Fawn-Doe-Rosa

   During our trip to Minnesota, we took a family trip to Fawn-Doe-Rosa in St Croix Falls, WI.  It's an educational petting zoo with all manner of farm animal, plus deer and other native Wisconsin wildlife.  Many of the animals are allowed to roam, including deer, geese, hens and roosters, and bunnies.  They also had an area with only baby animals, my favorite being the tiny little fox cubs and the calf.  Most of the animals could be fed by hand.
   The Little took a little warming up when we got there.  The first animal we tried to show her was a  little baby bunny, and when we tried to get her to pet it, she pushed it away.  After she woke up and walked around for a while, she was fearless.  Eventually I had to hold her back so she wouldn't lose her fingers to the ponies.

 

This lamb and kid went everywhere together.  Best friends forever!

 

Party Time

Last month, we made a trip to Minnesota for The Little's first birthday.  Our trip was originally supposed to last seven days, but we ended up missing our flight out of DC and embarking on a straight 22-hour drive at 11 at night.  In the end, we only got to stay about 5 days, but it was well worth it.

We saw Grandma and Grandpa and went to the park, had a girls' day at IKEA, did Star-Trek night and a lot of video games with our friends (of the Katamari and Kinect varieties), and Little spent the rest of the time with Grandaddy.

We had originally planned to have a picnic party at Battle Creek Regional Park, but we got rained out and partied at David's sisters' house instead.  Lucky Little had a lot of friends at her party, half of them my family, the other half were our friends and David's family.  I had planned the party perfectly in between her daily naps, but since it was her party, she decided not to nap and was drowsy the whole time.  Thankfully there were no tears or fits, just a little sleepy face all day.  I couldn't get her to smile once for cake or presents.
Our menu for the day was a potluck picnic lunch, pink lemonade and Strawberry Mousse cake.  We had a special little carrot cake just for Little to tear apart, but the frosting was a hard buttercream and she's a dainty eater as it is, so the mess was minimal.

Sharing her birthday with Olga and her cousin

Birthday dress: Laura Ashley, c/o  Auntie Debbie

Debbie brings the party, as usual

Top the trip off with a day at the park and a day at the petting zoo, and I think it may possibly be the best possible first birthday ever.
The trip home alone involved a drive-in movie, a crummy motel room with a wet bed, getting lost in West Virginia for two hours and being stopped by police (just once, thank God).  Probably our most adventurous drive to date.

Back home enjoying her loot

Summertime, Summertime, Sum-Sum-Summertime

We have been having way too much fun lately.  David is done with school for the semester, so I actually get to see him EVERY DAY and like, eat together and stuff.  The weather has been beautifully sunny, but increasingly more miserable every day.  Minnesotans do not belong in the South.
I've been busy on my garden and taking walks and picnics with the family nearly every day.  I love being able to take the kids outside when I'm babysitting.  I can take them out into the grass to eat dirt, or if it's too darn hot we'll sit in the porch and play all day.  Since David's semester has ended, the list of activities has included church and school picnics, visiting Arlington Cemetery, playing frisbee and a birthday party.
I'm looking forward to going to the pool and possibly taking a road trip to the Shenandoah River or the Maryland coast.

 

David's Little Helper

*** I wrote this post a long time ago and forgot to actually publish it.  oops.  Better late than never, I guess. ***

 David is currently working on a project for a design competition for the city of Virginia Beach.  They are building an education center on a very rare piece of undeveloped land in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed area.  I've been so jealous of all of his "academic" field trips, so he finally decided to take me along.  I was technically there to take photo documentation, but I think I may have enjoyed it too much.  Learning is supposed to be painful, after-all.

 

It was a beautiful day.  It was stormy and windy and sunny and warm.  The dramatic weather changes made for great picture taking.  It also made for a very crazy hair day.  After about two hours I got sick of having my hair in my face and donned my scarf like and old lady (or other head-scarf wearing person).

 

The area that the land was in was near a dense residential area, so there was obviously some signs of use from the local inhabitants.  (That's David-speak for near houses with trash everywhere).

 

One of the coolest things about this area is that it used to be a natural oyster reef.  Since pollution and development have gotten so bad around here, the oyster population has all but disappeared, but by building reefs out of discarded oyster shells from restaurants, they plan to bring the oysters back to the bay.

 

The trip was a lot of fun just to be with my family, but because I'm learning so much about the landscape and the natural history of the area.

The very best part of the trip for me, however, was seeing my old friend Kati and her family.  Kati and I grew up in the same neighborhood, and she happens to live near Virginia Beach, so we met up for dinner after we were done with our site study.  I had so much fun meeting Kayla and Lorne for the first time.  I was so disappointed when I realized we didn't take a picture together.  Maybe next time...?

I Love Easter for Sentimental Reasons

Easter is my favorite holiday, and I'm pretty sure it always has been.  As a kid I felt like everyone had Christmas, but Easter was just for me.  My parents used to make baskets for each of us kids and hide them around the house.  When we woke up in the morning there would be a trail of chocolate eggs, a different color for each kid, starting at our pillows and ending at our baskets.  This is one of my most exciting memories as a kid and a tradition I can't wait to continue with Little.





I'm sure a big part of why I love Easter so much is because I love spring.  I love how it feels to walk out into the warm spring air after the snow melts, and feel like it's the first time I've ever had sun on my face.  I love taking off my shoes for the first time and feeling the mud squish between my toes.  I love the tiny green buds of leaves and the smell of wet grass, the tulips and daffodils showing off the first colors of the year.





Easter is a day filled with love, for me.  I get to be with my family, without obligations or distractions, knowing that at that moment there is nothing more important to do than to simply be at peace with them.  I don't have to do anything but let the joy of my family fill my heart.  At church, everyone is rejoicing and thanking God for his love and his salvation.  Easter is the one day out of the year that I never question God's love or faithfulness. 

 



This year, Easter was a day for a quiet drive through sleepy suburban streets, teaching Little to smell the flowers, picnicking by the river, and playing with blocks with the spring air blowing through the house.

Easter was a day for peace.






 

A Minnesota Birthday

I was so blessed to be able to go home to celebrate my birthday.  It was a short trip but I still was able to see all of my family and a few friends.  I stayed with my sister and her crazy boys and they held a party for me on Saturday.  I went out for a giggling girls' day with my mom and sister.  Grandmama and Grand-Daddy babysat a lot.  We also got to spend a lot of time with David's sister and brother-in-law playing the Kinex and dancing like fools.  It was over too soon, but I missed David, so I was glad to come home.

This is my cake.  I want it all.

Pooping for Grandpa.