Free Admission to the Phoenix zoo - Museums on us!

http://museums.bankofamerica.com/ 

 

The Phoenix Zoo is a part of this! How cool is that?

 

On the first FULL weekend (Saturday and Sunday) of every month, we're giving away one free general admission ticket for each guest with a Bank of America card and a Photo ID!

(Bank of America employees get in free too with a badge and an ID)

 

The first weekend is THIS WEEKEND!

Here are the rest of the dates...

 

 - 5/2/2009 - 5/3

 - 6/6 - 6/7

 - 7/4 - 7/5

 - 8/1 - 8/2

 - 9/5 - 9/6

 - 10/3 - 10/4

 - 11/7 - 11/8

 - 12/5 - 12/6

 

 - 1/2/2010 - 1/3

 - 2/6 - 2/7

 - 3/6 - 3/7

 - 4/3 - 4/4

 - 5/1 - 5/2

 - 6/5 - 6/6

 - 7/3 - 7/4

 - 8/7 - 8/8

 - 9/4 - 9/5

 - 10/2 - 10/3

 - 11/6 - 11/7

 - 12/4 - 12/5

Thanks!
Eric Bailey
Manager, Guest Services
The Phoenix Zoo

602.914.4310 - Office
480.262.2019 - Cell
EBailey@thephxzoo.com

Get Your WILD On!

 P    Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail!

 

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Parky-park

Since the weather has been so nice at night and Jarem's legs don't stop moving (even when we pick him up), NOT TO MENTION when we were playing in the living room, he repeatedly sat on the piano and attempted to slide down off of the keys. Now keep in mind, the keyboard sits on the ground and the keys are only about 3 inches above the carpet. It didn't stop him from "sliding" over and over. After we got a kick out of it for a while, we decided to take Jarem to a proper slide where he could exercise his excitement.

Jarem LOVED the slide, in fact by the time that we left, he was sliding down the fast slide all by himself. The problem was that since one of us had to be at the top to let him go and the other had to be at the bottom to catch him, we didn't get any pictures... but click the link and enjoy the rest of the pictures!

My Js getting ready to go down the slide
 

Jarem ready to go down the slide by himself!!!
 

Mommy and baby walking home. Notice how Jarem is veering off toward the rocks. He LOVES walking on the rocks.

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Summer is here!!

We had the best evening last night. After work we stopped by my sister's house. But not just to pick up Jarem, we had dinner over there and hung out all evening. Jen is one of the best cooks I know and she made our favorites for us. She made us meatloaf, scalloped potatoes (my FAVORITE!) and homemade cookies! YUMMY! My mom brought some sweet tea to dinner which hit the spot!

But before we got to eating, we played in the backyard and enjoyed the beautiful AZ weather. The kids have a slip slide as Braden calls it. (In the video you get a clear explanation of a slip slide. LOVE IT!) We even let Jarem play in the water. He threw an absolute fit and massive temper tantrum when we took him out of the water. Poor guy... It was just too cold though once the sun started to go down and he was freezing. Nonetheless, it was an absolute blast watching the kids play with Eric and Jen in the water. Enjoy the videos of our awesome evening.

So as I mention in the video, we had a swimmer diaper for Jarem but he was in the water before we could put it on him. Once he was in the water there was no going back. He didn't want to get out. It was so cute!!



After dinner we played a game of Yahtzee and although I was the only one to score a Yahtzee, I got last place. I had already crossed off Yahtzee by the time I rolled it, oops! It was so much fun hanging out with Jen, Bradley, Grammy, Braden and Emma. We love summer! ... Full Post...

Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day, here are a few tips from the Baileys of things we're trying to do and focus on as a family to make our world a better place for Jarem and also for ourselves. We have been moved by the green movement and feel as though if enough people get interested, there are so many small changes each of us can make that will make such a big difference. Jarem deserves to have clean air and a clean earth. He motivates us to be better people. Read on for a few easy tips

Stop using plastic bags. Next to the Wal-Mart across the street from our house is an empty lot. The lot is completely littered with plastic bags. At the east end of the empty lot is a wash. If the bags were to go into the wash we would then have plastic in our water supply. We are planning on going down there and picking up all the trash. For anyone who has seen the movie American Beauty, you might remember the scene where the plastic shopping bag is flying through the air. Well I have seen bags flying in the air in real life and it's interesting to think about where those bags will end up.

We have bought Costco bags that are large, convenient and reusable. The thing is that you have to remember to bring them into the store with you. We regularly find ourselves running out to the car from the checkout line so that we can get our bags. Also, when we only buy a few things and can carry the items ourselves, we refuse a bag and ask to simply carry our items. We have gotten quite a bit of grief and confusion from the store clerks but as word spreads, they will soon understand that we're just trying to cut back on the amount of plastic we use. The same can be said about plastic cups. At parties we are trying to use paper plates and aluminum cans rather than buying disposable cups for everyone to use. It just makes more sense since aluminum is recyclable. Check out this video about plastic bags.

The Dangers Of Plastic Bags

View more presentations from vmizner.

If you are interested in helping us clean up the lot next to our local Wal-Mart let us know. It's a big job but we are excited to do our part to help.

Buy a hybrid. We love our Prius! Granted, we drive almost 50 miles each way to work each day so we get lots of bang for our buck. But even if you don't have a long commute you can still benefit from a hybrid vehicle. For instance, on short trips, you can use almost all electric to get from point A to point B. Also, with gas prices all over the place, you will definitely save some money at the pump. We average 53 miles per gallon in our Prius. We drive the highways and we still get great gas mileage. No need to look good in your car. Most people that see you in your car are strangers anyways. The Prius may not be the prettiest or coolest car around but it sure is a great buy!

Don't speed! While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed, gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. You can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.24 per gallon for gas. So when you go from corner to corner to save that extra $.03 per gallon, think of how much you could be saving if you simply observe the speed limits. It is funny to us when we get off the freeway and end up at the same light as the guy that sped past us 5 minutes before. Speeding really doesn't make that big of a difference in time. Plus, observing the speed limit is also safer. For all of us!

Plant a tree. Carbon emissions play an ever-increasing role in environmental issues such as global warming. Carbon neutral programs (also called “carbon offset”) attempt to “neutralize” the carbon emissions we create with our cars, airplanes, industry, and energy use through urban forestry and reforestation efforts. Individuals and industries can “offset” some of their carbon dioxide emissions by planting trees too.

Carbon Dioxide is a compound produced from the combustion of carbon-based fuels: the colorless, odorless, tasteless gas formed when carbon, a solid, is burned in the open air. Carbon dioxide has long been recognized as a major agent of global warming since it is known to block solar energy that would otherwise radiate back into space.

Once carbon is released into the atmosphere, one of the easiest ways to mitigate that gas is to plant trees to absorb it, since carbon is a gas that trees use to grow and reproduce during photosynthesis! Trees are so effective that an average tree is believed to absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its normal lifetime.

A single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 lbs per year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support two human beings. If every American family planted just one tree, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere would be reduced by one billion lbs annually. That is almost five percent of the amount that human activity pumps into the atmosphere each year. 300 trees can counter balance the amount of air pollution one person produces in a lifetime.

So, what I ask you to do is plant trees! Plant LOTS of trees. Tree planting remains one of the cheapest, most effective means of drawing excess CO2 from the atmosphere.

Disney Nature Earth. Go and watch Disneynature Earth. It is a new movie that just came out today. It is similar footage from Planet Earth which was aired on the Discovery Channel. We watched that series and were amazed at the footage they got. The movie premier was last night and we weren't able to go so we gave our tickets to some of my co-workers. They all loved it and said it was amazing to see on the big screen. Another bonus of seeing the movie, buy a ticket for opening week and Disney will plant a tree in your honor. Pretty cool, huh? Here is the movie trailer for those interested.

http://disney.go.com/disneynature/

Don't use Styrofoam. Styrofoam is a trademark of the Dow company, but the material itself is called polystyrene. Like so many other plastics, it's all around us - very commonly used in packing material as peanuts or expanded foam, in food trays and a wide variety of other products - even explosives such as napalm and hydrogen bombs!

The bad news is that polystyrene is manufactured from petroleum. It's highly flammable and a chemical called benzene, which is a known human carcinogen, is used in its production. Polystyrene foam takes an incredibly long time to break down in the environment and additionally, animals may ingest it which blocks their digestive tracts and ultimately causes starvation.

Nearly two dozen cities in the USA have banned the use of polystyrene since it is currently non-recyclable and non-biodegradable. Rosati's is a restaurant that uses Styrofoam plates for all of it's customers. I wrote them a letter a couple of months back about the effects Styrofoam has on our environment and how they should look into switching to paper plates as an alternative. Be aware of the amount of Styrofoam you use and try to cut back when possible.

I know this is a lot of information but it helps to be educated and informed. Having the information will hopefully motivate you to make some changes in your life. Every little bit helps and we appreciate you making those life changes for all of our home, beautiful planet Earth. Jarem thanks you, too.

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Great-grandparents, ice cream and driving with Grammy!

This past weekend we went to dinner with my grandparents and my mom. We needed to return my grandparents truck after borrowing it for the evening and really enjoyed getting to do dinner together. When we stopped by Tita and Tito's house I let Jarem play with the shells. Now this is a staple in my grandparents' house. They have had shell lamps and shell decorations in every house they've lived in since before I was born. I remember playing with them as a kid and it was so cool to watch Jarem now playing with them. Too cool...We went to my Big Fat Greek Restaurant, YUMMY! Kids eat free there 7 days a week so Jarem chowed down! He has to be going through a growth spurt. He ate an entire jar of 3rd foods baby food before polishing off a chicken strips kids meal, too. He is an eating machine! After dinner, Eric and I took turns walking laps around the building with Jarem. He did about 5 laps total around the outside of the entire restaurant. It was some good walking and he is really getting used to his shoes. We had a great time at dinner though and love spending time with family.

Jarem's favorite part was walking with Tito's cane. He loved holding it and walking with it. So cute...
After dinner, we stopped by the local Water and Ice store for some Thrifty's Ice Cream. YUMMY! That is my favorite! (Guess who's idea it was to go...) In any case, since Eric is lactose intolerant he got rainbow sherbet. Jarem loved sharing daddy's ice cream! He had it all over his face and shirt but he sure did like sharing daddy's treat! He must be my baby... hehe

After dinner my mom drove us back to our house. When we got home we got Jarem out of his seat so he could give Grammy some hugs goodbye. Well he was too distracted by the steering wheel to worry about hugs. It was so funny seeing him behind the wheel. Doesn't that last picture really look like he was driving??? SCARY! He's not even one yet. Also, notice my mom's new hair cut in the first picture. It looks so good on her and is perfect for the heatwave that just hit us. It was 100 degrees yesterday. Yikes! I personally enjoy the heat so I didn't mind it much. But I know I'll be talking differently in a month or so when it gets really hot. Until then, we're excited to swim with Jarem and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. ... Full Post...

New Trick #2

Hello?? Anybody there? Jarem's other new trick is that everything is now a phone. He picks up spoons, rattles, his empty hand, remote controls, etc. and puts them up to his ear like a phone. It is so funny cause it comes our of nowhere but when he does it we just crack up. The funniest part to me is that when we give him a phone, he is more interested in pushing the buttons than talking on it and putting it to his ears. Maybe that's because we both have Blackberries and he sees us typing on them more than he sees us talking on them. This video is so cute of Jen playing with J and of course, he shows off his new phone! Love it
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New tricks!

So Jarem is learning so much it seems and is really picking up on things that we've been trying to teach him. It's like a light switch gets turned on and all of a sudden he is doing new things perfectly. We have been trying to teach him how to clap for a couple of months with no luck. Well all of a sudden we saw him clapping by himself. As soon as we said "yay" and encouraged him to clap he just took off with it. Any time we sing him a song he automatically claps at the end. He is just amazing! Plus, he really likes our singing! How could you not clap with such amazing singers for parents. (Ok, not exactly the truth but we'd like to think he likes the way we sound.) Here he is clapping away the first day he started doing it.

It's funny when we ask him to wave or something else when he has clapping on the brain cause he gets confused and isn't quite sure what to do with his hands. He's getting much better at controlling his arms though and is really making a clap noise now that he's been practicing for about a week. We're very proud! YAY!!! (Insert clapping here). :) ... Full Post...

Giggly Boys

This video just cracks me up! We took it right before bedtime so Jarem was kind of fussy. But then he started cracking up and I couldn't resist taking this video. He's still a little whiny but the laughs are unbeatable! He is starting to laugh like a big boy and is giving up his little baby giggles. We love when he belly laughs! Check out my Bailey boys playing around
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Meeting Captain Sullenberger

Just a few moments ago, I had the amazing opportunity to meet Captain Chesley Sullenberger. He is the pilot from the Miracle on the Hudson flight. He is such a hero and it was an incredible honor to shake his hand and meet him today. He was here at the hangar in Phoenix for a photoshoot. My office is one of only a few here in Phoenix with a window view. The view is quite spectacular when the hangar doors are open. On clear days Camelback mountain is in clear sight. Well my coworkers and I were talking weather and how hot it is going to be this week when we glanced out our window. Standing on the wing of an airplane was a man. When I looked I said I thought it looked like Sully. All my coworkers said, no, wait, is it? Well sure enough it was! We rushed down there to watch his photoshoot and to ask if we could get some pictures with him too. We lucked out by getting down there quickly and before the crowd got too big. It was so cool to shake his hand and thank him for a job well done. He truly is a hero!

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Everywhere Baby

So for those of you who know the feeling, let this serve as a reminder. For those of you who don't know, watching self-pride and satisfaction in your son's eyes is one of the most amazing feelings in the world.

Jarem, as you know, has entered the brand new world of walking recently. And so far, every single time that he does it, his eyes light up and his smile is bigger than normal. A few weekends ago, Jamie and I took her cousin Korina out for a birthday date which wrapped up at the play area at the San Tan Village outdoor mall. Well, the last time that we were there, J was crawling pretty well, standing up on anything that he could and envying all of the big kids that were walking around. This time was different. Baby...er... Big-Boy J had something to prove to himself and to the world! Here are some awesome pictures of our Super Proud boy.

Please note that his hands MUST stay above his head for proper wind resistance!

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Brrrr Peoria

For those of you who don't know, the weekend before last, I decided to freeze myself and head over to Peoria, IL. My uncle Walter, my mom and I all went to visit my brother Kenn, on what turned out to be the best weekend of the year to shock my system. When I left from Phoenix Mesa Airport it was over 80 degrees. People were out playing with their kids in the grassy area between the ticketing building and the gate building. For one thing, it made me miss Jamie and Jarem, but it also gave me just enough of a memory of how wonderful Arizona is in the springtime. Now let me remind you, when I took off from Mesa, it was over 80 degrees, and when I landed in Peoria it was 40! FAHRENHEIT! Like just a few degrees north of the temperature at which water itself (the liquid of life) gives up on being water and freezes.

Anyway, that 40 degree temperature was blown out by a swift breeze and a rain storm. The problem with the rainstorm, was that as soon as the sun went down, the temperature dropped, and remember that comment about the water refusing to exist

We had an amazing snow storm (4 inches overnight). Just enough to make me feel like it was Christmas morning when I looked out of my window. Here are the rest of the shots that I got.

Later that evening, Kenn and I enjoyed our last evening together eating home-made fish tacos. Call it denial or longing for home - but MAN were they good!

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Not an April Fool's Joke!!!

Jarem started full on walking tonight!!! He is exactly 11 months old today and it all connected. Without talking about it too much, I'll just show the proof. Check this out!

To watch the video, hit the jump



We are so proud of you, Jarem! You are growing up so quickly and before we know it you will be one! I know people tell us all the time that we don't want you to walk cause now we'll have to watch you more and chase you but that's not true for us. We can't wait to watch you walking around like a big boy and chase you around the house. Maybe it's just cause we're first time parents or maybe it's cause we love you unconditionally but we are so proud of you tonight and love watching you grow up! You are learning more each day and getting so smart. We love you, J!! ... Full Post...