Safari Party and more

As I reflect on our weekend, I have to say, those people that live in Peoria that complain that there is nothing to do are missing out! We had so much fun doing such a variety of things this weekend! We constantly keep our eyes on the newspaper and several weekly newsletters that we receive in our inboxes. We like Macaroni Kid best for kid-friendly activities, but also like explorepeoria.com, peoriaparent.com, and the community happenings in the PJStar.

That being said, we started our weekend off by meeting Brett at the Civic Center to peruse the Home Show. The Home Show was a great display of home decorating and updating ideas. Lydia loved the frisbee dog show!

Saturday we had our swim lessons and then got ready to head to Morton for the Children's Hospital of Illinois' First Safari Party with a concert by Julie K. We had a wonderful time at the concert. The decorations were adorable and suited to the Safari Theme. Lydia enjoyed her little adventurer lunch and we enjoyed a delicious grilled chicken salad and muffin. The cookies were adorable with a variety of safari animals adorned on the top. The centerpieces were a mixture of inflatable jungle animals and safari hats filled with jungle creatures. Lydia really loved the music and lights. She loved the finale that included a balloon launch. It was an event that we will repeat next year.





The safari party wasn't the end of our weekend fun. After a wonderful nap, we went shopping at Northwoods Mall for a few hours and then went to the Bradley game. Lydia made the cutest Bradley fan! She got to greet the players on the court!

I got sick Saturday night. I think it was a bout of the flu as I woke up with chills and nausea. Brett took Lydia to Wildlife Prairie Park this morning and I slept and rested. She had a great time at their Season Opening. They were able to see owls, Gertie the Groundhog, a snake, turtles, and much more! That was enough to make Lydia take two awesome naps this afternoon!

She continues to flourish with her sign language and verbal language development. She signed "hurt" tonight when I was laying on the couch with my hand on my head and when I told her my head hurts. She signs cry and laugh when she sees others crying and laughing. Tonight while we were at Sam's, she signed thank you to the greeter as we left without prompting. Sign Language has been a great avenue to teach her manners! I am constantly amazed by her acquisition of signs... cereal, frog, pear, wiggles, cookie, horse, and bear are some of her newest signs. She also has a few new words: Please, bus, yes, no, bye, hi, mom, dad, and sleep are ones I can think of right now.

Her sense of humor is really developing as well too. She loves to be chased by her daddy and will laugh all around the house as she "runs" away from him. She loves to play hide and seek and will crouch down into a little ball to "hide" and laugh hysterically when you "spot" her. She loves to color and is developing her motor skills!

Needless to say, we are looking forward to our summer together. With zoo, children's museum, and pool memberships, I think we will have a lot of activity options to choose from and are looking foward to catching up with some of my Junior Leauge mommy friends and other babies during play dates. I only have to take one class this summer, so that will leave a lot of time for Lydia and I to do some fun things. A summer 'bucket' list will be created soon!