Snow(ish)

While we had an overall mild winter, we did have a couple of days with winter weather.  I am not the biggest fan of winter, so I'm ok with the fact we didn't have a ton of snow, but I do wish we had gotten a few good inches for Sydney to experience sledding and snowman building.  The couple of days that it did snow, it didn't stick, but Sydney enjoyed looking at it.  Maybe next year...

Yes, that really is snow

Checking out the snow

Disney On Ice

At the beginning of December, Blake and I took Sydney to see Disney on Ice.  We weren't sure how she would like it, especially since she hasn't seen any of the movies.  She is familiar with Mickey and Minnie, so we figured she would at least be a bit entertained by them.  To say she liked would be an understatement.  She was totally engrossed the entire time and still talks about going to see the "show".  In fact, she now pretends that she is "ice skating like Mickey" all the time.  This simply means she is running around in circles.  :)  Overall her favorites were Mickey and Goofy and the Little Mermaid part, especially Sebastian and Flounder.

Checking out the ice before the show started

Mickey!

Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy

After the show!

We went with Sydney's friend Lilyanne and her parents (thanks for the awesome seats, Dianne!).  Sydney constantly talks about Lilyanne, but the funny part is that they basically ignore each other whenever we get together.  When it was time to go, we tried to get the girls to hug each other before leaving.  They both acted super shy and braced for a hug, but neither actually extended arms or even attempted a hug.  So funny to see how two year olds interact!  I hate that I didn't get any pictures of them together...

Strawberry Pickin'

One thing of those silly things I have wanted to do with Sydney is take her strawberry picking.  Last year she wasn't mobile so it didn't work out, but this year was perfect!  We went with her friends JJ and Mary Claire.  The little ones loved picking the berries and ate their fare share right in the field, as you can see by the red all over their faces.

This one looks good!

Lots of strawberries!

Sweet JJ

Yeah, I ate one or two or three

Just making sure they taste good

Sweet Mary Claire with the little ones

Everyone kinda looking

Just for Fun!

Finger painting mess

Pasta playtime

Digging in the sand

Sand fun

Dress-up time at Avery's house

Strawberry grin

Sydney and Lilyanne

Cheesin' it up

Sweet girl!

Farm Animal Days

Sydney and I went to Farm Animal Days, held annually by NC State.  The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences sets up animal exhibits perfect for little ones Sydney's age.  Sydney got to touch baby chicks, a baby goat, a horse, and a rabbit.  She also saw several cows, sheep, pigs, and turkeys.  I wasn't sure what her reaction would be to being able to actually touch the animals, but she was brave and touched each one she was able to!  Sydney loves looking at any book with animals and looking at the animals in our backyard (even though that's pretty much limited to birds, squirrels, and an occasional lizard or frog), so this was right up her alley!

Pointing at the baby chick

Touching the chick

Petting a goat!

Dairy cow- moo

To top it all off, we ended the trip with (FREE!) ice cream!  She and her friend Avery had no trouble finishing their snacks.  This is definitely something we will plan to do again next year.

Sydney and Avery enjoying some ice cream!

Yeah, I've got ice cream on my chin, what of it?

Sweet (and messy) girl!

Zoo- Part II

Before Thanksgiving we took Sydney back to the zoo.  We purchased a year membership to the aquarium which also gets us into the zoo for free, so we have tried to take advantage of it as much as possible.  When we took Sydney to the zoo for her birthday, we went to the 'Africa' side of the zoo where we saw elephants, giraffes, and zebras.  This time we went to the 'North America' side and saw alligators, bison, puffins, a grizzly bear, and turtles.  We were able to see the bison super close up.  They were snoozing but woke up while we were there and started walking around.  Sydney loved watching them moving and quickly started saying "bison".  We also got to watch the sea lions during feeding time.  They did a bunch of tricks for their fish treats.  Sydney had a great time, and I think enjoyed seeing her MeMe, Pops, Uncle Brent, and Aunt Catherine just as much as seeing the animals! :)

Checking out the alligators

Looking at a bobcat with her Daddy

Playground time!

Bison

Checking out the animals with MeMe and Pops

Loving seeing the bison

NC State Fair

We decided last minute to take Sydney to the State Fair the last weekend it was in town.  She continues to love looking at books about animals so we thought it would be fun to take her to see the animals at the fair.  I'm glad we did!  She loved looking at the ducks, goats, pigs, and cows.  I think we'll definitely make another trip next year.

Checking out the ducks

Goats!

More goats!

Looking at donkeys

Prize winning sheep

Saying "mooo" to the cows