Virginia vacation slide show

This is a slideshow of pictures from our vacation to Virginia with Matt's family in July.

Highlights from the Richmond Zoo

Sophie & Paw-paw Tom with the giraffes as Matt feeds them

Tom, Sophie & Leia on the skyride at the zoo

Abbie & Paw-paw Tom

Sophie poses for a picture

We love visiting the Richmond Zoo when we are in the area. The giraffes there are our favorite exhibit because you can feed them right out of your hand. It's a great zoo for little kids because it has tons of animals but it's not too spread out. This time, most of us rode the skyride and that was neat because you had a great view of the animals. It was Sophie's first time on a skyride and she enjoyed it! We saw lots of cool animals but we were all worn out after a while and Sophie was ready to go! We had a great time on our trip to Richmond. Thanks for everything, Mimi, Paw-paw Tom & Aunt Leia! It was a lot of fun!!

Other Surprises

When we arrived in Richmond last week, Mimi had many new toys for Sophie to play with that she had found at yard sales. She had found lots of cool Little People stuff, a Wiggles microphone, and some other things. Sophie had a great time playing with these toys and going shopping with Mimi and Paw-paw Tom for a new baby doll. Abbie also had some new toys to play with but I don't think I got as many pictures of her.

We celebrated a late birthday for Sophie while in Richmond since Matt's family was unable to come down for Sophie's birthday in May. Sophie had requested a cake with Ariel on it from the Little Mermaid so that's what she got. =) I think Sophie enjoyed getting some late birthday presents and definitely enjoyed having another little party!

Thanksgiving weekend in VA

Sophie & Aunt "Eia" (Leia) on the slide

Sophie picking apples

Sophie in a soapbox derby car

In case you were wondering, no we didn't actually visit the North Pole over Thanksgiving. We just had a virtual visit. We actually drove up to Richmond, VA to visit Matt's immediate family. It was a very long drive considering that we had to make frequent bathroom stops for the mama-to-be. Sophie was a good traveller though and we had a great time with Matt's family. Both going and coming we split the trip up over 2 days which made it easier. We were very excited though to be able to pick up Matt's brand new company van just before we left town! =) It's kind of deep gray with a tinge of blue and it's a Toyota Sienna with a lot of cool features on it. Since it's a company car, Matt has to do the driving.

Sophie was very excited to get to play with lots of new toys that Mimi, Matt's mom, had gotten for her while garage saling. Sophie now pretty much has the entire Little People town. (I'll have to take a picture of her with all the stuff in our play room because we brought it home.) It was like Christmas came early for Sophie. Mimi had also gotten a play high chair and baby carrier at a garage sale so Sophie loved putting her baby in the high chair and feeding her. Sophie was very excited to see Mimi, Paw-paw Tom and especially Aunt "Eia". On Thanksgiving Day, it was very warm and so Matt & Leia took Sophie to a nearby playground and they had a lot of fun. We had a nice Thanksgiving spent with Matt's immediate family and a few family friends.

On Friday, although some Christmas shopping was done, we headed to the Richmond Children's Museum. It was really crowded but Sophie had a fun time. They had a play kitchen and grocery store, water play area, big playground, apple picking area, and much more. Santa Claus was also there but there was an hour long wait. We saw Santa later at the mall but Sophie was excited about the concept of seeing him but then too scared to get too close. All in all, we had a very nice Thanksgiving.

Zoo Time

We visited the Metro Richmond Zoo while we were in Richmond for Thanksgiving. Sophie loves seeing all the animals. She is getting less and less shy with animals, and she now loves to get close and touch the animals (at least the small animals). Sophie also loved riding the big carousel (twice!) and the little coin-operated carousel. She had a great time, she even skipped her afternoon nap.

Road Trip

Our little future virtuoso bangs on Grandma and Grandpa's piano. For the weekend before July 4th, our family drove up to Richmond, VA and visited Matt's family including his parents, sister and aunt and uncle. We all had a nice 4th with a cookout. On Wednesday, our immediate family drove on up to Maryland where we used to live. Matt did some work there while Sophie & Paula were able to meet up with some friends during the day. We all enjoyed seeing some of our old friends. Sophie was a good little traveller during the long trips in the car. We can't believe how much Sophie's walking has improved in the last 2 weeks. She wants to walk just about everywhere!

Mommy & Sophie on Independence Day
Sophie in her watermelon dress kept walking towards Daddy as he took this picture of her.
Sophie met her friends, Anna & Sidney, at the park. Sophie and Anna liked driving the car best.
Sophie met Nelson for the first time and they hit it off!