annual nc zoo trip

 Well, as you can see here, we made our annual trip to the North Carolina Zoo.  It was a wonderful day.  The weather was perfect, the animals were active, and it wasn't crowded.  Going in the fall is the best time to go.  We have tried many different times of the year, but right after the start of school it's too early for field trips so there are no bus loads of kids.  So, we pretty much had the zoo to ourselves. 

 Two of the gorillas had babies in August so they were almost two months old.  The.Cutest.Babies. Ever. 

 The giraffes were quite beautiful, although they were fighting.  They kept banging their necks together.  The sound that it made was really loud and sounded pretty painful.  We got to feed those very giraffes later in the day. 

 Oh, the lions, my personal favorite.  We always stop at the lions first hoping they'll be more active early in the morning.  Usually they are sound asleep in the sun.  But this time, oh, this time, the female was awake.  She is so beautiful.  I was so glad I got some great pictures of her.  Yay for great zoom lenses!

 The elephants were pretty active this time, too.  They were closer and not hiding in the shade.  They were throwing dirt on their backs and drinking water.  And the adorable thing is, they seem to be constantly smiling. 

 Yes, more gorilla baby pictures.  Come on, you know you love  it, too. 

 And this here chimp, the same one pictured above, seemed annoyed that I constantly tried to keep his attention.  He wasn't fooling me though.  I think you can tell by this pose that he loves being photographed.

snapshots from spring

On days when we are hanging out at home we like to entertain the cat. Or rather, he entertains us. Oh, he looks so fierce with his crazy eyes and needle sharp claws.  The thing is though, he's a big ol' sissy.  He loves to play like a kitten in between hours and hours of sleeping on the recliner.

And here is our first garden harvest. Yep, that's some delicious yellow straight neck squash and zucchini. I've got to get a picture of the garden now so you can see how big all of the plants are getting. The leaves on the zucchini plant are huge...like elephant ears. We've had perfect garden weather recently. Lots of hot sunny days with shots of rain here and there. Perfect.

Oh yeah, and back in April we all hiked a mountain. The weather was perfect and the view from the top was beautiful. My girls did a great job hiking. There was minimal whining along the way. Nothing that a trip to Sweet Frog when we were done couldn't remedy.

See? We have been doing things. I have been taking pictures. And I'm glad I have time to share them with you now. XO ANG

alive and kickin'

Contrary to what you may believe, I am still alive and aware that I have a blog that has been terribly neglected.  Life has been incredibly busy and exciting and full.  It's summer now, which should allow time for me to catch you up on all of our adventures.  I must say, though, that summer itself tends to be full and I'd rather be outside with my family summering than sitting in front of this here computer, but I will do my best to share all things exciting or crafty. 

So to be true to my word, let's back up to May 26th when my baby, yes baby, turned seven.  Seven! How did that happen?  Life doesn't stand still.  You can't press pause.  The girls, they continue to grow and change.  Well, the theme for this year's birthday cake was Blue Jay.  Yes, a blue jay.  So a blue jay cake she got.  She also got a new birthday dress with fabric with birds on it. I couldn't find any fabric in town with blue jays so she said as long as it has blue birds, real looking blue birds not cartoonish or drawings of birds, it would be fine.  I followed the adorable dress tutorial from Craftiness is Not Optional.  It was such a simple, yet uniquely adorable, dress to make.  You can find the tutorial for it here.  The only thing I changed was adding a nice, big box pleat to the front to accommodate running, jumping, swinging, and other activities that may happen while wearing this dress.  It lacks only one thing...the perfect bird buttons.  I love covered buttons and thought I might make some, but I just know I am going to find just the right little birds to sew on the bodice to make it perfect. 

So, here's to a great start to summer! Fun and exciting, warm and sunny, refreshing and relaxing! XO ANG

{this moment}

Linking up with Amanda this week for {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Happy Easter

xoANG