Special Trip for Holly

So, last night we took Holly out for a special shopping trip...

'Why?' you ask....

Hmmm.... Still not sure?

Yep.... you read that right!!! I promise! We are about 6 weeks along, so early but expecting! And, we are beyond thrilled!

So, last night we decided to share out news with Holly as we really wanted her to be the first to know. And, Holly -- was ECSTATIC! She was so happy, smiley and excited. She had a million and one questions. She is ready to shop, plan, teach, play and help with a new little baby sister or brother. Which by the way, Holly is certain it will be a girl, LOL!

Bryan, doing things in the Bryan fashion, wanted to draw it out for her... so here he slowly starts with our family -

The papa...
The mama...Little Holly...
And, wait... "who is that?"

Oh.... I get it!!!

This is the *best* photo to me... she really was so happy and excited! After she got out a few big questions and happiness, she then proceeded to tell me she couldn't wait to 'hug' the baby when it comes... like this:

To celebrate with Holly we took her shopping at Babies R Us so that she could pick something special for the upcoming baby. She was thrilled! And, ready to furnish an entire nursery - seriously... she wanted to get it all now :) Very sweet! Holly settled on two special items that are actually things she found very special to her as a baby -- a soft 'blankie' and 'paci' like she had as a baby.

It was a very special evening. We are absolutely excited and are looking forward to our new memories.

Oh, and for the curious - we are not slated to head to the doctor for a couple more weeks... just how things are. However, when we calculated the due date online it is for February 14, 2010! *too sweet*

*Splash*

Last night while we were out working in Holly's little exploration garden, watering & weeding, I walked past the frog bog.... and heard a small *splash*. The noise caught me off guard. Hunkering down to take a peek into the little bog we discovered a green frog. An itty bitty green frog!!! He has a itsy bit of tail left, other than that he is a full blown frog now.

This morning I peeked out again to see him sitting up on the rock in the center. We did it!!! Our very first attempt at a little frog bog was successful. We do still have a couple of other little 'tadpoles' with legs who are forming, but will soon be on a journey as a little green friend as well. I am hoping they will stay in the area and that over time our little bog will naturally attract the little guys.

Now I am working with Holly to walk light footed and be aware around the bog as those little guys will be venturing away from the water soon. A whole new lesson to be learned - but one that is well worth it! We could not be happier to have success in our exploration garden!

Penrose Point~ Beach Combing & Hiking

This past weekend we camped for the first time at Penrose Point State Park and had a wonderful time! The park is really nice, was not overly crowded at all, had a really nice family friendly trail system, incredible beaches to explore and was completely worth camping at!

We arrived Friday and set up camp, explored the campground some and took a small hike. Saturday morning was the beginning of low tide - so we walked and explored the beach for about an hour then took a couple mile trail hike to check out Penrose Point - really pretty area! The afternoon was enjoyed with the company of our friends the Seaburgs. The girls really enjoyed exploring the beach for a couple hours, attempting to nap together (aka - giggle fest) and then we did some more beach play before they headed out for the day. Sunday we went for another long hike and then hit the beach for another round of beach exploration at low tide. This time we took the long sand bar out to the very end and we found sea stars of all colors, moon snails galore, sea creatures of all shapes and sizes, crabs, birds and more. It was amazing!!!

Snake Lake

This morning we met up with some friends to enjoy the nature trails at Snake Lake. The kids were all busy looking for bugs, signs of animals, turtles and frogs... overall we found many of these items. The hardest part is getting all the little ones to slow down long enough to truly look. I had to remind Holly that 'it is not the destination, but the journey'. Holly really enjoyed her morning of exploration with her buddies and found many great treasures.

This is one of two turtles we spotted in the pond.The girls are all checking out a caterpillar, taking turns nicely with him.And, of course there were tons of beautiful sounding birds to be heard... not seen so much. There were some school groups on top of our group of kiddos... making for a noisier than normal park I am sure - keeping many critters at bay.

Lately Holly has really taken sweetly to buttercups. Our yard has several buttercups to enjoy. Her Aunt Blayne has taught the fun tale as a child that if you hold it below your chin and see yellow then you like butter. So now Holly collects tons of buttercups and brings them to over to check and see our butter preferences.

Well, last weekend when we were heading out to the chicken farm we passed several farm properties that were literally fields of buttercups... as far as the eye could see. Holly was really enjoying them. She then mentioned how she would just love to run through an entire field of buttercups one day... and how 'grand' that would be! Such simple dreams when you are four - you've gotta love it!

Anyhow... I couldn't pass up these little photos in a small patch of buttercups at the pond today - they are too sweet of her!

Wordless Wednesday

For the birds....

The past few days have been loaded with outing including birds! Saturday we visited a local chicken farm with our friends - learned about farming chickens, eggs, local history and more. Not sure if I feel inclined to eat more chicken and eggs or avoid them all together... think I'll give it a bit. Either way, it was very educational and so rare that a child sees where their foods come from. So, a good time!
Last night we had a picnic at the park, took a walk around the local pond, spotted an eagle and fed the ducks. It was a really nice and enjoyable evening!


The eagle giving all the birds a frenzy. Bryan said it looked like he had a duck carcass...


Feeding the ducks with Auntie Sue.. All of the smaller ones are babies, super cute!

Weekend Fun

We spent the weekend over at Anderson Island to visit with Grandpa Hawk, take in the serene slowed down life it the island has to offer, enjoy some local sites and play in the water. Saturday afternoon we headed over to the island farm to explore. While there Holly enjoyed a grass maze, which was perfect height for her to venture out into and have some fun. We checked out a bunch of old farm buildings and rusty ol' equipment, took a small nature trail to see the few ponds on the property and checked out the chickens and gardens. Sunday morning we started out morning out at the island fire station pancake breakfast. This is a nice little community event with pretty good pancakes, you get to eat breakfast inside the fire station, see all the cool equipment, meet fire men, and best of all - personalized tours of the fire engines.... can't beat that! Only in a small town!

Holly also spent a long time out enjoying her new sprinkler toy. The sun was just warm enough to truly enjoy some early season water play. The afternoon was filled with Daddy, Grandpa Hawk and me attempting to get Holly wet... not sure who won that one. But we all had a nice time and I picked up some great shots of Holly enjoying the water.

The weekend was finished with a special dessert and drink down at the restaurant and some quick fishing on the dock! A wonderful, fun filled weekend 'for sure, for sure'!!!