Ft Wayne Zoo

A few days before leaving for our cruise vacation, I met up with my sister and her three daughters for a day at the Ft. Wayne Zoo.  Surprisingly, Ft. Wayne is almost the same distance for her and I to travel.  So it makes for a perfect day spot!

I arrived at the zoo like five minutes ahead of them.  Even though the parking lot (which there are like 5 at the zoo) was filling up, she was able to snag the spot right next to my car - very convenient!  We then made our way to the entrance and started our zoo adventure.

The Ft. Wayne Zoo is set up in 3 loops.  We choose to do a smaller one first since we knew lunch would be right around the corner.  We first caught the seal show and then headed for the Australia area.  We got to see the Great Barrier Reef Aquarium, Bat building, and lots of Kangaroos.  We even got to see a momma kangaroo with a "baby" still in her pouch!  The baby was so big the mom could barely walk, so she just laid around with baby in her pouch.

(Gabbie posing as a baby Joey.  We tried to convince all 3 girls to crawl in the pouch.  Emily and Allie attempted, but then there was a freakout that they'd get stuck and decided to do individual pictures instead.)

We left the zoo and found a picnic table outside to eat our lunch.  The car was nearby, so I stayed with the girls while Amber went and got the food from the car.  After lunch, we cleaned up our picnic and headed back into the zoo (free re-admission with receipt) to see more animals.  Next we headed through the Indonesian Rain Forest loop.  We went through the rainforest research station, jungle dome aviary, and walked along an elevated wood walkway where we saw toucans and gibbons (there was a baby which is a very rare occurrence!).

(The girls enjoyed taking pictures at each animal statue we found around the zoo.  It is a rare occurrence that all three girls cooperated for 1 picture, and they did it several times!)

(Taking a break under the waterfall in the jungle dome aviary. I can't get over how big Emily is!)

After the Indonesian loop, we hit the last loop -- the African Journey.  The girls were pretty psyched about feeding the giraffes, it's what we heard about all day.  The African loop was in the sun and it was very hot by the afternoon.  We were beginning to think we'd never find the giraffes, but we finally found them along with the zebras and ostriches.

(The giraffe licked Allie's finger as she grabbed for the lettuce!)

(Look who's hatching out of dinosaur eggs!)

Once the girls' dreams of feeding the giraffes was achieved, we went in search of a water fountain play area for the girls to cool off at.  The zoo had a little tiny fountain that was packed with kids.  The girls didn't care about the size of the play area, and enjoyed running around splashing each other (and the other kids, too!).  By this time, it was about time for the zoo to close up and us to head home.  After some water fountain fun, we got a quick snack at a nearby station and then headed to the gift shop.  No zoo trip is complete with a gift shop stop!  After a semi-painless shopping trip, the girls left with suckers, little animals, and peacock feathers (Did I mention the amount of roaming peacocks in the zoo?!  We joked that the peacocks had escaped their cages, but apparently they had none!).  We said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways.

(Thanks to their brilliant aunt's suggestion -- the girls were prepared for the fountain by having their suits under their clothes all day.  Then Amber brought a change of clothes for after the water play.)

What a fun day at the zoo!

Hard Work in the Yard

Even though I am the primary mower of the yard, the yard tends to fall more under Steve's department.  At the beginning of spring, he did all the research on what applications our yard will need.  He even went ahead and purchased all the correct formulas for the entire summer (thanks Menard's rebates!).

The biggest issue we had with the yard this year were dandelions!  They were everywhere!  After 2 applications of weed & feed, the dandelions have finally disappeared.  And another issue we had to hurdle - the motor on our mower went out!  Last year, Steve winterized it (burned out the gas, drained the oil, etc).  This year, he sharpened the blade, put in new oil, put in the gas, and . . . it wouldn't work.  The motor was all locked up.  After calling my dad for advice and research, it was decided a new mower was needed.

We decided that we'd put a little more investment into this mower (the old one was purchased on a whim in TN and we went with the cheapest model).  This new mower is rear-wheel drive and is self-propelled. I think it has shaved some of the time off mowing the yard (maybe because it's bigger and moves quicker).  Now that I'm in my 2nd trimester, I still mow the front yard which is relatively flat.  While Steve mows the side and back yards which are hilly and have ruts in them.  We'll keep up this deal until I feel like I can't mow the front anymore.  But honestly, with the self-propelled, all I feel like I'm doing is walking around with the mower.

Here are some pre-treatment and post-treatment shots of the yard!

Before the Weed & Feed:

(Backyard is mainly weeds -- always has been.)

(This picture is after the first round of weed & feed, but before the second round which finally got rid of all the dandelions.)

(More of those wonderful dandelions next to the garage.)

After the Weed & Feed:

(Back yard weeds have finally been tamed and it looks more like a yard.)

(We need to mulch under the trees, but no more dandelions! This is the same section as the 2nd picture in the "before" section.)

(Front yard -- no more dandelions or jungle look!)

(Don't be deceived by the old mower in the background and the new mower in the foreground -- our new red mower is a beast compared to the puny old one.  I'm just thankful for the self-propelled feature and having a mower again!)

Baby Productivity

This past weekend turned into a very productive baby weekend!  It wasn't in the plan for the weekend, but opportunities kept popping up that turned into baby weekend.

Saturday morning we decided to go to a neighborhood that promised a big garage sale.  We kept going back and forth on going (since we should have been working on the yard and preparing for vacation) but decided it wouldn't hurt to go check it out.  When we got to the neighborhood, we realized it was quite the deal.  There were traffic directors forcing the flow of traffic to do a one way loop through the neighborhood. We would find a spot, park, walk around a little, get back in the car, drive a little, find a new spot, & repeat.  We spent way too long there, but found some good baby deals!

While we were browsing the sales, we discovered baby clothes were a popular item.  After explaining to Steve how Bean will fit certain months at certain times of the year and what clothes to look for, we were on our way.  By the end of the sales, we'd spent less than $10 and got 8 outfits -- win!  In between sales, I realized that these clothes were the first items that we've bought for baby!  My mom has been buying things (since before I knew I was pregnant) and we've had friends send gifts, too; but this was the first things that we've specifically bought knowing our baby girl would wear them.  Pretty crazy!

(Clothes for Baby Bean!  It seems unreal that she will soon be wearing these clothes - they seem so big!  We chose items ranging from newborn to 6 months.  We are excited to meet her and see whether she'll be a little baby or a big baby!)

Saturday night, we decided it was time to go through all the nursery decor options we'd found online and finally pick a set.  We started with over 20 options and kept weeding it down.  Our system involved a spread sheet with all the links (and comments added by both of us).  Then one at a time, we'd go through and rank the options separately (we'd hide each others' ranks so we could rank freely).  We'd then go through the list together and axe all the lower ranked options.  Most of the time my top picks were Steve's lower picks and vice versa.

At the end of the night, we stopped with a "top 5 list".  Right before heading to bed, Steve found one of our middle picks (remember, my #1 was his #5, so the middle picks were our compromises) on a craigslist ad.  He sent an inquiry email and we headed to bed.  The next morning, we discovered that the Pottery Barn set we could compromise on was for sale in Cincinnati for a great price!  After church, we ate a quick lunch then headed to Cincinnati to pick up our new bedding!

We felt out of place pulling up in Ruby (our old Honda) to a house that we estimated was easily $400,000 - haha! After we made our purchase, we headed to celebrate at our favorite Cincinnati restaurant -- Dewey's Pizza!  After eating, we hit our other favorite Cincinnati spot - Ikea - where we went baby crazy!  We found some bird pictures, decals, a shelf, and a new light for the nursery.  We got great deals on it all and feel like after painting the nursery, we are set with the decor!

(Nursery decor!  The theme is birds -- have I told you how much Steve loves birds?!  The Pottery Barn bedding set we bought came with bumper pad, quilt, crib skirt, 2 crib sheets.  Brand new would have been $350+, we got it for $120 in great condition!  And check out that Bird picture we bought from Ikea.  Matches the set perfectly! We also have other little bird photos that match, but you'll have to wait for the nursery to be done to see everything!)

(Bonus photo: At 22 weeks - in this photo from last week - I'm looking the way I feel - very pregnant!)

Good Times in Tennessee

Last week, we got to return to our old home state of Tennessee for business & fun.  It just happened to work out that Steve needed to do some equipment testing in Knoxville the same week we had planned to visit dear friends in Gatlinburg for the weekend.

We headed out of Lima on Wednesday afternoon.  Steve was able to take a half day (counting the other half as travel for work).  We picked up a rental car from in town (which was a fiasco because we showed up a little later than we said we'd be there) and went on our way South.  Halfway there, we stopped at a rest stop and switched drivers.  I was on the lookout for a food stop while Steve slept; however, we ended up in an area where there weren't many options.  I toughed it out for as long as I could when we spotted a Chik-fil-A - score!  Steve resumed driving and we got to the hotel around 9.

While Steve was testing equipment, I stayed back at the hotel and entertained myself.  I brought along a blanket project that needed to be finished up before we met up with our friends.  Luckily, I finished it that night!  Steve got off work in the early evening.  We then headed out on a driving tour around Knoxville.  Only problem was that the first stop was to pick up the tour from a visitor's center.  Online it said it was open til 6; however, it was closed when we got there at 5:03.  The sign on the door said closes at 5.  Good thing we have data plans and the amazing internet.  We were able to find an abridged version of the tour and went on our way.

The tour mostly consisted of stopping at sites (stops ranged from an old house that a general used as headquarters to a hill with a new church built on it).  We looked through the list and weeded out the "at this spot" stops and tried to find things still in existence.  We found a little lookout that used to have a fort on it, but only the boundary lines remained.  I was getting hungry and tired of the civil war stops, so we returned back to civilization and ate dinner at P.F. Changes - yum!

(Walking around the boundary line of the "once was" fort)

Friday morning, we met up with our friends at a mall nearby our hotel.  I needed to get my 6 month ring cleaning (to keep up the warranty) and it just so happened that our friends needed to go to the same mall to pick up a tux for the wedding they were attending.  After a not so organized departure from the hotel, we met up with our dear friends Jake, Jennifer, & their new little additions Kate & Henry!

Jake and Steve used to work together at Pringles, leaving Jennifer and I to hang out together! We usually would try to all meet up for lunch every other week.  After lunch, the men would return to work, while Jennifer & I returned to my house to hang out (anywhere from mindless television watching, to coupon trading, to endless talks).  They left TN just before we did.  For a few months, we actually used their house as a pitstop along our route to IN & OH.  In fact, we stayed with them the night we moved out of TN and headed to our new house in OH  -- meaning, we hadn't seen them since December of 2012 -- too long!!

Okay, back to the TN trip.  While at the mall, we got to meet their two new adorable children Kate (10 months) & Henry (4 months).  We sat with them for awhile until they had to head off to meet other friends.  Steve and I went ahead and travelled towards Gatlinburg.  They'd catch back up with us on Saturday evening in Gatlinburg after all of their wedding festivities (which was what brought them back to TN).

Friday night and Saturday were spent visiting different motor trails around Gatlinburg and waiting to meet back up with our friends.  We were going to attempt a hike, but realized the one Steve had planned, we had already done!  Plus it was pretty crowded and it would have been quite the hike from the car to the trail.  So we ended up finding a nearby park to relax at instead.  Once it got closer to "check in time", we headed towards the cabin that Jennifer found for us to stay at for the rest of the weekend.  We tried GPSing to the cabin, but soon found ourselves on a one-way loop on a hill in the middle of nowhere.  (Again, thank God for cell phones, internet, & data plans!)  Steve was able to pull up the original map sent by the owner and discovered we were a little off.  We had to "old school" map it - meaning no GPS, but just looking at the map on our phone!

(That tank top is deceiving and hiding quite the large baby bump.  You'll have to wait for another pregnancy update to see how big that bump is now!)

(Nature shot by Steve)

Once we got to the cabin, the combination for the door wouldn't work.  Luckily, the guy who mows the lawn just happened to show up and remembered there was a little trick to opening the door -- thanks lawn mower!  After relaxing a little bit, we got ready and headed out to meet up with Jake & Jennifer at one of our favorite places near Gatlinburg - Apple Barn Cider Mill -- yummy!!

Sunday was our only full day with our friends.  Sadly, Sunday was also marked with the worst weather -- rain nearly all day.  We didn't let that stop us, though!  After purchasing rain gear at a Family Dollar, we headed into downtown Gatlinburg for the afternoon.  We first stopped to eat at the Smokey Mountain Brewery.  Once we decided the rain was as light as it was going to get, we donned our rain gear (Jake & Jennifer donned their baby carriers & loaded up the babies) and we went along our way to browse the shops.  We stopped at a couple candy stores -- fudge was purchased at one -- and wood & clock shops.  After the candy was purchased, we decided we were done with the rain and headed back to the cabin.

The afternoon and evening were spent just hanging out, catching up, and lots of baby snuggling!  Jake & Jennifer joked that our time together was a baby boot camp for Steve & I.  We thoroughly enjoyed it!  It just made us both more excited for snuggles and caring for our own little Babycakes.  Their little boot camp was so enjoyable because they have 2 great kids!  Kate has quite the personality and can be dramatic at times, but you always know what she's wanting out of her antics.  Sweet little Henry was just completely chill and just went with the flow.  They have their hands full with these two cuties, but what a blessing they are!

(Steve learning how easy it is to rock a baby to sleep.  I think he rocked himself to sleep in the process.)

(Steve had his fill with Kate snuggles, so I stole her from him while she was still sleeping.)

(While Steve and I split cuddles with Kate, Henry got to nap in peace with his momma!  Kate is pretty demanding of her mom's time so I'm sure Henry appreciated the one on one without having to fight Kate off!)

(After nearly 2 years of close friendship, we finally have a picture to prove it!  As I went through the photos and posted them, I realized there are no pictures with Jake in them!  I guess that means we will have to get together again soon so that Jake and Steve can have their first photo together as well as a photo of all three babies together!  It's so crazy to think of how big their family has grown and how we are soon too follow! Absolutely love these people!)

Jake and Jennifer had to leave early Monday morning (by early, I mean by 4am!) to catch their flight back home.  Steve and I left around 8:30 to start our long trek home.  Okay, I guess our trek wasn't that long, only a 7 hour drive home.  However, once we got home, I turned around and headed to IN for the night!  Timing wasn't the best, but I went on a field trip with my favorite teacher Mrs. B to Chicago on Tuesday.  It's the same field trip I've been on with her in the past.  This was the last Chicago trip and I just knew I had to go on it with her.  I had a blast and our Knight even won at the Medieval Times dinner show.   I returned home to OH on Wednesday.  Being home never felt so good!  Although, no lounging and recuperating for this girl -- I have a pretty tight schedule from now until cruise time.  Lots to get done!

(Obligatory Ferris Wheel ride on Navy Pier.  This was after the art museum and 1.5 mile walk to the pier, but before the ice cream and Medieval Times dinner show.)