Safari

In Port Clinton, there's an African Safari experience that will make you laugh your socks off. It's frightening, gross, and hilarious all at the same time. We were so glad Papa had rented a mini van, because we sure didn't want our cars get slimed up by all the animals.
We bought a 10 pound bag of carrots at Costco so that we could feed the critters from the safety of our car. We didn't anticipate just how assertive they would be!

We saw llamas, alpacas, deer, bison, zebras, you name it. All were hungry...
We couldn't stop laughing (and screaming). It was so crazy to have these huge animals sticking their heads in our car.

The people in front of us fully leaned out their truck to give the deer a sample. It was quite a show to see how daring they were.

In a weird way, I though this guy was kinda cute.

Can you see the goo left behind from the feeding? Don't worry, we went through a $3 car wash after our trip.

Have you ever seen an albino zebra? We have.

After our drive through the park, we decided to become members so that we would keep coming back. There's a smaller sort of zoo and play area too. We missed the free pony rides, but we'll be back with Aunt Sheila soon.

I think we wore them out!

We watched a tortoise battle. One guy tipped another over onto his back. Watch as he worked to turn him back over:

Peacocks and hens roamed all over the grounds. We could get quite close to them. Isn't he lovely?

Back home, our pampered little pup humbly waits to have plastic baggies strapped to her feet. She doesn't like it, but it keeps the mud off her paws. We can't wait to get grass in our yard!

Ups and Downs

Our weather on Friday sure kept us hopping. One minute we had sunshine, the next minute we had downpours. We had planned to do some outdoor activities, but the rain (and subsequent flooding) forced us to keep our activities indoors. Mom went through her 37 lb box of seminary stuff that she brought to help me with my new calling. She taught for 5 years so she has a lot of great material to pass onto me.

I spent the morning washing and chopping vegetables for a build-your-own salad bar. Doesn't Lala's shirt match her lunch perfectly?

We drove down to Bowling Green for the afternoon to see the movie Up. The thunder and lightning made for quite a show as we slowly made our way to the theater. By the time we were done, the sun was out again. For dinner, we decided to show off the little town of Grand Rapids.
Here we are on the main drag:

We introduced the folks to a great pizza place we've started frequenting.

Later, we took a stroll down the river walk. It's very picturesque, don't you think?

Doesn't Papa look cool with his beard?

We enjoyed this swing overlooking the water until we realized how much the whole thing was rocking. Maybe it wasn't meant to hold all our weight.

We were to late to visit Ludwig Mill and ride the canal boat, but we got a picture anyway. Maybe next time...

Farmer's Market

Lala and Papa are in town. They arrived at our house about 2:30 am, so we all enjoyed sleeping in that morning. Once we got ourselves organized, we hit the town to Perrysburg-ish stuff. We stopped at the library so the kids could get some books:
Both kids are signed up for the summer activities at Way, like art classes, magic lessons, and puppet shows. They are also participating in the summer reading programs so they can earn prizes and such.

Emma had her modern dance class at the Schaller Memorial Building, so the rest of us killed time walking the shops downtown. Can you tell Papa was somehow involved with this shot?

After Emma's class was over, the kids got their lunches from the hotdog stand out on the sidewalk. We ate a late lunch at My Daily Grind. We got to see the beach and pick treats from the candy jar.

We came away with summer squash, lemon honey, cinnamon bread, and many flowers. Emma bough these little pink impatiens for herself:

Later that night, Lala and I attended Book Club where we discussed The Uglies and ate yummy food. It was a perfect, Perrysburg day.

Welcome Home

We're still settling into our new place. It seems we finish one project, then add three more to our list! Rick's been in heaven working out in his spanky new garage with the epoxy floors. He's digging out his tools and arranging them on his peg boards and such. It's cute to watch him in his man cave.

I've decided to put the rest of my nest making on hold until I get the old house spic and span. It continues to be a monkey on my back that I can't shake. It's funny how you can love a place one day and despise it the next. I'll be so glad when my work there is through. Does anyone do windows?

Despite our state of undoneness, we've already hosted a Sunday night dinner. Rick put his shiny new grill together and cooked up some delicious burgers. Our guests, the Luces, brought a scrumptious apple pie for dessert. Doesn't that sound like an all-American dinner? The one downer was that we didn't have enough seating for everybody. We ordered 8 chairs with our dinette set, but the furniture guys only brought 5. Duh! Who orders an odd number of chairs anyway? Now we have to wait another month before they get more chairs into the warehouse. Plus, the sofa they delivered has a cut on the arm so they'll be exchanging that too. Oopsies!

Well, I've stalled long enough. I'm back to the old house to dust blinds, scrub baseboards, and shampoo carpets. Waaaaaaaa.

Future Bass Pros and Fun Freebies

Our local Bass Pro Shop is incredible. They have all kinds of activities for kids like laser shooting ranges, archery, aquariums, restaurants, etc. They offer classes on camping, cooking, first aid - you name it. It's a Boy Scout's dream!

We recently took the kids there to check out some of the summer crafts and activities. Our whole family got to decorate our own fishing bobbers and sample fudge. Here are some goofy pictures we had taken:

We had to bribe Jake to wear the fishing get-up, but Emma was happy to oblige:

Another place we like to go for free fun is Home Depot. Last Saturday, the kids each made a hardwar organizer for Daddy, just in time for Father's Day. Emma brought hers home and added brightly colored paint. Jake slapped some stickers on his and called it good.

Today the kids and I got away from the new house for some much-needed fun (you can only unpack for so long). We went to Arby's for our free chicken club sandwiches, then drove to Maumee for a show. The 3 of us got to see Race to Witch Mountain for $4.50 total. What a deal! Plus, popcorn was only $1.25 per bag. Sweet! To counteract all that saving, we spent about $80 on random house-related needs this evening. Ha!

Mudhens Game

The Elders Quorum President organized a ward outing to the Mudhens game last Saturday, May 30th. A lot of fun families came out to cheer for the team and see the post-game fireworks. Our seats were near right field, so this was our view:
Jake felt especially lucky to be there, since it was his second Mudhens game of the week. The 5th graders got an all-expenses-paid field trip the Wednesday before.

Emma enjoyed the game as long as we fed her snacks. When she got bored, she played with her DS.

Luckily, the Dworczyks arrived a little later in the game so she could play with Leah.

We were so happy that it didn't rain on us as predicted. You can see that we were just in front of the roof line.

The fireworks were up close and personal.

It's too bad pictures can't capture the full effect.

I think we're ready for 4th of July!

I have a friend that lives right across the street in one of the high-rise apartments. She gets to see (and hear) this spectacle quite often.

Update: Birdies

Remember our little robin's nest? Well, some other bird kicked it out and built a second nest within the same silk flower pot. One tiny blue egg was left behind, but we're hoping the poor robin got away with the other 2 eggs. The new resident had some birdies to hatch herself. Here is her new family:

Creatures only a mother could love...