Mardi Gras Princess

Last night I told Marina today is Mardi Gras. She was very excited and asked if she could wear her purple and gold mask. I added her beads as well. When we arrived at school we saw many other kids and teachers in green, gold and purple. I think she was most excited because Mardi Gras was featured in The Princess and the Frog.

After school, Marina and I went out for dinner. Her school was having a fundraiser. She happily ate her food and ran around with a few of her classmates who also came for dinner.

From there, we went to the church pancake dinner. Since we'd already had dinner, Marina didn't eat any pancakes, but she happily played air hockey while I helped clean up. The day certainly had a feeling of celebration!

A Day at the Museum

We'd gone to the Zoo quite a bit in January, so now that it's February, we went back to the Museum of Nature and Science. Marina was happy to go back.

We started in the Health Exhibit, as we usually do. We tried out some new activities, including a competition using our brain waves. I won! We also completed an experiment to see our own cells. We had to do it twice, but ultimately we did get to see cells under the microscope.

From there we went to the Discovery Zone where she busied herself building with large blocks and coloring. And she found time to play at the wind table.

Before we left we saw the Native American exhibit (she kept saying they were "like Pocahontas.") We also saw some of the animal dioramas before heading home. Of course, Marina could stay there all day, if I would let her.

Friends and Animals

We wanted to spend the day with our friends Jennifer, Madi and Noah. Marina suggested we go to the zoo. I was surprised since we just went two weeks ago. But it was another beautiful day so we decided to go.

Going to the zoo with our friends made it a different experience. We went to the exhibits in a different order and saw others we often miss. And Marina loved having her friends to play with while we were there.

MLK Day at the Zoo

Marina had the day off for Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, so I decided we’d go out and have some fun. The temperature was in the mid 50’s, very nice for January. We decided to go to the Zoo, we hadn’t been in a while. Because the temperatures were warm but not hot, the animals were interesting to watch. We saw two lions pacing at Predator Ridge. Even the snakes in Tropical Discovery were moving around in ways that were entertaining. Today we actually went over to Primate Panorama – we usually miss that. She wanted to ride the train, but it was closed for repairs, so we just went on the Carousel. This time she picked to ride a polar bear. After that, the wind picked up and we were ready to go home. But we’d had a fun day.

Pool Party!

Marina was invited to Sara’s birthday party today. We had to drive through a big snowstorm to get there. The party was at the pool where Marina had her last party. The weather delayed us a bit so we arrived just after the rest of the group got into the pool. Marina didn’t have a problem jumping into the pool and joining in the fun. At first she was a bit timid about getting wet, but soon she was splashing around. She spent a lot of time in the lazy river, something she didn’t do much of at her party.


When it was time for cake, she saved a place for Sara. Marina was excited to give Sara the Barbie we bought for her. It was a fun party and Marina didn’t want to leave, but she agreed when she saw everyone else was going.

Welcome 2011

We had a low key New Year's Eve. I made a ham and potatoes for dinner which Marina loved. We had sparkling apple juice in wine glasses to drink. And I had 2011 tiaras for Marina to wear. She was happy to do so. We stayed up to watch the ball drop at midnight in New York. Marina was disappointed in that. She wanted the ball to drop quickly – it was too slow for her taste. We went to bed shortly afterward.

Christmas Eve

When Marina woke up this morning, she stretched out a bit, then her eyes flew open and she said, “Christmas Eve!” I had told her she could open one gift on Christmas Eve and she took that literally. Before she was dressed, she wanted to open a gift. The one she chose was from me, a cat that purrs and walks. She named it Sparkle.


We went to the family service at church. Marina wore her green velvet Christmas dress with her pink princess Santa hat. She went up to the alter for the children’s sermon and even offered answers to a few questions. But her favorite part was the Christmas carols. She especially loved when we lit candles to sing Silent Night. She does appreciate that we are celebrating Jesus’ birthday as well as Santa making a visit to our house.


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