Another day at the Memphis Zoo

Its Friday again and almost 100'... welcome summer, right? Well, we can only stand to be cooped up in the house for so long on hot days so I loaded the kids up in the car and we headed to the zoo again. Got there early and got out early.

First stop...the 'Animals Of The Night' exhibit...or what Carmen calls 'The Bat Cave.' We love this exhibit for 2 reasons. 1) the air conditioning and 2) the really neat animals inside. Porcupine, armadillo, sloth, bats, beetles, and a few really rare creatures from South America. Wish I could have gotten some good pics of the animals but its just too dark inside.

I did manage to get a good shot of Carmen and Eli enjoying themselves... and the creatures.

Our next stop was the new 'Birds & Bees' exhibit which just opened last week. We walked in and were overwhelmed with the amount of parakeets inside. Carmen even got to feed one from a stick. She just held the stick (which had a clump of bird seed on one end) up in the air and a parakeet swooped right down and landed on it. Pretty cool.

And whats cooler than a bird landing on your stick? Two birds landing on your stick!

Our last stop of the day was 'Teton Trek' which is the home to 3 grizzly bears, a small pack of white wolves and some elk. The lodge is very impressive. It is a much smaller replica of Yellowstone Lodge. We sat down inside and watched kids play in the fountain outside while we cooled off and enjoyed our sack lunch.

The great thing about going to the zoo is that we bought a yearly membership pass, so we can go anytime we want and just see a few exhibits each day. Next time we will see the Polar Bear and Sea Lions.

Tie Dye in the park

Every Friday in May there is this thing called 'Fun In The Sun' where the city puts on a free craft and music in the park. Last Friday was Tie-Dye day where we each brought in a plain white t-shirt and did our own tie-dye. Lots of fun for the kids. Carmen and Paige show off their works of art.

Just look at all the cute shirts hanging up to dry!

Cooling off

Its the middle of May but here in the Mid-South summer is upon us. Luckily the blow up pool from last year didn't spring any holes while it was in its winter slumber in the attic.

Zoo trip wears out a baby

We met up with some friends at the Memphis Zoo yesterday.

Carmen had a blast seeing the animals and our zoo trips aren't complete until she gets a carousel ride and an ice cream.

Unfortunately we had to leave a little early because Eli has been running a fever the past days and he was done. Even zonked out on the car ride home. Poor little guy.

Happy Halloween

Halloween Pretzels

These Pretzels are so easy to make! Simply melt some chocolate chips in a microwave oven - melt for about 20 seconds, then take them out and give them a stir, and continue melting every 20 seconds or so until the mixture is gooey.

Now take your pretzels or pretzel sticks, dip them into your hot, gooey chocolate, then immediately dip into some pretty sprinkles. Now lay them onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and let 'em cool. For faster cooling, pop the whole thing into the fridge for a few minutes. YUM!

You can use white chocolate chips as well.

Yesterday was officially the 1st day of fall. Fall not only includes leaves turning brilliant colors of reds, oranges and yellows and weather turning cool but it also means the start of football.

I am not a Denver Broncos bandwagon jumper just because Tebow joined the team. I have been a Broncos fan since the 1st time I laid eyes on John Elway...1986. Even though he and most of his teammates have long retired, I remain now, and always will be a Broncos fan! Now lets get out there and win!

Carmens 1st Day of Daycare!

My baby started her 1st day of Daycare today. She goes two days a week this year. She didnt have any problems this morning. We walked into her classroom, put her backpack and lunchbox away and she was off and playing with the other kids. I stuck around for a few minutes so that I could talk to her teachers and they assured me that everything would be fine. Before I left I called Carmen over and gave her a hug and kiss and she told me she loved me. It was so sweet (I'm already starting to tear up at just the thought of it).

I am back home now with little Eli and the house is so quiet without Carmen here. Ive been telling myself for months that once she starts school I will be able to get all kinds of work done, lets hope that happens.

I miss you Carmen. We are so proud of you!

Happy 3rd Birthday Carmen!

We started our day with a big plate of pancakes topped with bananas and whipped cream. YUM!

A birthday isn't complete without presents!

Happy Birthday Carmen, we love you!

Happy 7th Anniversary

7 years ago today we were standing barefoot on a Hawaiian beach saying our vows. Happy anniversary Andy - I love you! Muuahhh

Butterfly Love

Carmen loves butterflies!

Operation

Andy went in for his hernia operation last Wednesday and I am happy to report that he is recovering well. Nothing a few pain killers won't fix. He is not to lift anything over 5 lbs for the next 4 weeks and nothing over 10 lbs for the following 2 weeks after that. Sigh, its been a heavy load for me but I am trudging along.

I took this photo of the 4 of us the night before Andy went in for his surgery. So happy!

Christine

Eli woke me up at 4:30 this morning. We always give him a few minutes to cry because sometimes he will go right back to sleep. After giving him his time and not hearing him quiet down, I got up to get his bottle going while Andy went to change his diaper. Bottle was ready, but Eli went back to sleep. So did Andy. As for me, well once I'm up, I stay up. So I went to lie down on the leather sofa in the office. The office sits just off the kitchen and the light from the microwave oven gave off an eerie glow. The glow hit my framed Christine movie poster just right. Can you believe I took this photo in pitch black darkness (with the flash, of course). I have tried so many times to take this picture only to get glares and sunspots. I love my camera... and Stephen King!

Free Toy Story Plate

I got this cute Toy Story sectional plate today in the mail for FREE. Just collect the bar codes off of specially marked packages of Sara Lee buns and bread and mail them in for free Toy Story stuff. The plate required 3 bar codes. For 4 bar codes you get a tumbler and breakfast plate, and for 5 bar codes you get a glow-in-the-dark lunch box. You dont even have to pay for s/h. How cool is that?

Heres the website for more details: Click on the "mail-in offer" icon.

http://disney.go.com/partners/wholegrainfun/

White Lily

In our city we have what they call "curb alerts." The city not only picks up garbage, recyclables and yard debris, they also allow you to put just about anything on the curb that you dont want anymore. I have seen some pretty interesting stuff such as washers/dryers, old mattresses, used furniture, etc. The night before garbage day is a free-for all for junk collectors. I must admit, Im guilty of picking up a thing or two from someones throw-away heap.






















Take this potted plant I picked up 2 weeks ago. I drove by it on the way to get my much loved morning iced coffee and thought about it the whole way. I hurried back home hoping it was still there and sure enough it was (it was garbage day and wouldnt be there much longer). I pulled up, flipped a u-turn and tossed the dirty pot into the back of the car. The plastic pot has a hole on one side and I had no idea what kind of plant was growing in it but I'm a sucker for plants and pots.

Once I got it home, pulled out the dead parts and gave it a good drink, I set it on the back porch and waited.





















One of the buds finally opened this morning and what a nice surprise to find it to be a white lily! Orange tiger lilies are all over the place down here, they seem to be a Tennessee weed. Pretty isn't it?