Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Lazy 5 Ranch

A few weekends ago, we took a fun day trip to the Lazy 5 Ranch with Drew's Nana. Those of you around here with kids (or without kids) who don't know about the Lazy 5 Ranch - you've got to check it out. It is a large privately owned park in Mooresville that you can either drive through in your own car or take a horse-drawn wagon ride on a safari... the animals come right up to you and you can feed them - giraffes, zebras, antelopes, water buffalo, ostriches, and so many others! It is so much fun and Drew seemed to enjoy it. The main incident of the day came when Drew decided if the feed was good enough for the animals it was good enough for him and Mommy was just slow enough that he got a handful all the way into his mouth before being caught. He didn't think very much of the feed, haha! Here are some pics:

Drew and Daddy feed a water buffalo They don't make them much cuter than these two! Nana on the savannah An ostrich smiles for the camera

Friday, July 10, 2009

Our trip to the beach

Last weekend, we made the trip to Pine Knoll Shores, NC for a long beach weekend with our good friends Jason & Michelle. Drew had a great weekend and he did not want to sit still for a second (he likes keeping us on our toes these days). He was crawing on this, climbing on that, opening doors, opening cabinets, wanting to go out the back door, wanting to go out the front door, running, falling, climbing up the stairs, climbing down the stairs, pressing buttons, pulling plugs... he even crawled out of the playpen for the first time ever - I was quite shocked when I opened the bedroom door to find Drew walking around the room long past his bedtime. He didn't want to miss a thing! He wasn't all that interested in the water this year, but he really enjoyed playing in the sand on the beach.

On the 4th of July, Drew stayed awake long passed his typical bedtime for the fireworks (on the beach where we were staying you could see a couple of "offical" fireworks shows in the distance as well as individuals around shooting off their own firworks around us). We laid out a blanket on the beach and the 5 of us watched the various displays - Drew was not scared of them and alternated between choruses of "ohhhhs" and "uh-ohs". We think we even heard a "pretty" and "nice" come out of his mouth after a couple of them. =) It was a great evening - the temperature was so comfortable, the ocean breeze was blowing. During the middle of the fireworks Drew got so comfy that he fell asleep on my lap (this never happens - he really only sleeps in his bed and very occasionally in the car) and it is a precious moment forever in my mind with my little one on a great night on the beach with friends & family.

A big thank you to "Uncle" Jason & "Aunt" Michelle for letting us join them at the beach, for some wonderful meals, and mostly putting up with an active toddler and parents that are still somewhat new to this game. We had a great weekend with you.

Daddy and Drew head down to check out the surf Drew enjoyed the sand this year - he didn't try to eat it near as much as this time last year =) And he's off... This is what Drew thinks about sunscreen getting into his eye "This is the life" Little beach feet We made a trip to the NC Aquarium & Drew loved the fish. He especially liked the playful otters! Playing with "Aunt" Michelle This is the closest we got to everyone actually looking at the same time

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Meema is coming, Meema is coming

On June 30th, Meema closed on her cute new home in Winston-Salem! Drew had already approved with rounds of "oohhs" and "aaahhs" as he previewed the house before and I know that he will love growing up with Meema just around the corner (Mommy is pretty excited about that idea too!) Her home is only a few miles from our house - it's possible to even ride bikes there. Welcome to NC, Meema... we are so happy you are here!

Here is Meema on her closing day in front of her new home with her favorite realtor:

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Father's Day / Ballin'

On Father's Day, Brad requested that we all go to the park to play basketball. Drew looooves "BAW" these days - he knows what dribble means, he knows what "take it to the basket" means, he even will pick up the golf club (toy one) when we put a golf ball on the floor and try to hit it. Here are some pictures of Brad and Drew on Daddy's special day sharing some "Baw" time!

"That's a long way away..." "Daddy to the rescue!!" Dribble, dribble Our future 'Demon Deacon' All-Star

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

20 months

So, my goal over the next few days is to post each day to catch up on some recent events (we'll see what happens, but now that I've typed it out maybe I'll be more likely to stick to it!). So if there happens to be anyone out there regularly keeping up with little Drew, hopefully over the next few days will be entertaining.

Drew is 100% energy these days. You can not let him out of your sight for even a second without him dashing somewhere to get into mischief. Although Brad and I are exhausted with chasing him - we are also happy that he is a happy, healthy, full-of-life little toddler and he makes us smile and laugh so much every day.

Hopefully some of these upcoming posts will catch you up on some of the bigger events that have been going on around here, but we will start with the zoo. Drew took his first trip to the North Carolina Zoo a few weeks ago and we had a great trip. Believe it or not, he became the most excited about the bison (wouldn't you know it - I think every other animal in the zoo was for sale as a stuffed animal in the zoo gift shop but no bison... I guess that is not typically a favorite for people, but our son loved them. So if anyone happens to run across a stuff bison anywhere, please let us know!). Here is a video of him talking to the bison, followed by some other zoo pictures.

A sweet shot of him watching the bison: Drew & Daddy check out an elephant Drew making sure Daddy didn't miss seeing an animal: We loved the sea lions! An action shot of Drew on the zoo playground - this was a cool underground tunnel slide