Best. Zoo. Day. Ever.

The other day we went to the zoo, and we saw every baby in the place! All the ones that have been in hiding, or in the nursery were out and about. And the weather was perfect to boot! Unfortunately I didn't get very many baby pictures for various reasons - distance, or people, or just Natalie needing my full attention.

We got to see the four baby amur (Siberian) tiger cubs playing around and on their mother (I could have watched these cuties all day, but the kids were getting bored), and the baby orangutan cuddled in his mom's arms. We saw the baby flamingo chick, one of the the maned wolf cubs, and we finally saw the sea lion pup, which has been high on Natalie's wish list for a while! And a number of the other animals were very active for us. One of the polar bears was swimming inches away from us behind glass, and chewing on a bone, and the sea otters (also behind non-photogenic glass), were practicing backwards dives.

This monkey was sticking his tongue out at us.

We caught the grand finale of the seal demo and then they directed us to where the baby sea lion and her mom were hanging out. Natalie was so excited to see the sea lion cub, Ady... her mom had just gone in, and we got to watch her sun for a bit, then jump in, swim around, and "trot" inside to her mother. Then we heard their barking to each other. Natalie thought this was great.
And to finish it all off, we rode the conservation carousel, got some ice cream, and caught the end of the pachyderm demonstration!
Natalie chose the cassowary to to ride on. I only know this because it is printed at the top of the bird's carousel post.

House update

Once again, my picture is a bit behind the actual house status. The only real difference from this shot and the current version is that now the front porch has been poured. Inside there is currently completed wiring and plumbing. Drywall begins next week. Then we're told it's sixty days 'till move in! That puts us in the house about a week after the baby's due date. Oof. It's going to be one crazy place here when that baby comes along.

Last day of Summer

So I know officially, the last day of Summer was today, but it really felt like the last day on Labor day. That's the last day the outdoor pools are open around here, so we took advantage of the one in my mom's neighborhood.

Nat put on her little swim cover-up we bought in Mexico, and did a dance for us. I'm afraid she's going to have my rhythm and dance skills - all of her dancing has so far resolved into some form of the chicken dance.
She loves to jump into the pool with her noodle, and without. Though if she's without the noodle the catcher has to be ready for a face full of water from her all out belly flopping style.

It was actually pretty darn chilly outside of the water that day. It would have been a sunny day, except it was the first, and windiest day of the Four Mile Fire in Boulder and the huge smoke cloud blocked the sun out.
We had fun though. You can see a little flake of black ash on Natalie's cheek in this picture.
And lots more on this self portrait of my DH's tummy.

random cute

Some of these go a ways back to when we were still in the old house, but they really should be shared. after frosting cupcakes...
Enjoying her usual cheese stick after a visit to Vitamin Cottage.
At Lamar's donuts. Notice how Natalie ate all the frosting off of her donut. She was done after that.
Launching balls and paper wads at Nan and Grandpa's.


And not so cute, but she thought my mascara was lipstick - goes to show how often she's seen me put on mascara.
And this is just cute because it's how she plays. Each of her dollhouse dolls wanted to read their own magazine.

stuffing face

Sometimes Natalie is a good eater.... she definitely likes her proteins. Here she is gnawing on a chicken wing... She likes her meat on the bone when possible. It gives her a little more to do I guess. (the thing in front is a BBQ'd stuffed cabbage... it was worth a try but not really worth the effort.)
First crab legs.... She liked these, but not nearly as much as I did.

And a shot of banana bread in the teeth.
I just like this shot because it shows how skinny and long her legs are getting. She's also a bit knock kneed like I've always been. Oh well.... no one's perfect. Not even Natalie.

going up

Once they started it, the framing for the house went up very quickly! It took the builders about three days from bottom floor to roof. It was so fun to go by and see the house take shape.

From the front.

From the back.
A day later from upstairs, our bedroom window.
Natalie checking out her bedroom. She knows what all the rooms are now. Her favorite things to do in the new house so far are take a bath in the master tub, (which is just framed in), and go in the linen closet and say "I'm towels!" or "I'm sheets". I think her dad started that one.
Heading up the stairs.
And from the front!
I need to get over there again after work hours are over.... they've made a lot of progress since this, but nothing I've been able to capture in daylight. There is a meeting with the head construction dude on Monday, and that's when we should get an official finish estimate. Up until then they've been unable to give us anything since the built so far has been so dependent on weather. But it's been nice and dry (not so good for the fires around here) so they've been able to move right along.

planes and peaches

It's been a while since I posted, I know. We have been having a lot of fun hanging out at my mom's house, (though she might say differently!) and are pretty settled here until our house is built. Our house sold with only the to-be-expected hitches, and we have been enjoying watching the progress on our new house as it is built, (for another post). Summer has officially ended here: the outdoor pools are closed, and the kids are back in school. All of Natalie's fall activities have begun. I've packed her mornings, possibly overcompensating for the neglect I'm afraid she's going to endure when the baby comes in a month or two. But we're having fun doing swim, and dance and gymnastics (also for another post!) for the time being!

We had one very full morning a few weeks ago during one of those last hurrah kind of Summer days. The weather was well into the 90's, but there were so many events planned for the day around town that we couldn't choose just one and we definitely couldn't stay inside. My DH took Natalie to the first annual Erie Air Fair at our local airpark. There were a few planes flying overhead giving free rides to kids, (older than Nat). But mostly it was a ground show of interesting planes. Since I wasn't there, I can't explain any of the planes in the pictures, and have just chosen some good ones of the kiddo!
She loves to tell me about this day still, and how she got to touch and even go inside a plane!
Little hand heading straight for the red button!
Just cute - poor little thing turns beet red when she's hot.

I think here she was about done with the show.
So that's when they met me at the Lafayette Peach Festival.
This once small festival has grown over the years (you can see in this picture how far it stretches into the distance!) It's a bit too big, and I don't think we'll be going again for a while. There was just too much to look at that it was overwhelming. We did get our peaches, but we skipped the cobbler or pie because the lines were just too long.
The peaches were terrific, and we definitely had our share while they were in season.
And we went home and made our own peach cobbler, so it all worked out okay!