You CAN'T ignore your fortune...It's bad Karma

This was my fortune today...
I don't think it's wise to ignore it.

Back to School

It seems like the kids went back to school REALLY early this year. I could have done with a couple more weeks of summer vacation. Bre is in 8th grade and Connor is in 4th. They have been back a week now and both are seeming to enjoy themselves.

Hillary started pre-school on tuesday. She LOVES it. She is mostly sad that it is only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She was even able to still play with Dylan before they left Tuesday morning. Then it was off to school for her and back home for Dylan.

My first swap. I'm so excited.

Go check it out and join up. Just click on the button on my sidebar.

I know, I know...it's been too long

I've been incredibly busy the last two weeks. What with cramming everything into the last few days of summer, getting the kids ready for school, back to school nights, company and such things, I feel like I've barely had time to breathe, let alone blog. So the next week or so will be a catch up. The first thing we crammed into the few days of summer we had left was a trip to the water park. We were lucky enough to go with our cousins John, Cathy and Benjamin. The kids had a blast. We are sad that the swimming is over for the year and are already counting how many days until they open next year.

Cathy on the rope swing.
Hillary on the tire swing.
John and Benjamin coming out of the slide.
Cathy on the scary ride. She was brave enough to do it mutiple times. I know you can't see it, but Connor is about to come out of the slide...Trust me.

AAAAWWWWE!

She's awfully hard to resist.

Repeat after me....

MY NEW CAMERA ROCKS!!!

This is the hummingbird out our front window.

How do YOU measure up?

This is the "how do you measure up?" wall at the zoo. You can compare yourself to an average gorilla.

The kids at the zoo

Here are the pictures of the kids at the zoo and park.

Hillary as a prarie dog.
Connor as a prarie dog.
Hillary on the monarch catapillar.
Connor hatching.
Hillary at the water playground.
Elephant statue at the zoo. This thing scared Hillary SOOO bad. She wouldn't stop screaming.
Ice cream at the zoo.
Breanna after ice cream. Sugar does wonders for her disposition.
Pat with the Gorilla statue.
Connor and Hillary with the Gorilla statue. Hillary is making her monkey face.

Hillary in the wagon. It was teddy bear day and we got a discount if they kids brought their bears.
The kids spinning the huge marble ball in the entrance.
The lion drinking fountain.
The lion drinking fountain.
The kids on the rhinocerous statue.

New Camera

So I made the leap and bought a new camera last week. My other camera took okay pictures but it took about 15 seconds from the time you pushed the button till it actually took the picture - causing me to miss most of the shots I was trying to get. So I invested in a new one. I am so thrilled. It is SOOO fast in comparison. We were at the zoo and I took a ton of pictures including ones of birds in flight. I was also able to take pictures of the humming bird outside our front window and it looks really good. Below are some of the best pictures I took of the animals. I'll post the kids pictures tomorrow.

The bird is flying towards me in this picture - it's hard to see him in the shadow. He's right above the guy in the tan hat right in the middle of the picture.

Happy Birthday Hillary

Yesterday was Hillary's 3rd birthday. It's hard to believe it's been three years already. Sometimes I look at her and can't believe she's that old. Part of it is how little she seems. The other two kids got some height genes from their dad - but poor Hillary got the short end of the stick from both of us. All the cute 3t capri's her grandma sent her are the perfect length pants(as you'll see in the pictures below.) But she somehow more than makes up for it in cuteness.

These and the yellow pants in all the other pictures are the capri's Grandma sent her.

She decided after months of walking around the mall with her hands over her ears for protection that she wanted to get her ears pierced. So that's what she got for her birthday. We went to a place that could do both ears at once and she picked out cute little pink stones. When they did it she made one shocked face and as we all waited for the screams and wailing to begin - she surprised us and instead said "Pretty" and was overjoyed. Even the ladies at the store were impressed. Now she looks just adorable and can't wait until she can change them.

Pre-pierce excitement.

Showing some nervousness although it didn't last too long.

Post-piercing excitement.

She's at that perfect age where every present she opened was "just what she wanted" and her "favorite thing ever". Even the new underpants I got her. She got tons of new clothes and tried a lot of them on until I finally told her to stop because it was bed time.

She got some princess legos from Grandma and Grandpa that she just LOVES. I can't tell if it's because they are princess or because they are all hers and not Connors so she doesn't have to let him touch them. He helped her build the little house and some people and a dog last night. When it was time to clean them up, Connor wanted to put the things in the box still assembled but Hillary insisted on taking them all apart. I think it was mostly that Connor didn't want to that made her insist - but she spent a while taking every single lego apart before it went into the box.

Overall I think it was a really great day for her. We are going to the zoo on Saturday and celebrating her birthday there too so it should be a fun day.

Happy Birthday Hillary - we love you.