Well I am feeling old tonight. Where does the time go and why are we always so surprised how fast it goes when really thats all it does? Anyways, Hadley turns 3 tomorrow and I don't feel like it has been 3 YEARS since she was born. She is getting so grown-up (finally above the 50th percentile for weight), has an awesome sense of humor, asks more questions that I can answer, figures things out after seeing them only once, and makes us laugh everyday. What a blessing she has been!
In case you haven't noticed, I have tried not to post the same zoo pictures over and over although my girlies are pretty cute and if they are in them, they are usually here. So zoo pictures that do make the blog now (ones minus cute girlies) are things even we don't see very much. Like the giant tortoise (3 of them) you see below. I kid you not, these guys are here maybe 4 months out of the year and since we are usually in WY for 3 of them, we don't EVER see them.
And the penguins are NEVER in the water. But on this day, there was 1, a lone swimmer, so we had to document this occasion :)
I just thought this was cute.
I can't remember if I have ever taken a picture of King Louie...the albino alligator. He is very boring but I give him kudos for being not green. On a side note, I have been to one other zoo in the last year or so and they ALSO had an albino alligator so King Louie is even less cool than before....but still kind of cool.
The bears, however, are ALWAYS cool . . . that is, if they are out. Last year we had NO bears and now we have 6 (3 polar and 3 grizzley)! Even though we have 6, it's hit and miss if you get to see any of them. And the big polar is NEVER in the water. In fact, we never even go down to where you see them in the water because lets face it, water is water. But this day, we went, we SAW, and we GOT EXCITED!
I know I'm using lots of capitol letters to show emphasis and excitement but for the amount of times we have been the zoo, have memorized the location of every animal, bathroom, and which route gives you the most excercise, we get pumped when things are even a little different.....change is good. So case and point.....2 hippos and BOTH (yes there is only 1 here) HIPPOS OUT OF THE WATER! I know, I couldn't believe it either. :)
Hadley always wants to ride the Carousel every time we go and so this trip was the day. They are watching and waiting.
Joni's first Carousel ride.....she LOVED it!
Now just some random pictures....at a BBQ, drinking some juice
Trying on masks in a classroom where I teach preschoolers one day a week...
And going to adult prom!!! Our wonderful friend Ruth Vickers is in a group called Scarlet Hope here in Louisville. Their main goal is to take hot meals to strippers in clubs in town, befriend them, and try to get them out of the industry and into a loving relationship with Jesus Christ. It is an amazing group! They have a fundraiser once a year....a GALA and we were blessed to be able to attend. These are the pastor's wives at our church and my dear friends!
Andy, me, Natalie, and Ben (our pastor).
The Baxter Avenue Church gang....(Ruth is in the green).
She is fantastic and also Hadley's teacher on Wednesday nights at church. We had such a wonderful time and know God is doing amazing things through the organization!
The very next morning the girls and I got up and joined another good friend of ours, Kelly Logan, and 600 other people for the Kentuckiana Heart Walk.
After the walk, they had a kid's zone set up with 9 different stations you had to go to where they taught kids how to be healthy. Hadley did AWESOME at the excercise station....she was cracking everyone up who was watching with her mad skills.
And then went on and hit the dancing station....
It was a super fun weekend (as you can tell). So tomorrow is Hadley's birthday and then this weekend Nana and Papa are coming and so there will be more blogging soon! Love to you all!
