Safari Park

On Tuesday Jeff and Emily stopped by to surprise me on their way to Martin's.  It was so nice to see them even for just a little bit and it gave Emily the opportunity to personally invite me to go with them to the Safari Park on Wednesday.  She was so cute about asking and I couldn't wait to finally get to spend some quality time with with her.  We started off by walking through the zoo area and then moved on to the ride through the park in Jeff's truck.

I would not have wanted to ride around in a smaller vehicle!  The ostriches freaked me out and none of us liked the crazy camels that tried to steal the food buckets.  I think my favorite part of the day was watching Emily run ahead of us to check out the next new animal.   We came back to my house afterwards and cooked dinner and then played a couple rounds of Memory before it was time to go home for bedtime. Even though it is hard to watch them leave, it makes me so happy to be a part of their lives.

Goats and llamas

Kangaroos..they crack me up laying down on their sides

Emily with a parakeet

Pretty bird, but I love these hands

Emily had so much fun running ahead to see all the animals

Cute little piglets

Love the giraffes!

We didn't let the camels get too close.

Em was throwing food for these guys

Right before the elk snorted all over the truck!  NASTY.

We liked feeding the elk, other than the snort

Should have read the rules about not feeding the zebras! This turkey bit the weatherstripping!

Much better away from the truck

HUGE elk.  Emily and I fed him and felt his velvet which was super soft.

Nasty camels...the one on the right has someone's food bucket chewing it up!

Gym progress before the knee injury!

I'm posting these pictures from March as motivation to get back to my pre-knee injury condition. It's certainly going to be a while before I get my legs back in great shape, but I can work on those abs now!

UMBRELLA

Papa lost a bet with Hailey last night and had to pay up today!  She's been dying to have an umbrella to take with her to the bus stop if it's raining so Papa told her if she could spell it then he'd get her one.  This smarty pants spelled it correctly and then got lunch at Outback and a polka dot umbrella:) 

Back in the gym

I'm finally back in the gym and trying to lift again.  It has been three months since my injury and finally the swelling is manageable.  I still need help moving dumbbells and can't stand and lift a lot, but I'm making progress slowly but surely.  I'll only be able to do extensions of 10 lbs for several months and not a whole lot of lower body other than my PT exercises.  I'll take anything I can get at this point though!

Staycation

Even though I missed out on my beach trip with Megs due to my knee, I was able to spend four days with Jeff on a little staycation.  There was lots of relaxing, playing with the dogs, and cooking and cleaning. But we also got to go to the pool for some sun and swimming and down to the lake for a little fishing.  Jeff needed to get things ready for SWAT training so I got to check out the station and his office.  We stopped by his parents house as well, so I got to meet his dad for the first time and see the car that he's been restoring.  The best part about the time we got to spend together was being able to sleep in and have coffee together in the morning before planning out our little adventures for the day.  It's the little routine things that make me very happy. 

We also got to go down to the lake for a little bit.  I couldn't do much walking but it was nice to get out of the house, that's for sure. 

Think we only caught one

The weather was perfect for getting outside and doing a little yard work.  The dogs enjoyed a little sunshine as well.

Sunbathing

My handsome landscaper

Miss Emily

After hearing about Miss Emily and seeing pictures for months, I finally got to meet her over the weekend.  Jeff and Emily met me at Carrie's house for a little summer fun.  Jennie brought her kiddos and the bouncy house which was a huge hit.  There were tons of little girls (poor Landon!) which meant princess costumes and singing some Katy Perry.  The girls did a nice job sharing and getting along for the most part.  It was nice having Hailey and Emily together since they are so close in age. 

Although I didn't get to interact with Emily much, it made my heart happy to meet her and watch Jeff interact with her.  It was also nice for Jeff to meet some of my friends and get their approval;) 

I hope we can have many more play dates with the girls in the future.  Emily and Hailey were super cute when it got dark and was time to go home; they ran across the yard to hug each other and say goodbye like long lost friends.

Emily and Dilyn