A Weekend Full of Celebrations.

We celebrated Ellie's Heart Day at the zoo again last weekend.  Our local children's hospital hosts a picnic each year for the heart patients.  Last year, Ellie was still recovering and unable to attend, but this year featured near-perfect weather and happened to coincide nicely with the zoo's new additions of sea lions, wolves, and river otters.

We teamed up with some friends and the kids had a blast.  One feature of the new "American Trail" section is a "tide pool" area with "waves" and water.  The kids can splash around, and of course Ellie went butt-in the moment we arrived.  (She got a little grumpy about the water after that, but it seemed to be teeth related, so we solved that problem.)

The picnic was great, and Ellie chowed down on a chocolate chip cookie, covering her face/hands/clothing/mother in chocolate.

On Sunday, we celebrated with another friend who turned one.  The photos are a bit grainy, but too cute not to share.  With my return to work I've hardly pulled out my camera, and that's something I intend to change soon.

Tasting his cupcake.

Lucky birthday boy got "Barnyard Dance!"

Big brother.

Ellie.

I hope you are in the midst of a great week.