Wildlife World Zoo

In late April, we (Mom, my Gma, Amanda, Jake, Travis, the kids and I) got to visit the Wildlife World Zoo on the west side of town. All I can say is, The Best Zoo in AZ forsure!! We got to have so many close encounters and saw amazing animals of all ages...even a 10 day old baby tiger. There is an aquarium and an abundance of exhibits. Ella was a bit bummed that there were no elephants (her absolute favorite) but the memories she came back with were awesome. I highly suggest going to this zoo!!! Thanks Gma for the tickets!!!

I sweat this Ostrich would have taken off my finger if I was any closer...crazy.

They both loved the petting zoo

Grandma Grandma and her first great grandson

Although she is still too chicken to feed them, she loved seeing the giraffes up close.

He had a BLAST!!!

Easter 2011

Easter is always such a fun-filled, good food-filled, beautiful weather-filled, family-filled day...and this year was no different. We woke up early to find the Easter bunny had visited, delivered Easter baskets and hidden eggs. After searching and opening we had a pretty relaxing morning and then it was time to get ready to drive up to North Scottdale to the Mantle's (as we do every year). This year we chose not to go to church as bringing Jonah at this age just gives me a panic attack thinking about it. My mom, Wayne, and my grandma also came up. We ate a delicious brunch, relaxed and talked, hunted for eggs, and of course took many pictures in their paradise of a backyard. All in all an incredible day.

Saturday -Coloring eggs...maybe next year we will allow Jonah to participate...

Good morning, Happy Easter! Ella was so excited to find her Easter basket at the end of her bed when she woke up.

Now that is an easy way to unload the Easter basket

There is no doubt, he is part monkey.

Ella and Grandma-Grandma

Egg hunting...

Annual Easter pic

Forced love...

Happy Boy!

Happy girl!

Memaw and Mimi with their babies

I don't know why I love this picture but I do.

Mom and Wayne

Three generations of Mantle men

Travis got a surprise bday present on Easter...a spin bike! Let's hope it gets used properly and not for the laundry to hang on.

Pure LOVE

It is undeniable...

these two LOVE each other dearly.

It gives me such JOY to see Ella and Jonah play, cuddle and learn together - it reminds me sooo much of my brother and I...of course there are times when it isn't as easy to do so (and there always will be) but luckily those times are few and far between.

Jonah is the biggest cuddler and he loves to hug his sister most.

Jonah discovered he could "fit" in this doll stroller and the fun began...

They would do this ALL day!

Fun in the sandbox

Sick baby boy...

My little bubba has had an awful cold the past 5 days (luckily it is just about cleared up) and it has put him down and out. This was his first time really being sick (which is crazy to me because Ella was sick all the time when she was one - pays to be a good sleeper and not going to daycare) Between the ever running nose and horrible congested cough, Jonah just laid around not wanting to play or eat for 5 days. Took him into the dr on Friday and ears, nose, lungs, and throat were fine - just a nasty cold (but with no appetite for a couple of weeks he lost one pound - this cold was the end of him being under the weather for a while)

...but oh how can you not feel bad for this kid?

This morning he woke up much happier, took two really long naps (longer than usual), and is definitely more himself again...even ate all of his spaghetti dinner.

Happy bubbas!

Girls Night Out

Thursday night was a Girls Night Out for Ella and I.

It also included my mom and Jenn and Lauren.

We surprised the girls with Disney Princesses on Ice and it was a lot of fun. I only wish I had my camera out when we told them because their reactions were priceless. After guessing "Disneyland", we told them they were close and there might be princesses and in a split second Ella screamed, "PRINCESSES ON ICE!!!" as she had just seen a commercial for it the night before. They were absolutely estatic and we couldn't get into downtown Phoenix fast enough. It was quite a long show but held their interest the whole two hours and they were conked out within minutes on the car ride home.

I love girls night with my favorite girls!

All ready for dinner and the "surprise"

BFFs

Mimi came too!

Besties

Sooo excited for it to start :)

Ella Jo Customs Blog Revamp

Just a little glimpse into the freshened up blog...

www.ellajocustoms.blogspot.com

The Museum

Last Friday night, we joined in with a gazillion other people for First Fridays at the Phoenix Children's Museum (free to the public the first Friday of every month)....needless to say, it was a tad bit crowded and we were glad to have reinforcements (my mom and Wayne) as Travis and I would have been way to frustrated in this crowd. Ella and Jonah still had a blast and I do hope to take them back another day when it is not so busy.

Waiting to go in...

Always happy when he can bang on something

She loved cooking in the kitchen

My little sweeper

Here you go Daddy!

And the best part....the grocery store. Although I spent most of my time in "teacher mode" trying to get other kids to quit throwing food and running around like crazies, Ella couldn't get enough of both the shopping and being the cashier.

When can I get them to do my shopping, for real???

More banging...

Time to relax after a very hyperactive night.

Again, I do suggest going on a normal day but I am also so cheap that I wanted to try it out for free to see if it was really worth it....well it defintely is, and in a looonnnggg while we will return.