Happy Zoo Year

Though it was a little on the humid side today, we really enjoyed our visit to the zoo. Lily Kate really got into greeting all the animals and saying the sounds that they make...although I'm not sure a zebra says neigh.

The penguin exhibit was nice and cool

Hi Gorilla!

Here is Lily Kate on the elephant today 8/27/09.

Amazingly enough we went to the zoo last year on 8/27/08!

She has grown just a little since then :)

Yes, we are dressed in similar colors...anyone who knows me well knows we didn't plan it :)

Staycation

After hearing about the idea from some great friends of ours we have decided to do a Staycation this year. Stephen is off work this entire week and instead of spending part of our time traveling, we decided to stay in town and enjoy all the fun things that Charlotte has to offer.

Monday we all slept in (we were recovering from the long weekend) and then went to the mall. We had a great time shopping and Lily Kate loved the play area. We found Lily Kate a really cute "Lily Kate sized" bookbag. Dora has a backpack...Lily Kate needed one :)

Tuesday we were going to go to Carowinds...who knew they started their fall schedule already and are only open on the weekends!! Plan B: we took the LYNX light rail Uptown. We checked out the Bobcats Team store and walked all around Uptown Charlotte. We ate lunch at NIX a trendy burger place- Lily Kate loved the sweet potato and regular french fries.

We stopped by Imaginon to let Lily Kate get her wiggles out. She loved playing on all the different displays and really enjoyed the toddler area. We checked out some new library books and we have already read 2 of them 8 times each! That little girl loves to read.

Today (Wednesday) we left Lily Kate with JaJa (Stephen's mom) and went to the Whitewater Center. Did we have fun!!! We freshwater kayaked, did the zip line and did some adventure rafting. Loads of fun. Here is the link to some photos, I'm the one falling out of the raft. (I only fell out once and it was on a class 4!) www.photos.usnwc.org

Blast from the Past

We took a road trip this weekend to Poquoson for my 10-year high school reunion. It was really fun to see everyone. Lily Kate spent the weekend with her grandparents so she didn't have to endure the 14 hours in the car.
It was fun to see so many familiar faces and I was amazed that many of us are now married and even parents!
Some of "the girls" Natalie Cheney, Myself, Kelli Forrest and Kristi Sutton. I have done a terrible job at keeping in touch with people. It was so great to catch up with these lovely ladies.

Dress Up

My cousin, Katelynn Grace, is totally into dress up- she was a pirate for Rhylan's party today. While we were visiting her this weekend, I decided to give it a try.

To infinity and beyond...
I tried on Rhylan's new Buzz Light

year wings
Mommy found this Cinderella dress for me. Aunt Jackie knows all the best places to shop!

PAARTY!

On Saturday, we took a road trip to Spartanburg, SC. We were able to help our cousin, Rhylan, celebrate his 2nd birthday. Rhylan and Lily Kate really enjoyed each other (he is ~6 months older than LK) and ALL boy!

Playing with his new dinosaur set. (The Kung Fu Panda pjs were a b-day gift and had to put them on immediately :))

Rhylan had a Pirate Party just like Lily Kate!

Bottoms up!

In Shining Armor

Since we had such a blast last time, we decided to attend another Knights game. This time Cheryl, Chris and Anna Kate joined us for a gorgeous night at the stadium. The girls enjoyed each other as much as anything...well almost anything. Lily Kate is still a huge Homer fan. Tonight she let him hold her hand and she gave him five.

Mom swap- Anna decided to sit in my lap. Of course...

Lily Kate had to sit in Cheryl's

Lily Kate blew kisses to everyone as we exited the stadium.

Uptown Girls

Charlotte has so much to offer, I'm sad to admit that we often don't take advantage of them. Today we decided to do something exciting. We went Uptown to Discovery Place (a children's science museum). We met Emily and Ashley there and the girls loved it. It was a little crowded with summer camps but it was still a fun morning.Lily Kate had been playing in the blocks for a while when she decided to sit in the box of blocks.

The girls playing dress-up. Ashley was a doggy and Lily Kate was a penguin. Discovery Place is undergoing renovations, so the toddler area was a little crowded.

Tonight Stephen's co-workers got together at the bowling alley. Here is a picture of the clinic team he works with. It was a great opportunity to hang out outside of the work setting.

Just another Manic Monday

A few months ago we started a play group for kids born in the Feb/March/April time frame. We have been meeting every Monday since then and it has been fun to see the kids grow together. Here are some pictures from our most recent play date at Cheryl & Anna Kate's house.

Anna Kate and Kathryn taking a break from play to eat their lunch.

Jackson, the lone boy in the group.

Lily Kate trying to fix the car.

What's Behind Door #3...

We cashed in our clunker this weekend. Stephen's Explorer was a great vehicle, but it had seen better days. The A/C broke last summer and he had been baking driving it this year. So we decided it was time for an upgrade. After a lot of looking and a ton of haggling we drove home our cool 09 Honda Civic.

I must admit it was sad when we left the dealership and saw the Explorer already marked with Cash for Clunkers on three windows!

Let's Go Panthers

Friday night we decided to drive down to Spartanburg, SC to attend Panther's Training Camp. It was a wonderful, family friendly atmosphere. Some players stop for a meet and greet as they enter practice.Coach John Fox talking to one of the smallest fans out there. Lily Kate only came up to some of the players knees.

Jake Delhomme signing Stephen's football.

______________________

We couldn't get enough of the Panthers, so Saturday morning we went to Fan Fest at Bank of America Stadium.

We got Lily Kate a jersey in the team store, she outgrew her Delhomme jersey from last season. She enjoyed saying hello to everyone (and I mean everyone- security, players, Sir Purr).

Lovin Every Minute

We are really enjoying the time with family. Lily Kate really loves all the attention. Here she is a the Bass Pro Shop posing near the aquarium. She really enjoyed watching all the fish swim by.

My parents brought out my old rocking chair. Lily Kate likes to rock, but especially likes to push it around the house.
Reading with the grandparents. Her favorites are Maybe My Baby and Courderoy Goes to the Doctor. We read them 48 times each day. We all had them memorized so I took them back to the library today. Tonight she was asking for "my baby" I may have to go back to the library today.

A Day at the Races

My parents and grandparents made the long road trip out from Iowa. Yesterday we went to Lowes Motorspeedway and took the tour. We had an exhilarating time and even got to ride around the track 3 times!

In the Grandstand

Pit Row

Winner's Circle

New Friends

Lily Kate is quite the social butterfly. She has never met a stranger- even if they are made out of cardboard. We helped some friends move today and on our way to their place Lily Kate made some new friends in the cell phone business. She was a little upset that they didn't greet her, but she didn't give up. Each time we stopped next to the billboard truck she waved hi and when the light changed she said "bye bye" (all 5 times.)

Paras and Shivani just moved into an awesome new house a block from the hospital. Here are the boys carrying in a load.