sorry ladies, this stud is mine

This weekend Matt put the first coat of paint on his mini-chopper. He hung it up to dry and I just loved his homemade spring suspension and of course his bad-a** look. Had to get a picture.

He did make it up from his basement lair and we headed to Wild Animal Safari on Saturday. This place was out of this world cool. The wild animals were out to get their cattle feed fix. We rented a beat up zebra striped Dodge Caravan and then puttered around the driving park. There were elk, buffalo, giraffes, deer, pigs, gaurs?, zebras, ostriches and emus all trying to climb into our car to gobble up the food we had for them. Just about all these animals slobber like something else. It was definitely up close and personal and Tyler had a blast. He would stick his entire hand inside some of the bigger mouths and would laugh and laugh. Lauren was more timid and preferred to throw the food out the window. Here's some pictures of our animal adventure.
After we did the driving tour we returned the van and did the walk-through tour too.

We all had a great time. I'd never done an animal safari before and it sure was a great experience. (I feel bad for those people who decided to drive their own cars through.)

Last night I made Mediterranean roast beef pitas and California BBQd beans. Both were delicious but the beans were fabulous. I'm going to make these at all pot-lucks from now on. This morning Matt used the leftover veggies from the Med. pitas to make omelets for us. Delish.

After dinner we all went next door to hang with the Hancocks. They had a fire going in their patio firepit and the kids played while the adults sipped strawberry margaritas and chatted together. It was fun to hang out.

Today Matt and I both worked on our projects (he his mini-chopper and me printing out pictures for the kids' photo albums. I was very far behind (May.)

This afternoon I made some Pumpkin Raisin Oatmeal Cookies to bring to the Mom's club Fall Festival. This was at a nearby park and it was very well organized with lots of food and activities. Everyone had a good time and the kids came home with bags full of candy.

Here's Lauren sporting her Mummy costume...she competed against herself and won!

They also had a scene set up for everyone to get a family photo taken. What a great idea. (I'm going on a diet starting now...well after I finish this bag of popcorn.)

And to close I thought I'd share some cute stories about the sweethearts pictured below.

Tyler: He's putting his shoes on by himself now. And yes, he's aware they are on the wrong feet. He actually prefers it that way. He's holding his "animal" which is his latest love. He wakes up every morning and I hear him through the monitor saying, "I can't find my animal. Where's my animal?"

Lauren: She can already recognize Dr. Laura. Anytime I turn the radio on to talk radio (or if it's just a commercial on a music station) she'll ask if it is Dr. Laura. That's my girl.

Last week a fireman (fireperson?) visited Lauren's school. They taught them to cover their eyes and "stop, drop and roll." Lauren was telling me about this and said that if I ever get on fire that I need to "stop, rock and roll." =)