I was backing them up to the computer and decided to blog about some of the fun things we've done over the summer so they at least get shared somewhere :)
Zoo Trip
Elise is fascinated with animals. She loves to read books about them, and she knows so many animal sounds. We knew she'd love the zoo, and we were right!
We went to Hogle zoo, and took Whitney and Cheyenne with us, towards the end of July. We saw many of the animals actually in motion, which was awesome because in the past when I've gone to the zoo they have all just been laying around being lame.
Some highlights: Elise got to stand right up to the glass while a tiger walked right in front of us, and Elise began to point at it excitedly. We also saw a wolf walking around and she made the "hoowwl" noise. We say the orangutans swinging and moving around on their ropes. There was a mommy and baby one, which was so stinking cute. We saw lots of birds flying around, one was almost close enough to touch. Another favorite of Elise's was the polar bear, which was walking all around it's area and Dan would run Elise back and forth between the two looking areas. There was a small crowd of kids who were also running back and forth following the polar bear, and Elise got a kick out of being one of the "big kids" and running along with them! At the end of the day we stopped in the gift shop and picked out a stuffed elephant and stuffed tiger for her to take home. She loves to take naps with the elephant; it's become one of her favorite stuffed animals (second only to Elmo, lol)!
Monte Bean Museum
This place is awesome for kids. One- it's FREE. Two-it's full of so many realistic (probably actually real) animals that are not moving ,so you can get really close to them and examine them. Elise loved this place. She walked around all on her own the entire time moving from animal to animal, getting more excited as she went. She, of course, LOVED the elephant. It's a humoungous center piece, and as soon as she saw it she immediately went running over to it and started making the "elephant noise" which is basically her blowing raspberries. It's so cute. The also have a slide that Elise went on mulitple times. Slides are another favorite of hers. This was probably more enjoyable for her than the zoo because she was able to get up real close to the animals. She has no idea if they're alive or dead, she only recognizes them and gets excited to see them, so it was a perfect place for her. We Jensen gals went on a Friday night while the boys were camping, it was part of a GNO.
Playing at the Park
This has been a very frequent activity for us. We take Elise to a park, probably, about twice a week. She loves to swing, and she loves the slides. She also really loves other kids, and she gets the biggest smile on her face when she sees them. She is constantly going up to complete strangers and giving them hugs (kids not adults...that's a different story). We love the park at Salem pond because it has a nice sized slide for Elise, and it has ducks. We also love the Costco park in Spanish Fork. Payson City park is okay, but the slides are a little too big for Elise on her own.
Splash Pad
Unfortunately, the spash pads are now closed for fall/winter. We will miss them until next summer! Elise had so much fun walking through the sprinklers, and she was not afraid of getting soaked. Again, she loved being around other kids. The splash pad in Spanish Fork was a favorite, and we went to the Provo one once as well.
Museum of Natural Curiousity
During the month of August, we visited this museum three times. I found out from a friend that they ran a promotion for $2 Tuesdays (normal ticket price is $15), and Elise was free. This museum is legit. It's kid paradise. It's geared mostly towards school age kids, but there was still plenty for babies to see and do. Elise had a lot of fun exploring all of the different rooms, and taking in all of the new things she was experiencing. She especially loved the wash room. There was a washing machine and dryer that was full of clothes and down at her height. She could reach the button that you push to start the machine. It was fascinating to her to watch the clothes spin round and round. She pushed that button over and over, until I finally had to move her along on to the next room in order to catch up with our friends! She also loved the legos room, the reading room, and just walking around on her own throughout the entire museum. She loved the baby areas, as did I because I could finally sit down and take a rest while she played! She really loved the wet zone! They have table just for babies that you can sit them in and they can play in a tabletop of water. Elise loves water, so she had no problem splashing and soaking herself, and any of the babies sitting next to her. One of the days we went, she was splashing and the baby next to her got pretty upset and this and started to cry. Elise looked at him with such a puzzled expression, confused at how he could not be enjoying getting soaked.
We really try to get out a lot as a family. Sometimes it's a pain to take the time to plan and get packed for things. But I feel like Elise is benefiting so much from these new experiences, and learning so much about the world around her that she would not be learning if I was sitting at home with her all day long. Plus, she gets so excited when we take her places, and it brings me so much joy to watch her, that I just want to keep doing it. That is pretty much our summer, in a "not-so-nutshell" ;)
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