Pictures From Aunt Suzy! (And other things)

An ENORMOUS thank you to Aunt Suzy for the additional zoo pictures!! I had had all of the pictures downloaded and was writing the captions in when something with Paul's laptop (VISTA--I HATE IT!!) selected and DELETED my ENTIRE post!! I was a tad irrate. However, I got to school early and was able to do this post, in its entirety, before the kids arrived!

Here are Lauren, Harris, and Aunt Suzy and I posing upon entering the zoo. Cheese!!

We LOVED checking out the flamingos! However, the smell was a little unbearable. Lauren wanted to continue watching the birds as one was only a few feet from us. Talk about exciting!
It's rare to get such a nice picture with both Lauren and I looking at the same time!

Our trip would not have been complete without my little "angel" pitching a fit, right? Aunt Suzy was so attuned to catching it in action!

Lauren, Paul, and I posing on the bronze turtle.

Harris and Lauren enjoyed watching the fish in the aquarium.

All three kids chilling in front of the alligator. Lauren and Nick were the most interested. Harris was starting to wear out. He was so tired that he had TWO thumbs in his mouth!

You can actually see the alligator through the glass!

Big helper Nick pulling the little ones through the zoo. He did a GREAT job in helping us keep the toddlers entertained.

This was so cute catching Nick checking on the little ones!

Suzy got the BEST picture of me feeding the giraffe! Lauren was afraid to do it on her own.

On Memorial Day, Lauren and I hung out in the kitchen. She's been a little snotty lately, so we've had to use the bulb sucker. Just as I was getting the camera ready to take the picture, Lauren was using the bulb sucker on her own, and correctly, to suck out her own ickies! Then, of course, as I took the picture, she put the bulb sucker down!

One of Paul's old co-workers had given us some of his daughter's old toys when he found out Lauren was a girl. Lauren has just started to get interested in baby dolls and strollers, so we brought her baby stroller from the attic. However, she thought it was much more fun to ride in it herself!

Paul had a brilliant idea to put Catlyn in the stroller to see what she'd do. As long as I held the cat down, she stayed in the stroller. Lauren thought it was great fun and had a great time trying to push the cat around the house. Of course, we had to capture the moment. You see the result!

Can't get much more real, can you?

My brother stopped in Monday evening after returning from PA. Lauren and I baked brownies, so he had a blast watching us. Lauren pours in the oil...

And then we stir! It wasn't too big of a mess, but it was fun! Lauren enjoyed licking the batter off of her spoon!

All-Star Race/1st Trip to the Zoo/Planting the Garden

I have an enormous post this week, but it's well worth reading and viewing!

Lauren has sprouted her 14th tooth. She has two teeth left on the bottom before her 2 year molars begin to come through. Teething is really difficult for Lauren.

She's also been having a hard time staying on her feet without running into anything. She ran smack into a post in the kitchen first thing Friday morning when Uncle Josh was playing with her before school. Bless her, she takes it all in stride!

She's had a really good attitude, laughing and smiling often. She's become curious about Elmo, saying it often. Sometimes I think she might be saying 'animal,' but I can't be sure.

We went swimming at Aunt Suzy's on Friday night. We'll have some pictures to post from there soon, I'm sure.

This photo was taken before we went to church on April 26 for Cara's baptism. Isn't she too adorable?!

All-Star Race at Lowes Motor Speedway in Concord, NC (Most people think it's Charlotte, but it's not really) May 16, 2009

John Walsh from America's Most Wanted spoke and told about an award given out for service. It was pretty cool.

The new Home Depot driver got some tire marks on his side when another car ran into him. We couldn't believe the perfect circular marks that were left over. Fortunately, he was able to continue racing.
Paul and I were able to have someone take our picture while at the races. Yes, our smiles are SO big that we were able to go on our own! (Leah "Neigh-Neigh" watched Lauren while we were out.)

We had really good seats. Here are the racers following the pace car.

A little "rubbin'" going on in the pits! "Rubbin's racin'"

More close calls in Pit Road!

Kurt Busch also got a little close to another racer. Look at his circles!

May 23, 2009

The Toddler Zoo Crew from Abernethy CDC

Lauren's daycare set up a family trip to the zoo in Columbia, SC. We carpooled and Aiden and his Nana, Tina, rode with us. Here are our two little ones (AKA The Paci Pals) on the way to the zoo.

The sign entering the zoo

Harris and Lauren enjoyed watching the fish.

Daddy and Lauren checked out some desert animals. However, Lauren has a bad habit of kicking Daddy in a place where she shouldn't...so here is Daddy fussing at Lauren.

I really do think that Lauren enjoyed the fish most of all. We were both a little freaked out by the eel sticking out of the rock. He looked like he was really targeting us or something!

Chris, Nick, Lauren, Harris, and Paul leading our little group. Suzy and I didn't mind hanging back. We were hoping that we could slip away and have a few quiet minutes, but, alas, it wasn't to be so...

Here were our friends, the Cadwalladers, riding the tram before departing the zoo. Harris and Nick did NOT sleep at all while on our trip. Lauren was out in her stroller on the tram.

Lauren was amazed by the elephants. We liked watching them throw mud, eat and drink, all with their trunks. They aren't the same color as the elephants in our books.

Lauren loves to say, "Turtle," and pick out turtles in her books. This one could was the largest in the pen and the closest to us.

Isn't this cute?! We all took turns taking pictures on the bronze turtle.

Harris, Lauren, and Nick liked to check out the alligator. The alligator was at the bottom of the tank, just hanging out.

We were able to feed the giraffes. Lauren didn't want to get that close, but you can see the giraffe taking food from my hand. Nick and Harris each got a chance to feed the animals, too.

Lauren LOVED the tiger statue. She was getting tired, especially since we'd just eaten lunch, so she had to have her mommy!! Lauren really enjoyed the lion exhibit because she loves to ROAR like a lion!

Paul carrelled the kids (2 of whom were sleeping) together while we women took a potty break. Harris was the last toddler standing and awake.

There were really pretty gardens at the zoo as well, so we took the opportunity for a nice family shot. However, Lauren was sleeping...

So Daddy and I decided to have our pictures taken by ourselves!!

When we got home, Paul decided to plant the garden. (Yes, we've been slacking! We should have done this a few weeks ago, but, it's us.) Lauren wanted to help Paul.

Lauren helped plant the seeds.

Lauren helped Daddy plant lettuce seeds.

After gardening, Lauren wanted to "Wee." She was in the best of moods, even despite the long car rides to the zoo.

No Dates

I had attempted to get these pictures posted on the 12th of May. I have no idea as to the dates at this point in time, so bear with me!

Paul brought home Dantes Pizza (which we love). As we were getting things together, Lauren decided that she was a "big girl" and didn't want me to cut up her pizza. So she got into the box herself and got her own pizza!
My cutie was ready to go to church. Isn't she a doll? She couldn't figure out which pair of "glass" she wanted to wear!

She found a pair. Apparently they were yummy.

Suzy had asked me to help her teach Sunday school one week. Harris and Lauren joined us (Lauren flipped out when she saw me in the 2-3 year old room while she was in the nursery) with the older kids. Lauren and Harris enjoyed pushing each other in the baby doll stroller. It was starting to fold up.

Lauren broke into the new package of bottled water. She had a blast.

Doesn't she look innocent? I thought that this was an awesome happy picture of her!
She was either playing Peek-a-Boo or pretending she hadn't unloaded all of the bottles!

We went to dinner at Bennett's. On our way out, Paul spied a saddle and put Lauren in it. She wasn't impressed and wanted out immediately.

Leah watched Lauren for a few hours for us while we were at my Teacher of the Year banquet. It was 9:00 or so, an hour past Lauren's bedtime. Leah tried so hard to rock her to sleep, but Lauren didn't bite. I felt bad telling Leah that she needed to have turned off the light...

We've been very busy this week. We've been outside so much that we've not taken many pictures or been on the blog to update. Lauren sprouted her 14th tooth on Saturday! We were excited because she's been gnawing on everything. Hopefully it will end some of chewing.

Our anniversary is on Monday. We'll have been married for 7 years. Paul and I left Lauren with Leah again and went to the All-Stars Race at Lowes Motor Speedway. We had a great time (we SO didn't fit in) and met some avid race fans. Tony Stewart won.