Lazy 5 Ranch

Today the girls and I went on a hayride at Lazy 5 ranch in Mooresville. Their website boasts over 750 animals from 6 different continents. I've taken them a couple of times before and they always have a fantastic time.

"Semi-Green" Diaper Cake

A lot of you know that I LOVE making diaper cakes. I have a lot of fun making themed diaper cakes and I have made too many to count. Most of the diaper cakes were made to match nursery colors and themes. I've also made a Wake Forest, Dallas Cowboys, Texas Longhorns, and a "house divided" Virginia Tech/Duke cake. I've made them so many times that I can whip one together pretty fast. I put this latest one together during an episode of So You Think You Can Dance. I made this one for a friend of ours in Minneapolis who is expecting a baby next month. I asked her sister for theme ideas so it could be a surprise. She's very eco-friendly so her sister thought environmentalism would be a good theme. I couldn't make it completely "green" but I did do a couple of things that I hope she will appreciate. All of the diapers in my diaper cakes are completely usable. There is no glue or tape on any of the diapers. I used Seventh Generation Chlorine Free diapers and an organic onesie. I found the onesie on etsy and I love it. It was made using live leaves dipped in ink.

The onesie also has a great message...

Little Monkeys

We had some out of town friends visit us this past weekend. The girls will usually never pose for a picture for me but they absolutely loved the guys that we're visiting so they posed for them.

Our friends were here visiting Wake Forest and talking with the football coaches. Their son is a rising senior at a Florida high school and has already had several offers to play football at well known universities. We're hoping he will end up at Wake! It would be awesome to know someone on the team and we would love to see our friends more often.

Fun Festival

We have already been to Tweetsie Railroad three times this year! I made a smart move at the beginning of the year and got season tickets and they have already paid off. With Phil's work schedule being as crazy as it is this year, I figured we would need something to do. And since my parents live halfway between Tweetsie and Winston-Salem we are usually able to stop and have dinner with them on the way home. Tweetsie is having a lot of fun character events this year and we went to one of them today. This weekend is the Fun Festival. They had performances and meet and greets with Bob the Builder, Barney and Angelina Ballerina. My mom was able to come with us today. She was a big help to me and the girls really enjoyed having her there. The girls aren't too familiar with Bob the Builder, but Makena did remember seeing him on some of her old Chick-fil-a kids meal books.

Clapping for Bob the Builder.

They picked up his mantra pretty fast:

"Can we fix it? Yes we can!"

Check out Makena's HUGE piece of cotton candy!

Barney was definitely Makena and Megan's favorite character. And they really haven't watched Barney shows that much. Barney's performance was a big kiddie dance party. It was hilarious to watch. These characters are like rock stars for preschoolers. Some of the kids are crying, some have to be held back because they don't want to wait their turn, a couple kids will sneak on stage and most of the crowd is usually wearing a t-shirt with the character's picture on it.

Makena really liked Barney patting her on the head....she kept talking about it.

One of the Tweetsie workers trying to get Megan to look at the camera.

There was lots of dancing!

Angelina Ballerina!

Makena and Megan found perfect seats for story time!

I think Megan was trying to figure out how close she could get without getting in trouble.

Dancing with Angelina!

They always like it when I take their picture when they have had their face painted.

Makena got the princess face paint for the 3rd time this year!

Totally pooped on the way home...

This is a picture of Megan getting ready for bed. When I showed this picture to Phil he said he thought we were moving in the wrong direction. :)

Trip to the Fire Department

Today we visited the Lewisville Fire Department. The firemen gave us a tour of the fire station, talked to us about fire safety and told us what they do everyday. Makena and Megan really enjoyed seeing the fire trucks and rescue boat. Inside the fire truck!This is Makena inside a trailer looking at the rescue boat. She had a lot of questions for this guy. I also overheard her telling him about G-Dada's blue boat. :)

Apparently, Megan had a question of her own...

It was impossible to get a picture with all of the kids together because they kept running around. This is a picture of most of the kids...

3 Muskateers at the Fire Station: Megan, Addison and Makena

Makena was in a particularly grumpy mood today. She didn't want to take pictures, she didn't want to stay where I could see her, she didn't want to do anything that I wanted her to do. This pic captures her feelings toward me today. At least I had one happy child!

Cow Appreciation Day

Here are my little cows at Chick-fil-a. What wouldn't we do for free food?

I don't think she is taking this time-out thing seriously...

Makena got in trouble and was sent to time-out. This is how I found her. Nice tiara, princess.