A Day at the Zoo

Birthdays are a big deal around our house.
They're a day completely dedicated to celebrating our girl.

So after a girls day, a birthday dinner and a birthday party naturally- we had to go to the zoo.
It's about a 3.5 hour drive for us so we left bright and early at 6:30, Chance was tickled pink.
Olivia was fantastic on the drive and we finally arrived in St. Louis around 10.

You may remember {or maybe not} we decided last year that a trip to the zoo would be a birthday tradition.
Chance and I both love the zoo, and as luck would have it- so does Olivia.

 Olivia and Chance visiting the giraffes, ostrich, and antelope.

A sweet story about the picture above. Olivia said "Mommy look, ostrich! Like a bush... where's Diego?" Translation: Olivia saw an ostrich, she remembered the episode of Diego featuring an ostrich and that they lay on the ground and cover their heads to look like a bush to protect their eggs, and she wanted to know where Diego was. That girl, she makes me smile.

Olivia really enjoyed the monkeys, zebras & giraffes and got to pet a guinea pig and a goat. She thought the peacock was really pretty. He was obviously very proud of himself. He stayed like this for probably 10 minutes, turning from side to side showing off his pretty feathers.

We rode the train and the carousel, Liv loved both! She wanted to ride the zebra or the giraffe on the carousel, but two particularly pushy eager 12 year olds got there just before we did. Olivia was disappointed and asked why she couldn't ride 'her' zebra. I explained to Olivia that the zebra belonged to the zoo and that those girls must have really wanted to ride it since they nearly knocked us over in their mad dash for it were so excited to get to it. That seemed to appease Olivia, the teeny boppers on the other hand received a quick glance and I assure you they were pickin' up what I was puttin' down. 

Another tradition we decided to carry over from last year was the Build-a-Bear strategically placed smack dab in the middle of the zoo. Those retailers- they know how to get you. Olivia chose the giraffe to stuff, and even pushed the pedal to fill her up. We named her Ginny and they've been inseparable ever since. It's really precious. Ginny is the first item Olivia has ever been really attached too. 

Another sweet story:

At lunch, Chance was discussing with Olivia what her options where for lunch. He sweetly read and re-read the entire kid's menu to her and asked her what she might like to eat. She chose 'chicken, gwapes, and twees' (chicken nuggets, grapes and broccoli.) 

We stayed until the zoo was closing. I'm so thankful that I remembered to get a picture of the 3 of us before we left. We were all so tired.

Olivia had a blast, and was so well behaved. There were ZERO meltdowns. I was so proud of her.

It was a fun day for the 3 of us, surrounded by people who love Olivia and want to be a part of every little thing she does. I feel so blessed to have such a support system. 

We can't wait to go back this summer!

Birthday Pancakes

 

{via}

I would like to think that I would be woken on Thursday morning at 10am by Chance (dressed, clean shaven and smiling), Olivia (dressed, bow-in-hair, and smiling) with these sweet things and a big ol' glass of orange juice in hand. But let's be real here, that's a dream. So instead I'll make them at 7:30, when Olivia wakes me up. I found the recipe at How Sweet It Is, it's a really cute blog- you should check it out.
I can't wait to make them, even if it is 7:30 in the morning.

Cake Batter Pancakes 
makes about 12 pancakes
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cake mix
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 cups milk
assorted sprinkles

Combine flour, cake mix, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix. Add 1 cup of milk, egg and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. You want the batter to look like regular pancake batter; not too thin, not too thick. This will vary greatly on the brand of cake mix you use. Start with 1 cup of milk and add more if needed. I suggest a small taste test as well to see if the pancakes are flavored enough.
Preheat a skillet on medium heat. Fold desired amount of sprinkles into batter. Pour batter in 1/4 cup measurements onto skillet and let cook until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 minute more. Serve with vanilla glaze.


Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
assorted sprinkles

Mix milk, extract and powdered sugar until glaze forms. You may need to add a little more sugar or water/milk to reach desired consistency. Mix into glaze and drizzle on pancakes.