Little One's Vacation is Big Fun!

"Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust 

over the lives of little children." 

-Alex Haley

(Archive photo from last spring)

Mom and Dad weren't the only ones who had a great vacation, so did another little member of our family.  When I told Zoey we would be going on a big boat, John and I were considering taking her also.  I introduced the idea to her and she said, "No thanks, I'd rather go see Grandma Donna."  Since John's mom had, at some time in the distant past, offered to watch Zoey while we visited Belize, Zoey had her heart on staying with her while we went abroad.  With her heart on going to grandma's, we worked out the details- happy it would leave us to have our vacation as just a couple. 

Although Donna wanted to try and visit us in Midland to see our little home and pick up Zoey, John's work schedule didn't permit him any time to spend with her.  Instead I decided to drive Zoey down a few days prior  to our departure.  The drive is no small journey, ten hours, with brief stops for lunch in Las Cruces and a quick photo op at Texas Canyon, AZ.  Zoey was an angel as always and took the trip in stride, only saying the famous "Are we there yet?" for the last hour.

Grandma G modeling putty bracelets

I stayed a day to stretch my legs and visit with Donna, Zoey's great-grandmother (Grandma G), and Zoey's Aunt Joan, then I left my little girl in the capable hands of her grandma.  Knowing this was the longest I would  have left her with anybody else, I prepared a bag of "artsy" goodies  and gifts for her to open each day so she be counting down to mom, but up to the next present.  As I left we were worried she would be upset, but she showed little concern over my departure.

Little did any of us know, there was to be more on Zoey's agenda than planned.  Shortly after I left, Grandma G injured her collar-bone as she fell while picking oranges, so Zoey had her first hospital experience (she wasn't even born in one).  The next days she got to spend some time getting closer to her Grandma G at her house, picking oranges and grapefruit, juicing, and even making silly-putty bracelets for the both of them.

Feeding the birds with grandpa.

Next, she got to take a road trip to Diamond Mountain to pick up Grandpa Rob after another stint of volunteer work up there.  She spent some time making an art project of her rendition of a map of the world.  The only existing places are: Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas (all states we have been in), South America, South Africa (Aunt Joan brought her a trinket elephant from there), Belize, and Hawaii.  Art project done and Grandpa retrieved, they made their way back for another adventure in Tucson.

Grandma had scheduled for a special someone to come for a sleepover, Zoey's cousin Hayden.  Although there are a few years between them, they play like siblings.  Zoey looks to Hayden for direction and Hayden lovingly caters to her wants and needs.  Grandma had as, Zoey says, "the coolest day ever" planned for the girls.  She took them to the Children's Museum of Tucson to play, explore and learn.  They drove an ambulance, fire engine and a motorcycle.

They shopped in a market where the fruit was picked off of trees, veggies pulled from the garden, and they could take turns as cashier.

 They cared for the welfare of stuffed animals.

Who knew they had bones?

They stuck their head in eyeballs, climbed in mouths, and pulled on boogers (I guess that's gross and fun).

ewwww

Zoey's favorite part was where " you stick a thing in one end, then it goes whoosh through the tube and out the top- then you catch it"...I guess you had to be there...though this picture helps explain.

(Insert squealing sound effects here.)

Per Grandma, they did everything at least twice...whew, thanks Grandma!

The next few days were full of scooter and bicycle rides, art projects, feeding the birds, helping with dinner, and playing with Grandpa Rob. I'm sure they wore her out and vice versa.  The last day John, Karlie and I met her at Brent and Le Aynne's (John's brother and his wife) and Hayden's house for dinner.  We had a super delicious dinner and after we shared a few treasures we had brought back from our trip, Zoey was showered with gifts from her cousin and Aunt Joan.

That's one happy fairy princess.

Another long drive back while Zoey gushed over the Children's Museum and sang us Grandma's favorite song, Three Little Birds.  Funny thing about my little girl is she doesn't recount the details of things unless I pry and sometimes I don't hear about it until much later when she's thinking back, but these are the highlights as they were relayed to me, who knows what adventures I don't know about.  What I do know is, I'm so glad Zoey got to spend such quality time with her grandparents and her cousin, and I'm also sure she wore them all out completely...she's good at that. Thank you, again.

Little Adventures

 "Play is our brain's favorite way of learning"

- Diane Ackerman

One of the many sculptures at a local park.

Carousel at the mall.

One of the fun things about moving to a new area is finding out what fun activities are at your disposal.  We loved our day at Monahans National Monument and hope to find more family activities like that one.  We're well on our way to finding some really great things to do as a family.

Recently we explored the weekly local flee market which will full of hundreds of unique items.  We left with a few drinks and a bow for Zoey's hair.  I wasn't looking for much due to our small living space, but it was fun; though, I think I would do better there if I learned more Spanish.  While searching for the local Farmer's Market, we ended up at the local fair for the Midland Arts Counsel, which had hundreds of displays to tempt any art lover. After hours of walking we decided to reserve the Farmers Market for another day.

Zoey and Babs

  Most of my activities  involve the entertainment of my little girl.  At first we found ourselves filling our time at the public parks in the area or at the ponds feeding the birds and ducks, and we still do, but we also found some additional activities to fill a little girl's days with adventure.
One of those places is the Odessa Mall.  It' s a short 15 minute drive from our home and this mall definitely caters to families. There is an indoor ice skating rink at center court; but I have yet to take Zoey out since I sustained a knee injury as a teen and am unsure of it on ice, yet I'm sure we'll figure out how to get that kid on ice soon enough. There are two play areas throughout the corridors complete with slides and tubes to climb through, which Zoey makes full use of both of them.  There is also a carousel and a small train for the kids to ride (for a price). On Saturday they have someone creating balloon animals of each child's choice (free of charge), and these are pretty elaborate animals by most standards, you just have to be willing to wait in line.  Of course Zoey chose the pink Babs Bunny.

Since our arrival in the area, we have noticed carnival rides at every turn.  Sometimes in Odessa and sometimes in Midland, but they never seem to leave the, yet.  After realizing the rides set up at the Midland Mall didn't require admission (I hate paying admission to something I'm going to spend more money at), we decided to take Zoey to the rides.  Pulling up she saw the drop ride and the Kamikaze, she declared that she was going on those rides and "Don't worry Mom, I'm not scared."  Although she didn't meet the height requirements for those rides, I'd have to say I was pretty proud of her bravery. We bought her an unlimited pass and a few tickets for Mom and Dad to join her on the kiddie rides that required a parent to accompany her.  She rode every ride without hesitation and loved it.  Her favorites were the giant slides (we got some air on those) and the caterpillar roller-coaster. John and I kept putting a hand of comfort on her as parents do, but she defiantly pushed our hands away, because she can do it herself (she's getting so big).  Hearing her little squeals of delight whenever zoomed at higher speeds or flew through the air on the slides was priceless. 

The last days, weeks and months have been a blast.  I'm sure there is still so much more we can enjoy in this area and I can't wait to find the next adventure for my little girl.

On the rides with Daddy

I don't need hands for this ride!!

I can steer this thing!!!

1....2....3....4 Already!

 "Childhood is a short Season"  - Helen Hayes

Four years old, it seems so grown up and yet my baby is there already.  I keep hoping time will slow down but instead it gets even faster.  Zoey has become her own person and surprises me every day with her loving nature, opinions and questions.

Sometimes I take for granted what she may know and she surprises me with a question that I never thought would go through her mind.  "Mom, is Idaho on Mars?"  (There are times I thought it was.) We had shown her maps of the route from Idaho to Texas and she loves identifying points of interest to her on maps.  When she spotted the red star in the sky we confirmed it was the red planet and told her that was Mars.  Somehow she put the two together and wondered how they worked together, concluding Idaho is on Mars. After showing her images of planets on the internet and explaining that 'only Earth has good air', she now understands planets.  I just love the internet for teaching.


It also amazes me how educational cartoons have become.  She has learned some basic math principles, geometry, reading skills, and sometimes tells me of animals I've never even heard of.  "Mom, my favorite butterflies are the blue morpho butterflies and the monarch butterflies, but a pink butterfly would be the coolest."  Most interestingly is how she was watching Dora and began to speak Spanish words to me, even counting in Spanish at age 2 before I had started to teach her.

Each day we do a lesson (or five) in some of her preschool workbooks, practicing writing, letter sounds, basic math and the like.  She is ready and eager to start her lessons and understands most concepts quickly.  Then we sit for a while and the both of us practice Spanish words (Mom is trying to learn a bit too).  I hope this eagerness to learn continues to grow as she does.

She's become such a girlie-girl too.  Her favorite color is pink and anything pink she must point out (or ask for) from toys to walls to food.  In her words, "Pink is the most beautifullest color and that's why I like it."  She even told me she is going to drive "the pink car with no top" she saw parked near our house, a convertible pink Cadillac.  She often expresses her opinion on how she wants her hair done, often without me asking her, and she recently has decided she wants no bangs.  I was considering growing them out, so I think we're going to try it as long as mom can get through the awkward stage (her hair grows so slowly.

Zoey has about  6 swimsuits from hand-me-downs and gifts and wears most of them when the temperature reaches above 95, because she feels its the only way to stay cool even if you're not swimming.  I let her as long as we're not going anywhere, but once we are heading out I insist she put something else onand hear her new favorite phrase, "But MooOOoom....".

Our little girl is growing up, way too fast for me, but I'm loving every minute of it.  What will the next year bring?

Zoey and Mommy

Zoey and her friends at Memorial.

Zoey's Texas

Zoey has adjusted well to the move and is happy to have her daddy back.  It's her understanding that our old house was getting too big so we had to move into our fifth wheel.  She says her favorite part of her new home is her new bedroom which has a ladder up to reach it and is decorated in all girlishness. She loves going up her ladder, hiding out and pretending it's Rapunzel's tower and hiding from the ruffians, hooligans and bad guys. Although a loft room is great for a little girl, it makes putting her to bed a bit of an acrobat act and although she cleans up herself, it still needs brushing up and that would be easier if I were a contortionist. 

Zoey speaks constantly about her family back in Idaho and starts most of her stories, "When I was two in Idaho....", because everything in the past was when she was two. Sometimes she questions it and scrunches her eyebrows together and asks "or was that when I was three?"

The fun thing about this age is they are always absorbing the world around them, and Zoey is no exception.  She loves all the new things she is learning and spews facts at random times.  She has learned a lot from TV, family and such.  Some random facts I have recently heard during our long commute to and from town are the following:  "Did you know what?" (it always starts with 'Did you know what?'), "Elephants have hair!" and "Horses can sleep STANDING UP!".  Some of her facts have sprung from her new experiences too.  "See there's a cactus! I told you there are cactus in Texas, but not big ones like in Arizona."  " Mom, when I go to school I'm going to tell the teacher that Oil Derricks can also be called Pump Jacks", and "There's a Pump Jack, and another, and another, they're everywhere, but not in Idaho because there is no oil in the ground in Idaho."

Recently Zoey refuses to eat any meal unless her "tummy has grumbled".  This is nondiscriminatory so neither her favorite food nor treats can tempt her into eating a  minute early.  Although this will no doubt contribute to her never having to worry about weight issues, it does make feeding her a challenge.  I have become an on demand cook and started slipping granola bars into my purse when we leave the house because she just may get hungry at any minute, but not now.  Not to worry though, when she does eat,  she eats well, and if we're out and she has something with catchup, she'll lick the catchup container dry; must be a Campbell thing.


The best part of being in Texas right now is the warmer winter.  We've tried to make the best of our long trips to town and visit the park between errands to take advantage of the best days.  Some days it has reached nearly 80 degrees and Zoey has been upset that the swimming parks aren't open yet. She tries to make friends at the park each time we go, sometimes she is successful and sometimes she is not, but every time she is adorable.