Labor Day at the Zoo

chillin' in my ride!

Checking out the HUGE black bear

riding the carousel

Miss Independent

rare white tiger

chimps

checking out the camels

toucan

flamingos

we love those elephants

Standing in the elephant box

Red Panda

Rhinos

Camping at the beach and new adventures

I grew up camping- camping all the time everywhere: the beach, lakes, the mountains- my parents were experts at packing it all up and setting up our home in the woods for a week or so. I haven't been camping like that in probably 15 years. Chris and I took a weekend trip backpack hiking camping a few years ago, but that's as close as we've been. So, after almost 10 years together, I finally convinced him to try tent camping at the beach. We packed up everything we could think of (including Ella Kate, her pack-n-play, and more toys than she could use) and headed down to South Carolina- Edisto Beach State Park. We anticipated an adventure, but really it was a wonderful trip! While the rest of the south was flooding we were enjoying beautiful weather.

Our home away from home

Our idea of "roughing it" included the DVD player for Ella Kate, my coffee maker, an oscillating fan in the tent, 2 laptops (one with internet access), 4 cell phones, and one electric mosquito zapper. We also had our stove and another tent for the "dining room" aka picnic table.

Making smores, Ella Kate was a big fan, especially of the marshmallows which she squished and got everywhere!

We did have some nightly visitors; 3 raccoons! We hid everything edible in the car so there wasn't anything for them to eat, but that didn't stop them from looking!

The beautiful view from our tent. It was so nice to sleep in the open air with the stars above and the sound of the waves crashing just over the sand dune.

EK pushed her little wagon of beach toys all over the campsite. Loading and unloading it and making quite a mess out of the sand and dirt. Then she'd take off her shoes to clean her little feet, only to make things worse! We did a lot of rinsing off this past week!

And, of course, there was the beach. Ella Kate was in love- a definite water baby! She wanted to run into the waves and as they washed back out she laughed and let them pull her feet out from under. Then she'd jump up and do it all over again. We had to keep a constant hand on her or she would have tried to run out much further. She's such a dare devil! A wave would knock her down and we though for sure she'd be wary of the next one, but no, she just jumped right back at it! She also loved looking for sea shells and digging her toes in the sand. We had such a wonderful time playing, I wish we lived closer to the beach so she could enjoy it all the time!

We made some nice new friends, Eric, Karen, and Marylyn, who have been camping for several years and had great pointers and tips for our future camping adventures! Karen had a whole set of bubble wands and kept Ella Kate entertained while we were packing up the car on the last day.

Pictures and updates

Trip through the Smokies and weekend at Mimi and Pop's while Mommy and Daddy celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary in Highlands, NC.

On our way through the Great Smokey Mts. National Park we stopped for a little hike- she did really well and very much enjoyed the woods!

Mimi got Ella Kate a bike to keep at their house and she couldn't wait to try and ride it! Mimi pushed her up and down the driveway several times-- I see this as a reoccurring event!

Later EK got to ride her first John Deere with Pops. She really loved steering it and pushing all the buttons-- good thing the blades weren't running!

Ella Kate's baptism was earlier this summer, in July, and here are some pictures of her big day. Our minister at St. Mark's, Rev. Dave Greybeal, performed a lovely ceremony, and as he promised, he is a "Baby Whisperer." We were worried about Ella Kate squirming around, but she was pretty good, especially when Rev. Greybeal was holding her. He gave us a new adjective for her energetic personality-- "spirited!" I like it!