A week of 1st's: magnetic dress up dolls, clay art project, Art Walk, bank account, face painting and karaoke!

 First magnetic dress up ballerinas and Nick Cave sound suit on the side of the refrigerator.  Easter basket presents.

 This past Tuesday we went to our Zoo Color Quest class.  The first part of the class includes the highlight of 3 animal encounters.  

 This is  "Caramel" the coral snake.  Not the first time Audrey has touch Coral as their first encounter was during Textures class.

 Audrey has known colors for a while so in some respects the color conversation might have been old hat to her.

 However playground/ physical play has a lot for her to learn and observe.

 The manatees are still one of her favorite animals at our zoo.

 She also still really adores the Nick Cave Sound Suit exhibit at our art museum.  In the above picture she is watching the video of dancing sound suits.

 This past Wednesday Audrey opened a savings account at our neighborhood bank.  Here she is in the branch manager's office, Sandy Z's office, acting all cool.

 Later she had to perform across the street at Longworth's.  In above picture she is warming up for her performance of

 Snuggle Puppy Your the One. ,,, which I can only imagine is the first time this has been performed on this stage.

 Later that evening we met friends and their kids at Twin Lakes playground.   Above picture include Charlotte & Elizabeth J., Katie and Robby S and Miss A.

 Friday morning "piano" (A described) breakfast before our art class.

 snack time at art class.

  art clay project.

 Saturday afternoon we went on our neighborhood Art Walk with Paula Maureen and Juliette.  In above and below picture Miss A is in  Rookwood Pottery Restaurant room that used to be a pottery kiln.

 I like this picture but in my defense my camera is not great, mostly because I have dropped it so much.  So that is my excuse for focus not being great.

 Saturday afternoon we went to a library event which Paula Maureen's daughter Jen was working.  Jen, a high school Spanish teacher who works part time for the circus, was blowing animal balloons for this event.

 In the above picture Jen is making a blue giraffe for Miss A.

 This is the mascot, Whirl,  for the World Choir which starts July 4th in Cincinnati. 1st time for the World Choir games to be held in the USA.

 Audrey told me she wanted to hug the mascot but when we got close she decided otherwise.

 Here she is holding a shaker in a foreshadowing way for events later that day.

 Auntie Paula Maureen is really the best.

 Audrey had her face painted for the 1st time at this library event.  The best picture I have ... it is a princess paint (crown, eyelashes and pink cheek dots). So after this library event Audrey and I had just enough time to change  clothes (we dressed too warmly for today), do a walk-thru for an apartment turnover and then attend our  Pilgrim Chapel karaoke event at Celestial Towers in our neighborhood.

 I love this picture of Audrey and Paula Maureen singing "itsy bitsy spider".

 and sharing the mic with mama (who is not a fan of karaoke participation, ok with observation though)

 P. Maureen signing a duet.

 A "one eye wink" picture of Miss A.  You can see downtown Cincinnati and the Ohio river from the windows behind Audrey.

 On Stage with Auntie Paula Maureen.

 P. Maureen and Rob C. were signing a duet but A just could not resist getting the attention.

Easter weekend in Bloomington

 Miss A playing with "big Panda" while we were packing up to go to Bloomington.  We only stayed 1 night but the way I packed it looked like we were staying a week.  Just when I think I have improved I backslide.

 So Miss A wore this "rocking the tu tu" outfit our neighbor Helen gave her this week for this trip.

 We stopped at Red Lobster to try to encourage her to sleep as we wanted to go to our nephew Peter's 7K race once we got to Bloomington.

 So who takes their kid into Red Lobster with a blue Hitler moustache.  Well we do as I needed the picture for our blog.  She was using the washable ink markers in the car and got it all over herself and  her "manket".

 We barely made it in time to see Peter run this 7K.  He came in 2nd and had an excellent time. My sister, Peter's mom, is on the left in this picture.

 Sharing "manket" with Uncle Tommy.  She recently decided on her own to call my brother Tommy instead of Tom.

 and sharing with Granddad whom she is now referring to as Grandaddy off and on.

 Easter morning egg hunt in Mom-mom ad Granddad's living room.

 with her cousin Cece.

 A very deceptive picture of Miss A in church.  She was hardly attentive or quiet for very long.

 Fortunately the Children's message was early.

 I stayed with her in the nursery but she might have been OK on her own.

 This turtle has been around since I attended nursery school at this church.  We drove back to Cincinnati after lunch with my parents and brother Ted after church.

 Sunday evening after dinner Audrey and I took a walk through our garden to see any changes.  The scilla (campannlata 'excelsior') is starting to bloom.  I was happy to see this as it is in a fairly shaded area.  This plant is supposed to naturalize.

  The Solomon Seal is coming in.

 and this ground cover (Lamium maculatum or Dead Nettle 'Pink Chablis') is coming in nicely on our lowest tier.  This picture does not show how beautiful the Dead Nettle leaves are and how they feel like lambs ear. 

Finally a picture of Miss A in the hydrangea bushes.  Right after I took this picture she took a header on the stone path and scratched up her nose as well as a knot on her head.  I couldn't reach her in time even though it seemed like a slow motion fall.  She cried pretty hard and requested we get manket and then be carried through the garden again. I was happy that this calmed her down and that she was able to communicate what she wanted.