Zoo Trip and Lambert's

On Wednesday we spent the morning at the beach and pool and then we headed to the Gulf Shores Zoo. Animal Planet deemed it "the little zoo that could" after Hurricane Ivan. Anyway, it was pretty hot and Michael was just "thrilled" to get to go to the zoo. Anyway, here are a few pictures of our adventure. I think my favorite animal there was the white tiger. Hannah liked Chuckie and his story the best. In the pic with Hannah and the girls the donkeys and the lama came over and seemed to pose for the picture with the girls. However, we couldn't get Alli to pose as quickly as the animals so the lama lost patience and started to walk off. I thought the emu creature (at least I think that's what it was) appeared to be smiling for his little picture. They were quite the photogenic group.

Most of you have already been to the Lambert's in Springfield but we enjoy it so much we thought we'd give it a try and it was nice to have something other than seafood. For those of you not familiar with Lambert's it is the home of the "throwed hot roll."

We found a crab!

Today Michael took the girls to play on the beach and in the pool with his friend Kirk and his two girls, who just happened to be here at the same time, while Hannah and I headed to Tanger Outlet for shopping. We then headed to dinner (early to beat the rush) and came back and waited for it to get dark to go crab hunting. So, when 8:30ish came around we headed out with our Princess flashlights and our Barbie nets to go catch a crab. Daddy was the hero and found one too! He tried to move it around in the net and the little bougar pinched him which terrified Alli while the rest of us laughed. Daddy then took Alli back up to the condo while Hannah, Meredith and I searched a little longer. When all we found were little jelly fish washing ashore we decided it was time to go in. Here's a pic of our catch.

1st day at the Beach

We had a great day for the first full one at the beach (Orange Beach at Gulf Shores, AL). Hannah got covered with sand (Hannah is Michael's cousin Janie's daughter and she came with us to help with the kids some). We pretty much just hung out at the beach and the pool all day. We then went into town for dinner and I got Hannah to try crab legs for the first time and she liked them. We then went to the "Wharf" where they have some neat little shops and a ferris wheel which we rode once and all enjoyed. Well, I've got two tired babies so I'll try to post more tomorrow.

Cousin Amy's Wedding

We made it to Memphis on Saturday and went to Amy's beautiful wedding (Amy is Michael's cousin). It was a bitter sweet day because Amy's dad (Michael's mom's brother), Fred, passed away last year due to a blood clot after he had double knee replacement surgery so as you can imagine it was quite unexpected. Needless to say, the wedding was lovely and everyone held strong for the ceremony, especially Amy. However, please keep them in your prayers because Amy's wedding bouquet (not the one that was thrown) disappeared and it had her dad's wedding ring attached to it. We really can't imagine anyone taking such a thing on purpose so we're hoping that it will show up. I'm sure it was a way Amy could have a symbol of her father with her during the ceremony so it's really a bummer. I'm going to attempt to attach some pictures from the ceremony but I'm using Michael's laptop computer that doesn't have much of a picture editor so these pictures will probably have red eye, etc. Please enjoy. Oh yeah, Alli was quite the little dancer at this wedding as well.

No Other Gods Bible Study

Let me tell ya, I just started this new Bible study called "No Other Gods" by Kelly Minter with some other ladies in my department at church and it is great.  Now granted, I've only done two days worth but it is so applicable and interesting I would encourage anyone else to study it as well.  Beth Moore (see blog link on right side of screen) recommended this study to all of her fans and talks about it on her blog.  I know a lot of you have done Beth's studies and if you enjoy her studies you are sure to like this one as well.  Basically it is about confronting our modern-day idols and what consumes us other than the all and powerful God.  In her first session Kelly discusses the verse out of 2 Kings, chapter 17, verse 33, "Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols."  I'm sure I'm not the only one that struggles with this issue and I encourage you all to check this study out!

Swimming Fun

Today was a good day just tiring.  We started off with swimming lessons in the rain (hopefully it will hold off for our last lesson tomorrow) and then this afternoon we headed to our friend Sherry's house for more swimming.  I didn't take my camera this afternoon but if you go to Leigh Ann's blog (see link on the sidebar) you can take a look at some of the pictures.  Sherry's little girl, Olivia, is Meredith's age and goes to gymnastics at the same time as Addy and Meredith and Leigh Ann introduced us.  They have a beautiful backyard with a beautiful swimming pool and the kids had a great time.  I had choir practice this evening so the girls (and I) should sleep good tonight!  

Since I didn't have any pictures for this post, I've included a sweet photo of my two girls and two sweet nieces from a few weeks ago.

Father's Day

I just want to say how thankful I am for surge protectors.  Last night while I was attempting to add a new post to the blog out electricity flashed and the computer went down.  I just went to bed and figured I'd give it a try today.  Well, apparently our surge protector no longer works and thankfully my computer still works if it's plugged into the wall.  So, I have a feeling that if I didn't have the protector my computer would be out as well.  Now I just need to buy another one quick before more storms blow in.  

Yesterday was a great day for us.  We went to church and enjoyed a great sermon.  After Sunday School we headed to Olive Garden for lunch and then later enjoyed naps at home in the afternoon.  Finally we headed to Michael's parents' house where we enjoyed steaks and strawberry shortcake.  YUMMY!  I have been so blessed with such a great husband who is also a wonderful father whom the girls are just crazy about.  I also couldn't ask for a better father than mine along with a super father-in-law.  I am so thankful!