Cape May Zoo, train and carousel!

Another great day! To take a break from the beach, we headed to the Cape May Zoo. Alexa loved it! The zoo was great and very shaded, plus it was FREE! Alexa saw goats, camels, peacocks, flamingos, giraffes, zebras, deer, baby leopards, a tiger, a lion (who roared at us!) and an ostrich.

At one of the pens, the baby leopards were inside their den, so people were disappointed. But Alexa yelled: "COME OUT!" And they did! As we were walking away we heard a lady say, "We need that little girl to come back! She got the baby leopards to come out!"

After the zoo, we rode a little train along the outskirts of the park. It wasn't on tracks but Alexa liked it anyway. She kept saying "choo choo!"

Next, we headed to Grandpa Howard's store. On the way, Alexa had fun playing with a sticker book I bought her at the zoo. Yay for stickers! It was funny to watch her, she put them all on her legs! She had fun checking out the trinkets at grandpa's store before we headed to lunch!

Later in the afternoon, after lunch and Alexa's nap, we headed to the boardwalk to ride the carousel! Alexa fussed at first, but as we got going, she loved it! She especially liked the rings that I got every time we went around. She was happily holding them until a boy who worked at the carousel came up and took away the "golden ring" telling her that she had won a ticket for a free ride! She took the ticket but wasn't sure she was happy with the trade. Daddy, meanwhile, said getting the golden ring on her first ride was sure to be good luck. After the ride, Alexa gave her horse a hug. Awwww!

"Pop-Pop Show" with Avery!

With the forecast predicting another brutally hot day, we decided to check out the Glen Echo puppet show! It's a great option for an indoors activity. Last time we took Alexa, she was only mildly interested in it and couldn't sit still at all. This time, she was still restless but did much better! The show was called "Baby Bear's Birthday" so she LOVED singing the Happy Birthday song at the end. Meanwhile, friend Avery, who is a year older, was mesmerized. Here are Alexa and Avery after the show. They ran around together and even held hands. So cute!

After the puppet show, we headed back to Bethesda for lunch. But first, we stopped at Barnes & Noble and Alexa had a blast playing with the train set! Hmmm. Should we get her some trains for her birthday?

Train Park with Grandma E!

On Saturday, after Alexa's nap, we headed to a local park that has a train! We are planning to have Alexa's birthday party here, so we wanted to share it with Grandma E. Alexa was excited for the "choo choo train" and looked way cool in her sunglasses!

After the train, Alexa got a drink from the hippo water fountain, then copied the older kids by walking up this barrier wall. I was terrified, but Daddy held her hand and stayed by her side. When she made it to the end, we cheered and she had the biggest smile on her face. Go Alexa!

The playground at this park is amazing, it's more like 10 different playgrounds meshed together. Alexa had a blast! 

But her favorite playground by far was this one... I didn't think she would be able to climb up this ladder, but she insisted. And she made it! Of course, Daddy stood right behind her just in case. The slide was also to steep for my taste... But Alexa loved it!

Train! Fun! Water play!

Alexa had an action-packed Memorial Day holiday. Since it was forecast to be HOT, we headed to the Choo Choo Train early, hoping to get in a ride before the heat set in. Apparently everyone else had the same idea. It was packed! Luckily, we got seats and Alexa enjoyed the ride!

Back home, Alexa played with cousin Samantha, Grandma E and Pop before they left to catch their train home. She was pushing her shopping cart around and cracking up!

The day DID turn out to be super hot, so we decided to use the heat to our advantage. We took Alexa on a walk around the block in her trike, hoping the heat would wear her out and help us put her down for a nap. It worked! She slept 2+ hours!

When she woke up, we had a last-minute play date with Eli from down the street. We broke out the kiddie pool and stacks of cups and the kids dove in. They were dumping water and laughing so hard it was hilarious! At least we all cooled off!

Choo Choo! It's Mother's Day!

We had a lovely Mother's Day. My only request was to sleep in and RELAX! Done and done! Alexa, however, kept asking me about the beach. "Mama, walk beach? Beach?" Apparently, she missed Hawaii. I tried to explain that we couldn't go to the beach, but maybe we could go to a Choo Choo Train? She was sold. Apparently a Choo Choo Train is an acceptible Plan B when the Beach is unavailable. Good to know. So instead of the beach, we spent the day visiting a new park in the area that has a ton of cool play areas and, most importantly, a working Choo-Choo Train. Alexa LOVED it!

After the park, we grilled out in our backyard! Also, I showed Alexa how to blow dandelions and she was fascinated! She picks them every time we take a walk and calls them "blow flowers."