Pam & Co. Make the Houston Zoo a more Magical Place!

Last week, the day after we got back from our epic journey to North Carolina, we went to the Houston Zoo with our friend Pam and her son, Lorcan.  It was a BLAST!

Maeby loved that she had another kid around who was old enough to read every sign for her, interested enough to do it more than willingly and young enough to still crawl through the glass tunnel in the Parana tank.

They have a dinosaur exhibit there that we've never done before, and Maeby really liked it. Lorcan explained to her about each dinosaur and played along while she tried to throw leaves to them for them to eat and as she waved and talked to every single one and told them her name.

For all of our exciting pictures, because I know you're dying to see more CLICK HERE!

Home Via The Great Smoky Mountains

On our way home from our North Carolina Family Adventure, we headed home via The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Maeby became a Jr. Ranger for the second time.  

She is so proud and she worked very hard to earn her badge.

After a wonderful time in the park we high tailed it home! 

The girls did AMAZING for being in the car for so long and had a lot of fun on the road too!

For more pictures from our homeward bound voyage via The Great Smoky Mountains National Park CLICK HERE!

North Carolina Family Adventure!

We had an amazing trip to see Nana and Grandpa Eskelsen in North Carolina.

We went the longest way possible (or so it seemed) but it was worth it to get to stop and see Aunt Amy and Uncle Josh & Devonte who met us in Jacksonville, FL

We also got to spend the night in Georgia at Ft. Stewart with some very good friends, the Griggs Family, but had so much fun and played so hard we forgot to take pictures!!!! Guess that means we'll have to go back and visit again :)

One of the first nights in North Carolina we were there we had a belated birthday celebration for Georgie.

Every minute of every day possible was spent in the pool!

Maeby learned how to dive in head first and now can go down to 9 feet and swim along the bottom all the way to the other side of the pool all by herself!

Georgie had lots of fun swimming with Nana

(NOTE: Papa dressed her in her swimsuit on this outing)

Yup, bringing the ponies to the pool!

The girls and I went with Nana to a new place called Tiger World which is an independent, local zoo that rehabilitates and works with Tigers but also has a slew of other animals as well including various monkeys, birds (large & small), jaguars, a bear, cubs and a Ligger (Lion/Tiger mix)

Discovery Place Kids was such a fun place!  The girls had so much fun and got to play with lots of different things.  Maeby's favorite was the fire engine. Georgie's favorite was the race car at the curbside of the bank.

The horses at Nana and Grandpa's house were, of course, Maeby's favorite in the world, although Georgie wasn't too sure about them.

Horses and Horseshoes

We went to a nearby park with the dogs and went fishing with Grandpa.

Each night Grandpa would help read stories to the girls before bed.  Maeby really liked Shell Silvertein now.

Teaching Grandpa the finer points of the My Little Pony world

Georgie giggled and following the puppies all over the house and fell in love :)

We took lots of video, but this one with Georgie and her Grandpa is one of my favorites.

It was a very eventful and fun filled week with only 1 ER trip (Nana was thrown from her horse while on a trial ride with mom) but no major injuries.  It was a trip to remember and I think Maeby will remember this one for a long time to come.

For more pictures from this trip CLICK HERE!