Zoo and Kisses and Silly Faces

Hazel and mama went to the zoo on Sunday morning. We started to leave the house at around 9:30am. Then Hazel had to find her backpack. Then she had to find a hat. But not the hat that I picked out because apparently it was the WRONG hat. I think she made the correct choice on hats, as the red one matched her shorts and shoes. Once we got to the zoo, I realized that I had forgotten my zoo pass. DOH! And Hazel wanted food. So, we went home and got the zoo pass and then tried to find food. Apparently, there are no bakeries open on Sunday. So, we bought Goldfish pretzels and finally headed to the zoo. And all was well in the universe. Until we got to the zoo (at like 11am) and I realized I hadn't brought money for the train. Double-DOH! Lucky for Hazel, I had enough parking meter money in my ashtray to pay for the train (.75). So, after all that drama, we had a fabulous time at the zoo. We saw alligators and crocodiles and the wolf (who came we called) and rode the train. And Hazel wore her monkey backpack and the red hat and looked smashing.
Hazel has been blowing a lot of kisses lately. It is a fantastic trick. Not only is it darling, but it also keeps people away. I don't need the world kissin' my kid and she hates it even more than I do. This is where blowing kisses comes in handy. The cuteness of the blowing kisses stops them in the track, and viola! no touching the Hazel.

Oh, and have I mentioned the cuteness that is barrette pigtails? The mama wears a lot of ponytails. My hair is too freakin' long and I like to keep it up (really, I need to cut it). Hazel is a mimic and wants ponytails too. Which is fine except that my ponyholders are giant and it ends up being all holder and no pony. Which is where barrettes come in... Hazel loves barrettes. I let her pick the barrettes and decide if she wants 1 or 2. And after they are installed she has to point out my hair and her hair. Repeatedly. And then I have to point out the cuteness. On the internet. Repeatedly.

And here is the Hazel make faces through the door. She is crazy. Crazy like a pig.

Breakfast of champions

This is what Hazel ate for breakfast this morning:
1 scrambled egg with cheese
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 half of a mini-bagel with cream cheese
1 half of a slice of provolone cheese
1 cup of milk

I am just saying, it was a LOT of food. I even checked her pants, she is not hiding any of the food, she actually ate all of it.

Signing Time!!

Yes, we went to see Signing Time! at the zoo. Not only was Rachel there but so was Alex and Leah and Hopkins! It was a star-studded event. Here are a couple of pictures:

As I post these, Hazel is chanting "Al" (for Alex). Dang, she loves Alex. Good thing he lives in LA and not SLC or she would be camped out like a groupie.
I tried to get a picture of Hazel's staring at the Signing Time! people (i.e. Alex) but couldn't get a good shot. Instead, here is a picture of Zoey giving Hazel a nose kiss.
And a shot of Hazel dressed like a gangster.

And Hazel putting her tank top on all by herself. She later put it on correctly. But putting a shirt on correctly is not as funny and doesn't make such a great picture.

We're Number One!

Woo Hoo!! We won!

Teeth!

Last weekend, whilst hiking at Snowbird, Hazel had not one, not two, not three but FOUR teeth come in. Okay, technically they probably did not come in on the actual hike, but they all came in last weekend. Three molars and, I believe, a cuspid. I have tried to take a picture of the teeth, but it is difficult to photograph the back of a babies mouth. So, you can kind of see one of the right ones here:

And you can kind of see two of them here:
See what a pretty smile teeth make? Plus, I love that she finally likes barrettes. Good thing Jenni made me buy BOTH packages of barrettes. When you are little and have hair in your eyes, barrettes are very good to wear. And when you are little and like to pull the barrettes out, you need to buy a lot of barrettes. Because they get lost. Plus, we only put barrettes on the right side (because that is the way her hair goes), so like half of them you can't even use. But, she just looks so nice with her hair swept out of her face.

And that is my long story about barrettes.

Hazel also likes dancing. A LOT of dancing. She also likes people to dance with her. She makes the mama dance and the papa dance and, yesterday at the Hard Rock Cafe, she made Tayvia (our friend, Shauntil's daughter) dance. Well, they kind of made each other dance. It was very cute, and a good way to keep kids entertained while we wait for our food. I don't have a picture of that dancing, but here is Hazel dancing at our house.

Oh, and we won the Salt Lake County Corporate Games City Chase yesterday (SLCCGCC, for short). The mama wore the Hazel in her backpack and we RAN around the county fair for an hour. It was exhausting, but totally worth it because we WON! Woo hoo!! I will have to get pictures to show the awesomeness.

Finally, here are pictures hot off the presses. And by "presses" I mean camera card and by "hot" I mean, it is kind of hot today.

Waiting for papa to come home from work. The mama and Hazel rode bikes to brunch and then did seven (7) laps around the park. I think that is like 9-ish miles. I don't know exactly how far because I can't find my bike computer. I took it off when I was driving home from Wheeler Farm and don't remember where I put it. It was really windy, so the bike computer wouldn't really show how exhausting the bike ride was. The trailer catches a LOT of wind. It is like riding with a mini-parachute. I may have complained about this before.
I like the serious look she has in this picture, and the sweaty hair from wearing a helmet for an hour. Notice the O's and milk on the floor. She had to put them down for the picture.

My First Tag!

4 Jobs I have had: (I am just listing the company, as I did a lot at each company)
1- Workers Comp
2- Snowbird
3- X96
4- Student Radio Stations (U of U and Snow College)

4 Movies I could watch over and over:
1- Office Space
2- I don't really like to watch anything over AND OVER.
3-
4-

4 Favorite TV Shows:
1- Good Eats
2- Nip/Tuck
3- The Office
4- Pretty much anything. I LOVE TV!

4 Places I have lived:
1- SLC, UT
2- Provo, UT
3- Ephraim, UT
4- Yeah, that is it...

4 Places I have been:
1- Paris
2- London
3- Brussels
4- Amsterdam
(This year!)

4 Favorite Foods:
1- Tacos
2- Burritos
3- Salsa
4- Eggs

4 Favorite Websites:
1- I have no idea.
2- And I am on Geoff's computer so I can't just look at favorites.
3- Probably a news site or two.
4- And various blogs.

4 Buddies I am tagging:
1- No one.
2- The only people with sites have already beend tagged.
3- I am lame.
4- Super-lame.

Funny Stories

No photos but a couple of funny stories:

Hazel likes to make fart noises with her mouth and/or her hand. And sometimes her butt. But those are actually farts and not just noises. Anyway, one day she was making a lot of fart noises, for like five minutes, and at the end she said “dad”. Like it was her symphony to Geoff. I found it absolutely hilarious. Geoff found it less funny.

Hazel made a huge mess in her room (this is not unusual). I went in and say the mess and asked her who made such a big mess. She replied, “dada?”. I explained that her dad was at work and I didn’t think he made the mess. She then said, “Na-ho?”. Again, I explained that I didn’t think Nacho was responsible for pulling ALL the books off the shelf. She thought for a minute and said, “T-ta” (as in T-dog, or Triscuit). I told her to try again. She finally replied, “Hay?” And I agreed. Then she was all happy and repeating, “Hay, Hay, Hay”. I just loved that she was trying to shift the blame to other family members.

Trip to the zoo and riding bikes

**NOTE: I know the formatting is funky, but it is too hard to fix it. It went all crazy when I edited the HTML. I am just happy that I updated. **

Last weekend we went to the zoo with Gloria and Anthony and Steven and Grandma Marilyn and Grandpa Bernie and Jenni. The cousins posed for a picture on the rhino. Jenni got a better picture but I am too lazy to go get her picture. But, it would look like this, but better.

It was a rather adventurous day at the zoo. We saw the giant tortoises, let's say "hug". Oh, it was hilarious. And then we watched the zoo keepers feed the crocodiles rats (dead rats). It was disgusting, but awesome.


We also saw lots more animals. And we rode on the train. And we fed some ducks. And we played on the playground. And we pet a snake. And Hazel was so nice about holding Gloria's hand. Until she wasn't. (Note: this was the only "incident" of the day, the rest of the time Hazel was nice and kept her hands and mouth to herself, and we caught it pretty quickly)


Then on Sunday we celebrated Auntie Jenni's 27th birthday. Grandma and Hazel bonded over slots.










Yesterday, the mama and the Hazel went to the Farmer's Market. The mama likes to wear her hydration pack. The Hazel likes to do what the mama does and wanted her own. So, I rigged a waistpack hydration pack (that I hated) into a little backpack (that Hazel loves). Here she is showing off how cute she is in her little backpack.

She thought something was hilarious. I am not sure what...

It is tiring riding to the Farmer's Market. It is not really that far of a distance but there are hills (slight ones) and then if there is wind, which there was on Saturday, it is really hard. You wouldn't think adding an extra 60 pounds and a giant wind-catcher would make a difference, but let me tell you. It does. Anyway, even though Hazel just has to ride in the trailer, she was still tired after the trip.

19 Months!

The months are speeding by, our little piranha is 19 months old! She is learning new words and signs everyday. She adds them without even thinking about them. One day she is just grunting and the next she is asking for beans for dinner and a bib to wear. She will even say peoples' names. Except for Jenni's because she is mean like that. Or, for example, she just came up to me to point out the turtles on her jammies. It is like she actually knows things, instead of just parroting back what we ask her to say.

On the other hand, she is quite the little mimic these days. She saw Geoff put tissue up his nose when he had a bloody nose and now she constantly wants tissue in her nose. When the mama has a ponytail, Hazel wants a ponytail. Until she remember that she hates things in her hair. This cycle can continue for many rounds. At least until the mama gets tired of putting ponytails in every 2 minutes. Sometimes this power works for good and she will copy sweeping or putting things away. But she prefers to copy things that are less productive.

She also REALLY likes peek-a-boo these days. She will stop what she is doing to peek-a-boo. Or to wave at kids. Let's see what else does Hazel like... candy, dogs, books, brushing her teeth, Signing Time, walks, carrots, juice, dolls, stuffed animals, blankets, blocks (sometimes she likes blocks in her pants), pockets, changing outfits, and the list goes on and on.

We went swimming at Tutu's house on Sunday. This is a favorite family activity. The water-loving nature of Hazel has been well-documented. We took boogie boards this time. It made for some great activities. We would have Hazel sit, lie or attempt to stand on the board and then swing it around. Good times. She loved it, even when she got dunked. Especially when she got dunked. It was a perfect day for swimming. Not too hot or cold, not too sunny or cloudy. Hazel actually stayed out in the pool for close to an hour. And then she wanted to go have a bath and have Tutu rub her feet.

Today, we went on a trip to the Utah Museum of Fine Art with Jenni and Christie and Jordan. Hazel picked her own outfit and her own shoes. And packed her own bag. And what would you think a girl would need to pack to go to the UMFA? Why clogs, of course. Authentic Dutch clogs.

In the middle of our visit to the musuem, Hazel decides she needs to change shoes. Because, if you bring two pairs of shoes, you might as well wear both of them. Clogs on hardwood floors are loud. They make cowgirl boots sound like walking on cushions of air. So instead of trying to walk like a normal person, Hazel had to jump in her clogs. This was even louder. You would not think 22 pounds could make such noise. Wooden clogs on wooden floors in big open areas make for very, very loud noises. Anyway, this is the outfit she chose. The clogs are in the Lego backpack.