Sweet Summer Day

We took a walk the other day, as we often do, and this time walked down State Street after dropping by the library. It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood! (sing it!) I LOVE Westerville during the summer. There are flowers and bright colors absolutely everywhere. Unfortunately my camera batteries ran out so I only got a few shots.

City Hall

Audrey enjoys our walks as much as I do!

The What-I-Have-Been-Up-To List

So, like, it's time for a list. Why? One, because I haven't posted a list of any sort in a very long time. Two, because I am procrastinating in regards to organizing and filing so now is the PERFECT time for a blog list. Three, they are just plain fun. I will title this the What-I-Have-Been-Up-To List. For a long time my posts have been mainly about Audrey, which happily is mostly what my life is about right now and will be for awhile, with good reason! I haven't posted much about me lately. There is a fraction of my life that is spent on "me time" or "Eric and me time" (after our bubbly little bambino is bunked in her bed. Say THAT three times fast.). That time, along with the daylight hours spent chasing her around, combine to make me content, blessed, and incandescently happy. Together they form:

The What-I-Have-Been-Up-To List
(in no special order)

• Reading. I've been doing a lot of it lately. Some titles I've LOVED in the past month:
  
  
  
  
• Playing Computer Games. EQ2 ftw imo lol. *nod*
• Walking. With Audrey in the stoller or backpack.
  
• Cooking. I'm not great at it, but we eat fairly healthy food.
  
• Wishing I were a better gardener. No picture allowed here.
  
• Experimenting with graphic art. Mostly in regard to game stuff:
  
  
  
• Watching my shows. We all know that LOST is a big fave, but we've been watching some others lately:
  
  
  
• Writing. I am writing a book. It's slow going. Way fun.
  
• Spending time with my wonderful mommy friends. You've seen the blogs and pics... we walk together with all of the kiddies, meet to enjoy fun events (the zoo and strawberry picking are just a few examples), and get our families together for fun and fellowship.
  
• Taking pictures. I just can't take enough!
  

Birthday Fun

Yesterday was my birthday. I am officially 27 years old. DUN DUN DUUUUNNNN. Birthdays aren't as exciting as they were during my childhood years, but they are still a little more special than other days in the year. They have always been fun and special days in my family, and they will continue to be for Eric, Audrey and I and any other children we may have. I love making things special and adding small touches that create sparks of joy. Yesterday presented a few of those moments for me! Eric cooked me breakfast, which was so nice. Then Audrey and I went with Katie and Brianna to Katie's parents house in Bellefountaine. We spent the afternoon getting our hair done. Katie's mom Beth has been a hair stylist (is that the correct term?) for many years and is simply amazing - they treated me to highlights and a beautiful cut. WOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I love it! I adore getting my hair done, and it's been so long since I've been pampered like that. Thanks, Katie and Beth! Afterwards we all went to the opening night of the Logan County Fair (I think it's Logan... I sure hope so..). We walked, talked, and took it all in. Audrey liked the sheep, rabbits, and the pigs until one of them squeeled so loud it scared her. Geesh! The rabbits brought back my 4-H days... I used to show them at the Orange County Fair, which was fun to remember.

When we got home Eric had dinner waiting (he really is amazing). Sometimes on special occasions he writes me a letter (we used to write each other a lot years ago during our long distance dating days, and still do once in long awhile. It's just one of those things that is special to us.) and he had one of those waiting, too. I cried when I read it. I love my husband! All in all, a great day. I've been having a lot of those lately. :) Praise God for His blessings! He has given me so much to be thankful for.

Zoo be doo be doo

Audrey and I went to the zoo again last week - it was great! We went with our friends Abby & Nolan, and Katie & Brianna. We saw some different animals than last time...

The brown bear was peeking out of the trees...

*Shudder* bats...

Fluffy the massive Python...

Beko the baby elephant!
He is the main attraction at the zoo right now. So cute.

Audrey and Brianna checking out the gorilla:

Kinda hard to see him with the reflection,
but he was being quite a ham for the crowd.

This penguin kept swimming right in front of Audrey. She loved it!

Of course I didn't manage to get a picture of her looking like she loved it!

These guys were sleeping:

If you look closely, you will see a tiny orange tail next to the bigger monkey's long, grey one.
The mommy was nursing the new baby monkey!

Fun times at the zoo once again! I love walking around the zoo and I think Audrey does as well.

Exploring

Audrey and I found the Boyer Nature Reserve today on one of our walks. It's basically a trail that loops around a pond. Part of the trail is on a boardwalk which is just cool. I had to share! Please excuse the bad picture quality. I tried to clean them up a little, but there is really no saving pictures taken by my cell phone. (I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait to one day... some day... have a nice (nice) camera to take pictures of absolutely EVERYTHING with. I. just. can't. wait. Seriously.)

The pond isn't one of lovely clear blue water. But hey. It's still a pond.

Audrey had Cindy Loo Hoo hair today:

I really like the boardwalk:

The walk was SO fun, it tired her out. :)