Weekly Updates

This is actually an update for about 1.5 weeks but better late than never, right!

We have been BUSY!  One would think that having an extra day off work for Memorial Day and staying in town would equal stuff done around the house, but not around here!

• Last weekend we went to "Baby" Grace's 2nd birthday party.  They got the kiddie pool out and the water table.  The weather was perfect...mid 80s with a slight breeze.  The kids had a blast playing in the water!  I wasn't sure how Lilly would take to the pool, but once she went down the little slide once, she was all in!  We couldn't keep her out of the pool or off the slide!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I snuck into Lilly's room the other night and took a picture of her sleeping.  She is a light sleeper so I am always scared to do this, but I love watching my babies sleep.
  
• We got out the wagon the other night for the 1st time and I took the kids on a walk while Matt was at Bible Study.  This was Lilly's 1st time riding in the wagon (she was too small last year at this time).  Of course, Brayden enjoyed his walk but Lilly LOVED it!  She sat real still and took everything in and of course waved to everyone we passed :)
  
• We have been enjoying some deck time recently, especially on the weekends.  The kids are enjoying the water/sand table and also "helping" with the flowers and blueberry bushes.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• This past Friday night, we got Ms Sarah (Lilly's favorite infant teacher) to babysit for Lilly and we took Brayden on a "Brayden, Mommy, Daddy" night.  He got to pick where we ate (Char-Grill of course), then we took him bowling for the 1st time, and then we stopped for ice cream!  When we got to Char-Grill, the wind was so strong that we were getting cold, so Brayden and I climbed into the back of Matt's truck.  We ended up eating back there with the back mostly down.  Brayden thought this was great!  Once we got the hang of bowling, he LOVED it!  He sort of threw the ball down the lane and it took a few minutes for the ball to get all the way down, but in the end, Brayden almost beat me in both games!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• On Saturday, Paw came to visit and we all went to the NCSU vs UNC baseball game in Durham.  This was to determine which team would be in the ACC championship game.  The place was PACKED!!  We had good seats in the outfield and even though the game didn't start until 7:45ish (it was supposed to have started at 7pm), the kids stayed awake for a long time.  Lilly finally crashed somewhere in the 8th inning and Brayden followed in the 10th.  This was the game that would NEVER.END!  We stayed until the end of the 14th inning when I decided that we all needed to leave.  I had to be at church the next morning to teach Sunday School and it was already 12:45.  I knew we had a 30+ minute drive home once we got to the car, so we headed out.  Turns out that the game didn't end until almost 2am!!!  18 innings of baseball!!  Sadly, the Pack couldn't hold on and UNC won the game but I am so glad that we went and that the kids got to experience a great game and spend some extra time with Paw.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Sunday, after I got home from church, my Dad took us all out to eat at Miltons.  This is possibly our new favorite place to eat!  They have a great salad bar and a wonderful lunch buffet!  Both kids ate a ton of pizza, salad, and pasta!
• On Sunday afternoon, we went to "Baby" Maddie's 2nd birthday party.  The kids enjoyed making pinwheels outside and playing with Maddie's toys (something new of course)!  Lilly especially enjoyed the Cozy Coupe car which ironically, we had been offered a hand-me-down Cozy Coupe just the day prior :)
• Lilly and I also went for a walk on Sunday evening (Brayden was in trouble and didn't get to go).  We stopped at the park for a few minutes and Lilly really enjoyed swinging :)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Monday, we got the sprinkler out and Brayden had a blast running through it for a while.  Later, our friends (the Toomey's) came over and John also enjoyed running through the sprinkler.  We also got 2 new riding toys for the kids from some great friends.  Catherine and Larry have passed on tons of kids stuff, most recently the Cozy Coupe car and a push tricycle!  Lilly LOVES both! Thanks Metzger Family for sharing your kids stuff!!
  
  
  
  

Lazy 5 Ranch

My mom has been talking about the Lazy 5 Ranch for a while now.  She finally convinced me that we needed to go, so back in the fall we picked a weekend and put it on the calendar.  I am SO GLAD that we did!  This place is awesome!!

We got reservations for a 10:15 wagon ride which meant we had to leave my parents house by about 8:30.  We got to the Ranch a bit early and were able to walk around some and see a few animals from afar.  The wagon ride was wonderful!  Not crowded and you get buckets of food to feed the animals.

Waiting on the wagon ride to start

Brayden, Daddy, and Paw

The entire principle of this place is to allow you close contact with the animals (although there are a few that you can't get near).  As the wagon moves along, animals walk/run up to the wagon to be fed.  You have to pay attention to the way the guide tells you to feed each animal.  Some can be hurt if you feed them incorrectly.  Every so often the wagon will stop and you can take pictures, pet, feed, etc the animals.  Such a neat experience for the kids (and us grown ups)!

We fed emu, ostrich, several types of deer, water buffalo, several other types of cattle, giraffes, zebra, and lots more.  They also have petting zoo where you can continue to feed some of the animals including camels, donkeys, sheets, goats, etc.

Emu/Ostrich - up close and personal

Zebra

Llama - they were somewhat aggressive and really wanted the food

Giraffe - One of them was 25 feet tall!!!

Matt and Brayden feeding the giraffes

Luther the rhino - he is in a pen and you can't get close to him

Brayden feeding a cattle of some sort

Hello bird

Beautiful rolling green hills

Deer - none of the deer on the property are native to the US

Water Buffalo (I think)

Another giraffe

Peacock

Lilly was unimpressed

Brayden loved it and Lilly was not excited but I she is still a bit young.  We will definitely be going back when she is a few years older so that she can experience it again!

Hanging out with Paw

Lilly feeding the sheet

They also have a nice picnic area and play area for kids to get their wiggles out!

Kangaroo - one of them made laps back and forth along the fence lin for about 5 minutes while we stood and watched

As an alterative to the wagon ride (a bit cheaper also), you can drive your car through the park.  I would not suggest this because some of the animals can get a bit excited and scratch your car plus you don't get a guided lesson as you drive through the park.

If you are in NC, you definitely need to check this place out!  It is near Salisbury, NC and is relatively cheep and a fun time for the entire family!  We will be going back one day!!

Update on the kids

I am going to try to start updating weekly on things that have been going on with our family.  My friend Stephanie does this and I love the idea of not posting big posts but just jotting down the little things that happen in life each week.  To catch up on the past few months, here are some updates on the kids.

Brayden
 - is now officially 4.5 years old (and he is quick to tell you that as well!)
 - is LOVING soccer
 - is also very much into football and baseball - we play both out in the drive way just about every night after dinner now that it is warmer
 - is a great big brother (most of the time)
 - I introduced him to video games a few weeks ago.  I was hoping that the old original Nintendo would work but I couldn't get it connected correctly.  He settled for the joy stick video games (Pac Man, Galiga, etc)

- Helped vacuum the playroom a few weeks ago....the vacuum is bigger than he is so it was quite difficult for him but he managed to do just about the whole room with little/no help from me :)

Lilly
 - is now 20 months old and acting more and more like a 2 year old
 - has gone pee pee in the potty now twice!
 - loves to have bows, etc put in her hair but will not leave them alone!  Here are pics from her very 1st pigtails!  How CUTE!!

 - has lots of words now including: please (which sounds more like a snake hissing), outside (s-side), dank you (thank you), sucse you (excuse you), more, help, up, sit, "no no no", "sit sit sit", "not nice", hat, shirt, shoes, socks, bow, off, on, out, mommy, daddy, mama (what she calls the paci), bankie (blankie), books, roo roo (the cat's name is Buckaroo), bird, wa wa (water), nana (banana), sberry (strawberry), woo woo (fire truck)

Sitting in the fire truck at Wesley's birthday party

 - is making some animal sounds although she gets a lot of them confused still: elephant, cow, dog, cat, sheep
 - loves to play outside
 - is mostly sleeping through the night now.  I say this and tonight she will get up 4 times!
 - can eat with a spoon/fork but still prefers her hands because, well, it is just more effective that way!
 - loves her teachers and friends at school but is always happy to see me in the afternoon :)

Bananas!!

Helping clean (gardening gloves and a paint brush)

 - LOVES bananas, graham crackers, strawberries, and blueberries along with most other fruit but she is getting pickier about other foods (at least at home)

Having a little snack during Brayden's soccer game

 - is still very much attached to the paci...she doesn't have it at school but at home she thinks that she needs it all the time.  I am trying to limit use to just bedtime/naptime but it isn't going too well.