A day in the life of Gabriel...

Just thought I'd throw in a quick "Daily Life" post. This is getting Gabe on the bus in the morning for Extended School Year (ESY). He loves riding the bus and he especially loves his summertime bus drivers.

Here comes the bus!!

Gabe's yelling GO!!

Gabe just loves George and Victor!
(if you notice on Gabriel's lap, that's one of the products I make for the business, it's a SafeTray- completely soft tray for transport. It gives Gabriel a surface to use for play but it's completely made of foam so if they get in an accident I don't have to worry about the tray hitting or hurting him)

Once he's in the bus, Gabe and Victor start yelling "Take Off" at the bus driver George!

Closing up and getting ready to take off!

There they go... taking my little man off to school!

Bye Bye Bus! (I am such a DORK!!!)

Neighborhood Wildlife...

I was on my way up to Gabriel's school to drop off some stuff when I drove by this guy just hanging out about 2 feet from the road next to a person's driveway in the wood chips at the bottom of a tree. What a beautiful find. He was a little curious as to why I stopped but wasn't all that bothered with me as I took a few snapshots! I'm sorry, I know I'm a dork- I thought this was really cool!

Relaxing Anniversary...

It was a very relaxing Anniversary. We just hung out around the house. Jeremy cooked turkey brats on the grill and we had a little feast and a couple of beers to celebrate two years of wedded bliss. Gabriel and Daddy got me a beautiful book of Monet paintings with lovely sayings to go along with each piece. I Love it! It was very thoughtful since Jeremy remembered me saying how Monet has a very calming effect on me, and how much I really enjoy his work when we visited the Philadelphia Art Museum. It's such a wonderful feeling when your husband remembers something you may have said off hand and then revisits when you least expect it- I was grinning from ear to ear!

We're actually waiting to get my "big" gift until later- I want to wait until they go on clearance for the season. (I want a new bike, something with comfort seating and a good suspension, so I can explore the beautiful biking trails they have out here.) Gabriel and I got Jeremy the Nike Sasquatch driver and 3 wood for his golf club set- I got him the Nike Slingshot irons for our Anniversary last year... I know not too creative- but he likes them! Isn't that what really counts? Overall it's been a great Anniversary, especially since Jeremy gets to be off work every year! Having the Bank closed for the 4th of July is great!

I've been working on a bunch of stuff for Special Necessities. I have various baby blankets and other crafty stuff as well as the special needs strap covers and other items. I'm hoping to have a full launch the middle of this month. It's all very exciting for me. I received my incorporation paperwork last week so it's official we're:

SPECIAL NECESSITIES INC. !!!

Anyway, I'm headed to bed, the normal week starts back up tomorrow and I have to give my husband back to the real world. I love that bank gives him the day off- it guarantees we get to spend our anniversary together as a family which is just how we like it!

Hope everyone is doing well... Miss & Love you!

The Rocky Steps....

One of the things we did while mom was here was visit the infamous "Rocky Steps" they moved the Rocky statue back to the bottom of the steps at the Art Museum so we got to take her over there to see them both. Mom did the steps like a regular champ!!

National Aquarium

While mom was here we took a drive down to Baltimore to visit the National Aquarium. It was an amazing day! We had a great time-here are some photos of our visit...

The lighting is horrible in this first photo but I had to share it because it shows the shark behind us...ooohhhhhhhhhhhhh it was so creepy to see them up close!!

They had this some really amazing exhibits- an Australian Outback as well as an Amazon Rain Forrest exhibit... It was really cool!!

Do you see the birdie??

Peek-a-boo... do you see both of the birds?

Hey... It's Nemo's Dad in the Anemone!!

They have a really cool touch and play exhibit...

Gabe just LOVED it!!

They also had a live Dolphin Show, it was really cool!

boy they can fly high!!

They did these giant flips!

There also was a really cool amphibian exhibit...

We had a great time, we recommend it if you have a chance, the National Aquarium was a blast!

Grandma & Us at the Philadelphia Zoo...

I just love this statue at the entrance to the zoo, we didn't get a picture of it last time so we made sure we did this time...

The fountain is really neat too! Check it out...

Outside of the reptile house a quick family picture in front of the statue!

It was a really hot day when we went to the zoo, you can tell by the animal pictures! This guy is headed in the water.

Well, you know those guys like it hot!!

You can tell she's resting lazily in the heat

Kari & Mom by the Giraffe!

This flamingo was showing off for a female, and there was another male who let him have it- it was funny- but I really like this shot.

FYI A flamingo's pink or reddish feather color comes from its diet, which is high in alpha and beta-carotene!!

Grandma, Kari & Gabe with the elephant!

FYI: Elephants flap their ears a lot when it's hot because they have tons of blood vessels in their ears, by flapping their ears they cool the blood and the cooled blood is circulated back into their bodies!

I love the way the elephants cool themselves! It's so cute!!

Taking a dip to cool off!!

Gabe got his face painted like a mouse!!

Grandma posing with our little face painted mouse!!

One more with Grandma!!

Jeremy got a nice photo of the eagle this time.

a mommy prairie dog with her two babies!

The tortoise's are soooooooooooo cool!

Jeremy caught this guy in the middle of a step... I know, not too hard with a tortoise, but it still looks cool to me!!

We had a really great time at the Philadelphia Zoo!!

Grandma came to visit...

I'm going to post much more later- I just wanted to get this up there really quick. My mom flew out here for a week and we had a wonderful time! We went to the Philly Zoo, and the Rocky Steps (Art Museum) - we even drove down to the National Aquarium in Baltimore!

I'll post more later- I Promise!!