Lazy 5 Ranch

Today, Joe and I took Carli and a friend from church, Ashlyn, to the Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville.  After picking her up, Carli roped Ashlyn into reading to her most of the way there.  Then they sat in the back playing and laughing.  It was fun to see this side of Carli, which we don't get to see often.

waiting to board the wagons

We got our ticket when we arrived  and watched the prairie dogs at the picnic area.  They were cute and Carli laughed at them.  Then we headed to the horse barn to load one of the wagons.  Joe, Carli, and Ashlyn sat on the outside seats of the wagon and I sat in the middle so I would be able to get better pictures.  We got going and right inside the gate was a HUGE ostrich that was so fun to watch.  He knew we had food and wanted it.  As we were watching him on the other side of the wagon, we were surprised when a different type of animal (some type of cow) poked his head under the seat of the wagon, spilling one of the buckets of food.  All of us screamed and Ashlyn jumped into the seat.  We laughed and grabbed the buckets before we lost all of the food.

 

After leaving the entrance, we came upon Carli's favorite African animal, the zebra. We were so close to them, but unable to feed them due to the fact they are very dangerous because they bite with sharp teeth. They are so gorgeous!

 

Next up were all type of deer from various areas.  We saw a mother feeding her baby and feed some type of white deer.  Carli wouldn't stretch out her hand to feed them, but instead just threw the food onto the ground for them.  We thought this was odd since she enjoyed feeding them so much at the Spring Folly a few months ago.  Maybe it was because they were so aggressive or because the first ones were so big.  But she was happy to just throw them food.

 

In this area, we also saw water buffalo.  There were several in a large pond almost completely submerged, but there were a few who wanted to be fed.  Carli laughed and laughed at one that had Joe feeding it over and over.  He just opened his mouth and waited for you to throw the food inside.  There were also beautiful white deer with horns that felt like velvet.

Around the next corner was the giraffe.  Carli was so excited.  There were several in the fence and they were so tall.  One giraffe was pregnant, expecting to give birth any day.  Carli was fascinated to see the LONG tongues grab the food from the buckets.

Then we saw a rhino.  That animal was enormous!  He eats over 50 pounds of straw a day.  With all that weight on him (about 5000 pounds), our driver said he could still run over 30 mph if he needed to.

Next was some type of gentle animal that looked like a goat.  This was the closest Carli got to feeding one.  She would take the food from the bucket and give it to Joe to feed.

 

 

I think the cows from India were probably the funniest animal we saw all day.  One even came charging to the wagon to get food.  They had really long tongues which they stuck out to get food.  They hooked the end up and let you drop it into their mouth.  One kept "begging" Joe for food so much we thought it was going to lick his arm.  We laughed and made cow faces after the day was over.

 

 

After the wagon ride, we walked through the area which had some more animals to view.  We saw a lemur, several types of birds, camels, and donkeys.  As I was taking the picture of the camels I kept saying, "Don't spit on me."  I was so afraid it would.

 

 

 

After a quick picnic lunch, the girls got the wiggles out on the playground.  Then we headed home.  We were exhausted, but had a great time!

 

Potty Training & Just Three Year Old Fun

Carli has been doing very well with the potty training.  It has been rough!  She would do it at school, but wouldn't do it at home.  After talking to one of the teachers, she suggested getting Carli a "prize box" to go when she is successful.  So off to the Dollar Store and Target's Dollar Spot to get things for her I went.

Carli was very excited about the box, at first.  We tried having her go to the potty for three straight days and then she would get a prize.  It worked.  Then it didn't work.  After two weeks of not working, we reworked the plan.  Instead of having to go three days in a row, we tried just three days.  That worked.  Finally!  She still had accidents, but it was getting better.  Now (knock on wood) she is going most days with no accidents.  We still have the prize box because it is working (and we still have stuff inside).

Tonight, Carli got bubbles and had a blast playing with Daddy on the lawn.  Even the neighbor's cat decided she wanted to play.

bringing Mommy a flower

Happy Fourth of July

On the third of July, Carli's preschool had a parade.  Carli was right there up front with Mrs. Debby shaking her shaker.  Due to the rain, it had to be held inside, but the kids didn't care.  There were even popsicles after the parade.

On the Fourth, Carli woke up with an upset tummy.  We hoped and prayed that she would be feeling better so she could go to the fireworks.  We had been talking about them all week and she was so excited.  After a puny morning, she felt better (and hungry) after her nap. 

We met friends at the Lowes parking lot to watch the fireworks.  Carli and Rory played together for just over an hour waiting for dark.  Carli danced and ran around.  She had a blast!

 

 

Vacation Bible School

Kingdom Rock Bible School hit Morris Chapel this week.  Joe did the recreation and Elaine took pictures of the kingdom!  The best part was being able to take pictures of Carli in all her fun.  While she loved having all the fun, she was worn out by the end of the nights!  Be prepared to see a lot of pictures!



She wanted to join the big group so bad...

The mission project for the week was collecting food for the food pantry at our church.  This is a picture of Carli giving "Sally", the mascot, some of her donations.

"helping" the teachers teach the song"

actually doing what she is supposed to do

making her crown

Princess Carli

 Thursday night, the group performed the four songs they learned for the parents.  Carli did sing and perform for a few minutes, but then began to run back and forth.  She was crazy!

actually helping the group perform

 After VBS on Thursday night, the Walkertown fire dept. brought their ladder truck and sprayed water down on the crowd.  Carli loved it and had to be taken away long before she wanted to leave!

 

Carli actually doing the music...for a few seconds...

Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day 2013 has been awesome!

In preschool, Carli painted a rock for Joe that says "My Dad Rocks".  Joe loved it.  She was so proud to give it to him along with the card and poem she also made.

At church, the Sunshine Choir sang "Jesus Loves Me".  Usually Carli just stands there and looks around.  Today, Carli actually sang!!  She loves "Jesus Loves Me" and sings it around the house all the time.  I told her several times to sing and mommy would be recording her.  Joe and I were so proud of her!

After church, we went to lunch with Poppie.  Carli had so much fun playing with him.  She even tried to share her lemon with him, but he didn't want any for some reason.

Dancing to her own song

Singing to Poppie

After naptime, we were headed to Grandma and PawPaw's to visit.  But before we could get there, Kyle called and invited all of us over for hot dogs.  So we headed over for an impromptu cookout with the Laws clan.  Carli wanted in that pool so BAD but we didn't have our suits.  She had a blast anyway.

She loves her cousin, Hunter!

tea party with Mere

would have nothing to do with PawPaw

The Laws men