Lehigh Valley Zoo

While Sylvia and I were in Pennsylvania we spent a day at the Lehigh Valley Zoo. This was Sylvia's first trip to a zoo so it was nice that it was pretty small. We saw, otters, African penguins, owls, a bald eagle and hawk, geese & ducks, a zebra, emu, camels, wallaby, ostrich, lynx, buffalo and a few other animals that I'd never heard of before.









The penguins were my favorite as you can see by the number of picture we have taken by them. I believe Sylvia liked them as well based on how close she was trying to get.










I took lots of pictures of the three kids while in PA, but this is the only one I have with me and Rachel together. Rach and I met during our freshman year of college at the Wisconsin Wilderness Campus. We've since taken many trips back and forth visiting each other. Why is Pennsylvania so far away?


Tired kiddos on the way home from the zoo.

Playing Outside

Sylvia and I have had a wonderful time in Pennsylvania. I'm posting one last time before we head to the airport. I think my little girl grew up a little bit this week with a big girl to follow around. I can't believe she went down the big yellow slide all by herself. I think we might have to get ourselves some outdoor things to play on when I get home.

Pennsylvania Friends

Sylvia & JD

After my previous post, I figured I should let you know that Sylvia and JD do get along.

Sylvia tried teaching JD how to splash in the water.




Rachel teaches piano lessons and Sylvia loves playing on the beautiful grand piano. It sounds much better than our old piano which is currently sitting in our garage.


Sylvia likes being able to reach JD's tray while he's eating.

JD is Yummy

Check out above JD's right eyebrow. Sylvia tried to take a large bite out of JD's face while they were "sharing" a toy. Needless to say, Sylvia is not used to having other kids around all the time and has been in a couple of timeouts since arriving in PA. After this incident, I took her for a walk by ourselves for a little while.



JD is 9 1/2 months old (6 months younger than Sylvia).

PA Farm Fun

Zach and Rachel took us to see some baby sheep at their cousin's farm. Sylvia was more impressed with the numerous cats but she also enjoyed petting the sheep. She is having a good time following Abi (3-years-old) around.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

...a couple of days late.

Sylvia has enjoyed the beautiful weather here in Pennsylvania. We've played in the backyard a few times. She loves the slide and swing and especially Zipper.









(I find most of Sylvia's holiday shirts at Goodwill which is good because she usually only wears them once or twice.)

Airplane

Sylvia took her first plane trip on Monday. Her and I are in PA for the week visiting friends. She didn't seem to mind the take off but missing nap on the second flight was a different story. She really did very well overall.

That's our plane in the background of the shot.




We had an extra seat for our second flight. Sylvia liked the man sitting next to us and liked to read magazines like he was doing. She also tapped him on the arm quite often and he would laugh at her.

Grand Bear and Starved Rock

The Hoefer family went to Grand Bear Resort and Indoor Water Park this past weekend. All fifteen of us made it but not all were feeling as well as others. It was a fun weekend with family. As you can see from the pictures below, Sylvia loves the water. She enjoyed the baby pool and slide, wave pool, kid's slide, and the lazy river.











A few of us took a hike at Starved Rock State Park Saturday afternoon. Sylvia was taking a nap so I got to carry our nephew Carl.
John, Dan, Zander & Evan

Dan & Evan

John & Zander

me & Carl

We took Sylvia to the playground at the resort. She really enjoyed the slides. I think we will be frequenting the park this summer.




Dan and I headed to Ikea on Sunday to purchase some furniture for our house. Thankfully my parents took Sylvia back to Iowa City for us. She would not have enjoyed our five hours we spent at Ikea and the extra two hours in the car. We didn't make it home until after 10:00pm.

Rain Gear

Thank you for the rain gear Nana and Papa. After seeing our last trip outside to play in the puddles, Nana decided that Sylvia should have some rain boots. And who can resist a matching rain coat. So, Sylvia is now very prepared for the spring rain which is good since it's been raining constantly recently. I wasn't going to post all of these pictures but I couldn't resist. The boots are still a little big but she was able to get around in them once I got her off the carpet. My next task is to teach her to stomp her feet in the puddles instead of splashing her hands in them...at least as long as it's cold. We had to go back in for mittens and they were sopping wet by the time we came it. The last picture is my favorite!



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