The Zoo Two!!

So one cool thing at the zoo was they had these lovely decorated mail boxes all around with papers inside that pretty much was information sheets telling about the vegetation in the area.  Well, Miss Taylor thought it was the coolest thing ever....and boy, she ran to just about every one of them to get what was inside.

And might I say, that she was the cutest thing ever......and as you will see, she was very intent on their contents....she would almost make you believe she could actually read what was on the paper.

And for the record, I did not tally up the number of sheets of paper I walked out of the zoo with.....but, had they not been free, they probably could have gotten me for petty theft!!

The Zoo

So on Thursday of our trip we decided to drive over to New Port News and go to the zoo.  It was really cool to me because to get there we had to drive in a tunnel that went under the water for 3 whole miles!!!!  Silly I know, but I've never done that before.

From the outside, this zoo looked huge....overall experience though......sort of average!!

Except for the water part I guess....

Oh, and my I never forget the part where Taylor touched elephant poop....and apparently she found it fun???

Miss Priss

We did not have the opportunity to eat out very much for dinner on our trip.  After ALL day at the park, by the time we got in the car to drive back to the hotel, the girls were asleep.  But we did manage one nite. So we weren't sure where to go so we just drove down the street and this was a place we had NEVER been so...we stopped!!!  And of course everything for Taylor was about Aunt Danielle and Uncle Chris

Amazed!

For all who know Bryan, I think he HATES the sun.  But he absolutely amazed me on our vacation.  We went to the water park TWO days in a ROW.  Amazingly enough we only put sunscreen on twice and no one got sunburnt!!!  Therefore, even daddy had a good time!!!  And the girls LOVED having him in the pool with them!!!  Although I think there were several times they tried to drown him.

Here they are physically holding him under water by stepping on him...

And here.....HE is actually smiling......and just maybe allowing himself to have a good time??

Playing Catch Up!!!!

Sorry guys for being on the hiatus for so long....we got back from vacation and it has sort of been a whirlwind ever since....But, HOPEFULLY I will be back on track. 

Anyways, bare with me on the next several posts as I am SURE most of them will still be originating from our vacation.  Such as this one below.  There is absolutely nothing special about this photo, but I LOVE it....this girl is soooo stinkin cute......and she is FULL of personality!!

This picture I LOVE.  This was merely the tram ride from the parking lot to the entrance of Busch Gardens our first day.  Please pay close attention to how Taylor is holding on for dear life to Uncle Chris.  Taylor and Tori both refered to this as a roller coaster several times??????

It makes no sense???

How in the world can you have this.....

And yet this is OK???????

I guess in Virginia as long as you have "quick hands".....it's OK!!

(and by the way....speaking from personal experience....if you ever visit the state of Virginia and you own a radar detecter....take it down....and put it....in the trunk!!! Ask Bryan what happens when you use it!!)

Friends

So this post may come with more emotion than this little vessel can hold......I will forever wonder WHY God allowed the four of us to cross paths, become so close, and later put so much distance between us.  I will never forget when they first started attending Central.  They were in our Sunday School class....and we all know Bryan knows no strangers.  So like their second week there he MADE me go with him to introduce ourselves to them.  Bryan of course started off....and you know me, shy as I am....I said hi, my name is Melissa, it's very nice to meet you....and then for the most part, I went and sat down.  It wasn't long at all that the Lord built an absolutely amazing bond between us all. 

They were there through every step while Taylor was born.  I will never forget when they came to visit us in the hospital shortly after she was born and brought us some food.  As we sat and attempted to say the blessing over our food, Bryan was speechless so he asked Chris to pray....before it was all said and done, we were all in tears!!!  It was such a special time to share with such wonderful people.  And it has always been amazing to me the way they have loved Taylor and even more amazing how Taylor has loved them.  We had not seen them since they visited PC last summer and yet Taylor took to them as though they had never left.  Pretty much the whole trip she didn't want me, she didn't want her daddy.  It was either Uncle Chris or Aunt Danielle.  And when we got ready to leave....I lost it.  Taylor said mommy, I don't want to go to our home, I want to stay here with Aunt Danielle and Uncle Chris.  My response.....so do I baby!!

And then, there is Tori.  They had left in February, shortly before Tori was born.  I held up great as they stood in my driveway....but the minute they drove away.....I lost it.  It has never made sense to me why they had to leave.....  Even though distance keeps us apart, I guess at this point I just have to be thankful for the bond the Lord has put between us.  Tori as well, had NO problem warming up to them either.  I can't count the times I heard her say Uwncle Chwis.....

To Uncle Chris & Aunt Danielle....my heart breaks.....all over again.....

Thanks for being such good friends to us and to our kids!!

Thanks for all you have done over the last several years....and I pray.....many years to come. 

Thanks for always being YOURSELVES.

Thanks for opening your home to us.

Thanks for the GREAT vacation.....can't wait until the next one!!!

We miss and love you guys more than words can say.

Great News....

Sorry for the lack of posts......when we returned from our trip, our internet at home was not working.  They fixed it last night and yet, my laptop (which has all my stuff on it) still wasn't working.........So, I brought it to work today and our IT guy fixed it!!!! Yeahhhhhhhhhhh....So, back to blogging I will go and boy do I have A LOT to share.  I will have serveral days worth of posts from the trip to keep each one from being so picture intensive!!!

Wednesday - Day Six

This girl ran straight up the playground and into this rather big slide ALL BY HERSELF.....it actually scared me to death!!!  I was thinking surely there is NO way she is going to go down that slide.....she never ceases to amaze me!!

So, after finally going by herself yesterday, we started the day off right, by herself, but now, on a bigger slide.

???????????????????????

Beautiful!!

Taylor enjoying Uncle Chris's lunch!!

Check out the size of this ice cream cone......COVERED in sprinkles, her favorite!!

I think Tori was a little tired.

For some reason, Tori was having a ton of fun trying to drown me.

Tuesday - Day Five

This girl is scared of nothing I don't think.  Not that she should be scared of a bird per say, but all she wanted to do was touch it....too bad they wouldn't let her.

The girls were so pround of these hats that they actually posed for a pic.

This playground area puts Frank Brown to shame.

My Tori bug loooooves playing in the water.

OK, really, this is a kid ride, but I think Bryan is having just as much fun as Taylor.

Look at the excitement on Tori's face......this is what makes it worth it all!!!

So finally, at the end of the day, she went by herself!!!!  Literally, this was about 45 minutes before the park closed.

Sorry I'm a couple days behind, but we are all so worn out by the end of the day!!