Miss Priss...

Reece was playing dress up today.  She kept coming downstairs asking me to zip this, tie this, do this, and she finally came down looking like this.  She is wearing an old velvet Christmas dress with a PJ tank top over it, clip on earrings, princess high heels and a Chick-fil-A cow bandanna.  Not quite sure what she is but she has quite the imagination and personality!!!  Too bad I already bought her Halloween costume.   

 Reece giving a silly pose.

Mommy told her to pose and this is what she did, such a priss!!

If We Visit Charlotte We Must See Race Shops...

After visiting the Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville, we headed to Penske Racing Shop that was only a few minutes away.  Everytime we go near Charlotte we have to stop at race shops.  I hate to admit I stopped at Penske since I despise Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski but it was an amazing shop.  There is a huge balcony overlooking the shop where they work on the cars.  Unfortunately, it was Friday around 4:00 pm so there was not much going on.  They were wrapping up and getting ready to leave.  After we visited Penske, we headed to JR Motorsports (Dale Jr.'s Nationwide shop).  It was small and not very impressive.  We did not take any photos there.  We finished off our day at our favorite hotdog place in Burlington, Zack's Hotdogs.   



Lazy 5 Ranch....

Regan and Riley had fall break this past week.  They had Thursday, Friday and Monday off.  It was very nice to sleep in, do some fun things and not have a schedule.  We enjoyed our family time and rest.  On Friday, Tony took off work and we drove down to Mooresville, NC (right outside Charlotte) to visit Lazy 5 Ranch.  We had heard great things about this place and we have been wanting to go for quite a while.  It is a ranch full of exotic animals and you can either drive through with your car or you can take a 1 hr. wagon ride.  Since I recently had an encounter with a buck while driving my van, we decided to take the wagon ride.  We got to see all kinds of animals upclose and personal, sometimes too personal, like when the water buffalo starting licking the food off the floor of the wagon and then starting licking our shoes.  And another instance where Riley gave a Llama a mouth full of food and then it sneezed all over me. Ughhh...  The highlight of the trip was seeing a baby giraffe and getting to feed it a bottle.  Reece was full of excitement that she got to be that close to a baby giraffe and that she got to pet it.  The ranch also had some fall fun with a hay maze and corn pit you could play in.  The girls enjoyed racing through the hay maze and burying each other in the corn.  After playing in the corn pit, we found corn in our shoes, socks, shirts and Regan even found a kernel in her ear.  Yikes!  It was a fun day and the girls did very well with all the animals.  

The entrance of the Lazy 5 Ranch where you can drive your car through

A very funny Macaw

This Macaw would say "hello," "goodbye," and would wave when you put your hand up

Check out the Macaw's right claw, he is waving when I put my hand up

A beautiful peacock

This is the precious baby giraffe that was born in February. 

Riley and Mommy feeding the giraffe a bottle.

Waiting for our horse drawn wagon ride

The girls are very excited about feeding the animals

Reece feeding a Llama.  She said it tickled her hand.

Regan has a turn feeding the Llama

And Riley has a turn too.

Anymore food??

There were baby piglets running around everywhere.  They were so cute.

Regan feeding a baby water buffalo

And a not so young water buffalo...

Check out the tongue on this water buffalo.  This is the one that was trying to lick our shoes.

Any food for me??

Reece and Mommy feeding the giraffe.  We stood up in the wagon and were almost as tall as the giraffe.  Reece thought it was cool to be this close to a giraffe.  We wanted to take it home with us but daddy did not let us.

We saw Kangaroos and thought of Aunt Kate.

Reece and Riley feeding the goats.

Reece feeding a Ram.

Reece wanted to go back and feed the baby giraffe her leftover food from the wagon ride. 

The girls petting the baby giraffe, it was very soft.

Reece trying to find her way through the hay maze.

Daddy waiting at the exit trying to scare the girls. 

Riley enjoying the corn pit.

Reece burying Riley.

Where is Regan's legs?

Happy 13th Anniversary!!!

Tony and I's 13th Wedding Anniversary is today.  It has been a GREAT 13 years filled with wonderful memories, lots of happiness, lots of laughter, and lots of love.  Tony, I am so blessed to have you as my husband and I look forward to growing old with you!  You complete me!!!!! :)  We had a wonderful weekend celebrating together.  The girls spent the night with the Carlson's so we had the night to ourselves.  We went to dinner at Tobacco Road Restaurant which is in the outfield of the Durham Bulls Ballpark.  We sat on the patio and watched batting practice while we ate.  It was really neat and there were lots of home run balls coming up on the patio.  Unfortunately, we were not one of the lucky ones to have a homerun ball land on our table.  Along with the great atmosphere and good company, the food was really good too.  I ate way too much!  After dinner, we headed to the Durham Bulls game.  The Bulls were down 2-1 in the championship against the Columbus Clippers.  We were hoping the Bulls would tie it up that night but unfortunately that was not the case.  The Bulls lost 13-2.  It was an ugly game.  We left at the 7th inning (it was 10-2 at that point) and walked around the American Tobacco District which is so pretty at night.  Then, we went on a quest for a dessert place.  We found out that most dessert places in Durham close at 9 pm on Friday nights.  We drove all over Durham and finally decided to stop at Harris Teeter and get a cookie cake.  It was a very fun night.  The next morning, we slept in and then went for an 8 mile run on the southern Tobacco Trail.  I have to say we actually enjoyed it.  I know that sounds crazy but it was a beautiful morning, the trail is pretty and it was fun to accomplish a big feat together.  This was the longest either of us has run in quite a while.  We joked about running 13 miles for our 13 Anniversary but that did not happen.  After our run, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed to get the kiddos.  Our fun weekend did not end there.  We got to take a long nap on Saturday afternoon and then we headed out to Orange County Speedway for some racing.  The girls and I had told Tony on Father's Day that his gift from us was a trip to O.C.S.  But, the summer was so busy we never got a chance to go.  So, we finally went and we had such a great night.  The weather was perfect, actually a bit chilly, and the races were filled with cautions which is what I like.  The only problem with a lot of cautions is that we did not get home until 11:30 pm.  But, the kids did great and really enjoyed themselves.  I think all the snacks we brought helped!!!  Regan really got into it and asked Tony to go sit along the fence with her.  They got to witness a wreck along the wall right down from where they were sitting.  I was thankful it was not right in front of them.  It was a fun night!  We ended our weekend with a great day at church and sleeping a lot on Sunday.  It was a wonderful weekend celebrating and I am so thankful for Tony and my girls. 

Here is the cookie cake Tony and I bought and then decorated with more icing.

Riley and Reece went on the track before the race with Daddy.  The driver of this car offered to let them sit in the driver's seat but they declined!  This car ended up winning it's race and we told the girls they could have sat in the winner's seat!!! 

Racing, ear muffs, and starbursts what more could a kid ask for??

Regan and Daddy enjoying their view by the fence.  I love this photo!!!

Wreck!!!

Reece having fun playing in the bleachers.  She enjoyed going up and down them.

Really LOVE this photo.  Daddy and all his future racing buddies...