North Carolina Zoo

A member of our ward had a bunch of free tickets to the zoo and we were lucky enough to get some of them. This zoo is HUGE!! I'm used to the Hogle Zoo in SLC which doesn't even begin to compare. They have a North American side and an African side that divides it up. We started on the African side and began with all of our church friends, but by the time we left here to go to the other side we were all split up. Even Gage split from us. I wanted him to come with us, but I knew he REALLY wanted to hang out with his friends so I decided to give him a little independence and go with another family. We've come to such a hard time in his life for me. I want to still watch him and protect him every minute, but I realize that I also need to start letting go a little at a time and allow him some independence. Sooo hard!! Eliza realized Gage was gone when we went to get on the tram to go to the other side and she was sooo concerned. She is often not very nice to Gage so I decided to play with her a little bit and pretend he was lost to see how she reacted. I was relieved to see that she was upset by it. This is how it went:

Eliza: Mom, where's Gage?!
Me: I don't know.
Eliza: We have to find him, he's missing.
Me: But you don't even like Gage sometimes. I (I know, not the nicest thing to say, but she really isn't very nice to him sometimes.)Eliza: Yes, I do! I love him.
Me: Oh good, well we better find him then.
Eliza: We better draw some pictures of him to put up and write Gage is missing.

It was sooo cute! I loved that she wanted to make pictures of him to put up. After that I told her the truth, that he was with friends. She was quite relieved. I am so thankful that our kids love and care about each other and look out for one another.

Our happy family. Well most of us at least. Eliza sure looks grumpy about something.

Gage with his friends Ethan Adams and Matthew Whitaker.

Eliza and her friend Raelyn Long.












Grumpy again! It was a really hot day and she wanted to sit on this buffalo, but it was WAY to hot.


We had an amazing time at this zoo! I hope we get to come back again someday.

Kindergarten Easter Party

Eliza had an Easter party at school and unfortunately I was unable to go. I hate when I can't be there sooo much. Blake was able to go and support our little sweetie though. She really likes having us come to her class so I was glad he made it.

Eliza and Jenna anxiously awaiting for the egg hunt to begin.

Blake just had to get a picture of Eliza biting her nails. We tell her and tell her to stop, but she still hasn't kicked the habit. Who am I kidding though?! I mean really, what did I expect, she is my girl after all and I still haven't stopped picking my lip. Poor girl never had a chance.

No Peeking!!!

Eliza's Fieldtrip to Sciworks

Yesterday I went on Eliza's fieldtrip to Sciworks. What a fun place! She had an amazing time. I wasn't able to ride on the bus with her so I'm sure I missed out on some really great pictures, but I'm pretty sure I got plenty of others. This is already a long enough post without them. While there they went to a petting zoo, saw sea otters, went to the planetarium and watched a movie about all of the different planets, had lunch, and played with all of the cool stuff.





Maybe she'll be an orthopedic surgeon someday???


Or a dentist??



Me and Eliza with her best friend Jenna Jordan.



This was pretty cool. After you spin the wheel, whatever way you turn the wheel the chair will turn in the same direction. Eliza thought that was pretty neat.


She LOVED the air chair!





She also LOVED the fishing. She spent quite a bit of time doing it.

She's not a cheater, really she's not....

Okay, maybe just a little bit of one!

Proud little fisherman.


Eliza's always picking flowers wherever she goes.

I caught her jumping up and peeking her sweet little cheeks over the water so that she could see the sea otters, so cute!

What A Sweet Girl!!

I took a nap one day (while I was supposed to be studying, oops!) and when I woke up I found these beautiful wildflowers on my nightstand. Eliza had picked them for me and put them in a cup and filled them with water all by herself. What an adorable, sweet girl! I just love her so much and LOVE that she is so sweet and thoughtful. Thank you Eliza.



She kept watering them for the next few days with her own little watering can.




She of course had to make some silly faces for the camera while we had it out. She just can't get in front of it without wanting to get a couple silly pics in first. We love how big she makes those pretty eyes of hers!! It cracks us up.



Then she wanted to take a picture of me with my flowers.


Me and my most favorite girl in the world!! Love, love, love her!

Salem Lake

Salem Lake is a fun place to go for the afternoon to hang out with the family and even get a little exercise. Blake and the boys rode their bikes around the whole lake ~ 7 miles! Way to go boys!! Eliza and I walked around part of the lake and then fed ducks while we waited for our boys to get back. We even had a nice little picnic lunch together.




Isn't she sweet???