Riverbanks Zoo

Dan and I had planned to take Luke and Olivia to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC for the first time last fall, but time got away from us and we never made it. So we made a plan to take them sometime during the spring before it got too hot. We also wanted to go during the week in the hopes it wouldn't be too crowded. We had planned to go last Tuesday, but there was a mini heat wave and the 95 degree weather deterred us.

We decided to go to to the Riverbanks Zoo instead of the one in Asheboro, NC because this one is slightly smaller and more manageable for 2 two year olds. We'll save the other zoo for the fall when they are a little older. We finally made it on Tuesday and it was an absolutely perfect day! Dan and I truly enjoyed ourselves and Luke and Olivia couldn't get enough of the animals. Olivia LOVED the flamingos (as she called them: mingos) and Luke LOVED the giraffes. We must have circled back to see each animal no less than 5 times each! We also saw lions, a grizzly bear, reptiles, zebras, koala bears, kangaroos, elephants, monkeys, and lots of other zoo animals.

We left about 8:30am, arrived at the zoo around 10am and stopped for lunch around 1pm. By then, we had seen almost everything, so we circled back to their favorite things. Then we made the "mistake" of going to the gift shop. We saw 2 little stuffed flamingos and giraffes and thought that would be a fun momento from their first zoo trip. Well, then they saw the "big" mingo and giraffe and those became their new forever friends. It only took about 5 minutes of driving before Luke was fast asleep, and Olivia was not far behind. We got home a little after 4pm. It was a perfect day trip outing.

They are still talking about the zoo and it's so fun to see their excitement. We will definitely go back and look forward to many more family day trips!

Happy Birthdays!

Recently Dan and I celebrated our 35th birthdays. Mine was on April 14 and Dan's was on May 5th. I just realized this year that all of our birthdays (Luke and Olivia included) fall on the same day of the week. This year, all of our birthdays fall on a Saturday. Yahoo!

For my birthday, Dan arranged to have a cookout at our friends house. Several of our very good friends were able to join us and it was so much fun to see all of the kids playing together. Dan also got me my very first "professional" camera. I've been shooting with a Nikon D5000, and soon (it's still on backorder) I will have a new Nikon 800. I CANNOT wait to get it!!! This camera will give me a lot more versatility and now I have a second camera for weddings so I don't have to switch lenses. Now I just hope my business continues to grow!

For Dan's birthday, he played golf last Sunday with a good friend of his and we are going to a Knights game this Saturday night with a group of friends. We also went to dinner on Cinco de Mayo (his actual birthday) with the kiddos at Taco Mac and some other friends. Luke and Olivia actually do really well when we go out to dinner and they will sit in their highchairs for upwards of 45 minutes. We are very thankful because we have lots of friends that aren't so lucky. They love to "people watch" and talk with everyone.

On April 28th, my mom babysat and we had a much needed date night at PF Changs. It was prom night and so fun to see all of the teenagers all dressed up. Boy, did that bring back memories! It was so nice to enjoy a meal at our own pace :)

It's hard to believe we are already in our mid-thirties, but life is exactly as we had hoped it would be. Beautiful family, beautiful marriage, beautiful house and great careers. We couldn't ask for anything more!

Happy Easter!

This year has had a bit of a sadness hanging over it since the loss of Heidi. Last year we lost Onyx the bunny right before Easter and this year we lost Heidi. We are almost scared for Easter to come next year. Maybe it will bring new life instead of the loss of life (in the form of a pet only!). We decided to make the holiday as special and as happy as we could. Luke and Olivia haven't really asked about Heidi too much (thank goodness) so we tried to keep things as normal as possible (and avoided any outdoor picnics for now). We kicked off the celebration of Easter by going to church on Palm Sunday. We have just started going to a church near us and we really like it so far. Luke and Olivia do great in the nursery and Dan and I get to actually listen to the sermon! Later that week, on Wednesday, we went to an egg hunt that was sponsored by the city of Mount Holly. A lot of kids from our neighborhood went and it was so much fun! They had the fire truck there (which Olivia sat in) and an Easter Bunny (which once again Olivia loved and Luke was skeptical). I can't say I blame him; it was a questionable looking bunny!!!

Luke and Olivia are so funny hunting Easter eggs. They don't quite get the concept, other than "more eggs, more treats." Olivia would pick up an egg she deemed "hers" and would walk around with it as content as could be. She could have cared less about any other eggs once she found her special egg. Meanwhile, Luke caught on pretty quickly and would fill up his basket and immediately open them for "treats." He wasn't too excited about the quarters, but he will be eventually! We showed them how to put the money in their piggy bank and explained about what money means. They totally don't get it, but you can never teach them too early to save a little! On Saturday, we went to the neighborhood egg hunt followed by dying eggs at home with Oma and Opa. We also hunted a few more eggs in the yard. I wonder if Luke and Olivia will start looking for eggs every time we go outside now! On Sunday, we decided not to go to church but to go to our neighbor's huge Easter brunch instead. Our friend Lori had about 40 families at her house for the biggest egg hunt I have ever seen, complete with over 1,100 eggs! There was a massive spread of food and desserts as well as lots of toys for the kids to play with. It was a great family morning and a perfect way to spend the day. That afternoon, Grandma, MauMaw and PauPaw came over for Easter dinner and to spend some time together as a family. We also did one last egg hunt once they woke up from naps. It's fun to see how excited L and O get when doing fun things now.

Luke wore a cute little tie with skulls on it as well as the most adorable fedora (which he wore the ENTIRE time). Olivia wore a beautiful dress MauMaw had crocheted last year. I'm so glad she was able to wear it two years in a row. They were so darn cute all dressed up and looked so grown up!

Happy Easter to all. We hope the rest of your year is filled with many blessings.