Spring weather in Utah is just lovely... if you like warm, shorts and tee-shirts one day and then the next day enjoy snow mixed with rain and hurricane-force winds. On one of those rain days, Pearl insisted on wearing every single piece of rain gear she owns. Luckily our neighbors David and Vickie supplied all the necessary gear. Boots. Jacket. And a hat. The only thing we forgot was her penguin umbrella, which I was honestly surprised there wasn't a huge fit when she realized it wasn't in the truck. And seeing as how we were already late getting to work, I didn't see any harm in letting Pearl jump in a few puddles in the parking lot. Too bad I didn't have the nicer camera to capture her happy little face as she splished and splashed in every puddle all the way into the building. 
Besides the rain gear, which got loads of laughter from her teachers and friends at school, this week Pearl suckered her dad out of about $10 worth of Baskin Robbins ice cream. At least $5 of it was my fault. I had thought 31 cent scoop night was Tuesday and send Jeff and Pearl with $2 to get a treat. Well, Wednesday was 31 cent scoop night. So Jeff and Pearl venture back to Baskin Robbins on Wednesday. Apparently cheap ice cream is only available after 5 p.m. And once Pearl spied her purple and pink ice cream, there was no leaving without a scoop. When Jeff told me what had happened I laughed hysterically!
One final thing that I've found just hysterical this week with Pearl, she recently discovered video games. Jeff pulled out his Nintendo DS while he was giving Pearl a bath. She convinced him to let her try and well, I'm afraid my kid is now officially a part of the gaming generation. 
The next post will have pictures of Ricco's room and all of Jeff's many "honey dos" over the past few months I promise!
One of the sweetest ladies I have ever known passed away recently. I worked with Alice at ZCMI/Meyer & Frank/Dillards. She was like my ZCMI grandma... teaching me everything one needs to know about a proper fitting bra (imagine this cute old lady working in the lingerie department), why ladies always wear a slip, and even more so about being happy in life. Alice told everyone that "You're my kid! I'm proud of you!" and she really meant it. She was never married and one year I remember asking her if she ever felt bad that she wasn't a mom. It happened to be Mother's Day weekend. Of course she smiled and joked about it but I knew right then and there I was going to send her flowers for Mother's Day. After I got off work, I went and found the most beautiful peach roses a starving college student could afford, drove back to ZCMI and ran over to the lingerie department. Alice cried and cried and was so happy! She was surprised too! It's one of those moments in life when you realize something so simple as a bunch of flowers means a whole lot more to a cherished friend than you could have imagined. When I had Pearl, I invited her to my baby shower. She couldn't come because of her health but sent a beautiful letter and some money that I know was a huge sacrifice to give me.
Anyway, I just wanted to share how special Alice is to me. I hope everyone gets the chance to meet someone as kind, sweet, and wonderful as her.
Alice Elaine Edwards, 70, died April 24, 2010, in her home in Logan, Utah, of natural causes.
Alice was born Nov. 14, 1939, in Logan, Utah, to Leland S. "Lee" Edwards and Verona E. "Bonnie" Erickson Edwards.
Alice was raised and schooled in Logan, graduating in 1958 from Logan High and then attending USU. She also served a mission in the north-central states from 1965-67.
Following her mission she began a career in retail sales, working in Washington, D.C., and later working for more than 30 years for ZCMI, first in downtown Salt Lake City and later in the Logan store. After ZCMI was sold, she continued working for Meyer and Frank for three years and later Dillards. She was a valued employee and received many awards through the years as "Employee of the Month" for the consistent, professional and loyal customer service she provided. Customers would seek her out for her expertise, especially in art needlework.
When her health permitted, Alice loved to travel. Despite having cerebral palsy, she had hiked to Timpanogos Cave, Delicate Arch and Old Juniper. She also walked to the top of the Washington Monument!
She was skilled at handwork, enjoyed reading and was an avid Jazz fan. She was also famous for her chocolate-chip cookies, which became an expected staple at any family gathering.
At our last visit to the library, we checked out a new DVD - Charlotte's Web. I figured it was a "classic" that Pearl needed to see at least once and that it would come in handy with prepping her for Baby Animal Days (and hopefully teach her that bugs, or at least spiders, weren't so bad after all). Ok so really I was just sick at the idea of having to watch another Thomas the Train episode from the library. And don't worry we still check out books, although I'm beginning to toy with the idea of NOT going back until the Curious George phase is over. My idea worked, almost too well. After watching "Wilbur" 15 thousand times in three days, we were all set for finding those baby pigs, that are "so cute" as Pearl said every time we watched the movie.
We dropped Jeff off at the spring USU scrimmage game - Pearl is still convinced her Dad was playing in the game and that everyone was going to cheer for him - we picked up my mom and headed to Wellsville. Pearl was a bit confused that there weren't any baby giraffes, seeing as how we had just been to the zoo the week before. But once she realized they had baby "Wilburs" there, she was super excited! They were her favorite baby animal by far. I am still surprised she didn't chicken out once she got in the pen with them. It was so funny to listen to her pleadings to put her in the pen with the ones who were "off limits" to the public and then yell "Wilbur come out please!" when they ran back inside their little barn. We did find the two piglets that the kiddos could play with and Pearl was so happy to chase them around. She found it even more funny though when one of them pooped right next to her. Between her pleadings to take a pig home and my sister trying to sneak a baby goat in her purse, I'm surprised we left with the same number of living things as we had when we arrived!
This year was absolutely perfect for Baby Animal Days! The weather was gorgeous... not rainy or too hot. There was absolutely no crowds - I still don't understand why people go on opening weekend with 10,000 other families! It was cheaper admission, plus we had a coupon AND my mom paid for all of us to get in (I'm so enjoying the last month of Pearl being under 3 and FREE for everything), the pony and train rides were free, and they had 25 cent cookies! But the best part was Pearl actually enjoyed touching and holding most of the baby animals. Last year she only wanted to ride the ponies and was freaked out by everything else. She held the bunnies and baby ducks and actually enjoyed it. Even Ricco got to hold a baby duck! The chickens were a bit freaky to her, which I have to admit I thought the same thing. She loved the wagon ride with the HUGE draft horses too. All the animals got a response along the lines of "they're so cute" after she held them. 
Ok so there were a couple other things that were also pretty fun. Like finding someone who actually weighs more than you do, even though he's not pregnant, and has a bigger butt than you do! I didn't feel so bad taking my 37 week belly shot at the insistence of my mom and sister after meeting the 2,500 lb. draft horse and pregnant burro. 
Finding a swing was fun for Pearl, even though you'd never guess it from her face. When she realized it wasn't a good swing for "super underdogs" and that her mom isn't really up to giving her super underdogs it wasn't so fun anymore. 
Being able to put your kid in "jail" for 20 minutes guilt-free - remember there were NO crowds and NO waiting in line for anything - was AWESOME! Pearl begged me to let her stay in jail just one more time so around and around and around she went on the train. All the kids loved the caboose or jail as Pearl dubbed it. She jabbered to everyone in there like they were all friends, telling them all about her new "packrack" or back pack. It's actually one from Jeff's mission that we let her use for the trip to Logan but she has since claimed it as her own. She even told my mom that "my Dad bought me a new packrack on his mission, over there (pointing to some random thing on the side of the road)."
Kimmy struck it rich while panning for gold... SWEET, medical school is now paid for Nick! 
I suppose finding some gold makes up for being told you can't take a goat, calf, lamb, bunny, duck, or pig home with you. Thank heavens they didn't have the baby turtles this year! I'm not sure my sister could have walked away without one two years in a row. 
But in all seriousness, spending the day with your daughter, sister, and mom HAD to be the best part of Baby Animal Days. Knowing that you forgot the sunscreen and all of us were going home pink, not so much!
Besides the rain gear, which got loads of laughter from her teachers and friends at school, this week Pearl suckered her dad out of about $10 worth of Baskin Robbins ice cream. At least $5 of it was my fault. I had thought 31 cent scoop night was Tuesday and send Jeff and Pearl with $2 to get a treat. Well, Wednesday was 31 cent scoop night. So Jeff and Pearl venture back to Baskin Robbins on Wednesday. Apparently cheap ice cream is only available after 5 p.m. And once Pearl spied her purple and pink ice cream, there was no leaving without a scoop. When Jeff told me what had happened I laughed hysterically!
The next post will have pictures of Ricco's room and all of Jeff's many "honey dos" over the past few months I promise!
