Hey, look! I found my camera!

Yep, located the camera, but it's full; so, I haven't been able to take many pics and won't be able to take any more until I empty it. However, here's a few from yesterday afternoon and this morning.

We went to Lazy 5 Ranch today. It's about 10 minutes down the road, and it's AWESOME! There's a 3-mile drive-through path. I let the girls ride up front while we crept along at 5 mph. The number and variety of animals on the ranch is just amazing. It took us about 45 minutes to finish the ride, at which point we then boarded a horse-drawn wagon which took us along the same path, but this time the animals were within arms' reach. Feed buckets were provided, and we fed everything from pigs to emus to bison to giraffes. Just incredible. I wish my camera had held out, but oh well. We'll definitely be back for more, that's for sure. Until then, here are a few pics and vids...

I wish I could describe how big this cow was.

OMG, it was HUGE. Almost as big as the wagon.

All the cattle just held their mouths open for us to throw the food in.

Their breath was, um, unforgettable.

This was my first experience being soooooo close to giraffes.

I got to pet them and even got kisses. Raina wasn't too keen on their

invasion of her personal space. I loved it, though!

This is Lake Norman. You can see it from our rental house.

With the kiddos in tow, it's about a 5-minute walk.

It's sure to provide endless hours of rock-throwing fun.

Now for some vids...

This would be when my camera stopped working 'cause it was too full :(

Our greeters onto the ranch drive-through path.

Nowhere was it recommended to keep our windows closed, but I'm sure glad we did.

Kiddos loved the piggies.

Had a lot of "Um, excuse me!" moments.

And we end with throwing rocks at OUR lake :)

New beginnings

So. We're in North Carolina now.

For as long as I can remember, I have vowed to never live in North Carolina. Ha. No offense to the state...mainly just the fire ants and heavy drawlers. I'm old enough now to see remedies for both annoyances, hence my willingness to settle here.

We're in Mooresville at the moment, residing in a rental house on the fantastically named street of Stumpy Creek Road. Lake Norman is within walking distance...a spot that's sure to entertain the kiddos once it stops SNOWING. Yes. Don't get me started.

Across the street is a park with a playground and lots of running around space, though our backyard also offers more than adequate room to play t-ball and kickity ball.

Chris' place of employment is 10-20 minutes away, depending on route and traffic. Today is his first day. More than anything else, I hope he likes his job.

We start looking for a new house very soon. Going through all the mortgage apps this week. We already have a realtor here who's sending me e-mails with listings. I'm taking the kiddos for a drive this afternoon to check out one that has me salivating a bit.

Mooresville is full of STUFF. Just about every store you could think of is around here. Two Starbucks, though neither of them have the living space that the girls and I were accustomed to occupying in the Burgh. Oh well. That's a habit I need to break (cut down on) anyways. I like that so many of the restaurants/little eateries have outside seating.

I'll post pics soon. The camera is around here somewhere....

The calm before the storm...

In less than a month, we will be living in another state. Knowing me, it'll be another 6 months before I ever get the chance to post here again. Better get some now while you can...

Our new family "thing" - Bowling!

Another fun thing at the bowling alley...

Angry Birds - MY fun thing.

You do what you gotta do when it's too cold to play outside.

Eating at the mall.

I can hear her asking this when she's 15...and I can hear myself having the same answer :)

Raina's Christmas program at preschool. She's the giant in stripes :)

Playing x-mas morning

Something to go with our dress-up stuff...

Pheebs looking beautiful

A daddy, his iPad, and his girls

Christmas sugar high (which apparently reduces 4-year-olds to speaking in baby talk)

Putting the 20-m-old to work

Sisters playing together is like 2 cats grooming each other: It starts out all nice, but ends in a cat fight.

How Pheebs dries off her palms :)

What a mom does when she has no idea what to do with the kids, doesn't care about other shoppers, and needs diapers anyways. Sorry, ToysRUs customers.