Zoo!

For several years now we have said we wanted to visit the Zoo on Thanksgiving. Less people and not as hot. This year we really wanted to take advantage of our time off and stay around the house instead of heading to the beach. I was determined we were actually going to make it to the zoo this time. The last time we went, KFC was a baby! After checking out the Zoo's website I found that several exhibits were not open anymore due to death of animals or renovating or had just closed down for the winter! I personally don't think our Zoo is really worth it - animals are always far away or you can't find the animals, and its a lot of walking to not see very much. Then I remembered I had been wanting to check out a local drive thru animal park! SOOO glad we went! You were up close and personal with all the animals! Complete opposite of the experience you would get at the regular zoo! We decided to take the horse drawn wagon ride since there was NO way Hubby would let our car go through the park and get all dirty from the animals sticking their heads in your car! The wagon ride made the experience much more enjoyable! Easier access to the animals and we had our own tour guide! We were all given a bucket of feed and instructed to let the big birds feed out of the bucket, smaller of the big animals will eat out of your hand, and the larger animals will open their mouths and you drop the food in. I let Hubby feed the animals while I took the pictures. Less messy :) Little P seemed indifferent of the animals. She never was scared but not over eager about them. KFC seemed to enjoy it! Here are some of the pictures I got...

Waiting to go!

There were 2 Zebras. I love zebras but these 2 were bullies! They stayed at the beginning and blocked cars! This one in the picture below probably stood there 5 minutes before moving out of the way and was totally backing up traffic. We were instructed not to feed them so I don't know if they were ornery about that or not. But we did see a bucket of food that was accidentally dropped near the zebra and he went to it and started bucking. Maybe thats why we don't feed them?? 

We were also instructed not to feed these long horned animals too. Guy said they will get angry because they want more food than whats in our little buckets and they have charged and tipped over a wagon and chased after the people on it!!!

Hubby liked him the best! Called him "CowDog" because he looked like a cross between a cow and a hound dog! We got a kick out of the weird hump on his back and the large amount of excess skin under his chest and belly area!

There was a section just for this Rhino. Guy said in the wild the males live in solitude and usually stays in a small area. He said they could live up to 40 years old and I think this one was around 15-20 years old. He weighed 5,000 lbs!!!

Feeding the animals!

I Loved the Giraffes! So awesome that we were so close and able to feed them!

There was also a large area called the "petting zoo". I don't get it cause you really couldn't pet any of the animals in there unless you reached through the fence. The camel was so funny! KFC kept chucking handfulls of food in its mouth!

This little goat had tiny horns so he was the only that was able to get his head thru a hole in the fence and eat some of the food pellets that didn't make it in.

We can never get everyone looking :(

I am SO ready to go back again! Maybe in the spring when its not as cold!

Fall Beach Trip

Hubby picked out a weekend for us to go to the beach. Since we have been so insanely busy I was hesitant about being gone Another weekend. But I ended up becoming so excited about it. I realized I couldn't remember when or IF we have ever been on a family vacation with it just us! It was SOOO nice to get away and spend quality time as a family! No one else to worry about and we were on our own schedule. I had planned for us to do certain things while we were there but I also wanted the weekend to be easy going. A no schedule schedule! 

Mornings were spent hanging out on the dock, coloring with chalk, and I actually had some time to knit!! Little P would take her morning nap then we moved on to the days activities.

Every morning P steals KFC's mini poptarts! Little sister is gonna eat all of big sisters food!

We decided to go to Fort Macon Friday since Saturday looked like rain. On our way there, we saw the school activity bus following behind us! There were lots of kids there, slightly annoying since they had a guy giving a lecture in the middle of the fort and we had to quietly go around them. But kinda neat to hear him tell the story of the fort.

My attempt at getting a family shot inside the fort. Only took one picture, guess next time I should look to see if it came out or not.

Aquarium was Saturday. Little P absolutely LOVED it!!!! I had no expectation of her even caring about being there but she was amazed with each and every tank she looked at!!! Fun to watch the joy in her eyes.

KFC doctoring her "sick" turtle

We had to take our usual trip to Walmart while we were there! The girls got to get a new toy! 

Before we left to go home, we headed back to Fort Macon to walk on the rocks on the beach. Sadly we didn't find them. Guessing they are gone?? So we just played on the remnants and took pictures! 

Why are the kids never photo ready!?

Some action shots

Circuit Assembly 2013

Loved our Circuit Assembly this year! I heard it was good and it didn't disappoint. The kids seem to pleasantly surprise me each and every assembly with their good behavior. I used to dread assemblies with kids but now I actually look forward to them, knowing I will most likely get something out of it! Little P actually slept through the entire first half of the program on Saturday - from right after the opening song all the way to lunch! I was even able to take notes while writing on top of her! The first day I didn't even bring my camera and on Sunday I just didn't care. Sooo, hardly any pictures were taken. Oh well.

Hubby had to work a few Saturdays ago at work which made it possible for us to actually get a hotel room And for 2 nights!! No driving 4 hours each day made the weekend Much more enjoyable! The hotel was awesome. KFC loved that we were on "vacation" and they had a POOL! The lady that took our reservations over the phone was so nice! I asked if the rooms with king beds had a pull out couch also. She said only a few do and that she can't guarantee we would get one. I just said ok, if not we will just put our daughter in the bed with us. Before we got off the phone she said she put in our reservation that we MUST have a pull out couch! THANKS lady! And sure enough, we were giving that! It worked out so well. KFC slept on the un-pulled out couch and we had Little P's pack-n-play butted up to it so she wouldn't roll off and me and Hubby had our king bed with plenty of space! Little P loved the room too, lots of new things to check out! 

Saturday after the Assembly ended, I got on my phone and put in an online order to Outback. By the time we drove there, which wasn't but an exit up from us, our food was ready and we never had to get out of the car. The lady brought our food to us, we paid, and enjoyed our super fast restaurant cooked meal right in our hotel room! Didn't have to worry about kids acting nuts in a restaurant and they could play while we ate, oh and we saved money on a tip! We were done eating and down by the pool by 5:30/6pm. 

Sunday during lunch we ate outside on the grass then headed over to the pond area to let the kids play. There was a fairly steep hill that I was waiting for Little P to go rolling all the way down. The pond had turtles everywhere in it and they were waiting for all the friends to feed them their leftovers from lunch! Next time maybe we will bring some actual turtle food for them.

The past several weeks I have been having a lot of nursing issues with not making enough milk. I have been instructed to pump every 2-3 hours. Of course this happens right before the Assembly. Which means I had to wash bottles and pump parts constantly since I only have 2 sets of each and I was stuck in the dreaded mothers room more often! While it was nice to have access to be able to hear and see the assembly still going on, this room has turned into a socializing place for mothers with all age ranges of kids and other random sisters to use the 'private' bathroom in there. Several times I couldn't even hear the program. And the best part... I needed an outlet in order to pump... there were 3 outlets in there 1-in the entry way where anyone in the hallway would see you when the door was opened, 2- above the changing area and sink, 3- in the middle of all the action between the sink/bathroom/and room with the chairs. Everyone that walked in stared at me, one lady asked what I was doing, while older toddlers kept coming up and trying to take my pump parts. *Sigh* I hope one day Little P will appreciate what I do for her, hahaha.

My area. I could turn the chair a little so I could actually see a sliver of the TV. This picture was taken during the lunch break. Nice no one was in there, but not fun to have to miss most of my lunch break and only have like 15 min to scarf down my sandwich.

and me hooked up to my milk machine in the hotel. 

Each morning we stopped at Subway to get our lunch. I guess everyone else caught on to this great idea because on Sunday Hubby was in there for about 30 min waiting in line! Good thing he went early to save us seats cause we were late getting there. Me and KFC trying to entertain ourselves while waiting forever in the car!