Weekend Fun Recap

Since this weekend has been something like living under the bathroom faucet, I thought I would reminisce about last weekend.  We have seriously had over 3 inches of rain in about 36 hours.  I think someone in heaven forgot to turn the water off.  That is until Pastor Chris explained to all of us what was actually going on :) Now we're just giving God the GLORY!

Last weekend was gorgeous- a slight ease in the heat and humidity and picturesque Carolina blue skies...

We decided to head to the zoo.  Daddy doesn't often get the chance to go with us, so we were all extra excited to be going.  We are so fortunate to have such a great zoo 30 min from our house.  The animals are incredible, the shaded trails a great workout, and the flowers and landscape are just an added bonus

The lion pair were devouring their meat bones...

The chimps were putting on quite a display- chasing, yelling, hugging, and climbing...

The new lemurs are so cute to watch.  They hop like they are spring-loaded...

The kids were excited about the new 4D movie.  They pretend to be Dora and Diego rescuing animals all the time...

We had a picnic lunch and the kids had fun feeding the birds....

Julia was less than impressed when the same bird landed on the branch above her head and pooped on her pizza! Oh my!! It really is a jungle out there :)

Carter has a favorite in the Aviary house whom he's followed around since he was a toddler...

The mommy and baby elephant were so sweet...

A great day topped off with ICEEs on the ride home.  What could be better?

After church on Sunday, we went to Wet N Wild for some water fun.  Carter's new favorite is Shipwreck Cove.  he jumps off the highest part of the ship he can and swims all the way back around.  Though I have to say about 20 times and he's good and worn out for the day.

Billy and I have been taking a few jumps ourselves.  It's definitely been a long time since the high-dive jumping days of our youth :)

We met up with some great friends from church.  That's one of the best parts of the water park.  We always run into someone to hang out with.  I love Jacob's face...

Julia and Jensen...

It was a perfect weekend all around!

Mommy-Daughter Day

While we were in PA, Julia and I had the chance to spend the day together at the zoo.  The Lehigh Valley Zoo is set in the middle of a game preserve of rolling hills, expansive views, and large animal herds.  In the center sits a great little zoo.

The weather hit ninety degrees and the sun was bright and warm.  We were greeted by the penguins and otters and headed down the hill to find the lorikeet enclosure.

We were told we could feed them, but the keeper did not think they were hungry.  Apparently they were because we walked in and instantly there were 3 perched on our arms and one one each of our heads! I wanted so badly to get the camera from around my arm, but had my hands full of birds! I was afraid Julia would be scared by their closeness, but she was fascinated they were drinking out of her little cup.  I finally managed to grab the camera from my arm and snap a few shots.

Such beautiful birds...

Then we headed to the playground for some fun and a picnic lunch.  We enjoyed seeing so many unique animals up close and personally.

One of the neatest parts of the zoo is the drive out.  As you leave you see animals in the fields everywhere you look and as your driving you cross the river.  You would think it would be across a bridge, but no- you actually FORD the river in your car!! The bridge is just for looks.  I apparently am the only one who didn't know because when I reached the river's edge, I got out of my car to ask the people behind me where I was supposed to go.  They had to say it a few times before I was convinced :) 

It was a treat to have some time with Julia alone.  She has been really coming into her own these past few weeks.  We are seeing her personality emerge again.  The break from the hospital, the time with her friends, and the healing in her body has started to heal her soul in a profound way.  She has become so chatty, outwardly loving, and sings all the time.  For us it is like meeting someone new for the first time as we try to discover who this little person is made to be.

As everything around us screams rebirth and renewal, we can't help but notice the miracle unfolding before our eyes in our own family.

We're Going to the Zoo Today...

The kids and I enjoyed a great day at the zoo this week.  It's one of the few places we can go without needing to touch things or be in close proximity to other people.  It turned out to be a perfect fall day and we saw so many of our favorite animals up close and personal.

The new giraffe feeding deck is really amazing.  Seeing these creatures from this vantage point was really exciting.

 

The kids love to climb on the rocks in the woods...

 

After lunch we enjoyed a ride on the carousel.  I still have a love affair with the lysol wipes and the ease at which I can sanitize things for her to touch.  I must have used at least 20 in the time we were out, not to mention all the hand sanitizer.

The kids loved playing the game in the African flowers exhibit.  I think we played four times.

It was such a treat to get out of the house.  We truly enjoyed seeing God's beautiful creation on display.   And by 'display', I mean literally.  Why does it always seem to be mating season when we go to the zoo?! The frogs, baboons, AND turtles.  It's always right up front so you can't miss it.  I tried a few times, in vain, to distract them or change the subject- no such luck.  Then I tried the one line, "They're mating.", in hopes to end it.  After all, it worked at the butterfly farm.  Nope.  The questions continued, nice and loud.  The parents of toddlers around me couldn't help but laugh out loud.  Don't worry, it will be your turn soon enough :)

Julia was feeling good.  Her appetite has been slowly increasing all week.  She still gets really tired.  We don't take her out very much and when we do she is protected in the jogging stroller.  After about an hour of being out she starts asking for us to please take her home.  It reminds me just how hard this is on her body.  She tries so hard to feel as good as possible every day, but I forget how little she is doing and how much time she spends at home.  We put her down for a nap when we got back home and she slept for four solid hours.  It was almost bedtime when she woke up from her nap.  Sweet JuJu.

Getting Back in the Swing

Wednesday was our first real break from the hospital in a month. We are happy to have made it through and are looking forward to some normalcy around here. Carter and I had a long day as we both found our roles again. Mine involves taking back the power and his giving it up. Both were tough yesterday.

He is a bright kid and a typical oldest child. He likes to run the show and I'm sure will make a fabulous camp director/referee/CEO/umpire/commanding officer/coach (maybe all of the above) one day, but for know he needs to master being five. He's the type of kid who always needs to have the last word and we have had to really working on 'obedience first, discussion later'. We had made great progress and hopefully he will remember soon. We are also getting back into schoolwork. Julia was very excited, Carter not so much; but we've been here before and he comes around after the battle is over.

We made it through the day (it felt SO long, but we were both still alive at the end). I was talking to him in bed after we said his prayers. I said 'Carter, I really hope tomorrow goes a lot more smoothly. I don't like when I have to get upset and discipline you so much.' He said, 'I don't like it either. I don't know why you do it so much. I hear what you say, but in my head I hear myself wanting to do something else and I listen to that.' Bingo. That would be our problem.

Our church's focus this year is simple obedience. Isn't that truly what we all struggle with?! The Christian life is not difficult to understand. We often complicate it or convince ourselves we can't do it, but we can (with God's grace) if we just go back to the basics. How often to we struggle and strive to do things our way and wonder why its not working? I looked at Carter so many times yesterday and thought, 'Why don't you just obey? This would be so much easier!' How many millions of times a day do you think that very thought goes through God's head when he looks at us? He has given us the perfect plan for how to live in the Bible, clearly laid it out, put it in writing; yet we all have better ideas of how, when or why we should do things. I guess we all need to learn the same lesson. Simply obey first and discuss it later.

Well fortunately today was much better. We actually went somewhere....with people!!! Our playgroup took advantage of the cool spring weather and headed to the zoo! 8 moms, 17 kids, and a caravan of strollers. We were a sight! We had a great day though. Here's most of them...
The kids were all well-behaved and had a good time with each other. We saw the zebras, giraffes, chimps, gorillas, baboons, rhinos, and elephants.

The kids got to ride their favorite carousel after lunch. Julia has been talking about this for a long time...There was also lots of climbing in between which the kids really enjoyed.
It was such a treat for us to be with our friends again. Our playgroup has been meeting every Thursday for almost 5 years and today was the first time we've seen them all since March. It was a simple blessing that touched us all :) Thanks for all the memories and smiles guys! We've missed you!

On the way home I took Julia to the pediatrician because she's been holding her pee the past few days and having a lot of lower abdominal pain. They wanted to check her urine. Simple enough. We'll swing by on our way home. Well, it turns out the pain has gotten so bad, she doesn't want to go. We tried for 2 hours. Finally I told them to just catheterize her because we needed to get the results and get her treated. We got her ready and they couldn't get it because of her intense ability to hold it in. When they finally made contact, she exploded soaking two nurses, the wall, me, her, the table, and the floor. Fortunately the sweet, seasoned nurse got the cap off the tube with one hand and caught what she needed in mid-air, while getting a shower! Now that's talent! After everyone changed their clothes, they started her back on bactrim. We're guessing the infection was caused by Monday's VCUG cathing. We pray now for quick pain relief and complete healing before she starts her stronger chemo drug on Monday. And I thought we'd go all day without seeing a doctor for once, guess that's our goal for May :)

Off to the Zoo!

This week has been bitterly cold and snowy. After daytime highs of 17*, today's 71* felt down right tropical!! Carter has been begging to go outside all week. I finally let him on Thursday because his friends were willing to join him. (This Mommy doesn't play outside below freezing.). It was in the 20s, but they didn't seem to notice. It was so cold, I didn't even get the mail some days.

Anyway, a warm front came our way and we couldn't way to feel the sunshine. Our friends invited us to the zoo. The polar bear was very playful, swimming around with his bucket on his head and standing against the glass playing with the kids.

They were so excited to run and climb on the playground.....
Carter, Michaela, Julia, Lizzie, and Will (Kendall was in the stroller)
Checking out the elephants.....
The new helicopter in the conservation house......
A memoir from the past week's snowfall, still frozen in the shade. The kids had fun throwing snowballs at each other.
It was a great day topped off with dinner on the grill. We're looking forward to the warm week ahead. Look out park here we come!

Smithsonian

The Smithsonian museums are one of our favorite parts of DC. They are such a national treasure and free :) There is so much to see, we haven't even scratched the surface, but we did manage to squeeze in 3 this trip. Saturday was.....

THE NATIONAL ZOO
The weather could not have been better and everyone was excited. Our first stop, though was 7-11. I have to say I love living in NC, but spending most of my life in the mid-Atlantic states I grew up with 7-11 and slurpees. In high school we were such regular customers we learned the cycle of flavors, mmmm, pina colada is still my fav :) It was a shock to discover they don't exist in North Carolina- ya'll are missing out! So 4 slurpees later we were ready to go.....
We were lucky enough to be there to see the hippos get there snack. WOW! Those mouths are huge! They munch their apples, sweet potatoes, and carrots, yum. And they are right there to see- no zoom lens required.
Then we watched the elephants do their tricks- so smart.
The meerkats were so playful and fun to watch. They climbed on each other, ran up to the kids faces on the glass, and played hide and seek- just like kids.
The highlight for most of us was watching the orangutans. They have huge towers they can climb that are attached by long red lines. They climb right over our heads on the sidewalk!! The kids watched them race up the tower and then before they climbed out one of them started peeing! As you can imagine this is absolutely hysterical to preschoolers. Fortunately he wasn't too far over the sidewalk so no one got a surprise shower :)
Then we went to see the lions, so majestic, but they act just like house cats.
Sunday was, THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
We started off at the famous elephant. Carter was thrilled to have his Mimi along. She read him every display board (thanks Mimi!). This kid is a spnge for facts and a museum-buff, just like his mother and grandfather.
Then it was off to the dinosaurs. The kids three takeaways: Dinosaurs are very big. They look better with their skin on. And we don't bite our friends. (apparently this problem has a LONG history :)
Then we headed into the brand-new ocean life exhibit. They did a great job. Overhead is a huge right whale named Phoenix. Carter had fun determining what kind of whale he was.
After a yummy lunch topped off with whale sugar cookies, we went to see the insects. They had lots of creepy crawlies, all stages of moths and butterflies (they actually have their very own chrysalis nursery!), and termite tunnels to climb in.
On the way out we visited the mammal exhibit- so many cool animals in one place.
There was so much more to see, maybe next time.

On the way back to the metro we stopped on The Mall to ride the carousel. The kids were excited and it was the fastest carousel I've ever been on!
Monday we did THE AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM
This is probably Carter's favorite. He likes to start at the How Things Fly exhibit and each time we go he learns a little more. Now he's starting to teach Julia.
They also like the new commercial aviation display with planes, luggage, flight attendants, and Carter's favorite- the air mail simulator.