Happy Birthday Natalie Rose!

Natalie got to open her birthday presents from us yesterday - she loved her Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads as you can see in this picture. There were five different "outfits" that they could wear.

She also loves her new sandbox! Luckily it has a lid so the neighborhood cats and dogs won't use it as a litterbox.

Friday - going home

Today was the day that we came home. It was a day that Mommy and Daddy called "bittersweet". I guess that means that although it was very sad leaving Connie and the puppies, I was very excited to be heading home.

I was pretty good on the plane again. I got to stand up and walk around a lot, and I had some new books from Connie that I read over and over and over again!

This is a picture of me trying to look out the window at the clouds.

By the end of the flight I was getting pretty tired, so I laid on the floor and rested. I didn't really fall asleep though because it was too exciting.

This trip was so fun that I can't wait until the next time I get to go somewhere far away. Daddy and Mommy say that the next time I fly I will get my own seat to sit in. That will be really fun!

Thursday...our last day :(

Today was the most fun out of all the days that we've been here - at least in MY opinion! I'll see if you can figure out what we did today by this video Mommy took of me:

Yep - we went to a Dairy Farm!!! It's called the Happy Cow Creamery. The cows there really were so happy. I even got to pet a few of them!

This picture of me and Daddy is a funny one. It was SO windy out I had to squint my eyes.

We got to the farm a little bit earlier than the school kids did, so we got to see some things that they weren't going to be able to see during the tour. In the back of the barn are all the young cows. They were very excited to see us!

One of them even tried to lick my shoe off! Their tongues kind of feel like a cat's tongue does - scratchy!

This is the group of Kindergartners from Fork Shoals Elementary School. They were very wild!

Did you know that they use machines to get the milk out of the cows' udders?! One of the kids thought they were called gutters! They have to get up at 5:00 in the morning to milk all 66 of the cows. That is really early!

After our tour was done, there were these mommy cows eating some hay. I was so excited to get this close to them! Mommy tried to tell me that we were going to have hay for lunch too, but I said, "Noooo" and shook my head. She changed her mind and we had sandwiches instead. I'm sure glad she listened to me!

For dinner we went to this cute place called Stella's. They had really good macaroni and cheese, shrimp, and parmesan fries! Connie has a special bag called the Magic Bag that she keeps with her when we go out to eat. If I'm really good and sit at the table like a big girl, she lets me play with one of the things in her bag. Tonight when she pulled out the bag, she had a birthday present for me! That was a surprise!

It was a puzzle with lots of farm animals on it! I got them all right on the first try - Connie was very impressed with my puzzle skills. They also let us color on the table with crayons. Stella's is the BEST!

When it was time for dessert, Mommy, Daddy, and Connie had Butter Pecan Bread Pudding. It looked good, but then I saw what I got - an Elmo cupcake!!!

Here are a few pictures of me eating my Elmo cupcake. I really liked the frosting!

When we got back home, I was all hyped up on sugar, so there was NO way I was going to go to bed right away. We let some of the dogs in and I got to play with them. I love when their tails tickle my face!

I really want to stay at Connie's, but Daddy and Mommy say we have to go home tomorrow. :( That makes me sad, but you know what?! Only one more week until my birthday party! It's going to be so fun! I can't wait to tell you all about that adventure too.

That's all for tonight, but I will let you know how the plane trip goes tomorrow. Mommy hopes that there won't be too much bouncing while we are flying, but I love that part. I always say, "Wheeee!"

Tigh tight! (Night night)

Wednesday...Wow!

I'm so excited to tell you all about today! Connie brought this "tet" home from work so that I could play in it. It's so much fun to crawl in and out of it.


On our way to the Cowpens Battlefield we saw this water tower that was a big "peets" (do you know what that means?) I made sure everyone saw it.

There were a lot of signs that we had to read. Mommy took most of the pictures while Connie, Daddy, and I looked at them.

We sure did a lot of walking today! Mommy and Daddy tried to get me to walk faster, but I was so distracted with everything around me that it took us over an hour to walk one mile!

This is a monument that Daddy took a picture of - I'm not really sure what it was for. Daddy took pictures of what was written on the sides and I put them on here so you could see it too.

I even took time out from our LONG walk to give Daddy a hug. I love him so much!

These flowers are so pretty and smell sooooo good! Connie says they're called azaleas. I can't wait until we have flowers back home that I can look at and smell.

Here I am playing with Dinah (the little dog) and a whole bunch of other dogs. Then there is a little bit of video of Daddy doing his exercises. He is so creative!

Tuesday's in the 90s!

Today, when I woke up, we had blueberry pancakes. They were yummy! After breakfast we made sandwiches and I packed some "couples" (Mommy says they're called "pickles", but what does she know?). Connie had to work, so Daddy, Mommy, and I got in the car. They told me that we were going somewhere that had a bunch of animals, but I really didn't understand until we arrived at...THE ZOO! I thought I would impress them, so I decided to say "zoo" and their faces lit up with delight. I sure know know how to make them happy!

Our time at the zoo started off with about 15 minutes of Mommy and me being sprayed with stuff so that we wouldn't get burned by the "shun" (Oh, that's right...you big people call it "sun", don't you?).

The first animals we saw were ducks and turtles. I would have been happy staying there watching them, but Mommy and Daddy made me go see the elephants. I had never seen a real one before, and today I got to see TWO! By the way, I think that's my favorite word - "two". I'm always pointing out things that there are two of - dogs, bones, cups, anything I find. Maybe it's because I will be two next week???

Don't you think this elephant is cute? He turned around just in time for Daddy to take the picture.

These monkeys are cute, too. We saw lots of different kinds of monkeys - black, brown, white, big, little. We even saw a little baby monkey!

Luckily for those of you who are afraid of reptiles, Daddy took this picture at an angel where you can't see any animals. Did you know that the this zoo has a whole building filled with snakes, lizards, turtles and frogs?! I loved it in there. Expecially because I was out of the sun.

Do you want to know what I was thinking while Mommy was taking this picture? Too bad! She wanted to know too, but I wouldn't tell her. What do you think I am looking at?

These are Toco Toucans. They were fun to watch because they started fighting with their beaks when we walked up. Can you guess what I said when I saw them? That's right! TWO!

You know the Gorilla statue at Como Zoo, and the Turtle at the Minnesota Zoo? This zoo had a bear! I really wanted to stand, but Daddy said it wasn't safe. Thanks Daddy for making sure we didn't have to take a trip to the hospital this week!

At this zoo, they have farm animals! The goats really loved to be pet, and the chickens and roosters were saying "do-do-do"!

We left the zoo and went to a picnic area to have our sandwiches and "couples". Here's a picture of me and Daddy going for a short walk.

I can't believe how nice it is here! The man on the TV this morning said that the high was going to be 91 degrees! I'm sure glad Connie has air conditioning!

You know how much I love to give hugs and kisses, right? Well, Connie's dogs and cats are getting lots of them from me. This is Aaron - he's a black lab and he's really fun!

Remember this duck from last Christmas? Connie still had it! "Cuckies" are my favorite!

This is Olive. She doesn't have a tail (like me). Olive is such a sweet kitty.

My mommy told me that when she was little, she used to read books in dog kennels. I thought I would give it a try. Guess what?! It is fun! I played in this kennel tonight while Connie was teaching a dog class. It's just like being in a "tet" - Daddy and Mommy say that it's "tent", but that's too hard for me to say.

I can't wait to let you know what we do tomorrow. I think we're going to a battleground from the Revolutionary War. I don't know what that is, but they told me that there will be lots of space to run around so it sounds like it will be lots of fun!

Marvelous Monday

Hi! I bet you thought this would be Melissa, but it's Natalie. My mommy said that I could do this picture and movie thing for the week that we are on vacation.

Today we woke up really early to fly on a big huge airplane! It was so exciting! While we waited to get on the plane, I ran back and forth from window to window watching planes move around and fly up in the air. Our plane finally arrived and we got on FIRST! The ride on the plane was really fun. I got to sit on my mom's lap almost the whole time. We colored, read books, ate snacks, watched Elmo, went to the bathroom, ate some more snacks, walked up and down the aisle to stretch our legs, and ate more snacks! I didn't cry or get fussy at all during the whole trip!

When we got to the airport, Grandma Connie's friends, Robert and Judy, were there to bring us to Connie's house. It was a long drive there, but when we got there I was able to change into shorts, a tank top, and even put my sunglasses on! It is so warm here - I love being outside when there's no snow and I don't have to wear layers of clothes!

In South Carolina, there are different plants, bugs, and flowers than we have at home. They even have these prickly things that fall off of trees that Connie says are called Sweet Gum trees.

But, I think my favorite part of today was meeting Connie's dogs! She has little dogs, big dogs, black dogs, white dogs, and she even has GOLDEN dogs!

Today was so much fun. I can't wait to see what we do tomorrow! I may even take a nap since I didn't take one today.

Persistance is the Key!

I have been trying for weeks to get this photo on the blog! I hope it works this time!

Happy Easter!

Natalie and I dyed eggs this past week. We had to buy the dye that came with Elmo decorations, of course!

Her "happy" faceAll done!