July 22 = Mount Vernon Day

Today started as every Saturday should- with Chickfila breakfast- as I was getting Malia ready and Kayleigh's stuff packed for our morning outing, Zachary got this picture:

 Also... here's a fun guessing game- who's this?

Answer:

Our last chickfila breakfast for a while...

While we were at breakfast, Zachary told me I should go to Mount Vernon by myself.  I've been wanting to go since... well, since Zachary and I took a DC trip for our second wedding anniversary.  It was on the list of things to do but we decided to go see Matthew, who happened to be in Quantico that weekend, instead.  It was a good trade but Mount Vernon stayed on my list of things I wanted to do at some point.  I thought for sure we'd make it during our stay in Annapolis but with just days left, it didn't look like it was going to happen but my sweet husband stepped in.  I decided to take Miss Malia with me to keep me company :)

She's got her ticket in her hand- others had dropped their tickets and it was her mission to pick them up and collect as many as possible.

We got to the line to go tour the mansion early- shocking- so we walked around the gardens.  Malia loves flowers so much so she was in heaven!

As you can probably tell from the pictures, it was kind of hot.  We sat to rest for a little while before getting in the line- Malia approved.

You aren't allowed to take pictures in the mansion but when we came out, this was our view.  The camera doesn't do it justice but just looking at the picture reminds me of how beautiful it was.

Malia was nearing her patience limit but I pushed her to walk to the tomb anyway as it was on the way to the shuttle that would take us back near our car.  Malia was not very cooperative so I snapped this picture really quickly and we walked toward the shuttle.

This is what being at her patience limit looks like:

She was happy to get on the bus though- here's some of her tickets she picked up along the way.

I had to stop by the gift shop- I wanted to find something for Zachary- I found some wine for us to share.  Malia loved these puppies and wanted three of them "because they're friends."

This was exactly two months ago so I'm so glad I took this screenshot of funny things that happened on our trip.  I'm not sure what "I'm back- it's my turn not yours" is but I do remember us being on the shuttle and Malia was climbing all over me and I said, "Girl, you're killing me" and she said "I'm not killing you, I'm just sitting."  She also said, "Get off the bus, I don't like you."  I started to pretend cry and she said "I sorry mommy, I love you."  So that was nice... and then on the way home she started singing "I like to eat, eat, eat chicken and fries" to the tune of apples and bananas.

This was the longest I had been away from Kayleigh since we got home from the hospital-  I missed her so!

I missed these two sillies as well:

April 12 = Rosie Update Day

We got a special Rosie update today- the puppies had their first rice cereal and formula meal today.  Zachary and I had no idea you fed a puppy just like a baby- very interesting!  The first picture is of Rosie and in the second picture, she's the one whose face you can see.  How cute!

Speaking of cute...

March 26 = Basketball Day

Four random pictures that I won't attempt to blend into one nice blog post.

McKenzie update:

Puppies!

Malia straight chillin':

And the mids that came over for dinner watching the UNC game with me.  Zachary's CC from last year, Mike, likes Carolina and watched the whole game with me- others joined after they finished their pizza.
 

March 22 = Another Puppy Day

Here's more pictures of the puppies!!

March 20 = Puppy Day

First, here's Malia patiently waiting at Liam's appointment- Toy Story was on.

Also.  Well let me preface this with- yes we are nuts.  We're getting a dog.  Zachary and I are dog people.  We had Jeannie and adored her.  She was our baby.  Until she bit our human baby.  We found a wonderful home for her with lots of land and all of the attention of a couple who doesn't want kids.  A couple of years later, Zachary really wanted a dog for his birthday.  The owner of our house said no but the guy we talked to at the realty company said he'd never know.  So we couldn't get a dog through a super reputable source because they'd call and the owner would say no so we went through Craig's List.  This wasn't the best decision we've ever made.  But again, we found her a good home with a lady and her daughter who had just had to say goodbye to their fur baby and they love her and take very good care of her.  So this time, we decided to learn from our previous experiences.  The problem with Jeannie was that she had a really rough past.  She was fine with adults who respected her space but she just shouldn't be around young kids.  Then Daisy... well we knew nothing about her.  So this time, we are going through a breeder and getting a golden retriever- which is a breed that is consistently at the top of any list you read for family friendly dogs.  We'll also have her from the beginning so we know she's never been abused or sick or neglected- we'll be her forever family.  So we're super excited.  We understand people think we're crazy but... we've done our research and can't wait.  The breeders sent us this email today:

 In about two weeks, we'll get to go see the puppies and pick which one we want!

Also, I finished my puzzle today!