Staycation

On the first day of our staycation we decided to head to the local zoo.  We have lived here for over five years, but have never visited the zoo.  It always looks so white trashy from the outside.  I have to say that we were pleasantly surprised when we got into the park.  The whole zoo is built into a hillside, and there were all kinds of animals!  (If you read all the way to the end of this post you'll be generously rewarded.)

Chloe loves monkeys, and luckily they had at least four different kinds.  Here is Chloe looking at the first group of monkeys.  We just got to the zoo so she isn't really sure what is going on yet.

Here she is LOVING the Kimono Dragon.  He came right up to the glass!

Look at this monkey just loving the attention.  He was getting a drink of water and flirting with the people.

Taking a break to play the bongo drums!

Chloe tried to treat the goat like it was Griffin.  She was going for a classic ear bite here, but Paul redirected her for a kiss instead.

Here we are in front of another type of monkey.  I guess you can't really see it in this picture, but it is the only one with Chloe and me.

All done?  Good!  Here is your special treat.  No trip to the zoo is complete without witnessing nature at its finest!  We watched the bears bathe one another (foreplay, as it turns out), and then seconds later... THIS! 

The rest of our staycation was pretty chill.  We swam in the neighbor's blow up pool, made breakfast, grilled out, picked peas at the farm, and went to Famers' Market.  Actually, Paul and I even went out to eat twice for a peaceful, relaxing lunch.  I was hungry for lunch one day and wanted to stop at Panera Bread.  Chloe had just fallen asleep in the car and we wanted to keep her asleep so we thought we'd eat in the car.  Just then we noticed some outdoor seating right next to the parking lot.  We pulled the car up right next to a patio table, rolled the windows down, and sat and ate outside right next to Chloe.  It was AMAZING!!!  We did the same thing the next day.  Don't judge us, we were sitting right next to her and could see her the entire time.  You don't know what it's like to bring this one to a restaurant!!!!

Vacation

Paul, Chloe, Griffin, and I took a whole week of vacation during the week of Independence Day.  This is one of our favorite holidays and it always seems like the best time to take some time to relax.  We headed up to Hubbard Lake on Thursday night.  We thought starting the four hour trip around 7:00 p.m. would mean that Chloe would be sleeping in the car for at least 3/4 of the trip.  This, however, was not the case.  We spent about 2 hours listening to Elmo's World blaring on the DVD player, 1/2 an hour singing every single song we could think of from our childhood, 1/2 an hour listening to Chloe scream, and were finally blessed with sweet peace when she fell asleep for the last 1/2 hour.  Chloe wasted no time loving up to my Dad and pretty much ditching her parents.  Here she is enjoying one of many meals on Papa's lap.

This picture pretty much just defines Chloe.  Hot mess.  Hey I guess if anyone can pull off the bikini top, diaper, pink water shoe look it is Chloe.

Here we are eating some regular yogurt instead of Greek.  It happens to be a little runnier and it turns out Chloe is just not as skilled at eating runny yogurt.  She had quite an audience.

Here is a picture of Andrew and Chloe enjoying their afternoon snacks on these special chairs Grammy bought for them.  I can't help but notice how sweet and clean looking Chloe looks here.  What a rare moment.

This is more like it.  I had this terrible shopping experience at the "Alpena Mall," which consists primarily of a JCPenney.  There is a new mall down the road I guess.  It is called Wal-Mart.  I was looking for "the perfect 4th of July outfit" for Chloe.  Without getting all upset about the shopping trip I will just say that I never found it.  My Mom did find this lovely bikini at the new mall down the road.  Paul said Chloe could wear it as long as she doesn't think that an American flag is an acceptable article of clothing when she is a teenager.

Here is our second annual family photo at the lake.  You can't really see Chloe's face, but it is the only one where Paul is looking.  I guess my brother needed to wave a little squeaky toy at Paul for the pictures.

We had to cut our vacation a little short, because Chloe starts acting up after too much Papa time.  She refused to eat in her high chair, screamed bloody murder before bed, swatted at her Mama on several occasions, and was just being a little brat.  We left on Tuesday.  I'm always sad to go.  Hubbard Lake is so peaceful and I have so many great memories there.  I love having my family and friends around and relaxing at the lake.  We had a great time, but we were happy to have the rest of the week at home as a family.