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Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Henry's Ark

Last week we took a trip out to Henry's Ark in Prospect, Kentucky. Henry's Ark was once owned by Henry Wallace who was a friend of my Dad's. My Dad and Henry used to canoe and kayak together in the Louisville Viking Canoe Club back in the 70's and 80's. I heard lots of stories about him growing up. He was a farmer, an environmentalist, and a journalist for Time Magazine and other newspapers. I remember driving out to his farm when we were kids with some little animal we had rescued...and I remember Dad calling Henry when we found a baby rabbit and he instructed us on how to care for it. However, although we had driven by it many times, we'd never stopped in with our kids for a visit.

It really is an amazing place to visit. First we drove out on a Monday. They were closed. The kids were really disappointed because you could see the animals from the parking lot. Vincent kept shouting "horse...neeeee!", but we had to go home. So, we came back on Tuesday with bags full of carrots and a head of cabbage to feed the animals. We were immediately greeted by the goats and very large geese at the fence. Soon unfenced animals were running up to us from behind...sticking their heads under our stroller, discovering the bag of pretzels and few mints that I had in my diaper bag.

We had a lot of fun feeding and petting the animals..both barnyard and exotic. Vincent was a little scared of the goats because they were a bit taller than him and they were after his carrots which he also enjoyed snacking on. I got bitten by an ostrich. How many people can say that? But really he was just after the carrot and my hand happened to be an extension of that. Isabella loved feeding the guinea pigs and we practically had to drag her away from the cages. Kyle's favorite animal was the Capybara, the worldest largest rodent. Zachary's favorite animals were the goats and the peacocks. The kids found a couple of peacock feathers on the ground and enjoyed carrying them around.

It was a very fun morning. Afterwards we ate at a fantastic Mediterranean Restaurant called the Burning Bush, which is only about a mile from Henry's Ark out in Prospect. It was the first meal I had eaten in over a month that didn't make me feel sick afterwards (morning sickness)...so that made the day even better. They also had a great kids menu which was very affordable...less than $3. That always makes me a happy customer.

Feeding the Goats

Even the ducks and chickens ate the carrots and cabbage.

The guy who bit me.

The zebra even lets you pet him!

Isabella feeding the Guineas...her favorite animals.

Kyle and his giant rat friend.

A deer and a dear.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Turning Six

My little girl turned 6 this summer and will be headed to the first grade in just a couple of short weeks. Birthdays are a big deal for her. She talks about them everyday for months. She starts getting excited/prepared on July 1st when it is her birthday month. She really surprised me a couple of days before her birthday when she said she was ready to get her ears pierced. I still thought she'd back out because we've talked about it before and she always picked a time in the far future when she'd be ready. But this time she really was, so we headed to the mall that morning. She picked out some sparkly crystal blue daisy earrings. Zachary covered his ears in anticipation of screams but she did really well even though the young lady had to pierce her ears one at a time. (Usually with small children they do both at once using 2 workers). So it all worked out . We came home and a few grandparents came over. We opened presents, sang happy birthday and ate cake from Nord's Bakery. It was a lovely birthday. The next day we went to Uncle Jed and Aunt Katie's house for a pizza party celebration. They were so sweet to throw Isabella a party and we hung out all evening playing with Charlotte's toys. The kids had a ton of fun!

The present stash!

Zachary directing the present opening!

Isabella asked for this backpack for her birthday. Funny thing I read in the newspaper today that neon animal prints were in the in-thing this year.

Phineas and Ferb is the favorite cartoon this year.

Tangled...a great movie!

Opening the great PetShop Animal Hospital!

Cake-time!

I know my mom will LOVE this picture!

Me and my girl!

Eating more cake!

More to follow soon on a trip to Henry's Ark and Boy Scout camp...plus baby #4.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

A Happy New Orleans and Florida Vacation

Still working on the art of multitasking but if I don't master it then this blog will never get updated! I wanted to add some vacation pics. Our first really long road trip was this summer to New Orleans and Fort Walton Beach. It was about a 10 hour drive to NO and we left about 4 am. The kids were amazing in the car. We made it nearly to Alabama before we took our first break at lunchtime. We made it to NO in the afternoon and set up camp for 3 days at the Hotel Provincial. It was a very nice Hotel with 2 very pretty pools and free breakfast. As soon as we arrived we relaxed in the smallest pool that seemed to be made for just us. It was surrounded by flowering trees that dropped pink flowers into the pool that floated around like they were placed there for decoration. That night we went to the Acme Oyster bar for dinner and feasted on some delicious Oysters and fish. Then we walked down to Bourbon street for a few blocks and peeked in some tourist gift shops.

Day two we took a walking tour of New Orleans. We walked down to the Mississippi and got our feet wet. We walked about 2 miles to the mall (for a little air conditioning) and back up Canal Street. We ate a picnic lunch and played a little more at the pool that afternoon. That night Keri watched the kids for us while Kyle and I went out to eat an authentic New Orleans meal at Coops Bar which is famous for their gumbo and fried chicken.

(Me stalking Brad and Angelina on our date!)

On Day 3 we drove out to Jean Lafitte National Park for a little hiking and a tour of the swamps. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip! We learned so much about the ecosystem of the wetlands, swamp, and bayou. The rangers told us about how the straightening of the Mississippi has caused the precious silt to get washed out in the ocean and as a result the wetlands are sinking. They are becoming submerged in salt water and are quickly being destroyed. We were sad to learn that not much is being done to save them. The ranger also relived his experience of Hurricane Katrina and told us of the difficulties that lasted for months afterwards. He personally traveled 90 miles every day to get ice...for a month! Along our self-led hike we walked along boardwalks and saw amazingly huge grasshoppers, spiders, dragonflies, birds, lizards and skinks, and finally an alligator. The little girl quickly sunk underwater when she was faced with our noisy crew. Zachary got a kick out of that because he was a little bit anxious over meeting the gator to begin with. We were all anxious to get back by that point because by the time we saw the gator we were hot, sweaty and bug bitten. We weren't quite prepared for the attacking flies that were out in force when were near the water and we didn't not bring along the bug spray.

This took a lot of courage!

That's swamp behind me!

Yummy New Orleans beignets!

The next day we left for Florida and had a 4 hour drive along the coast. We took the scenic route and drove through Buloxi Mississippi. When we arrived in Florida we quickly hit the beach and had a blast burying each other in the sand. Day 2 at the Beach started out very cloudy. The kids were covered in sunscreen before we left the hotel room, but us 3 adults neglected ourselves citing the fact that you couldn't even see the sun through the thick cloud layer. Apparently that didn't matter. We went out around 9 am and by 2pm when the sun made it's appearance I realized that it was too late. We had gotten burned through the clouds. The kids were fine, but we all looked like lobsters. The next two days the weather wasn't great. It was quite rainy with scattered sometimes heavy showers, but we made the most of it playing at the beach in the rain and taking walks when the rain let up.

It was a great experience for the kids. They never got tired of the beach. Vin threw himself in the waves over and over again. We swam and snorkled in the amazingly clear water. The kids saw dolphins and we caught crabs, sand dollars, and scooped up small fish. We collected shells, made sand castles, and chased sea gulls and we ate lunch on the cheap in our hotel room or picnics on the beach. Although we ate out every night, it gave us an excuse to try the local tastings of the town. There were a few decent restaurants in Fort Walton but nothing to scream about. Of course, it didn't help that I was experiencing morning sickness and though I was constantly hungry, food made me queasy. All this talk about food is making me hungry now though!

So I'm trying to follow a movie "True Grit" while I'm doing this and it's not working. I've probably written a lot of run on sentences and other grammatical errors..but at least I got this written out before the end of July!

Hope you enjoy our beach vacation pics! Look at that beautiful white sand! I loved the way it felt between my toes! We can't wait to head back to the beach.

This picture was at the restaurant called Fudpuckers. I don't think the lady was supposed to let me hold the alligator, but she wasn't the normal gator girl so she didn't have to follow the rules. :)

Keri, Me and the kids hanging out at the beach.

This was early in the morning and the water looks so beautiful!

Isabella was soooo excited to find this little sanddollar.

The kids had a blast burying themselves in the sand.

Zachary was proud of his castle built with Dad's help.

Making sand angels!

Aunt Keri made Vin a track for his toy trucks. He had a blast with this.

My boy looks so grown up in this picture. I still love it though.

Isabella pointing her toe.

Vincent plays for his picture!

This was the master sand castle built by Kyle and I. We worked on this beauty for over 2 hours and inspired several other families to build ones nearby. One family built a cool fort castle and other built an awesome shark. The kids built a turtle castle nearby.