It’s frustrating to always be running late on this blog, but I am thankful for a blessed, full life that makes it so difficult to stay current.  Connor turned 8 on September 24, and for his birthday we took a little trip down to Grammy and Grumpa’s house.  The reasons for this little get-away were three-fold:  Connor wanted to celebrate his birthday with grandparents, hang out with our good friends the Worleys and Loerops, and play at Chuck E. Cheese’s.  Lucky for Tim and me, we do not have one of these establishments in Gainesville, so we occasionally allow the children to enjoy the delights of brain-numbing over stimulation when we’re in S. FL.  Connor’s birthday seemed like a good opportunity to do that.  We had a great visit down there, and Connor really enjoyed his birthday celebration.

Opening presents at home before the trip south

Woo-hoo! A ninjago lego set.

Connor and Chuck

Tyler loved the riding toys

Autumn and Tyler

All the children with Chuck

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake

My big birthday boy

The whole family

I’m not sure why, but our family decided to visit to the Jacksonville Zoo in the heat of summer again.  Seriously, what were we thinking?  We’ve melted both times, but we keep going back.  The favorite attractions continue to be feeding the giraffes, riding the zoo train, riding the carousel, and cooling off at the splash park.  This year we also splurged and got everyone a snow cone (except Emma, of course).  Little Emma was a trooper despite the heat.    It was so hot that instead of eating the picnic lunch we brought in the picnic table area, we all huddled in the car and turned the air on full blast–I guess that means we’re giant wimps.  Ha!  We enjoyed learning about and seeing the different animals there, although the heat made many of them really lethargic.  The kangaroos were just lounging around in the sand—too hot to hop :(.

First time sitting in the stroller like a big girl!

Tyler especially loved the train ride

Three big beans

Looking at the frighteningly large komodo dragon

I can't remember if this is a cheetah or a jaguar?

Tyler on the gator

Lucy picked something girly 🙂

Cute hubby--cute baby!