Fun Times. . .

Well, it's never boring around here.  With 2 year and 5 year olds PLUS a 40 + year old man in my house it's just never a dull moment.  We have been enjoying this gorgeous weather for sure.  Playing outside, taking walks, riding the plasma cars, picnics, anything and everything.

My dad recently asked me about taking the boys to Birdsong.  If you haven't heard of it, it's a bird sanctuary in Grady County, right near the Georgia state line.   We decided to take the boys this past Friday after school.  It's quite a long drive. . . I'd say at least 45 minutes from our house.

I had never been before - the boys had and were excited to go back.  When we arrived no one was around except one lady in the office.  We had fun going in the gift shop (Zach picked out a toy snake and Chase a magnifying glass) and then watching some cardinals and walking around the grounds.  A little chilly but it was fun.

After we were done we picked up Grammy and headed to Whataburger for a dinner out.  Paul was flying that evening so he didn't join us.

Here are some iPhone pics from our trip:

And in other news. . . we've decided to put our home on the market!  We THOUGHT we had decided to build a new home in a new neighborhood we had found but the longer I see the sign out in the yard (it's been out a week now) the more I'm starting to get cold feet.  But then again, I am excited to possibly build again - we had SO much fun when we built this home.  We do have the urge to do it again but the thought of actually doing it all with two kids is becoming more daunting by the day.  But, for now, at least we have the sign out.  If a contract comes in we will have to REALLY make a final decision.  I created a website for our potential buyers at 

http://greenmont.blogspot.com/

if you know of anyone who might be interested!

We have had a good new year so far.  One of my resolutions is to cook more.  So far it's been going well.  Homemade veggie soup, Burgundy Pork Tenderloin, and Ham & Sweet Potato casserole are among the menu choices this week.  We will see how everything turns out!

The boys are having a great time - Zach enjoyed Literacy Week last week and enjoyed his Favorite Book Character parade at school.  He dressed up as Dr. Seuss's Cat In The Hat!

So. Stinking. Cute.

And some more cute pictures. . .

Fun at Books A Million embarrassing Daddy has he was looking for magazines.  They were running up to him with different hats on as he is surrounded by lots of other people.  It was hilarious.  I did nothing to stop them.  I just enjoyed the show.  However, my turn for embarrassment came soon enough.  As Zach was running up to him wearing this NASA hat he also loudly exclaimed, "Daddy!  Chase Parker has a stinky POOPIE!"  Yep, that was my cue to swoop up my children and leave.

The ants have been busy. . . neat thing to watch.  I never had an ant farm as a kid.  I'm enjoying seeing the changes they make day to day.  :)

I took a holiday hiatus from my photography business but now and getting back in to the swing of things!  Here is our Valentine's Day special running now. . . . and speaking of getting into the swing of things, I need to go get ready for my shoot coming up this evening.  Can't wait - I just love this stuff!

 And, that's about it for now. .. have a great week everyone.

Chehaw Fun!

Recently my dad told me of a wild animal park in Albany, GA.  He had done some research online and decided it would be a great place for the boys to visit.  I had my reservations that it would be anything grand. . . afterall. . . it is Albany.  And, the way he described it sounded like a little step up from our own Junior Museum.  But, nevertheless, I agreed to it and decided to go with my parents and the boys. With one stipulation. . . .we must travel in my car. . . a roomy mini-van complete with built in dvd players and wireless headsets.  Ah. . . .

Since we bought the car a few months ago we have never let the boys watch the DVDs (except for one time that we were learning how to work them LOL!).  I am pretty strict on letting them watch movies and tv.  The DVD player is reserved for out of town trips.  So, they were excited that they were finally going to get to watch movies!

We left last Friday morning and, to my surprise, the drive was not bad at all.  Only about an hour and a half.  We had a good time together.

When we arrived I was shocked to see that we were one of TWO cars in the entire (very large) parking lot.  As we approached the entrance it looked completely deserted.  It was.  No animal workers.  No people manning the gift shop.  No restaurants open.  Nothing.  But. . . it was completely spotless.  Brick walkways or either board walks, very clean restrooms, etc.  I was amazed.  We enjoyed the entire day almost completely by ourselves.  I think we saw three other families the entire day.  The boys LOVED it!!

Here is the thing I absolutely completely utterly HATED:  I did not bring my "big" camera.  Just my freakin' iPhone.  I thought about it, knew I would be dealing with a stroller, kids, etc. and just didn't really want to lug it along.  EVERYTIME I make this decision I end up regretting it. . . obviously I don't learn this lesson well.  So, ALL of these pictures are from my iPhone (with an exception of a few that mom took).  Boo hoo!!!  But, they are still good memories to have.  Get ready for picture overload though. . . there are LOTS.

My dad definitely did good on this one!

can't believe my mom got this close!  These Lama's were my favorite animals.

SNAKES!

Chickens running around everywhere. . .

this pond looked like green carpet. . . spooky.  Would die if I fell in!!

Can't you just hear him say, "I know a great dentist, let me get his number for you."

Can you find Zach?

They had a HUGE playground too. . . it was awesome!

Maybe I loved her so much because she reminds me of Bella LOL!  :)  She's adorable!!

It was a great trip.  Thanks Mom and Dad!  I loved spending the day with you.