A Day at the Zoo

Last weekend we decided to take a trip to Como Zoo. I kind of thought it would be just packed since it was Memorial Day weekend, the weather was gorgeous and well, it was a Saturday. It wasn't too crowded and surprisingly, we found a parking spot in the mini lot right next to the carousel and entrance - that was amazing and a good sign things were going to go well! Yep, things went well for all of like 2 seconds. We got out of the car and David went to set up the stroller when he opened up the trunk to two huge Rubbermaid bins of kids clothes. CRAP! I forgot to take the bins out and put the double stroller in. I've been meaning to go to Once Upon A Child for the last couple of weeks and have yet to make it there. Usually the stroller is in the trunk so there's never a worry about it. Well, not this time. So, we just have Graycen walk and David said he'd carry Parker. I remembered they had strollers you could rent and then once we got inside I thought that it was only the MN Zoo that had strollers for rent since I didn't see them anywhere. It's OK, we'll handle it. About 20 minutes in I see a family with rented strollers. DRAT! We could have rented a stroller. Oh well. We made our way through the zoo just fine. We weren't too hot, it wasn't too crowded and Graycen did a fantastic job of staying by us! They both enjoyed the animals and I think Parker enjoyed the fish more than anything. All in all, it was a good trip.
My only disappointment was the fact that we got pictures of Graycen on the turtle like we've done every time we've gone but couldn't get Parker's. The line was way too long after we took Graycen's picture and Parker was so ready to go. Next time we go I guess we'll get one. I'm just hoping we make there again this summer.
Now, for your viewing pleasure - MILLIONS of pictures!

You can win $1000 in FREE groceries!

Would you like to win $1000 in free groceries? I know I would! Head over to MomLogic and you can enter to win.

Works for me Wednesday :: How to save those precious drawings without the clutter

My friend Sarah just posted on her blog about how she is having a hard time getting rid of any of the precious drawings her daughter has made for them. When she spoke of that, it reminded me of a tip I read somewhere. I thought it was an excellent tip (one that I will definitely use myself) and thought it might be worth sharing with the rest of you!

Instead of keeping all of the pictures that you "could just never get rid of" piled in a shoe box and without tossing them all out with the recycling I have an alternative. If you have a scanner at home, take each picture and scan it into your computer. Once you've scanned it in, save it in its own folder. You can label each one with the date or just keep it in folders for the month and year or just one large one for the year. At the end of the year just burn everything to a CD. Now you've saved all of the precious artwork without the clutter and can still keep the memories. Of course you still have to save some of the actual hard copies... now that's the hard part - deciding which ones you actually keep.

I also remember someone saying after they've scanned the photo onto the computer, they set their screensaver to rotate these pictures. Now they'll always be in use, too!

For more awesome tips, head on over to We Are That Family.

Some people's kids

"Ohmigosh you're old!" Yep, someone said that to me today. The girl was a mere 3 years younger than myself. Ha ha. I'm all of 26 years and I'm old? Wow.. I'd hate to know how old someone that's 40 is. Some people's kids.

The girl with a million faces

Graycen's new thing when you're taking her picture is to make faces. She'll sit nicely for one or two and then says "Ok! Make faces now!" It's so cute. So, here are the ones that are just on the memory card or comuter already. Ha ha!

1? Already??

Ok, not quite yet. Our dear little Parkey (that's Parker's nickname. Well, that or Bug) is going to be turning one in just over a month. I don't know where the time has gone but it sure flew out the window.
He's crawling all over the place, pulling up to standing in just seconds, "talking" all the time, adoring his big sister, getting into trouble already, no longer eating baby food (his choice as of like 2 months ago!) and so many more things that I can't even think of. It's crazy to see him developing into a little toddler. It'll be too soon before he's walking and then I really don't know what we'll do. Yikes!

**Both of these pictures were actually taken by Graycen. Now that's nuts!**

Making the Director's Honor Roll

Whoever said being a mom, wife, homemaker, employee and student was hard work sure wasn't kidding. Since I have started school and had to pick up some hours outside the home at my grandparents' office I feel like I just don't have time for anything.
By the time I get home at night (around 10:30pm) I'm just exhausted. I usually have homework or a test to study for so I can't just go right to bed like most people probably would. My days are long and feel as though they will never end. It sucks.

Being back in school makes me feel like I can do more. I've always known I could do more and be more but I think I've just never actually fully acknowledged it. I love getting out and actually talking to other adults - it's a breath of fresh air. As much as I love my family, I do love me time. Even if my me time is at school learning.

I just finished my first Mod (which was 5 weeks) and had perfect attendance as well as a 4.0 GPA! Now that's awesome! By getting the two of those things, I made the Director's Honor Roll. There were 4 other people that started at the same time as I did and none of them made it with me. I'm the only one with a family at home, a job outside of the home and attending school. Two of the girls work full time outside of school, one stays at home with her son and the other is straight out of high school without a care in the world. This makes me think if I can do it, anyone can.

Vote for Missy!

I'm not sure what happened - I posted this a few days ago and apparently it never made it up.

My friend Missy (the awesome blogger over at The Marketing Mama) is in the running for the best Mpls/St Paul blog award on Parents Connect. This is fantasctic news. The only thing that would make this even better would be if she won! Now, here's where you guys come in. Missy needs your help to win this. You can go here and vote once per day until July 15.
I think you should head on over to Missy's blog, see what she's all about and cast your vote. I appreacite it and know she would too!

Good luck Missy!

Works for me Wednesday :: Check It Out

I bet one thing you didn't know about me is that I'm a sucker for workout DVDs. I have quite a handful of them. OK, I probably have like 2 or 3 handfuls. Ha ha. One thing I more recently thought of was to check them out from the library before I buy it. Sometimes it takes quite a while before I get it (if I have to reserve it) but it's worth it since sometimes those DVDs just aren't worth the money,

For more awesome ideas - check out Works for me Wednesday over at We Are That Family.

I *heart* Ocean Water!!

You're probably thinking I'm talking about the water that's actually in the ocean, right? Well, any true Sonic fan will know I am NOT talking about the body of water which we call an ocean but a GLORIOUS drink that leaves you feeling refreshed after you consume it. OK, that totally sounded like they paid me to say that. Sadly, they didn't - BUT they could! **Sonic - I will accept payment in the form of gift cards or a life-time supply of Ocean Water.**

The first time I ever went to Sonic was a couple of months ago. David and I decided to take the drive out there with the kids and give it a go. Our friend, Dino, knows all about Sonic so I had David call him to ask what an Ocean Water was. Let me say, he gave it a bad description. Something about Gatorade that had fizz in it. SO NOT OCEAN WATER! I decided to get it anyway and to also get the strawberry add-in.

When the girl delivered our food to our car I said "Oh, I ordered an Ocean Water with strawberry add-in." She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Yep, that's what it is." and I just kind of sat there looking blankly at what she handed me. The drink I had in my hand was blue.. hmm.. strawberry is not blue! "Umm, OK. I only ask because this is blue." I say. She comes back with, "Yep, it's an ocean water. Ocean waters are blue." So.. I take my first sip - SOOOOO good!! We eat our food and then drive across the street to Blockbuster. While David is inside I resume enjoying my drink...I enjoy it so much it's gone by the time he comes out.

I momentarily considered driving back across the street just to get another one. Man, if that's not love! LOL

By the way - I'm not the only person that loves Sonic. My friend Kristie got me started with thinking about blogging about Sonic.