Events

  • Travel & Vacation: Fernbank Museum of Natural History (Atlanta, GA)

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    We’re ready to explore the Fernbank Museum of Natural History

    On one of our recent trips to Atlanta, Georgia we visited the Fernbank Museum of Natural History.  We had never been to the Museum, but were looking for fun and educational activities to do with the kids before heading home.  Since it appeared to have some great items we decided to give it a try.

    The girls were very excited to check out this museum.  They have a variety of activities and events that you can do as well.  If you get hungry during your visit there is a cafe where you can grab a bite to eat.  We had packed our sandwiches before leaving the hotel so when we got hungry we headed out to the van for a picnic lunch then went back inside to finish exploring the museum. We had a lot of fun and spent a lot more time going through it than we initially planned.  The kids probably could have stayed longer, but they were closing for the day and we had to get back home.

    For more information, directions, and other details about the museum you can visit their visit at  Fernbank Museum of Natural History.  If you happen to be in Atlanta and it’s a rainy day this would be a great place to take your family.  Plus you might see and learn some new stuff along the way too.

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    They had this massive dinosaur in the lobby of the museum.  Pretty neat!

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     Hey who let the turkey inside!?

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     Checking out the different regions of the area.

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     Brina and Karlie having fun.

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     Cute fox, made you want to pet it!

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     Oh dear Brina, there’s a deer behind you!

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     That’s one big dinosaur footprint.  Brina was impressed.

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    Brina checking out the dinosaur. Not sure I would want it running at me though.

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     Jake and the girls checking out the different dinosaurs.

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     Always something interesting to read and learn about

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     Brina looks small next to this one

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     Relaxing and having fun

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     Looks like a cute kid on the tail of that dinosaur.  Silly Brina!

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     Hammerhead shark

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     Our crew at the museum

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    Sweet Karlie loving her time at the museum (if you look closely there is a racoon right behind her too).

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    That’s some strange looking dinosaurs.

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     They had a section on “Poison” and a presentation that we went to while we were there.  It was very interesting!

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     Our family  learning about different types of poisons and how they are used

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     Jake and Brina checking it out

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     Daddy reminding Karlie of the saying….What was it again “Red and yellow kill a fellow….”

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     This was a really neat book / display.  As you turned the pages different items would show up and it was interactive too.  Pretty fascinating!  Brina especially liked the information on goats!

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     Brina, Karlie, and Jake playing a game to see if they can figure out what poison the dog ate and save it!  They all 3 won!  Must have learned something today!

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     The Astronomy Picture of the Day was on Saturn.  Karlie’s favorite planet.

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     Went to an animal show and demonstration (love their huge frog on the wall, neat and colorful).

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     Brina always wants to interact and learn more about any living creature.

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    Karlie saying “Hi”

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    We finished a level.  Where are we off to now Brina?!

    The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    Last week was a whirlwind of activity.  The girls now only have three more weeks of school.  I am looking forward to spending some extra time with them this summer.  We are getting closer to finalizing our summer plans.  It will be fun to catch up with family and friends over the summer break.  I had great intentions last week, but somehow little things took priority over some of the items on my list.  Part of the problem is that we haven’t had a full weekend at home to get stuff done in several weeks.  I love this time of year with all the celebrations and fun activities, but it does effect productivity.  Hoping that I will get some of these ones tackled soon before our upcoming 3 day Memorial Holiday Weekend!   Here are my goals for this week:

    Last week’s goals

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading Boxcar Children’s Blue Bay Mystery (Boxcar Children Series #6) by Gertrude Chandler Warner to the kids – were getting closer to the end, we had a bunch of library books we were trying to finish reading first
    2. Plan one special activity with the familywe went to Hollywild (more on that later this week)
    3. Play a Game with the Kids
    4. Prepare for Upcoming Spring Events
    5. Spend time Monday –Friday helping the kids with Homework
    6. Attend After School Activities
    7. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    8. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure(s)
    9. Prep & Figure out Schedule for upcoming Summer Break – getting closer to getting the details worked out
    10. Ride Bikes with the Kids – we didn’t get this done with everything going on
    11. Work on special projects with the kids
    12. Attend Cousins Baby Shower
    13. Kids glasses fixedfinally fixed after 4 trips to the eye doctor
    14. Kids orthodontist appointment

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Continue my YouVersion plan(s)I am doing it every day, but for some reason it won’t update it anymore
    3. Keep up with my FitBit Goals – I was a little short this week, hoping to do better this week!
    4. Go to my  Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – All Winter Clothes Pulled out of Closets & Dressers and Put into the Attic) – have a little more to do
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – Laundry Room) – I got started….
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Deck Cleaned & Prepped) – hoping to get this completed this weekend
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Mix Extra Vitamins in Goat Food) – some are done, but need Jake’s help on the other vitamin
    7. Repairs – (Focus – Pick Up Replacement Lightbulbs)few have been replaced, but need to pick up a few more

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    4. Work completed for clients –  I have 2 more projects to wrap up this week
    5. Prep, plan, and organize content for upcoming summer months while the kids are out of school

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Payoff the Car – working on it
    2. Payoff Medical Bills – working on it
    3. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, HVAC unit, and other debt) – working on it
    4. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    5. Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget

    My goals for the upcoming week

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading Boxcar Children’s Blue Bay Mystery (Boxcar Children Series #6) by Gertrude Chandler Warner to the kids
    2. Plan one special activity with the family
    3. Play a Game with the Kids
    4. Prepare for Upcoming Spring Events
    5. Spend time Monday –Friday helping the kids with Homework
    6. Attend After School Activities
    7. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    8. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure(s)
    9. Prep & Figure out Schedule for upcoming Summer Break
    10. Ride Bikes with the Kids
    11. Work on special projects with the kids
    12. Attend Science Fair Project Presentations
    13. Annual Pest / Termite Inspection Completed
    14. Kids orthodontist appointment
    15. STEM Club Meeting
    16. Spend extra time with the Family over the Memorial Holiday Weekend
    17. Finish sending out the remaining Graduation Cards

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
    3. Keep up with my FitBit Goals
    4. Go to my  Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – All Winter Clothes Pulled out of Closets & Dressers and Put into the Attic)
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – Laundry Room)
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Deck Cleaned & Prepped)
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Mix Extra Vitamins in Goat Food)
    7. Repairs – (Focus – Take Slide Off Jungle Gym)

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    4. Work completed for clients
    5. Prep, plan, and organize content for upcoming summer months while the kids are out of school

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Payoff the Car
    2. Payoff Medical Bills
    3. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, HVAC unit, and other debt)
    4. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    5. Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results.

  • Travel & Vacation: Federal Reserve Bank, Atlanta Monetary Museum, & Zachary Coffin’s Rock Spinner (Atlanta, GA)

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    On the steps of Atlanta’s Federal Reserve bank & Monetary Museum (white building on the right side of the picture)

    We had a lot of fun exploring Atlanta’s Federal Reserve Bank and Monetary Museum on one of our recent trips to Atlanta, Georgia.  The kids didn’t believe us at first when we told them that we were going to a bank to learn about money.  Although the more we talked about it the more interested they became.

    In order to go into Atlanta’s Federal Reserve Bank and Monetary Museum all adults must present a valid ID such as a driver’s license or passport.  You cannot carry any electronics, phones, cameras, purses, or other devices into the museum.  They do have lockers next to the restrooms to put your items into if you need them.  We just put my id in Jake’s wallet and that is the only thing we brought into the museum so he could carry everything we needed.  The admission and self guided tour is completely free.  The only thing we had to pay for was parking since it is near downtown Atlanta and there was not any free parking available at the time (it was just a couple of dollars for parking so it wasn’t too bad).

    It would have been really neat to be able to get some pictures of the museum and some of the items we saw while there, but no photography is allowed.  The employees were really nice and helpful.  The kids learned some cool history about money.

    Probably the kids favorite part was the robots toting the containers of money back and forth between the various rooms.  It was fascinating to watch them carry the bins full or partially filled with money from one place to another.  In some of the bins there may have been a million dollar or more in cash!  Did you know that they shred about 10 million dollars of cash every day?  These are bills that have been crumpled, destroyed, or otherwise deemed as unusable.  You could see people physically counting the bundles of money as they came in as well which was interesting to watch.

    The kids had a little “quiz” or worksheet they filled out as we explored.  It was a neat learning activity and the kids loved it.  At the end we picked up a bag of shredded money to take home (which the kids thought was awesome)!

    We did get some pictures on the outside of the Federal Reserve Bank though to help us remember our adventure that windy day in Atlanta.  You can locate the Atlanta’s Federal Reserve Bank and Monetary Museum at 1000 Peachtree Street, NE Atlanta, Georgia 30309.  If you are already at the Federal Reserve Bank you should check out the rock spinner is directly across the street from the Federal Reserve Bank.

    Across the street from the Federal Reserve Bank was the Zachary Coffin’s Rock Spinner (pictures below) which fascinated the kids as well. As we were waiting for the stoplight to turn so we could walk across the street I happened to read the description on the rock spinner and mentioned for the kids to come over to see if they could move the huge boulder.  They of course thought it was so cool they could spin such a massive rock!

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     Large Federal Reserve Building in Atlanta

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    Where’s Waldo…I mean Karlie, Brina, and I outside the building?  If you look for the specks in front of the statue that looks like spots of “Red, White, and Blue” that’s us!

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     Our family visiting the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta

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     Zachary Coffin’s Rock Spinner!  Once the girls starting spinning the rock other kids stopped to try it out too!

    Zachary Coffin’s Rock Spinner – is a kinetic sculpture that helps you understand about the transformation of one’s relationship to mass.  This particular boulder weighs 22,000 pounds and would normally be considered immovable, however, with a little art and engineering this huge boulder becomes something fun to move and play with (both for kids and adults).  There is a plague next to it saying  “Take it for a spin!”  YES, you can spin it, stop it from moving, and switch directions, but no climbing is allowed on the boulder (for obvious reasons).

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     Making is move…

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    Brina and Karlie trying to see how fast they can get it to move

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     Who knew that a spinning boulder could provide so much entertainment!?  If you are already in the area it is something neat to check out – Zachary Coffin’s Rock Spinner  The kids thought it was neat!

    The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!

  • My Sweet Girls – Brina and Karlie

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    I have the privilege of being a Mom to these girls!

    I love being a Mom.  It is the most rewarding, yet most challenging part of my life.  I am thankful for the many blessings in my life and that my prayers to be a Mom were answered over 10 years ago.

    The girls bring me a lot of joy yet they know how to best push my buttons at the same time.  Being a Mom is a huge responsibility.   I want my kids to grow up to love the Lord.  I pray that God gives Jake and I the wisdom to raise these girls.

    While they keep me on my toes the kids also know how stretch me and make me laugh.  Thankful for the amazing girls who call me Mom.   What a blessing it is to be their Mom!

    I am thankful for my Mom, Mother-in-Law, Grandma’s, and the many women in my life who have shared their love, prayers, and words of wisdom with me.  Wishing all of you a very Happy Mother’s Day weekend!!!

    Happy Birthday Brina and Karlie

    Our girls!

  • Travel & Vacation: Cute Panda Bears and Wildlife Show at the Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA)

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    Panda Bear content to relax and eat bamboo

    The panda bears were one of the girls favorite animals to visit at the Atlanta Zoo.  I think the big fascination was watching the twin panda cubs.  It was a little harder to get a picture of both of them at the same time, but the kids loved watching them eat and play.  The Wildlife Show on birds was pretty neat too.  Of course the girls went up after the show to ask more questions about the birds.  The zoo worker was really great with the kids and patient in answering all the questions.  On the way out the girls wanted a picture with the gorilla.  It was a great day at the zoo.

    You can read more about our adventure at the Atlanta Zoo on my Travel & Vacation: Visiting the Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA)Travel & Vacation: Lions, Tigers, Seals, Reptiles, Bears, and more at the Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA), and Travel & Vacation: Orangutan Easter Egg Hunt at Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA)  blog posts.

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    Looking pretty cute!

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    Look out, showing some teeth this time. Watch out!  They may look cute and adorable, but I think it would  not be a good idea to pet them with teeth that size.

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    Someone found an Easter pinata

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    Loving the bamboo

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    Peeling the bamboo stick apart, eating some pieces, and putting the other pieces on his belly for later.

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    Crunchy, but delicious

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    Good stuff

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    Panada’s look so cute

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    Checking things out around the pen

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    Heading towards some more goodies

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    Twin panda’s in their cage.  One sleeping on the log and the other one eating some bamboo

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    Relaxing and chewing on some bamboo

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     Bird Show in the Wildlife Theater at the Atlanta Zoo

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    Getting all their questions answered

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    Brina giving Willie B a hug

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    Karlie and Brina enjoyed the Atlanta Zoo

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    Karlie all smiles

  • Travel & Vacation: Orangutan Easter Egg Hunt at Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA)

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    He’s eying that cool looking pinata egg with sweet Easter treats inside it!

    Another one of the neat events at the Atlanta Zoo was the Easter treats for the animals.  We were able to get front row viewing at the Orangutan Easter egg hunt.  It was super cute.  There was a Mommy with a little one which the girls thought was adorable.

    The Easter Eggs were made of jello and placed throughout the pen, pinata eggs full of special treats, leaf baskets with goodies, and cardboard cutouts with peanut like substance on the back for the orangutans to enjoy.  They had a lot of fun finding and snacking on their treats.  Even the baby found some.  They had paper garland hanging up which the orangutans enjoyed moving and playing with as well.

    You can read more about our adventure at the Atlanta Zoo on my Travel & Vacation: Visiting the Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA) and Travel & Vacation: Lions, Tigers, Seals, Reptiles, Bears, and more at the Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA) blog posts.

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    An edible Easter egg in the tree and one on the rock in the background….waiting to be found!

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    Swinging out to get the Easter garland

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    Oh yeah, this eggs mine!

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    Climbed up on top of the platform for this pinata treat

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    Enjoying the goodies inside the pinata Easter egg

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    Holding the cardboard cutout of the bunny rabbit and licking the treat off the back of it

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    Hanging out near the hammock picking up and eating eggs, delicious!

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    Look closely, he’s got a green jello egg in his mouth

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    Momma and baby

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    Sitting in the shade – Mom and Baby (the baby is not really little, but obviously still under its Mother’s care)

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    Mom and baby kisses

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    Licking the goodness off the back of the cardboard Easter egg decoration

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    Mom and baby looking for some more treats

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    The baby wasn’t too sure about everything at first so it stuck near its Mom at the beginning of the Easter Egg Hunt

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    The baby is getting brave.  He is climbing the pole to get the Easter basket, with a little Chick, and goodies.

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    Made it, now to grab it and head back down.

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    The Mom watched the baby climb, get the treats, and bring them back down.  Then she took the items from the baby and ate them herself, ha!   The baby did get some treats, but Momma Orangutan got the first dibs!

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    Rearranging the Easter Garland in their pen.

  • Travel & Vacation: Lions, Tigers, Seals, Reptiles, Bears, and more at the Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA)

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     Lioness pacing on her rock

    We had a blast seeing all the animals on our recent trip to the Atlanta Zoo.  We arrived just as the Zoo opened in the morning and stayed until closing.  The kids loved seeing all the animals, the activities, and special events.  It was a busy, packed, and fun day together.  We walked all over the area of the zoo several times over.  The morning was a little cooler, but it was very comfortable by mid-morning (not too cold or hot).  You can read more about our adventure on my Travel & Vacation: Visiting the Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA) blog post.  

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     The two lionesses were playing and pouncing on each other while we were there.  They were so fast we weren’t able to get a non-blurry picture of both of them together.  It was neat to watch them playing around instead of just sleeping on their rock.

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     Better watch out….

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     Tiger giving himself a bath.

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     Out for a stroll

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     The seal was catching the fish they were throwing at them.  You can see the fish right in front of him.

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     Karlie and Brina learning about snakes.

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     Karlie having fun

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     Learning more about this little turtle

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    Curled up and watching people as they go by his cage

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     Brina fascinated by all the animals

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    What’s in this one!?

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     Karlie and Mommy having fun at the Atlanta Zoo

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     Me and my girls!  They are growing up so fast.  Thankful for these little adventures together as a family!

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    Brina was always good a spotting the animals really quickly, not sure how she does it so fast!

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     The snake was following the heat from Karlie’s hand

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     Jake and his girls at the Atlanta Zoo

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     Jake is always so good about explaining and showing the girls different pieces of information about the animals.  The snake is acting like it might try to strike Jake’s hand through the glass in this picture, but it never did.

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     The bear brought this branch with leaves on top of the platform so he could eat it by himself without the other one bothering him.

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    Fun times!

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    They loved learning about all the different wildlife.

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    Love my family!  Grateful for the opportunity to hang out at the Atlanta Zoo for the day!

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    Such a rough life…. They look so cute and cuddly.

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    This is a “Tanuki” it is very timid and doesn’t come out very often per one of the zoo workers that we asked.  We walked by its cage multiple times and never saw it out until almost the end of the day.  It gets spooked easy so it is not visible very often.

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    How does your Mom carry you!?  Silly girls – Brina and Karlie

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    Karlie loves brushing the farm animals. She is currently on her way to brush another one.

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    Brina talking with the zoo worker about goats and asking questions.  He was really nice and pointed out several different types of goats and characteristics of the ones near her.

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    Brina and Karlie brushing one goat.  Lots of TLC for this Mamma goat.  They always love the interactive animal adventures.

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    The giraffe is eying us while the ostrich was too busy eating to give us any attention

  • Travel & Vacation: Visiting the Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA)

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     Our family at the Atlanta Zoo!

    We surprised the girls with a long weekend trip to Atlanta, Georgia over Easter weekend.  They were very excited to go explore the Atlanta area.  We are members of our local zoo so we were able to get into the Atlanta Zoo at a discount which was really nice.  The kids love animals, learning more about various ones, interacting, and so much more.

    Since it was Easter weekend at the Atlanta Zoo the animals were getting special treats to enjoy for the Holiday.  The new Amphibian & Reptile Exhibit also opened the weekend we were there as well.  There were a lot of people at the zoo, but it was so big we had plenty of time do see and do almost everything (some things the kids enjoyed it so much we did it again).

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    Pink Flamingos were hanging out peacefully near the entrance to the zoo

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    So excited….Karlie and Brina!  They have their maps out and are ready to GO!

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     The birds were sleeping peacefully all together on one branch.

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     It was a little chilly when we first got there in the shade at opening, but no one was complaining!

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     Birds of all colors

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    Brina soaking it all in.  She loves animals.

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     Playing around in the water puddles.

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     Karlie smiling as she quietly watches the birds and little kids.

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     Meerkat’s roaming around in their pen.

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     There is always one Meerkat on watch (or guard) for predators

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     They gave the Meerkats a pillow case stuffed full of hay, little bugs, and special treats.  They were a little timid about it at first, but before long they were all taking turns going into the pillow case and digging out their special treats.

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     Are you done yet!  Hurry up and get your bug so I can get my turn inside the Easter treat sack!!!

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     They look cute, but serious.  Look at those claws on this meerkat!  Yikes!

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    Rhino heading out into the sun after getting some sticky mud on itself to protect it from a sunburn.

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     This rhino was moving the stick around and chewing on it.  Must of had something tasty on it.

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     They drew flowers, easter eggs, and bunny rabbits with chalk on the rocks in the Zebra’s pen.

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     The warthogs got hard boiled and colored Easter eggs for their special treat.  They both found the first one about the same time.

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     Someone found the purple Easter egg!

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    The elephants had Easter eggs that had a jello consistency that they place in baskets made of leaves.   This elephant just discovered the basket of leaves and is moving it out of the way so she can eat her jello Easter egg.

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     Whole lot of elephants!  They had a huge pen and sometimes if you couldn’t see them on one side you had to go around to see them in a different section.

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     Jake and his girls exploring the Atlanta Zoo

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     Beautiful bird

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     Brina found Big Bird’s Nest!!! HA!

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     My two little chickies in the huge nest!

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    Karlie thought the nest was hilarious!

  • Tooth Fairy Visits and Braces!

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    Karlie tooth fairy reward

    There is a lot going on around our house lately regarding teeth.  Recently, Brina got a spacer and braces for her teeth.  Both girls have lost some of their baby teeth too.  The tooth fairy has been staying busy at our house.  We do a variety of different things for the tooth fairy.  Typically we give a note, cash and a special gift.  The special gift can be a book, necklace, toy, or a variety of different items that appeal to the specific child.

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     Brina showing off her new braces!

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    Another tooth fairy gift for Karlie

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    Tooth fairy is now visiting Brina’s room

  • Travel & Vacation: Dry Erase Board Notes

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    Karlie’s dry erase board note to Jake

    In case you already haven’t noticed our family LOVES to travel.  Occasionally when Jake travels for work the rest of us get to tag along with him.  A lot of times his days are long and we don’t always get to see him throughout the day.  On our last work trip I told the girls to bring their dry erase boards and markers so we could “leave Daddy a note” for the day.  If he came back to the hotel room and we were not there he could see our notes, know what we were up to, and hopefully feel the love that we were sending his way.  It is not always possible to know when he may have a moment to run back to the room and if we are across town we cannot make it back in time to say “hi” so this is a little way to let him know that we are thinking about him even though we couldn’t be there to give him a hug in person.

    During this recent trip all of us were up with the sun at 6 am every morning and off in our separate ways shortly thereafter.  Sometimes it would be midnight or later before we reconnected again.  Several times Jake also left a note on the back of the dry erase boards for us which the girls loved.  If he had a few minutes and knew that we would be getting back really late he would prep dinner for us so we could make it quickly while the girls were showering so they could eat, relax for a few minutes, and crash in bed.

    We ate all but one breakfast and dinner in our hotel room.  All our lunches we packed in our backpacks and would eat whenever we were exploring for that day.  To help with the preparation and meal plan we brought a hot pot (yes, like the ones you use in college) to make our meals.  We were able to make some good, quick, healthy, and inexpensive meals in our hotel room like sloppy joes, mac-n-cheese, chicken & rice, soup, and more!  It was nice to relax together at the end of the day before hitting the bed.

    Every time we left for the day each girl would get out their dry erase boards and leave a note for Jake.  I would add an note to the bottom or side of each of their notes.  They had a lot of fun doing this for him and looked forward to it every morning.

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    Brina’s note to Daddy

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    Karlie letting Daddy know we are going to check out the animals!

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    Brina’s note to Daddy with a variety of colors.

    Monorail, Disney, Epcot, Flowers, Notes, Daddy, Pools, Dolphin Resort, Boardwalk, Swimming, Miniature Golf,

    Karlie’s note that includes a “heart family” of all of us.  Cute!

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    Brina’s note with hearts and letting him know to have “fun and do a good job”!

    Walt Disney World, Magic Kindom, Disney, Orlando, FL, Travel, Vacation

    Brina’s note to Dad with my note to the love of my love.

    Dry Erase Board Notes

    Jake’s note letting us know he prepped the meal and all we had to do is add water and boil.

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    Sweet note from my Handsome man!

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    Note from Karlie with her and Daddy as heart people.

    The girls love their Dad so very much.  It is precious to see how they enjoy not only doing little things for him, but also how excited they get to spend some extra time with him.  Thankful for a husband who works so hard to provide for our family.  He takes good care of all of us and always makes each of us feel special.  He is thoughtful, generous, and kind.  Even though he works hard he always makes a point to spend time with us as a family.  I am blessed in many ways.

    If your spouse travels and you go along with them you can easily do this for your spouse as well.  It was super simple, but made everyone feel more connected throughout the long days apart.  I hope that it made Jake’s days a little bit brighter.