A Day at the Greenville Zoo

Spending time with these sweet friends have kept me sane this summer. A day at the zoo was just what we needed.

Nature Day!

Y'all know I love a good theme :)

To make it through the last few weeks of summer I planned a couple of themed days for the boys. I do best when I have a plan-- a day trip, or crafts, or something that doesn't leave us bored and irritated with each other-- or watching t.v. all day.

So...Nature Day!

Well, to be honest, Nature Day ended up being more like Nature Week-- we had a few issues with weather and some of the projects took a bit longer than one day. But we got it all done and I think they loved it.

When we visited the Butterfly Rainforest in July I picked up a butterfly habitat for the boys. We've wanted to do this for the last couple of years so we were all pretty excited when our caterpillars arrived!

Within just a few days they were noticeably bigger. 

The formed their chrysalis and then I moved them to the habitat to wait for them to emerge.

The first activity of Nature Day was making trail mix. The boys like anything they get to make themselves.

After trail mix the boys painted some nature scenes on canvases.

Then they got their bags ready for the Nature Day Scavenger Hunt.

On the second part of "Nature Day" our butterflies emerged--hooray! Happy to report that every single butterfly survived. Woohoo.

The scavenger hunt/hike planned for Nature Day had to get postponed due to weather-- so in "Part 2" the boys and I hiked Kitazuma (right by our house).

But first, donuts!

The hike was fairly fun. Or it would have been if Carver hadn't complained the entire time. Literally, the entire time. But, we're making memories, right?

Winston came along!

A few days later it was time to release our butterflies. They were hesitant to leave. I had to leave the cage outside for hours for the last one to finally take off. And who can blame them? I took quite good care of them :)

The Boys and the Girls

Carver and Carson love their "little cousins"-- so having them visit for a few days after we picked the big cousins up from camp was super exciting.

Halloween fun at Michaels.

She was unhappy when her mommy left to go to the Grove Park Inn for the night. But she loves me. I swear. 

Sushi take-out with Jules.

This girl was a pretty decent side-kick for the couple of weeks she stayed with us while Lyle took his kids to the beach. I may not be convinced that Reagan loves me, but Roxy definitely does :)

See?

 Jules and I ventured out to the Biltmore House with the four littles. It was interesting. But, we survived!

Reagan walked all over the property. She did not walk quickly, but she walked.

All flower photos were taken by Carver.

Lunch at the Stable Cafe.

Courtney had a fun conversation with Carver. And shared with me. He's crazy.

We sure wish that Courtney and her family lived closer. On our street would be great :)