Tennessee Fun

Ugh. I've been such a blogging slacker lately! I will use the excuse that life has been insanely busy lately. My new internship at the camp is really keeping me hopping! I am generally there 5-6 days a week, and have not been getting home before 6:30 or 7 each night. Sometimes much later. What a crazy time! As a family we have not eaten at home in over 3 weeks. We eat together at the camp, at least, but its not really the same. Well, I'm grateful for a lower grocery bill, anyway! I had to laugh the other morning when I went to load the dishwasher and all that was dirty was cereal bowls and coffee mugs! Yep, that about sums it up. 

This past weekend we squeezed in a trip to Tennessee. I know, right!?! Crazy, crazy. We had so much fun, though. With four of our college friends, we rented a cabin up in the smokies and just chilled. It was so great. The only time we went into town was to go to the AT&T store. Derek and I have been wanting to switch service for a while due to the lack of Verizon service at the camp, but we weren't able to keep our numbers if we switched up here. With Derek's catering business really starting to take off, keeping the phone number is essential at this point. As for myself, after almost 4 years of living in Indiana, I'm still not ready to cut the one tie I still have with my Tennessee home! 

Okay, that was a really long off-track jaunt. Back to the weekend getaway. We stayed with our friends Wes & Melanie and Bill & Betsy. We played games, soaked in the hot tub, talked, ate and slept. That's about it! Annabel enjoyed all the time outside and the attention from her silly "aunt Melanie!" Oh, it is so good to have friends, even if they are half a country away! 

Annabel and Baby Jude

Derek doing what he does best!

 

Wonder what she's up to?!

When we came down in the morning this is what we found!

This is one of my favorite faces Annabel makes right now! She makes a tiny little "ohhh" sound!

"Yum, yum Miss Melanie!"

I think I love this picture!

On our way home, we went by Derek's grandma's in Kentucky. (Not that it's really on the way...) As always, it is good to see family. And Annabel loved seeing all the "moo's!" She is crazy about farm animals! She knows all of them by their names or sounds. She can say "moo" (cow- duh),  "Hawhee" (donkey), "doat" (goat), "baby doat," "oink oink," "babbit" or "hophop," whichever she is in the mood for! (rabbit), "neigh" (horse),  "tweet tweet" (birds), "kitty" and "woofwoof/doggy." All of these are animals at the camp, and she gets to see them almost every day! 

 She finally got in the water! It only took it being 100* out! :)

"I'll drive, mama!"

 Wouldn't you love to see this out your back door every morning!

Zoo Fun and The Past Week

It feels like it has been an eventful week, but I have no pictures to document it. Our camera disappeared about a week ago. :(

I'll try to remember what all has been going on!

*I started a new and final internship at the camp where Derek works. Since I worked my butt off and carried over so many hours from last semester, I can afford to take it (somewhat) easy this summer. I'm still trying to put in 15-20 hours a week, just to make sure I graduate! I'm starting to breathe a little easier now, though:) 

*Annabel dumped about a half of bottle of shampoo on the floor in her room... leaving a nice orangey-red stain. Not to mention the suds when trying to get it out! What fun.

*Some of you may remember a post a few months back where I was more than disgusted with our broken ipod. Well, in a desperate attempt, Derek called Apple and complained. Although it was several years past our warranty, within 5-7 days we had a brand-spankin-new 30gb ipod at our door! So once again, Apple has wormed it's way into my heart. (Get it? Worms, apples?)

*Last night I hosted a Premier Designs party at my house. They sell really pretty jewelry, and are the same company that does Home Interiors. We had a lot of fun, and I got $176 in free jewelry! Woohoo! If anyone has the opportunity to host one of these parties, I definitely recommend it! 

*So today (Saturday) we both had the day off and I really wanted to go to the zoo! We've been wanting to go for a while, but rarely have the day off together! So anyway, I told Derek he had to look extra hard for the camera, because I didn't want to miss this day on film! He finally unearthed it from behind the couch cushions:) We packed a cooler, packed the diaper bag, and off we went to the wonderful Fort Wayne Children's Zoo! This zoo is a bit smaller than Indy, but much shadier and supposedly more "family friendly." Whatever that means. I liked that it had a lot of "natural" type paths and exhibits, rather than all concrete and blazing heat! The only thing I missed were the elephants (there weren't any). But we certainly saw lions, giraffes, tigers, kangaroos, monkeys, etc. Lots of good stuff! There were also different fountains and wading pools for the kids to play in, which was nice. And Annabel's favorite part- the petting zoo! She got to walk around with the "doats" (goats), and pet a pig, chicks, bunnies, sheep, horses, etc. 

Unfortunately, with it being such a nice day, it was pretty crowded. My favorite quote of the day comes from daddy: "This would be a lot more fun without all these damn kids running around!" My sentiments exactly:)

And now what you've all been waiting for, the pictures. I know no one comes to my blog to actually read my ramblings! 

 The mongooses! (mongeese?) She loved these!

Special Time with Daddy

 

 Love these guys!

 What a cutie :)

  Terrorizing the poor buddha monkey statue

 My joey!

 Cooling off by the poolside

"Hi oink oink!"

 

 "Hi Doat!"

Ariel's Awesome Etsy Shop and Blog Giveaway!

Hey everyone, 

I know I've mentioned it before, but my buddy Ariel has a really cool crafting blog, http://www.arieleldridge.blogspot.com . And right now, she is doing a giveaway of this really cute, reversible purse:

 So go check out her website, register to win, and then link her site to your blog to get an extra entry! :)

And while I'm on the topic, you can also check out her etsy shop, Pocketful of Pinwheels for adorable home and nursery decor, including my favorite, this sweet framed elephant:

 This is definitely going in Annabel's new "big girl" room! I feel proud just to know such a creative person! :)

Summer's Here!

It's been a long weekend! I'm kind of exhausted, so I probably won't write too much tonight. Friday morning my friends Melissa and Yonda and I headed to a town rummage and spent hours yard-saling!! I really didn't pick up too much, especially in the way of clothes, since I'm pretty sure Annabel could outfit a small country at this point. I did find a couple pairs of cute jammies for the winter, so I grabbed those up. :) The best thing I found was a large set of those big lego things ($5!). 

Then Annabel and I headed down to my parents to the annual town festival. I tried my hand at selling hair bows, but didn't have much luck! I think I sold 4, which did not even pay for the booth space! Haha. Oh well. I did, however, make enough to buy a fake Dolce & Gabbana purse that I'm kind of excited about. :)

I totally forgot the camera, so no new pictures :( but here are some highlights from our weekend at the fair!

~ Annabel and I ate 5 meals of fair food. Somebody, please, give me some vegetables before I have a heart attack!

~ I flirted with a carnie to get free trips down the giant slide with Annabel. My mom called me a carnival whore. 

~I held a tarantula! It belonged to said carnie. Annabel was scared of it. 

~I mentioned my new purse, didn't I?

~We went to a parade and Annabel LOVED it! She waved at everyone, and loved chasing the candy. I think she ate more candy that day than she has in her whole life!!

~This morning before we left I entered her in a baby contest. She took second! She really should have been first, of course, but we'll file our appeal later.  I felt really bad for the moms of the babies that didn't place. I would have been so sad/embarrassed/mad if the judges didn't like my baby! I don't think we'll do it again for that reason:) It just seems wrong, anyway. 

~We also went to a baby shower for my friend Sarah from high school. I'm so excited for her, because she and her husband have been trying for 4+ years for this. 

While we were gone, Derek got to cater a party on a house boat! How fun is that!? I really hope it helps drum up some new business. Tonight, we stopped at the "Family Fun" festival at the camp. We ate MORE fair-type food (cheeseburger, corn on the cob, cotton candy, sno-cones, iced coffee...), petted the animals in the barn, hung out with friends, and most importantly, saw daddy! I think Annabel really misses him when we're gone like that, because she asks about him constantly. 

Anyway, that's all for now. I've going to go lay down on the couch and catch up on some dvr:)