Josh & Penny and Bumpa & Mickey

Last Thursday we got to see my "Bumpa" (my grandfather on my Mom's side) for the first time in a long time. It was the first time he met Maddy and believe it or not, it was the first time he's ever met Lilly. On Friday, Josh & Penny came up to spend the weekend and drive the kids back home. Our time was really limited with everyone since we had to be home at a decent hour to pack for our beach trip Saturday morning, but it was still really wonderful to see everyone.

Lilly and Maddy took turns riding Miss Pickles. We had to find something to occupy their time when they weren't on the pony. I think Maddy actually enjoyed this MORE than the pony ride.

Daddy tried it out, too.

We had some watermelon and Poppy shared some with the horses.

Then we went inside for a huge dinner and followed that up by playing some pool in the basement.

Josh, Penny, the kids, and Bump & Mic stayed through the weekend and it sounds like everyone had fun. Josh actually did some cowboy mounted shooting on Gambler (the horse eating the watermelon) and he was pretty darn good!

We sure wish everyone lived closer so we could visit more often, but hopefully we'll all get together again soon.

Our First trip to the Zoo!

We've been planning to take Maddy to the zoo and it was perfect timing since Jake & Lilly were here, so Saturday morning Brandon, Maddy and I drove over to my parents. The plan was to leave at 9:00 a.m.. Well, Mom had to wake Lilly up and she wasn't quite awake yet and was having issues with her boots. She will only wear cowgirl boots and she doesn't like wearing socks with them, which usually isn't an issue but since we planned to walk around the zoo all day Mom knew she would end up with blisters. While Mom ran up and down the stairs trying to find the thinnest pair of socks ever created, Jake didn't want to leave the computer and was upset that he hadn't yet eaten his macaroni and cheese breakfast. He said he was too old for the zoo and planned to just stay home. Mom then explained that this was a family outing and everyone was going and everyone needed to get in the car! So, Jake got in the car where he finished his macaroni and Lilly limped out the car and immediately pulled her shoes off of her feet.

Luckily, after the ride to the zoo everyone had a chance to completely wake up and get excited. Once we got inside, we had a really great time.

Here is a picture of us planning our route...

First stop: Sea Lions

As we left that exhibit we came across a snake on the loose!

My FAVORITE, and I think Maddy's too, was the Polar Bear. He would dive in the water from the rocks, then swim right up to the glass and practically rub his belly along it and then jump straight up and out of the water and fall back and do it all over again.

We took a break at the Kid Zone. Lilly wasn't interested in being photographed at the moment, she wanted to play.

The Otter was Granny's favorite. He was too cute. Most of the carrot he was eating would fall out of his mouth when he chewed.

A herd of buffalo...

You can barely see this grizzly bear. He never stood up, he was just laying down getting some sun. His claws were gigantic!

Another carousel ride...Jake & Lilly are behind Maddy and I.

Next stop: Gorillas

By this point, Lilly's feet hurt and Poppy's hip had popped out of joint so Granny and I took turns giving piggy back rides. Granny did most of the work though.

Lilly's two favorites were the zebra's and the giraffe's.

The elephants stayed pretty far away...

Jake & Lilly played in a helicopter...

Towards the end it was getting pretty hot so we tried a couple of times to skip a few things but Jake would look at his map and let us know that we were missing something and we ended seeing just about everything except the hippo and rhinos and that was only because we got lost. Jake and I walked down to the lions (which I couldn't get a good picture of) and on the way I asked if he was glad he came and he said he was having a great time. I guess you are never too old for the zoo.

Here are some picture of us waiting for the shuttle back to our cars. Notice Lilly is riding in Maddy's stroller!

Wednesday & Friday nights with Jake & Lilly

Every Wednesday night we go to dinner with both my parents and Brandon's. This past Wednesday, Jake and Lilly came along. We had dinner at Mi Casa. We tried for several minutes to get Lilly in the picture and we eventually gave up. I have a couple of pictures that look like a blur where she ran away in the middle of taking it. So, here is one of me, Jake and Maddy.

Check out how tall he is!

Friday night, we met my parents and Jake & Lilly at Chars for a quick dinner and ice cream.

Afterwards, we went back to Granny & Poppy's to play with Miss Pickles and the other horses.

Once it got dark, we went inside and hung out in the basement. Maddy and Lilly ran from one thing to the next but the funniest was when they started singing into the karaoke microphones. Lilly loves to sing and I had no idea Maddy even knew to sing into the mic!