Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Today we went on a short road trip up to Columbia to visit the zoo. Neither hubby nor I could even remember the last time we had been to a zoo! We all had a great time checking out the animals and the huge garden that they have there. It is nice now that the little one has gotten a little older that we can take her to do fun stuff and she actually enjoys it.

Feeding the Giraffe was so cool! Everyone enjoyed that!

If only they looked this pretty on people's front lawns!

The little one checking out the Zebra.

This guy's giving me the stink eye because I laughed at him for having part of his breakfast on his chin!

She enjoyed giving out hugs to ALL of the animal sculptures!

Going in for another hug!

Her first Merry-go-Round ride!

Most of the animals had buddies to play with this one preferred to play by himself!

A last ditch effort...

Yesterday I decide to make one last attempt to grow something in the garden. I have had little to no success all summer but I again have hopes! Maybe fall is the way to go since there are less insects and less heat.

I also planted cucumbers and one more tomato plant (not pictured). I was unsure about the zucchini but I was advised at the nursery that it is a 50 day plant and this one already has buds so it should fruit before we get cold, since it isn't really cold here until November. And who can go wrong with plant advice that comes from a nursery that also has the greatest collection of Holly Hobby plates from the 1970's for sale!

If only they hadn't already sold their the metal Holly Hobby lunchbox collection off! Because of course I asked after seeing the plates! I had one when when I was a kid! It was the best!

I totally would have bought it for the little one to carry her snacks around in! Anyway, that's all for now keep your fingers crossed that I can at least manage to grow enough lettuce for a single salad because that will make the effort all worth it! :)

Birthday Wishes!

We hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Love,

Laura, Kent and Evelyn

Making Changes...

I thought it was time to revamp the blog so here is it is... I'm not entirely sold on the new background but I think I will give it a few days, then see how I feel. Happy Monday!

Yum...

I read about this fluffy white frosting on another blog a few months ago. She wrote how easy it was to make and how much lighter and fluffier it was than canned frosting. Usually when I bake a cake I just leave the frosting off because I am too lazy to make homemade butter cream or anything of that nature and around here the canned kind is not our favorite (meaning we hate it!) To my dismay they do not sell it in any of our local grocery chains. I searched high and low even asked at publix if they could order it which unfortunately they could not.

So just how did I come across the frosting you may ask... I traded out Lance crackers with my sis who lives in Minnesota! I know a Lance cracker trade may seem odd but where she lives they don't sell Lance crackers but they do sell powdered frosting mix! And Lance snack crackers are the best so it makes for a pretty even trade of yummy!

This is a super easy frosting it really only takes about 10 minutes. The box contains a packet of white powder to which you add 1/2 cup boiling water. Hubby laughed when I heated the water on the stove not the microwave. Am I the only one who still does that?

The only problem that I had was that it had suggested that you use a standing mixer for best results. I don't have one so it did give my hand mixer and my arm a good workout as you have to mix on high for 6-7 minutes.

My mixer did a good job though, as the frosting turned out perfectly. As the little one can attest to!

At first she just lightly tasted it but in a matter of seconds she was covered in it!

The box claimed it would generously cover a 2 layer cake, they weren't kidding. It more than generously covered the devils food bundt cake I made.

And even though it has an inch of yummy frosting coating it I couldn't help myself I added some extra goodness...

CHOCOLATE SPRINKLES!!!!

This is a great easy frosting, very yummy and a great excuse to bake a cake! I will definitely have to have sister stock me up when she comes to visit!

Traveling...

Our real estate agent did open houses here this weekend so in order to keep the house spotless we did the only thing possible, we left town! We decide it was a great time to go and visit the grandparents. Friday we drove to Raeford to visit great granny. The little one had the best time running around discovering the treasures her house holds.

A pint sized rocker in great granny's living room was a lot of fun!

Her collection of old license plates in the garage.

This made me chuckle...

Medieval torture devices she calls exercise machines. She almost gave us a heart attack when she jumped on it, so no pictures were taken of that even though it was quite humorous!

Her old radio and record player. On top is a picture of her and her twin sister.

Great granny and the little one. It was tough to get a shot of them together. The little one was constantly on the go exploring.

After a yummy lunch of soup and cornbread we continued on to Wilmington to spend the rest of the weekend with my folks. They were kind enough to take us in for the weekend in exchange for hubby doing crown moulding in their bedroom. Grandma was so excited to see the little one again so soon and surprised her with a new fun water toy!

Notice how Grandma was smart and stayed out of range of the splashing water! She is nearly in the bushes! Unlike me who ended up wet as well! After tiring Grandma and Grandpa out the weekend was over with a short visit with hubby's folks on the way home in Murrells Inlet. Hubby's mom is recovering from back surgery and is still in the hospital. We hope she is back on her feet soon!

Beach Days...

Went to Folly Beach this morning, it is so nice that the little one is mobile enough to enjoy the beach! It has to be one of the easiest and cheapest forms of entertainment. She essentially can run loose without worrying if she is going to get run over in the street or eat the flowers in the yard. And as an added bonus I'm getting a great tan!

The Assumption Song...

Hubby has now found that the little one really enjoys watching cartoon shorts from YouTube. A few days ago he stumbled across this video, because I have a dirty mind and a trucker mouth I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope you do too! Happy Monday!