No School and a Trip to the Zoo

Lauren had a no-school day earlier this week, so we took full advantage of the perfect Fall weather and our free pass she earned from the library this summer and headed to the zoo!

Our zoo is small...dinky, really...but perfect for preschoolers. Just enough wild animals to keep their interest. And best of all...you can be done with it all in 3 hours or less. They LOVED the parakeet feeding exhibit and the giraffes! Luckily they came out unscathed from the x-rated giant tortoises (ick). I guess I'd never thought of HOW the giant tortoise breeding process worked...and I can honestly say I'd love to never think of it again. So. Gross.

Here are a few pics from our no-school day adventure:

We received our slideshow today - yay! Thanks again to the AMAZING Sarah Burke of Sarah Burke Photography for really capturing the love, joy and silliness that is our family. We can't thank you enough!

Click here to view this video

We don't have the photos from our weekend family photo shoot yet...but our AMAZING photographer did share a few with us to tide us over. LOVE IT! Oooooooo....I can't WAIT to see the rest!!!

FAMILY PICTURE DAY!!!

We haven't had a family picture taken since Lauren was a baby. That was almost 5 years ago! That means we don't have a family picture with Grant in it! Grant who is going to be 3 in a month. That's pathetic. I think I've put it off because - well....it's STRESSFUL! To get FIVE people looking at the camera - or at least smiling....nearly impossible. Then there's the wardrobe...I admit - I obsess about this a bit. I don't like to be matchy-matchy (been there/done that...not going back). I want to coordinate but not in an overly obvious way. Much to my husband's dismay, I can worry about this for days on end! And then there are the issues of cost and wanting to be thinner for the pictures (sigh).

Recently our neighbors had their picture taken by his cousin. We loved her style! I immediately contacted her to inquire about cost, schedule, etc. It turns out - she lives in Arizona! Bummer! BUT....she was coming back in August for a class reunion. YAY! So we booked our appointment with SARAH and today was the day!

I won't have the images until next week, but I did snap a few pics during some of Bailey's individual shots. I can't WAIT to see them! She took over 300 pictures! Stay tuned...I'll be posting them just as soon as I have my hands on them!

It's been a week already since the kids and I were on our mini-vacation to Illinois to visit family. Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Great-Grandmas, Great-Grandpas...and most exciting...our brand-new nephew/cousin, Nicholas!! We packed in fun with both my Mom's side of the family AND my Dad's side of the family. The kids didn't nap for 5 days (that part wasn't so fun) and many adventures were had while fond memories were created.

I loved taking my kids to the farm. Letting them walk up the gravel lane, climb the fence to look at cows, run free and loud without the worry of disturbing neighbors or the danger of traffic....it was nostalgic and relaxing. I'm not cut out for farm life full-time anymore, but I do appreciate the beauty and simplicity of living in the country. Someday I'd like a weekend/vacation home in the country. I'd like to say the farm girl in me could hack it full-time...but I know better. I hate mice (inevitable when surrounded by fields), flies drive me nuts (where there's cows, there's cow poop...and where there's cow poop...there's flies), and I sure as heck couldn't live an hour from the nearest Target. Puh-leeeeeze! That almost makes me hyperventilate just thinking about it!

But I tell you...it only takes a minute in that farming area of Northern Illinois to see what an incredible slice of heaven it is. Absolutely the gorgeous landscape that only God could create. (Sigh)....relaxes me just thinking about it.

The favorite part of the trip was meeting Nicholas though. What a perfectly sweet baby! He's beautiful AND sweet-tempered. He's so perfect! After a couple days of holding and rocking him... I'm hooked. The bummer is....he lives in Chicago. A good 5-hr drive from here to a land where parking and hotel accommodations are pricey. My brother's even farther away...I can't even remember how farm Lexington, KY is from us...10 hours? anyway - too far to drive in a weekend with kids in-tow and too close/too small for decent air fare. I'm really starting to envy the families that live near each other. And when I returned to the farm it brought back all of those memories of family birthday parties where all of the aunts/uncles/cousins/grandparents gathered. I remembered exploring the farm with my cousins, fishing, playing outside all day. I remember aunts and uncles and grandparents coming to my school activities and how exciting that felt. I won't be able to do that for my nieces and nephews. (note: I don't actually have nieces...just 4 nephews...so someone needs to get on that). And I tell you....that sucks....big-time.

Sure, we have cell phones, e-mail, instant messaging and even Skype....but nothing is as good as being able to actually hug your nephews....babysit them so your brother and his wife can get a much-deserved night away......cheer them on at a tee-ball game....go to his birthday party. Ugh...i'm sad.

Alright...enough of the pity party. More pictures of our trip coming up soon!