So, it's been a while since you've seen a post from me. I've been busy working on other projects and have put off posting. But here it is, the last day of August, so I thought I'd better put up the rest of my August pics before September starts.
Not this past weekend, but the weekend before that, we took a quick trip back home. Jim wanted to go before school started when he won't have Fridays off anymore. One big thing he wanted to do while we were there was to take Lena to the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. He really likes that zoo (I do too) and has been wanting to take her all summer. We went Friday morning and it was a beautiful day to spend at the zoo.
Excited already and we hadn't even walked in the gate yet!
We rented Lena a wagon and she got to ride in style!
We went with Grammy Tammy, Grandma Sheryl, Aunt Amy (holding Lena), and Aunt Amy's friend, Heather (in the green).
Looking at some pretty flowers.
"Driving" the Jeep in the African part.
Lena and her grandmas.
Daddy helping her get a drink of water.
Her favorite exhibit was the mongoose. They were so funny. The kept walking back and forth in front of Lena on that little ledge. She just stood there and watched them for a long time.
Camping out.
I was focusing on Lena here, and didn't realize until Jim pointed it out later, that I had framed the shot so that it said we were entering the "Frican Village." It actually said "African Village." :)
Lena on camera.
Lena and Heather playing the African drums.
My little giraffe baby.
If only her birth had been this easy!
Lena absolutely loved this ape guy. She tried to sit on every different part of him and we had to actually drag her away crying when it was time to move on. I have like 8 shots of her and this guy!
Daddy and Lena rode on the carousel. I have some video of it too, that I will try to remember to post later. She loved it.
After we left the zoo, we all went out for lunch at Applebee's. Even though I was sitting right next to Lena and Heather was sitting the farthest away from her, the server asked Heather what she wanted to order for Lena. Apparently he thought I looked so different from Lena that I couldn't possibly be her mother! It didn't surprise me that much; I often wonder if strangers realize that we are mother and daughter.
That evening after the zoo, we had dinner with Grandpa Lee, Grandma Sheryl, and Hilary and Scott. Grandpa let Lena play in his Diet Coke.
Lena got some good playing time in with Aunt Hil on Saturday morning before we left Indiana. Here she is giving Aunt Hil a giant Lena hug.
We had a nice time in Indiana even though it was very short.
The rest of the pics were taken last Tuesday. A Middleville soldier (Cpl. Nick Roush) was killed in Afghanistan earlier this month and the funeral was on Tuesday in Middleville. The path that the funeral procession took was lined with American flags all through town and went right in front of our house.
Flags in our front yard.
Outside waiting for the procession to pass by. Mia and Peatie wanted to see it too.
Nothing like kicking back and relaxing on a beautiful August afternoon.
Jim attended the funeral, but left early because he knew he wouldn't be able to get home for a while after the procession started.
Chatting with the police officer. They blocked off all the side streets, including the one we live on, Keeler.
Jim bought a pine tree a couple of weeks ago and planted it in our yard. This photo is documentation that it is now shorter than Lena is. (He's already looking forward to driving by in like 20 years to see how big it has gotten.)
Main Street looking east. People were out in lawn chairs to watch the funeral procession. The cemetery is just a few blocks down there on the left.
Main Street looking west (toward downtown). It looked like we were expecting a parade, there were so many people out.
The procession started with tons of motorcycles.
The hearse with the Army seal on the side.
After it passed we came inside and later heard they fly-over from the cemetery service. Middleville did a nice job of honoring this fallen soldier.
So that about wraps up August. Today Jim started his second school year teaching at West Michigan Lutheran High School. He is teaching the same classes he taught last year: Freshman Bible History and Sophomore Lutheran Confessions. He is really looking forward to getting back into teaching again.
So with Jim back to school and the temperatures plummeting (it was in the low 40s overnight), I feel like summer really is over. We had a great summer. Super busy, but fun. Now it's time to go fall clothes shopping for Lena!
