Zoo Day

One of the blessings of being home schoolers is being able to take field trip days with the grandparents:)

It had been too long since we had seen Grammie. Since April she has made a couple of surprise visits to our home.... which we love:) But it had been LONG time since we had visited her in her neck of the woods which often leads to field trips:)

So to the zoo we went; meeting Hannah Grace, Thatcher and Aunt Jaclyn there;)... yes, cousins get to come on field trips, too!!

I got some fun pictures...

and then Anna took off with the camera:) I have a little photographer in the making;)

Another funny memory of the trip was the 1st night;) We heading to Grammie's after soccer practice and so we didnt get to her house until 9:30ish! ALL the kids fell asleep in the van during the trip! Nate and Anna were still a little drozy and they fell back asleep within an hour or so...

Not Lydia and Chris!!

They learned about midnight and how it marks a new day when everyone is supposed to be asleep;) And then they got it into their heads to try to stay up to 2 o'clock! So they officially became the "2 o'clock club"!

Although my mom and I were tired, it was kinda fun to have the middle two "alone" for a little while... but we didn't share their excitement about staying up until 2am. Oh, and they didn't quite make it;) Thankfully:)

We also did an autumn swim before Grammie closed down her pool... we thought it was going to be our last swim for the season... thought;)

Anyone else having amazing weather;) It's really hard to stay inside to school on nice days like these we've had the last few weeks!!

Nate's Sayings & 1st Zoo Visit

Nate seemed like my delayed speech little guy... it seemed like it took him forever before he said very much! But months ago he hit a word explosion and he's been entertaining us ever since... although he is a bit sassy :/

Here are some of his most famous statements:

Parent: Nate, do you have a stinky?
Nate: No. You have a stinky!

Parents chatting about Nate's hair getting cut.
Nate: Weave me hairw a wone.
(Grandaddy, I don't think you're going to win this one! Not yet... LOL!!)

Nate: Me drink weaaallly bad! aka he's thirsty and trying to get me moving a little faster:)

One night I was reading an alphabet book with him. We got to "E is for Elephant" and Nate asked,"Me wride that?"

It took me a moment to realize he was remembering kids riding the elephants at the circus we went to months ago!! And that he's NEVER been to a ZOO!!! NEVER!!

So we went...

with Grammie and Pey.

Obviously we had a blast!!

 Lots of fun looking at/for animals, enjoying a beautiful fall afternoon and spending time with Daddy, Grammie and Pey!! Loved this picture of Brian and Nate hamming it up:)

Nate hasn't said much about the zoo or animals! But we're getting a zoo pass for Christmas (yay!!) so we will get to visit the animals again and again:)


It's your turn!! Just leave a comment or link up:)

WW: Winter Zoo Trip

Chris messing with the turkeys who greeted everyone entering the zoo!!
He jumped when the turkey lunged back at him... LOL!!

Grammie and the girls watching the newest giraffe and her mother. So cute!
Chris getting a ride from Pey. Oh, the BLUE BLUE skies were soooo nice... especially after the crazy wind and downpours we had had all night.
The lions hanging out in the sun!! We had never seen all of the lions out at the same time before.
Meerkat drying his belly in the sun after playing in the mud!!
Two of my little "animals" riding the metal rhino:)
Lydia and Chris watching the monkeys playing!

It was sooo nice to finally get out of the house and MOVE!! Glad we had a warmer day and a clear day to enjoy being outside at the zoo:)

More Wordless Wednesday at
Wordless Wednesday, 5 Minutes for Mom and Go Graham Go!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lydi-Bug!!

Although we had a little party with Grandma and Grandaddy last week and last night shared the birthday dinner she asked for with Grammie and Pey..... TODAY is actually Lydia's birthday:)

Yesterday after all the horrible winds and rain went away... we headed to the zoo with my parents!! It was actually really pleasant and there were a couple of animals MORE active than we had even seen... maybe a little "stir crazy" being couped up all morning, like us;) We met up with my sister, Carson and Hannah Grace. And Lydia finally got to do her favorite thing....

Here's the link to our "expecting Lydia" story:) And below is a montage of Lydia's 1st year. (i need to update it!!)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We are soo thankful for our little girl. She's a little self-motivated and independent child who loves snuggling!! She potty trained herself, asks daily to work on her "schoolwork" and LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to play with her baby dolls. She can't wait to meet her littlest brother and "help" him.... lol!!


Because she was my "surprise" baby, I always think of how perfectly she fits into the family. I have never seen three siblings who are such great friends (yes, there are quarrels... daily!!) and enjoy playing with eachother. It makes me soooo thankful that we had them close together!!

Happy Birthday, our Little Lydia!!

Vacation Pics

I'm never sure how much to share when it comes to vacations:) We did have a good time though....

We visited with friends... The first day we visited one of Brian's college friends... she's got a couple more parenting boys years than us... so it was soo great to see Tiffany and her family. Then on Thursday we headed into Western, Western NC to visit some sweet church friends from Grandaddy's former church... they are basically extended family since Brian's family served there for almost 20 years:) One sweet lady is Miss Gail... she is a blog-reader and totally blessed the kids with all sorts of toys that kept them busy at the house.

Friday we went into Cherokee, NC to the Indian village:) And then we did our little hikes. Both Mingo Falls and Soco Falls are simple and short hikes... perfect for families with little ones, although they both were steep.

Saturday we went to Santa's Land. I know.... we were very hesitant to go since we are NOT Santa people... but the amusements they had were very little kid-friendly... a little train, animals, little rides, snack bar and some playgrounds.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sunday we went to church. Ate lunch out:) And then napped and rested. I had picked up a book from the cottage's owners' collection, I was determined to read the whole thing but the time we left... so I spent the afternoon reading (ok, and some napping). It was a rainy afternoon... so it was a perfect day to rest:)

Monday was had another rainy/cloudy day, so we drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway to get to some outlets:) It was a pretty ride even in the cloudiness:) And we picked a couple fun deals;)

We stayed busy and then crashed at home. It was a fun vacation and a fun area to visit. We hope we can make another trip out there again soon!!

Local Sight Seeing

Since we had a morning and afternoon free with company we decided to take the "fam" on the road to check out a local bird sanctuary....we call it the "bird zoo".

Here are our highlights :)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Wednesday's trip to the Zoo

Well we had ONE more day to get to the zoo before our passes expired!! We're not going to renew them this year for a break, time to explore the rest of Grammie's town and give the zoo time to complete their construction !!! But it's been a very fun year.....I just found a whole family picture of us during our first visit and then the one we were able to get from Wednesday!!

It's been a fun year!!! We've seen Christopher learn sooo many animals' names. We've seen Anna recall animals, their names and our trips. Christopher asked this afternoon if we could go to the zoo!!! They just love it. And I loved that during this trip Lydia started to show a lot more interest in watching some ofthe animals!!!

And one of the best things about our zoo trips is that we've been able to meet up or take friends with us as well as visiting with our family in that area. We will miss our passes...but maybe next year :)

Here are some of our favorite pics from our trip on Wednesday with Grammie, Uncle Eric and Eric's friend Craig!!!!

Glimpse of the Zoo

Here are a couple of pictures from our day at the zoo with our friends. I just picked a few to share...only the best ones!!! I'm hoping Andrea will share some of her GREAT shots!!!

Just getting started!!!

Elephants!!!








A HUGE delight was to finally see the new lion cubs. And even more exciting was to see the lion cubs with their parents!!! Usually we don't see the lions, but today we got to see all FOUR....the kids were soo excited and so were Mom and Dad:)

Here is Mommy with the girls.....riding the giant turtle (it's a statue.... of course I would have never been able to get Anna on a live animal). Kids are soo great to bring to a simple attraction because even the small things like rope webs and animal statues are toys to climb all over and picture opportunities!!!

The best part of the day was sharing one of our favorite places with some of our friends!!! The kids LOVED showing their friends all their animal friends, including Percules.....he he hee Anna practically convinced everyone that this was the name of the camel. (It's actually Hercules!!)

Visiting the Zoo from Home

We have really enjoyed being members at the Norfolk Zoo this year!!! But when we visited after the new lion cubs were born we saw the advertisements for the zoo and cub cams. What a GREAT idea!!! So even on the coldest days when a trip to the zoo would be crazy, we can watch the animals.

Here's a picture we took of the zebra this morning!! IT's in the 30's there!! That's one COLD zebra!!


Here's an update about Christopher and the bunk beds. He never tried to escape his bed last night...but at about midnight he started waking and calling for "Mommy" and "Daddy". After he first started waking he was "up" the rest of the night. Brian and I took turns caring for him throughout the night. And we both spent some time trying to sleep in his bed. Trying because he was waking every 10-15 minutes crying in pain.... This morning he threw up a tiny bit and ate breakfast and acted normal (terroizing his sisters). He did go easily down for a morning nap as well....he protested until his head hit the pillow and then he was GONE........

So thank goodness the transition as been pretty easy....so far.. ha hahaa (only two sleeping times thus far). And last night WE were thankful that he was in a twin versus his crib or a toddler bed because we just curled up right next to him and rested while we rubbed his back.

How in the WORLD can we have a stomach virus again??? (I'm not quite sure at this point it even is a virus) But really except for Sunday and Wednesday night we haven't been anywhere or seen anyone other than church members......and really no other kids (minus 2 older ones in nursery Sunday morning)!!!

Year in Review : Zoo trips :)

One of our highlights this year have been the 5+ trips to the Virginia Zoo. We received member passes as an Easter gift....and we got our money's worth, even though we live 2 hours away!!

Here's a quick view of one of our funniest memory's

The kids really love the animals. During our first visits Christopher only knew the word "giraffe" but now he's identifying most of the animals:) It's been fun to see change in this way....elephants, zebras, etc.

You can always visit our zoo, too. Just go to their website and view the Zoo Cam.

So, the zoo passes were a FUN gift!!! And a trip to the zoo is always fun!!! We can't wait for the spring, or a WARM winter day!! For now we'll settle for an Internet visit on the Zoo Cam.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com