Lion Country Safari

Sounds pretty exotic, right? Well imagine the thrill of driving alongside lions right here in the sunny state of Florida and that dream can become a reality. Of course, you have two fences in between you and the King of the Jungles and they just lay there but still pretty cool. It is a new-ish concept, a drive-thru zoo. We got to get up close and personal with ostriches, rhinos, zebras, giraffes, chimpanzees, tons of antelopes, and of course like I said the lions and lionesses.

This guy came right up to the car and started pecking at the white sticker in the corner of the windshield. It was pretty radical. Not my best camera work but I didn't want to miss the experience by fiddling with the camera.

Then after driving nearly 3 hours to get there, you can imagine our little animal was feeling pretty restless of driving around. Lucky for us this safari includes carnival rides and other such fun activities. We enjoyed paddle boating, mini-golf, giant slides in burlap sacks (a childhood dream fulfilled), and a ferris wheel.

And yes it was a pirate paddle boat. Not sure why, but Navie did wear the pirate patch for like the first hour we were walking around. Oh to be a kid again.

The slide totally rocked and I really enjoyed the paddle-boating too. I have been wanting to do that since we moved here.

It was a fantastic Saturday!!

Kindergarten Starts!!

Monday was the first day of school. Navie is really enjoying it. Every day when I pick her up, she tells me that she had a great day! I knew she would love it. I'm not sure which one of us is more excited for school. Her teacher is very nice. She has a sub right now because her regular teacher is on maternity leave until the first week of October. And of course Navie looks darling in her "uniforms". She had one homework assignment on the 2nd day of school. She had to practice her name with only one capital letter. Love that smile! She seems so big but yet so small at the same time.

Pruning Fail

Here is a quick tutorial of what not to do when pruning a giant, overgrown thorny bush-tree. I wish I would have gotten a before picture but alas this is what I have. The bush-tree was out of control so Jason and I went in with an attack in mind. However, the attack was mainly focused on the left side as you can see. The bush-tree is now missing it's entire left side except for the top because we are short people and the thorns can do a lot of damage when you are trying to reach in and cut. Jason kept looking at the property line and the branches and he just hacked away until the bush-tree was on our side of the line. It's rather comical and painful. And sadly I believe that this is an improvement from what it had been. This is the pile of branches that was cut off. Luckily you have to walk up the sidewalk to see the plant because the yard has plenty of other overgrown plant life to cover it up.

Rees Family Reunion

In July I had a fun 10 days in back home in Missouri with a week in Iowa as well. It was so fun to see all the kids and how much they'd grown since we last saw them. There were so many babies to snuggle with and kids running every where. Of course while in St. Louis we had to see and do all the "normal stuff." We went to the zoo and Science Center. (Can you even imagine a group of 20 something kids of varying ages with 5 under the age of 1). It was spectacular! And we set off fireworks for the 4th and BBQ'ed. 2 baby elephants! So cute! Then it was time for the road trip to Iowa. We made a stop in Nauvoo to play for a bit. It was lots fun. We played pioneer games and made a rope, learned how to bake bread and dip candles and dressed up in pioneer skirts and bonnets. So glad we stopped there. I really want to take Navie now. After a couple of days in Iowa it was time for Navie to come back home. So I flew to Utah and scooped her up and we came back to cousin heaven. Navie had a great time. I couldn't believe how daring she was. She even jumped off the diving board, with no one to catch her (but her floaties, someday we'll get rid of them). We took family pictures and played at the park. Played tennis and Wii dance. It was so great to be together. Navie and Parker were matching. These were the best pics of the bunch. And before getting on the plane to come home to Daddy, we made one final stop at Grandma and Grandpa's. Navie had a sleepover with Ella and the girls. And Navie got to swing on homemade tree swing. It was the prefect ending to a great trip!

My Baby's Back

We have been playing up a storm since Navie has been home. The last 5 weeks of summer sure went fast. We watched free movies, went to the Drive-In (my first time), went swimming, played with friends, made art projects, went to Sea World, went bowling and ate lots of popsicles and ice cream. We finally splurged and got dip n dots. It was a delightful treat on such a hot day. Yes, we did walk around the park under the shade of our umbrella. It really made much more pleasant! July in Florida is HOT!! It also rains a lot in the summer in Florida. It of course was raining as we drove to the drive in but luckily after pulling into our spot, the clouds cleared and it ended to be a great night "out" at the movies. We even had a rainbow. This is Navie's Sea World dolphin pose. And the 4th tooth fell out. I'm hoping now it will be about a year before another one falls out. I can hardly keep up.