 2 - Her Actual Birthday)

On the actual day of Zoie's 2nd birthday, she got more presents from Mommy - a Minnie Mouse lawn chair, a Doodle Pro, a Jungle puzzle and a CD of Beach music!





After that, Grandma Lucy took us out to birthday dinner - it was really nice! Then, we took Zoie to Morrill Hall (aka Elephant Hall) on the UNL Campus for her first museum visit. I thought she might be scared of the big elephants, fossils and dinosaurs but she had no fear!






"Don't Eat Me!!"

Zoie as compared to the lower leg bone of an African elephant.





It was a fun time but we were all still a tad wiped out from the party the day before so we headed home...at which time, Zoie & I proceeded to take a SIX HOUR nap! Wow! Maybe this is why birthdays only come once a year, huh?!

Side Note: At her 2 Yr Checkup, Zoie was 36" tall and weighed 28.5 lbs...she's still in the higher percentiles but is very healthy and that's the main thing!

Zoie is 2!!! (Part 1 - The Party)

Unbelievable as it is...my little baby girl is 2! And, of course, birthday = party!! The idea for the party was to have an Build Your Own Sundae Party...but I couldn't find any invites that had ice cream on them so, with Grandma Lucy's help, we just made them...and I thought they turned out really cute!



Grandma Lucy and I also made the birthday cake...



The party, held the day before Zoie's actual birthday, was at a local restaurant that has an old fashioned soda-fountain bar. It was a glorious spring day out so it was perfect! In the morning, Zoie went with me to drop off the cake and then we went to get her LOTS of balloons - she loves them!! Next we went home, got all ready for the party and proceeded to the festivities. Zoie is very blessed to have awesome people in her life (and so am I) - Grandma Lucy; Pop-Pop Jim; Jill, Travis & Brayten; Auntie Lindsay; Donna S.; Bernice H.; Wendy, PC, & Piglet; Aunt Linda, Cousin Shelly & Spencer - who drove over 3 hours to come to the party!; Vonda & Connor; Daycare lady Pat & her husband, John; Terri T; and EJ! Everyone had marvelous sundaes and yummy cake - Zoie loved it all! Enjoy the pics!!



















Zoie even got a brand new pink & purple tricycle...and she cruised it all over the restaurant!!



Thank you to everyone who was able to come to the party and make it a huge success! And to those who I know wished they could be there, we missed you - you were there in spirit for sure!

Illness Strikes, The Train, and Boston

My company has an annual user/customer conference, and, this year, I was honored to be attending in the role of trainer for some of the courses at the conference which was being held this year in Boston, Massachusetts (next year - San Diego!). Grandma was more than willing to step in and watch Zoie while I was gone...that is until she got the flu - AGAIN! And, boy, did it have her down! I've never heard someone cough so hard and so often. She also had a fever that, well, had her a little delirious the saturday before I left...and it really scared me. I knew that even though she wanted to, that there was no way I could leave with Mom being like that...she wouldn't have been able to get out of bed let alone chase after a toddler...so, Aunt Chris to the rescue! I called to see if there would be anyway she could come and stay while I was gone and it just so happened that it would work...they put her on the Amtrak to town and, due to a slight change in his schedule, Gary was on days for the week so the boys would be fine and they could come and get her on the weekend when I got back. Talk about a relief! So, Zoie and I picked Chris up at the train station around 7:15 a.m. - even though she was supposed to get in 3 hours earlier! We had a day to get her oriented with where to drive and all and then the next day, I took off for Boston!


Flying into Boston I had a great view of the harbor but, because I was there for work, I spent most of my time inside the hotel conference rooms and my room. I had to laugh though...the hotel was called the Westin Waterfront - but check the views we had out our hotel room...the air conditioners!! Glad I didn't have to foot the bill for that view!

Luckily, my company was also sponsoring a hospitality suite on a higher floor that had GREAT (albeit a tad overcast) views.



Being a person who works remotely, I don't SEE people I work with, so this was an excellent time for that! One evening, my company sponsored dinner at the Boston Museum of Science, which was really cool! We did also get out for dinner a couple of nights - great food there! Boston is definitely a town I'd like to get back to and see more of one day! A little trivia - you'll see a "Cheers" sign, but it's not the bar that was from the tv show...before the show I don't know if there really was a bar called Cheers...the one you see in the opening credits of the show is a place called the Bull & Finch.

Bonjour, Qwode!

(Or Bonjour, Claude!) This is how I taught Zoie to greet my very dear friend, Claude, who is originally from Quebec, but now calls the states his home. He was in Nebraska to visit another mutual friend of ours, Steven, so we got together for lunch! I hadn't seen either of them for at least 5 years, but, as it is with very good friends, the years melted away and it felt as if it had only been days, not years, since we were together. It did my heart good to see them both and I was so proud for them to meet Zoie! She really took to them - imagine that!