The beach!

We went to the beach the 3rd week in July with our families. Blan enjoyed his first real dip in the ocean with Momma and Daddy. It was a great time, but he was more into the pool by the middle of the week -- no sand.

What is it with running from the waves?

I can remember doing this as a child, myself.

Grammie and Mr. B.

Pooped.

Daddy and Pop took Blan to the Fort Fisher Aquarium one afternoon.

Blessed.

The Butterfly Exhibit and the Lazy 5 Ranch

Wow. We have had a busy month! These are some photos from two of our recent "field trips." There is a great science and art museum in Hickory that we frequent. They opened up a wonderful butterfly exhibit recently and Blan went through it 3 times on this particular day. They spray your hands with nectar and encourage you to lure in the butterflies. Our sweet friend, Lilly, would have loved it! Maybe a trip to Hickory is in order soon, Carrie? It made us miss y'all and our museum days in Raleigh.

A few days later, Aaron and I took Blan to the Lazy 5 Ranch near Mooresville. This was a real hoot! You can either drive the 3 miles of road through the acres and acres of refuge or take the horse drawn wagon. It was our first time and we decided it best to take comfort in our vehicle (plus, it was about $15 cheaper). It was crazy! There were zebras, giraffes, rhinos, antelopes and other animals I couldn't name. Llamas, deer, emus, ostrich, steer, pot bellied pigs and many more non-domestic types come right up to our car window for a serious feeding. We have never laughed so hard. We were nearly scared to death by a very large, very sneaky, black llama with horrible table manners. Blan told us over and over again, "That llama is freaking me out!" But, his favorite quote of the day was "Save the drama for your llama!!!" I highly recommend the Lazy 5. http://www.lazy5ranch.com/

We seriously thought the car was going to get "horned" by this monster!

That is us feeding an apparently very hungry (and greedy) emu.

Playing on the playground at Lazy 5.

Happy Fourth of July!

We celebrated our nation's birthday with a festive day at the lake! Rick and Jackie's neighbor bought $3000 in outlawed fireworks and provided us with quite the show. Blan was in awe, but could have lived without the noise.

Blan and his Mimi.