Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Lake Tobias Wildlife Park

 Stuck in traffic. I81 what a drag.

 I kind of liked this a ton more than the Philly Zoo. So family friendly.






 Are there other 3 year olds out there that also stick out their tongues all the time? 
And yes, family from the Carribean is here, thus the trip.







 Zedonk


 Pretty Monique!



 Ellie was jacked up on Tylenol all day. She did great but is burning up again now that we are home.







 Stuart has a bite on his ear. It's crazy red. On the way home Mia was asking if she could have a pet horse. Stuart piped up, "Mom, I want an elephant to ride!"



 We like lunch time. Mia says it was a feast. I told Nate that if you call finger jello, juice packs, and E.L.Fudge a feast, then it was! 



 Stuart is really into Alligators lately. His Grandma got him a stuffed one and he sleeps with it at night. So cute. So this was a highlight for him. He touched it but I missed it.


 Petting Zoo

Stopped at McDonald's for ice cream on the way home and I felt like I had just been on a school trip. With the added blessing of naps all around on the way home! Thanks to Mom Martin for the fun day. (I'm beat)

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Pregnancy, Mom Guilt, and the Mini Vacation

Mom Guilt. I've got it today. 
I really try to protect myself when I'm pregnant. Not take on too many extra things as I am all ready overwhelmed with the day to day work load. But I worry that my children are suffering. I am extra hard to please and always grouchy about their messy bedrooms.
Lighten up! I tell myself.

This is a good time in life to do some purging. We have decided that there are two more flower beds that have got to go.

There are dirt piles, and stone piles, and swing set piles all over the place. Building project has the place looking all torn apart.

We found out yesterday that we are expecting a girl this fall. Well, the technician did say, "I think it's a girl" and I did not question her on her predictability, but we are going to plan with that in mind. Pink burp cloths it is.

Then when I went to pay for my ultrasound the kind and sophisticated receptionist asked, "You don't know of anyone who would like to milk cows in the Wernersville are do you?" and I laughed and thought to myself, "I must look like a farmer."


Mini vacation. One Friday morning Nate told me that we could not go on vacation until the shed is finished. Then that evening when I got home he said that we should leave for the weekend. 
 
There is something about little or no planning for a trip that takes a lot of the prep stress off. Because there was no prep. Ha ha.

We packed up and left in 1 1/2 hrs. I was slightly paranoid we were forgetting some prior engagement of some kind.

We swam in the motel pool, and ate the free breakfast. Saturday we headed out to some "farm" where there was a free shuttle tour. Perfect. It was so hot! We got off the shuttle at the orchid barn. Beautiful! When done with that we waited for the next tram. After waiting a while Nate told Mia to read the schedule that was posted. So she was reading,  9:15, 9:45, 10:15, break... 
Nate and I hollered "No!" And laughed at our misfortune. So we started to walk back to the main building.  Stuart was crying because he wanted another tram ride. Ellie soon yelled, there is the tram! So we quickly headed back to it. Thankful they were running late or something.
 
Around 5 we left for the beach. It was a one hour drive. It was nice to be there at the end of the day. The van's outdoor thermometer said it was 106 outside. 
 
Mia loved the waves. They were pretty rough. Ellie was scared of them but warmed up a little and Stuart he just sat on the bank and once and awhile almost got washed out to sea. He thought that was pretty great. That is best way to get sand everywhere while you are at the beach.