Catch-Up

This has to be one of my favorite seasons of life. We have been busy with all sorts of activities the past month or so and to be quite honest, I haven't posted because we've been enjoying every moment we can by the pool.

My niece, Katelyn and my sister, Kimberly moved to New Mexico at the end of the month (don't get me started or I'll start bawling). I've always had a special bond with Katelyn. Kimberly and I were pregnant for the very first time together (only a day apart) and I miscarried and Kimberly delivered Katelyn. So Katelyn (now almost 4) has always been extra special to me especially because Kimberly and I have always been so close. The past month or so before they left, I wanted it to be extra special so she could have fun memories of things we have done together. Not only have we giggled over watching reruns of the Smurfs, but we have snuggled with care bears, sung the Little Einteins theme song, played with sidewalk chalk, made ugly play-dough creations, swam in the inflatable pool on my deck, hid in many games of hide-and-go-seek, baked cookies and bread, endured several games of Memory, worked in pre-school workbooks (getting stickers on our good job!), sung primary songs including (but not limited to) I Am a Child of God, Tell Me the Stories of Jesus, and Scripture Power, riding in the bike trailer, and those are just some of the activities we did around the house. We also have been to the Children's Museum in downtown Atlanta, the Yellow River Game Ranch, the (as Katelyn calls it) inside-door-pool, the strawberry patch, visiting Grandma Cutchshaw, countless trips to the playground and park and equally enumerous trips to Chik-Fil-A and the playground there. Memorial Day weekend we spent every moment we could as a family together for one last time before they started their trek west. My Mothers Day gift was a highly coveted digital SLR the just newly released Canon Rebel XSI and I have been taking pictures up a storm. So we corralled the troops and with a little help from a tripod (and listening to a lot of moaning and groaning from said troops) we took family pictures together.

These are some of my favorite pictures during this time:

Inside-Door Pool

We went actually during spring break, but the inside-door pool was a big hit because it was ultra shallow and easy for Katelyn to walk around and play. It had a little kids playground, a bigger kids slide, and a lazy river. I've learned that trying to take a small child and a baby - not so much fun. Luckily I ran into a friend there that was a big help as I was making runs to change diapers or taking a 3 year old to the potty.

Children's Museum

The 2nd Tuesday of the month is free at the Children's Museum in downtown Atlanta so Kayleen and Dylan met us down there and Andrew ended up tagging along as well. They have some fun activities - farm to grocery store exhibit, baby and up play area, simulated rainforest with river and waterfall you could 'fish' from (this was Katelyn's favorite), moon sand tables, and a spot you could paint on the 'wall', to name a few.

My nephew, Dylan's 1st birthday

Dylan turned one and Kayleen threw a great party at a local park. We had a great fun spending quality time with family and watching the big little man on his special day.

Yellow River Game Ranch

Probably one of our most favorite things we did together was going to the Game Ranch, which is a wildlife nature center I went to when I was a child and hadn't been back since! So it was eye-opening for me as well. When you first pull into the parking lot you can hear the roosters crowing and Katelyn (getting very excited) says - "Oh, Kara - they've got chicken boo boos my favorite!".

[The chicken boo boo came from an incident in coloring a chicken. Katelyn was coloring with a friend and that friend colored outside of the lines - Katelyn is an excellent colorer and you will hardly see her make that mistake. When she saw the coloring outside the lines, she called out her friends mistake and said, "That's okay, it's just a chicken boo boo". Now a chicken boo boo refers to something very funny and when you are sad, that's what Katelyn will say. It was the best when we were riding in the car and Madeleine would start crying and Katelyn would start yelling CHICKEN BOO BOO, CHICKEN BOO BOO - I would start cracking up!]

Once we paid and made it through the gate the deer are right there demanding food - and I mean demanding! It's pretty funny because in nature they are such scaredy cats and these deer knew you had food - you have to push them out of the way and then they start following you. In the Game Ranch they have several 'farm' animals as well as animals native to this area, and a good majority are just walking around with you. Some of my favorite moments on this trip included Katelyn wanting to pickup the chipmunks and squirrels to take with her (they are also not afraid of people and will eat out of your hand - a little unsettling to me at first), Katelyn's fear of the big (and ultra slow) turkey - I love the picture with her nervous smile with the turkey in the background, while looking at the pigs a rooster had come up and started pecking Madeleine's feet - my first reaction was to freak out but I noticed she didn't mind a bit, and spending time in the rabbit pen. All in all a really fun field trip.

Family Pictures

I am so grateful that we have these pictures - I sure do love my family. Oh, and Andrew is absent from the photo with me and Madeleine because he said he was done taking pictures for the day - such a cooperative family!!!