North Carolina Zoo

Grandpa and Lee Ann treated us to a weekend at the zoo and we had a lot of fun. We arrived Friday evening, met up for dinner, and then headed to the zoo first thing Saturday morning. I totally took the opportunity to ride with my Dad on his motorcycle to our destination!

Looking like a total dork...

We saw lions, bears, elephants, bison, huge snakes, colorful frogs, zebra, giraffes, gorillas, baboons... the list goes on and on. We were very impressed by the quality and size of the habitats. Ayla would look at an animal for a minute before saying, "Come on, let's go see another animal now." LOL

Climbing on the rhinos

The weather was wonderful for the larger part of the day, but by afternoon it got very hot. So hot, in fact, that I think Ayla got a touch of heat exhaustion evidenced by her throwing up after a late afternoon nap (don't worry: once she did, she was instantly better and stayed awake practically all night!).

We received a nice surprise later in the evening when we ran into some old family friends who were checking into the same hotel: The Savage Family! What a small world!! Sunday morning, during breakfast, we all enjoyed catching up on each other. It wasn't a bad drive home, especially since we stopped off in Hickory to have lunch with our friend Carla.

Snuggling with her sheep on the way home

It was nice to see Grandpa, Lee Ann, and the whole Savage gang before our move. And we have lots more of the fam to see this month around Sophie's birthday! YEA! Enjoy the pictures...

Climbing on the forts.


Snacking while waiting for the tram


Hiding in the tree trunk!


Digging for bugs in the Kid's Zone


Chillin' with Grandpa and Lee Ann

Illness

Just a quick blurb on the girls - Ayla was sick most of this week with a wicked fever, but no other signs or symptoms. She was pretty whiny, but kept saying, "I'm ok mom. I feel good. I feel better." Today, she woke up in a great mood and no fever, but guess whose turn it is now? Poor Sophie is running one too and is very clingy... We have plans to go to the NC Zoo this weekend with Grandpa, so I think a trip to the Chinese Acupuncture Clinic is in order today. Fingers crossed that Sophie can get over this quickly.

On the moving front, we have officially scheduled our movers. Now we are focusing on choosing a new home! Oh, and yes, we have started packing. Joy.

Standing and Sassing

Sophie stood on her own for a few seconds yesterday and is doing it a lot this morning. She's still hesitant to take a step forward without assistance, but she's getting a bit more confident. Shoot - I am just glad she has been able to entertain herself this morning. For the past week, she has refused to be put down at all from wake up to bedtime!

Ayla is sassy! SASSY! Her favorite thing to say is, "I don't want to right now" with the most amusing country twang. We've pretty much decided that the age of 3 is much harder than the age of 2. Our friends, with kids the same age, agree. No such thing as terrible two's anymore - it's the terrible 3s! But, she's so creative and imaginative. Ayla plays for hours with her little people and cars, carrying on the most adorable conversations. Her artistic ability is growing tremendously. A real treat is listening to her sing - she knows all of her Music Together CDs by heart, I think (a great Yule/Christmas present idea, by the way. She has the drum and tambourine collections already).

So, a little update on where things stand. We are narrowing our search of towns to Westminster, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, and Thornton. We are planning on renting as we continue our "Dave Ramsey" financial makeover and get acclimated to the area, but are slightly conflicted on whether to look for a house or apartment. This week, according to our moving checklist, we need to choose our movers (I think we are going with United), calling insurance companies about our health insurance, and concentrating on choosing a place to live. 39 more days to go!

Biking

Are we packing yet? Seems to be the question of the year, but at the moment, our family is taking in the last joys of the WNC area before the hard work begins.

For example, today we went for a great bike ride around Tuxedo Lake. 6.33 miles and *I* actually did a LOT of steep uphill (at least I thought so!). The girls had a blast, too. Sophie squeals with so much excitement from her seat in the trailer whenever my speed picks up and Ayla is a trooper "pedaling" along with Jeremy from her tag-a-long.


Getting ready to ride.


Ayla riding along.


Sophie expressing her doubt at Jeremy's purpose with the camera.

I've decided that biking is too much fun and since I feel somewhat constrained on my cruiser, we are selling it to buy me a REAL mountain bike. Yup, I think it is time and Jeremy is thrilled. He even commented that he thought I was ready for a trail that has some steep inclines... we'll see... LOL But, we are having a LOT of fun riding together.

Last weekend, on a quick trip up to VA to check out a VW bus (no, we ended up not getting it), we stopped by the Virginia Creeper Trail and rode about 6 miles on that. It was awesome and beautiful. We rode for a bit, hung out by the water to picnic, and then rode some more. Ayla especially enjoyed seeking out the mud puddles and proudly displayed the results. Here's some pics of that day:


Contemplating mud.


Daddy & Sophie sharing water.


Only a *little* worn out!


Ayla scraping mud off her legs.

We ended the trip at an ice cream parlor before making our way back to Asheville. It was a looong weekend, but so worth it!

Surprise!

Whew! Our family has gone through some massive changes here lately, but the biggest one is probably one of the most surprising. Here, let me soften the blow with some cute pictures of the kidlets:





Ok, we have sold our house (Yea!). And we have long talked about going to Virginia, but... we've changed our minds. Instead, we are heading out to COLORADO! I know, I know - we change our minds a lot. We are totally psyched, though, so this post marks our official countdown to moving day. 41 Days until CO! Its one of the reasons we have decided to start a family blog. It is important to us that our family and friends be able to check in, keep track, and see updated pictures (since we slack in the mailing department).

Some more pictures to soothe your pained hearts:





Jeremy was offered a really nice job and, since he despises the numbers-crunching corporation he is with, this brought lots of great feelings in our bellies. He actually had 2 other companies that were somewhat grooming him to work for them, too! And, because the money was right, the people sound right, and the company carries the philosophies that Jeremy agrees with, we accepted.

I, of course, am so excited out living near my sis-in-law (who really is way too cool to be called an in-law), Jennifer. I'm a little nervous about being uprooted from the coast where most of my family lives, but I am fortunate that they encourage my exploration of life where ever it may take me. We both are lucky to have such family and friends...

So, we hope you take advantage of this easy portal into our lives. We promise it will be updated regularly with pics of the kids and stories of our new discoveries. Thank you, all of you, for your love and support throughout our transitions.