the philadelphia zoo

we joined the philadelphia zoo a few weeks ago, and since jack was up with the sun this morning, decided to take advantage of the "member's getting in an hour early" privilege. and boy, are we glad we did - the big cats exhibit was great! all the cats were awake and active, and i got some great shots of them. the zoo is exhausting though, jack nodded off on the short drive home, but we all had a fun morning at the zoo, and now picture overload.

i see a snow leopard

lots of lions!

lions playing

jack and daddy watching the lions

more lions

look, a puma

where to next daddy?

what a good helper

jack is becoming quite a good helper. he follows directions very well (as long as it's something he wants to do). here's a few of him helping around the house and washing the car - our new favorite saturday afternoon activity.

don't worry mommy, i'll get the paper towels

here you go...

oooh car washing, i'll help!

gotta get good and soapy

daddy, i think you missed a spot

first day of school (again)

jack is back in daycare. we're all really going to miss his awesome sitter, christina, but are happy with the new daycare he is attending, it is a nationally accredited center and right across the street from kevin's office. the first day was rough, but got better as the week went on. hopefully it won't be long until he's adjusted and enjoys going every day (we have tears at drop off now). here's couple of picture from his first day of "school" (third time's the charm, right!?).

ready for school mommy!

car is packed and ready to go

little fish

what jack lacks in verbal skills he more than makes up for in motor skills. we had a great time at the annual pool party and grandma and grandpa murphy's on august 9, where jack showed off his newly acquired (not sure from where) swimming skills. he wears a swim vest in the water, which keeps him from sinking, but does require some work on his part to stay upright (otherwise he'll flop forward or backwards). up until this most recent trip to grandma and grandpa's pool, we always had to hold him upright when he couldn't touch the bottom...not anymore! he walked right off his little ledge and into deeper water and started swimming (basically using a treading motion to get where he wanted to go). he also showed us how he can blow bubbles in the water...jack murphy, the next michael phelps?! who knows?! thanks for a great time grandma and grandpa!

here i go...

look at me swim!

still swimming

me and pop-pop

mmm...chicken is great after all that swimming

baseball, baseball, and more baseball

he didn't really have a choice, but baseball is clearly jack's favorite sport to watch and "play". he attends all the team H2L2 softball games (who suffered a playoff defeat last week) and has been to four Phillies games in his short life and made a trip up to the cathedral of baseball, Yankee Stadium a few weeks ago. Phillies games are great because we get to use the EwingCole suite, so he's got plenty of room to stretch his legs. Yankee Stadium was a bit more challenging, but we all still had fun.

Citizen's Bank Ballpark - July 25, 2008 (daddy's birthday!)

watching a little batting practice

family photo

Yankee Stadium - August, 3, 2008 vs. Los Angeles Angels (Yankees won 14-9; we actually caught the end of the game back in Philadelphia)

ready to go dad...

yeah yankees!

c'mon mommy hurry up!

phew, we made it