Father's Day at the Zoo

We asked Brian what he wanted to do for Father's Day this year.

His first answer was sleep, and then he thought it would be fun to go to the zoo. So thanks to Marcy and her free passes to Brookfield Zoo, it didn't break the bank to go. We started the trip seeing the giraffes. Isaac's favorite was seeing the zebras and rhinos. They were active, and as they would get closer to us (Brian makes animal noises at each exhibit), Brian and I joked that the zebras and rhinos were coming to tell Isaac Happy Birthday (his birthday is coming up soon). So now he thinks that zebras and rhinos are coming to his birthday party.

I don't know what it is... there is something magical and exciting about the zoo - to be up close with such interesting and sometimes large creatures.

We ended our trip seeing the tiger, who had just finished dinner and was walking all around. I can't wait for our trip to St. Louis, on our way down to the Hawk family reunion. We're stopping at the zoo to do a behind-the-scenes zookeeper tour with the tigers. Alexis and Carolina are joining us and we're gearing up for a fun and exciting time. We're told that we'll have to hold Isaac the entire time... Brian will have to hold him because I'll have the camera. This may be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Summer Butterflies

The Easter Bunny brought the girls a Butterfly House this year. You send away for the caterpillers, they come in the mail, and you watch them grow everyday. We were all fascinated! After about ten days, they start to transform into a chrysalis, and then.... they emerge a week later as a butterfly. It was amazing to see this all take place... in our kitchen.

We received Painted Lady butterflies and they are so beautiful. Brownish on the outside of their wings to stay camouflaged, and then bright orange and black on the inside of their wings. There were five caterpillars and as each one came out of their chrysalis, each member of our family named one. This is Emma's butterfly, Luke Skywalker.

Nothing says that summer is here like releasing butterflies.

Spring Lilacs & Other Blossoms

Across the street from our house, there is a large lilac bush and for just a couple weeks in early May, it was in bloom. You could open our front door and smell the lilac bushes. We ran across the street one morning to smell them up close.



About a week later, we discovered that we had our own lilac bushes in our yard. I don't know how we missed it last year.

In our own yard, I was able to zoom in on these bushes and capture the blossoms. I love my camera. Still learning a lot about composition and all the settings. I'll get there.

We heart horses

When I was a teenager, I was fortunate to land a job as a horseback riding trail guide. It was hard work, but it was my most favorite job to be around horses all day long. The girls love horses. and they really wanted to learn how to ride, but riding lessons aren't cheap. The saved their money and paid for their own lessons at St. Charles Farm. It's not just about riding, they groom and tack the horse before they can ride.


They had great instructors and the girls loved every minute of it. Abigail is pictured with Fritz and Emma is riding Sparkles. They learned a lot in 6 weeks and are already saving for another set of lessons.

New Camera!

Once I finally ran out of 35mm film for my Canon 35mm camera, I started asking Brian if we could get a nice digital SLR camera. Well, he finally said yes! After impatiently waiting for the battery to charge and the set up to be done, I started snapping pictures. I love this camera. It's a Nikon D60 - the same that Brian's best friend, Chad has - which is how I knew it took amazing pictures. Some of the crispness of the image gets lost in a point and shoot camera (like our HP something-or-other), so I'm happy to have one now that gives me even better images than my 35mm. And if you think these pcitures are good - just wait! The nice folks over at Ritz Camera had a promotion - I can take several free 2-hour-long digitial photography classes through "Ritz Camera University!" Can you tell I'm excited? So as I learn new things and try them out, I'll be posting so you can follow my progress from an average photographer to an excellent one!
 

The kids are happy to pose for me... as you can see.

We only ate half the birthday cake...

So my aunt made this great cake for my Papaw (he turned 72, not 82 like the candles say). To bribe Isaac to take a picture with my Papaw, I told Isaac he could have a piece of cake. I started to grab my camera, and Luke had been put on Papaw's lap too - and both boys started dipping their fingers into the frosting. And then another finger - and another... well, my mom, aunts and grandma started to click away with their cameras. This was just classic.

Easter with our Family

This Easter in our family was many celebrations wrapped into one. It was my Papaw's 72nd birthday, my Papaw and Grandma's anniversary and Easter. It was the first Easter in our new house. We enjoyed awesome barbecue that my mom and Papa made. Brisket, ribs, baked beans, and cole slaw beat ham anyday. It's been so long since we've had a traditional Easter dinner that I don't know what normal people eat on Easter (other than ham). Anyway, this video cracks me up. Alexis (the great sister and cousin that she is) is feeding Luke and Isaac. In true boy form, Isaac is licking his fingers (yes, the food is that good) and then wipes his hands on his shirt. After about 15 seconds, watch Isaac spot Alexis' iTouch. She moves it out of his reach and then Isaac's "walking fingers" go for the Pepsi on the table.