New Finds

Our newest, most favorite, place to visit....Potter Park Zoo!!!

It is the coolest little zoo, crammed in this little park, right in the middle of a busy section of Lansing!  It's one of those random zoos you would drive by and wonder, "That's a weird spot for a zoo...I wonder if it is nice?"  The answer in this case is.... ABSOLUTELY!!  So nice, in fact, we bought a season pass.

The animals are so close, and there are few times I have thought...if I just quickly jumped in and stuffed a MeerKat in my diaper bag, no one would notice, and we would have a totally cool new pet!!

I know I know, I am crazy....but I only tell you that insane thought to help you truly understand how much fun we have going to this zoo, and to not have to strain your eye sight to find the animals.  They are just right there!!

Carly is obsessed with the Lemurs, and Otters.  She also loves the pony rides! 

She is a natural!

Another favorite...

There are a ton of these wooden animal pictures all over the zoo.  If Carly saw one, her face had to be in it!  And lets not forget the most unusual aspect of this zoo.  The camels...

Yup, you can ride them!  (And contrary to the rumor, they only spit if they are really pissed off...I made sure to ask BEFORE my daughter got on one.  These camels were pretty happy from their snack of McDonald's french fries.)  Below is my absolute favorite picture! 

Notice how Carly and the camel have the exact same expression!!!  Priceless!

And let us not forget my favorite animals to visit...

Spider Monkeys!!  I am sure there is some Freudian reason as to why these are my favorite, but I don't really care.  These guys are hilarious, and I could watch them all day.  (And yes, you are that close.  I could probably reach out and slap one high-five.  I'll try that on our next visit.)

Every time we go, this is always how the day ends...

Totally and gloriously exhausted!  We will be going back in a couple weeks for some Halloween fun, follow up post soon!!!









Time flies when you are having fun...or when you have 3 1/2 year old and 4 month old

Wow!!!  The summer is basically done, and we are cruising into my favorite season.  I LOVE FALL!  I have already gotten several dirty looks and "WHAT!?! Are you crazy?" any time I mention that I love that the weather is below 70, and that I woke up cold a couple mornings ago and LIKED it! (I have said it before, but it truly is amazing how much can happen in a year. If you follow the link above it will take you back to a previous post of mine. I only realized the date after I created this post.)

My holiday freak flag is already in full motion, because Halloween is only 49 days away!! I am barely holding off decorating the house in the full All Hallows Eve ensemble, not because Halloween is still a month away, but because all of our holiday decorations have been relocated to the garage rafters and my hubby has forbid me to climb the 10ft ladder to go get them.  He had better get home soon, or I might attempt the climb despite my fear of ladders.

My love of fall has been renewed for another reason...this year Carly started 3 year old preschool.  And while I can't believe that this has happened already, she is so excited about it and I am loving that!

My fears of a few months back that the first day would have my Love Bug in tears, clinging to my leg, screaming for me not to leave was completely unfounded.  She proudly found her cubby to hang her jacket and the beloved Rapunzel backpack in.  Marched into the class room, found her name tag and then plopped down on the big blue rug.

It was me who called her back over so I could give her one last hug and kiss.  The only hint of apprehension I witnessed was when she pulled back from my kiss with her arms still around me and said, "You're gonna come back to get me right?"  My heart melted and the second I hit the hallway the tears started.

It's such a wonderful thing to see this little person, whom you gave life to and love and care for and shape and raise, grow and bravely (and blindly I might add) trust you and love you back.  I am by no means a perfect mom, but I honestly do my best, and I was so proud of my Love Bug on her first day of school!  She was all smiles when I picked her up!  Proudly showing off all she had done, and rattling off all her new friends she made.

Kudos to Grandma Lowney for saving the day and finding the cherished and much wanted Rapunzel backpack!

Not to be left out of all the fun, Christopher and I had our own special time while Carly was at school.  This son of mine is the brightest ray of sunshine!!  I love that any time I smile at him, his response is instant...

He is growing way too fast for me, and I know before long I will be walking him down the preschool hallway.  It is amazing that with your first born you are wanting every milestone to happen one after the other because you just can't wait to see what they will do next.  But with your second baby, at least for me, I am perfectly happy to hold things off just a little and savor each moment just a little more.