Lions and Tigers and Bears .. and Ligers??

There is a non-profit animal refuge for great cats here in North Carolina called Tiger World. We visited there this morning for a field trip and had a great time. They really care about their animals there and shared the story of each animal, answering all of our questions. We learned a lot of things and even got to see a Liger! They are not mythical as some people think. Just the result of a lion and tiger co-habitating. Ligers are not found in the wild as tigers and lions don't normally associate. This "little" boys name is Radar and he is only 6 months old!



They had a variety of other animals too. But our favorite was the white Siberian Tigers absolutely GORGEOUS!



Their baby Miracle was adorable too!



It was also nice to share this with some very special friends!!!

Renaissance Festival 2008

There are times when you are so proud of your child you just can't put it into words!!! This was the case for me on October 5 2008. Micah has a very small climbing wall on his playset in the back yard. Well this year at the Renaissance Festival we asked him if he would try the wall...and he suprisingly said yes. While we were paying he noticed a sign that said "Pay $5 ring the bell and get $20". He got right up there and got halfway up the wall with no problem. Then he glanced down and realized he was at least 10-15 feet off the ground and just let go! We encouraged him to grab the wall again and he crept the rest of the way up the wall ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP! Grandpa said the wall was at least 25-30 feet so needless to say we were very proud of him for finishing. When he reached the bottom the first words from his mouth were "did we get the $5?" (in his excitement he forgot that it was $20) Well the monitary reward was only for a different part of the climbing wall (you can see a man in a white shirt to the left of Micah attempting that $20 part of the wall). But Ken immediately handed Micah $5 just because we were so proud of him.







Here are some other pictures of our adventurous day.









Micah had never done archery before but he got his first "turkey"! We bought him a bow and set of arrows and now he is pretty good at getting all 5 arrows in his target!







For the education part of the day Micah wanted to watch the glass blower. Well Micah and grandma were the first to arrive and so the gentleman asked Micah what color he should use. So we watched the entire process and then had to purchase the item. A beautiful tankard with the color "End of Day" and a twist and swirl pattern.

Grosgrain Fabulous Fall Red

{{{Red Riding Hood Jacket GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!}}}

Creativity Oozes From Grosgrain!!! PLEASE PICK ME

Another really great outfit emerges from Grosgrain Fabulous! Here is the link
{{{Dollhouse Frock GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!}}}
I really love this and I really, really, really hope I win!

WOW what a weekend!

Yesterday we went to the Riverbanks Zoo and gardens in Columbia SC. We had a really great time. And saw so many neat things. But what Olivia wanted to see most was no longer there. Montgomery the Hippo got sick earlier this year and past away. She was very sad about that!











And today we went to a fundraising event Lake Norman Touch-a-Truck to help raise money for Addie's Cure (for lung cancer). They had all kinds of different vehicles for the kids to get into and experience. There was a really great turnout and the kids (including big ones like Daddy) had a really good time!

Water FUN With FRIENDS!!

At about 12:30pm today we met some special friends at a nearby park for some water fun in the spraygrounds. Micah and Olivia had a really good time.

PSSSST Garden Party Giveaway ~ Occasionally you find a really great site....

And you just have to share it. There are people who make clothes and then there are people that "create" clothes. I wish that I could create the way that Kathleen Dougherty does, but since I can't I will just place a link in my blog right here (((( Garden Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!)))), and hope, hope, hope that I can win one of her creations! Especially this one!

The Last of Summer Fun...Gotta Cool Off!!!

On Sunday we went to Carowinds with Ken's sister and brother-in-law and cousins and grandparents. We had a great time in and out of the water!
















Now it's time to go back to school! Hope you all had a great summer!

Long overdue update...A lot has happened!

First of all it is so good to see Olivia cast free!!!




Next it was time to give Olivia her second haircut. But I had to get some pictures of the ponytail first. It was getting quite long but we wanted it to be a little thicker and look neater.

We had a great time at an FCC fundraiser at Monkey Joe's. Micah made a new "best friend". You know they have to be to share ice-cream!



Olivia LOVES to make paper into the smallest pieces she can with the aid of scissors.





Olivia loves to draw. When she first came home all she would do was draw lines. Those turned into circles but now she has made some real progress!
And now for her family artwork with explanations:

here she drew Micah

And here Micah drew Olivia


here Olivia added Daddy



and here she has added Mommy