wake up!

It can be tough to take a nap around here... 

weekend.

zoo.

I took this crew to the zoo yesterday. Whew. 

Always so much fun, but so incredibly exhausting. 

Kid-free is still my favorite way to visit the zoo.  (That makes me sound like a horrible teacher, doesn't it? Just try it, teachers. I promise you'll agree with me.) I had a parent that had to cancel at the last minute this year. So this was my group for the day... 

Trying to distract from the mating bears. Always a good time. 

Just because it made me think of Lawson... =)

And this made me think of you, Meagan! (How much would you HATE to be that goose??)  =) Me too, actually. Creepy fish.

My girls were super sweet and lots of fun. One is scared of birds, though, so she kept shrieking anytime a bird would come close to us. And her friends were kind enough to point out every single feathered creature that came within 10 feet of us. Thank you, helpful friends. (I did force convince her to go through the rainforest where all the birds are just loose and walking/flying around. She survived.)

This was her reward for making it through the rainforest... getting to pose by herself with a statue. (That, and I let her take me through the snake house.)

Who knew you could pose like a supermodel with a giant Komodo Dragon??

I love the look on one of my girl's face in this one... looking at the little guy in the middle and wondering why he is joining our little group picture. I was kind of wondering why his teacher was letting him join our little group picture.

Corey got to spend the day with this crew... (He got off pretty easy.)

We ate lunch together and then visited the chimpanzees together. Then he and the boys left us because my girls were too wound up. Nice, huh?

Fuzzy picture... but can you see the baby orangutan?? Oh. my. cuteness. Adorable.

If that baby wasn't enough, there was also a baby chimp. He would climb to the top of his little rope net...

and then throw himself over in a flip, landing like circus people do in their big nets...

So funny to watch. He was seriously the cutest. I could have scooped him up and just carried him around on my hip like Gretchen.

How could my monkey-hating husband not find this adorable?? 

It was fun. Humid and windy, but still fun. My hair just might have looked like a giant ball of fuzz when we got back. And my husband just might have fallen asleep once or twice during our 1:00 zoo program. Just maybe. And he might understand a bit more why I often feel like this when I come home from school...

may day.

We have the sweetest neighbor ever. 

It's no wonder she's our favorite.

road trip.

2 days. 

836 miles.

3 states.  

18 dead armadillos. 

47 Icy Bridge signs. 

600 road construction signs. 

12 actual construction workers or signs of road construction. 

13 hours of driving.

3 cds. (We mainly just talked.)

Hours and hours and hours of one-on-one time with my mom. 

Totally worth it. 

The Garmin is our friend... kind of. =)

It's like a little car... without doors. 

I missed the Oklahoma sign. Twice.

The real reason we were there. Delivering a 1/2 side of beef to my sister's family. Dallas was pretty close to halfway, and my aunt's house was a perfect meeting spot. (Bummed my sister couldn't make it though. Boo for sick kids.)

This girl was happy. All 3 of her aunts and 3 different dogs in 1 weekend. She's a dog lovin' little thing. =) 

So fun to see my niece and nephew, even just for awhile. Anxious to see the other 4 in a month! 

Toby. 

Southfork Ranch. I never got to watch the TV show "Dallas," but my sister and I loved the theme song! 

The Wylie Opry. I loved this!! 

All different singers. All different ages. All different country songs. 

"Rhinestone Cowboy..." Johnny Cash... "All My Exes Live in Texas..." "Bobby McGee..." Loretta Lynn... "Baby Blue"... 

Thank you for everything, Aunt Carol! 

These signs made me laugh. We saw so many of them! It was 80*... I think we're good. 

Lots of driving.
Lots of caffeine.
Lots and lots of good conversation with my mom.
Already looking forward to next year. =)