Columbus Zoo and Sprinkler Fun

During the week while Curtis was in Nevada, mom and I took the kids to the Columbus Zoo. We had an awesome day - gorgeous weather, lots of animals!

Here's Toby and a gorilla face :)

A gorgeous black swan
The koala...he just looks so cuddly
Toby watching a ray swim by
Toby the prairie dog.
Toby even got to pet a flamingo! Just as we stepped into the zoo, mom and I were booking it for the exhibits and Toby says, "I saw a flamingo!" We turned around, and sure enough one of the keepers had brought out two flamingos for people to see and pet up close. Very cool!
Back in Lewisburg, we brought out the sprinklers one day for some backyard fun!

Blowing Bubbles/ Carriage Hill/ Heaven's Corner

Ok, this is from the beginning of our trip, waaaaaaay beack somewhere around June 6.

First off, we tried to play bubbles with the kids, and they wanted to, but....the puddles were oh so appealing. Lucy barely left the puddle and was soaked from waist down. And it was a little puddle to start with.



We took the kids to Carriage Hill on Sunday afternoon. Toby petted the horse and even got to collect eggs from the chicken coop! It was a great afternoon.
On Saturday we went with Curtis's parents to Heaven's Corner, a little zoo right in Preble County! They rescue animals - most of them very exotic - and keep them in a little zoo right in the middle of the country! Here's Toby with a "jaguar" (ok it's really a leopard, but he thought it was a jaguar and he was so excited I didn't have the heart to tell him it was something else)
Lucy was thrilled too.
This was my fav, of course! I even asked what they do with the fleece (yes, I am always thinking of fiber, how to use fiber, how to get fiber), and if only I knew how to shear a sheep I would have a fleece on my hands...but alas, I have no idea how to get it off the sheep. Ag.
This picture is just...because. I like birds (from a certain distance, I am most certainly not a bird-person), and thought this was a cool picture.
On Monday we met friends at the waterpark halfway between our houses. We had a blast - Toby LOVED it and wanted to go back EVERY day!

And thus, vacation ends

Perhaps you have noticed my absence the last month...or perhaps I just like to believe that I have enough readers to notice when I am absent...either way, I have been gone. I see I did not post at all the month of June, and believe it or not, this was the first month in the history of my blog that I didn't post at least once in the month! And my blog was born in October 2005, so that's a long stretch of posts.

Ok, record breaking aside, so where have we been? In Ohio, of course! We had planned on a two week trip to visit, and Curtis had to take a work trip in the middle of that. But when he got back we took a look at the calendar and decided to make it a three week trip instead! So it was a LONG trip, indeed!

We did so many fun things this trip...we really tried to make it a fun vacation for the kids, plus the time with family made it extra special. To break it up a little, I'm going to blog about each place seperately so I can tell stories and share pics without cramming it all into one ginormously long post.

As you can tell, we are home again. The house is still standing, and the weeds are standing taller than ever. The weeds are the only things that have grown, as the grass is brown and my garden is browner...dead, dead, dead. I was afraid that would happen, but it doesn't make the finding of it any easier. I was so looking forward to fresh veggies this summer. Guess I'll have to hit up the farmer's market instead.

Ok, onto the posts!

Changes, Changes

Sometimes I swear my life revolves around changes...everything changing, constantly. Just when you think you have your month planned, something changes...and just when you start to have your feet firmly planted under you, something changes.

Of course, not all changes are bad...in fact, far from it! I think most changes really are for the better. Things like Spring Cleaning and new grills are definitely on the list of changes for the better...which brings me to our Memorial Day weekend. We were so busy we hardly sat down all weekend...from cleaning out to sprucing up, the house was in a constant state of turmoil.

We hung a flag out front, bought a new grill, cleaned cleaned cleaned...it was a good weekend!

I do have some pictures to share...

Pigtail Lucy

Lucy feeding her baby doll some toy ketchup...in her defense it does look kinda like a bottle...

Curtis trying out the new grill last weekend. He's working on ribs on it right now - yum!!!
Last weekend we went to the marina down here and the kids had a great time in the water -

Ok, I think that's all for today! Have a great weekend!

4 Day Weekend, woohoo!

Curtis is on his way home and then it's holiday weekend, baby! Not that we have ANY plans, but sometimes that's even better than being booked solid. Actually I am going to see a play with my friend on Saturday night, so I'm pretty excited about that!

Anyway, 2 of my lilies burst into bloom this week - aren't they pretty?

We played with sidewalk chalk yesterday and Toby was making silly faces....

Lucy with that crazy long hair...

A sweet smile from Toby
Lucy modeling her new Tinkerbell dress :) (made by mama!)
Lucy's new jellies...I had to get them. I had jellies when I was little and I LOVED them! I was so excited to get them for her! Plus they were 50% off, so even better!

Lucy all geared up for summer. Isn't she looking like a little girl these days? Less and less my baby... :(
Anyway, so the kids are coughing again so we've stuck close to home this week. Today we made books, and I think the kids enjoyed the craft! (Mom did too!)

Ok, daddy's home, so time to get dinner on the table!

Embroidery

I posted this cris cross dress earlier but had been thinking it needed a little something to spruce it up. I know several people with embroidery machines so I was thinking of asking someone to do a little something on this for me, but...I am impatient. (blush) So I decided to do it by hand and I'm thrilled with the outcome!

It took 2 days, and I didn't work on it at all in the evening - just nap times, so I think that was pretty good timing on my part. And it was super easy! Lucy loves it - she's wearing it now.

In the evenings I'm still working on my first stash eating baby blanket, which I might give to Toby. The colors just aren't...babyish and I'm not sure I know anyone who would love it. But Toby loves anything I make and I know he would have a blast with it. I just have 1 more square to put on, weave in the ends, and maybe crochet a border. So it is coming along. I've found a couple other blanket patterns I'd like to try for my scrap blankets too.

Video Time!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thought I'd share a video from last week...Toby's started singing, practically nonstop. If he can't think of an appropriate song, he makes one up/ :) It's cracking me up all the time!