my last days of freedom

I only have 10 days of freedom summer left. What are my big plans you ask? Well I'll tell you.

**I want to sleep in until at least 8:00 every morning. Well except for Monday. That day we have to check in at the hospital at 6:30 for Nate to get botox injections in his hamstrings. But all the other days, I want to sleep in.

**Remember the summer list? We did almost everything on the list. Our camping trip was cancelled due to temperatures over 100 degrees on the one weekend we planned to go. Maybe we'll go this fall.

I'm hoping we can feed the ducks and go on a bike ride this week.

That will pretty much complete the list, I think.

**I'll be spending some time at the school getting my classroom ready for all the excited incoming third graders. This not so excited third grade teacher has lots of work ahead of her!!

**I'm hoping I can get to some thrift stores for some good finds for my classroom. I'd like some lamps, maybe a bar stool, and whatever other treasures may find me.

**I have a couple of sewing projects I'd like to get started on. After all, I now have the perfect workspace.

One is a dress for Delaney. There's a blogger who makes and sells these dresses on etsy, but as soon as she lists them, they are gone. Just like that. So I guess if I want one bad enough, I'll have to resort to getting out the ol' sewing machine. Here's an example of the dress. If you have a chance, read a little about this blogger. They lost their baby girl earlier this year after a very brief battle with cancer. Such a tragic story, but this mom and dad are a true inspiration.

I also want to make some onesies for Nate. He really needs them to keep his diaper on but I can't find any that fit. I'm thinking I want to make some that also have a little pocket for his g-tube so we don't have to unsnap him for feedings.

My last project is some more bibs for Nate. I'm thinking I can find some cute "big boy" fabric and back them with flannel to help with absorbancy.

So there you have it. My list for the last 10 days of freedom...ahem....summer.

This post has been part of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop.

A Day at the Zoo

We took the family to the zoo.
Check that off our list!!
It was the perfect day. Temp in the 70's. No wind. The animals were active. There weren't any crowds. Doesn't get much better than that!!

The kids loved feeding the goats. Aren't the babies the cutest? And I love how that white goat kept standing up and looking over the fence at us. It was like he was saying, "Hey, what about me?"

And we can't forget the ice cream! $1.50 each. Not bad, especially for zoo prices! Delaney has a sweet tooth and ice cream was her favorite part of the day.

I think Allison was checking the pictures she took, not texting. At least that's what I keep telling myself!

Lions and Tigers and Bears....and Camels?

Can you see the little baby monkey? This is a colobus monkey and the baby looked like a ball of fuzz. So cute. I just wanted to pick it up and cuddle it! Probably my favorite animal of the day.

Gorillas were sleeping.

And so was Nate!

The bear was using this branch to scratch his back. So cool to see!

Bri and Delaney in the rainforest. That's Mac and Cheese, the resident scarlet macaws behind them.

The flamingos are so pretty. They were ready to go to sleep though. Can you do these yoga poses?

We had a great family outing. No fighting, other than how many entrances they have to the tiger exhibit. Oh and how many scoops of ice cream we could get.

The little kids were troopers.

And dad gave up an afternoon of golf to hang out with us.

Things I learned at the zoo:

1. sunscreen works!
2. save your souvenier cups. refills are only $1.
3. the big animals go off exhibit at 4 pm.
4. the penguins are named after the colored bands on their wings (pink pink blue or green blue green, for example)
5. when you tell your kids to wear comfy shoes, you need to follow your own advice!

I don't know what I was thinking. Obviously I wasn't thinking. I had been wearing my cute, very flat flip-flops earlier in the day and planned on changing before we left. Well once we got to the zoo I realized my mistake and my legs paid for it the whole day. But I didn't even complain once. These are the cute shoes I was wearing:

Not good shoes for walking, but I looked great!!!