Chris's Family Reunion

We headed down to the country this weekend for a family reunion. Chris's great aunt Lee and cousins Stacy and Lisa were visiting from VA. I have only met Stacy once and had never met Lisa. Above, Chris's uncle Bubby is manning the grill.

Cousin Stacy with baby Hensleigh

Grandma

Cornhole with Addison and Chris's dad

Sydney and Hensleigh

Sydney, Addison, and Cali on Jessie

I could just eat her up!! She's 10 weeks here.

Sydney giving Jessie some love

Yep, even I got on.

Papaw and Sydney

Even great Aunt Lee got on and she's 74 years old!

Chris's mom and the baby

The whole clan. It was a great day, nice cool weather.

1st Day of Second Grade!

I cannot believe that this is my child! Where did my baby go?
She loves her new teacher and has had a good couple of days so far. Let's hope it keeps up!

Our Trip to the Country

A couple of weekends ago, we went down south a bit to see Chris's cousins and their wives, and the twins, Ben and Sam. We'd never met them and the last time we'd seen his cousins was at the baby shower for them.

This is Sam, the one in the first pic is Ben.

Sam took a nap while Ben stayed up to socialize with us. They are soo adorable!

Chris's ex aunt showed up and brought her little puppy, aptly named "Puppy." She was a licker.

The day finished off with a 4 wheeler ride around the property with Jake (in the front, Chris's cousin Valina's son), Bob (Chris's cousin) and of course Sydney. It was so great to see them all. Hopefully it won't be so long till next time!

Kentucky Down Under and a new baby!!

Last weekend, we took a road trip and headed to Kentucky Down Under. This place is really awesome! First, we got to feed some parakeets. We always had parakeets growing up, so this was especially neat for me. Above, it's a rainbow of birds!!

This bird was my favorite because of his color. He was turquoise! I tried to take him out stuffed in my shirt, but he wasn't having it.

A dingo ate my baby!! Ok, this one didn't, but she was digging to China!

This is a laughing kookaburra. Really funny to hear them laugh.

I don't know what these are, they weren't labeled, but they were tiny and had big orange beeks!

I can't remember what this is called, but I think it looks like it's head is way too large for his body. And no, it's not an owl.

Then we headed to the woolshed for a demonstration on sheep and to milk a cow. Above, Sydney volunteered to help the guy and got to stand up on stage with some sheers. Why would you hand the 7 year old the sharpest instrument in the barn?! Made me a bit nervous.

And here's Sydney, milking the cow. She loved it!

Then we got to feed lorikeets, like at the zoo. I never realized they have tongues that they use to lick the cup when it's dry. So funny.

I just kept thinking to myself, please bird, don't do any business on her head!

She got to pet a rainbow python, and we watched a show about bearded dragons and box turtles.

Then we went on the outback walkabout or something like that. This kangaroo was so neat!

And she got to pet one, me too! They are so soft!

She went gem mining...

And on a cave tour. We thought there was no way she would go in the cave, she was so afraid, but Chris bribed her with the gem mining. And she did fantastic in the cave. This place really is so neat, I would highly recommend it.




A new addition to the family!!

This is my new niece, baby Hensleigh. She was born on Monday. She joins big sister Addison and Cali. I love her already!

She looks identical to what Addison looked like as a baby. Except for the crooked nose that was caused by the way she came out. But it will go back to normal on it's own and is already looking better!

Kids in the Kitchen

This past Saturday, I took Sydney to a local family owned restaurant and bakery for Kids in the Kitchen where the theme was Father's Day. Sydney got to decorate 2 cupcakes and make "Papa Chow."

The first cupcake was a teddy graham inside a strawberry ring on the water. The purple on him is his sunglasses and swimsuit.

Sydney got to help pass out wax paper at the beginning and also to pass out leftover gummy lifesavers. She LOVES to help!

After the chocolate and peanut butter had been melted together for the Papa Chow, she hollered "can I lick the bowl?" So, she got the bowl. Here she is, digging in.

And now she's getting serious. See, her hair is pulled back so as not to get in the mess.

Everyone got a turn coating the chocolate peanut butter covered cereal in powdered sugar.

And here's the finished product. 2 cupcakes and some Papa Chow in a hand decorated plastic container for dad the next day. She had fun and I hope to do it again!

The Zoo, the Pool, and a State Park

My friend Panama and her two kids came into town at the end of May to visit and we went to the zoo with them. We were excited about the new section for the polar bears and supposedly a grizzly (but we didn't see him.) Above is one of the sea lions. The other sea lion must have been stressed or something, cause he just kept swimming and hollering.

Here's the polar bear. It's really funny because she does this dance where she walks up to the window, and then backs up while swinging her head. I asked one of the workers about it and she said she does that when she's anticipating something, like food or some other part of her routine. She said it didn't take her long to learn hers and the sea lions and grizzly bears routine.

I seriously thought this camel was dead. His neck was all contorted behind his body. Looked very uncomfortable.

I love this pic!

And of course, we had to go on the carousel. Twice.



And now...the local pool.

We had never been to our local pool (we've been to many others, don't worry, just not this one). It was decent. It was cheap and they let you bring in your own food, so that's nice. I took 2 days off work to start Syd's summer vacation and do some fun stuff and she wanted to go swimming.

Going off the diving board. She loves doing that.

And down the slide! Man, those things were fast!

And the next day, we went with my mom and dad to a nearby state park. Above is an old time butter churner (so far as I know!)

Mom, me and Sydney at the gardens in the pioneer village.

And this picture is just because I LOVED this headboard. I wanted it! It's really tall and beautiful.

I also love this picture. My little girl is growing up!!

The state park also had a pool, which was huge and very nice! And here's Sydney again, going off the diving board. We had a really great 2 days together. Now, if I could just get the rest of the summer off.