Brave!!!

Ella and I went to see the new Disney Brave movie today. We had so much fun and loved the movie! Ella laughed a lot during it and watched the entire movie without so much as a bathroom break! :-)

New Haircut

This is my new haircut. I decided I needed something shorter and more styled with the heat and humidity that comes with summer out here. I'm really happy with it. It's pretty easy to maintain and I can still pull it back into a small pony tail when needed.

Nutmeg

This was a very exciting day for Ella. She's been asking for a Guinea Pig for over a year. We decided that she's ready for one now and we have the space for it.

Ella is so gentle and kind with animals. She's learned a lot from our three cats.
  

His name is Nutmeg and he's super cute. 

 Here's his cage in our Learning Room.

They're so smitten with each other already. Nutmeg loves to sit in Ella's lap and talk quietly.

And this is why we knew she was ready for a Guinea Pig! :-)

Father's Day Gift

Here's what the girls made for daddy for Father's Day among a couple of other gifts. Ella chose Nutella French Toast for daddy's "breakfast in bed". 

Oak Island Beach

Yesterday we drove to Oak Island Beach. Long drive (3 hours), but a beautiful beach. The girls love playing with the soft sand and the water is so much warmer than the Pacific.

Scenery Shots

We loved Oak Island, but may have to wait for Emma to drop her naps before going again because she doesn't sleep well in the car anymore.

On the Lake

Sead and Ella went out for some one-on-one time today. Ever since Ella saw Bass Lake she's been asking to go out on a boat on it. So, that's what they did today.

End of Year Show at The Little Gym

Ella had her dance and gymnastic End of Year Show at The Little Gym Friday evening. She loves her class there and will be continuing in the fall. This summer she'll be going to their 3 hour day camp once a week.

Emma loves to watch her big sister perform!

Ready for the tap dance

Receiving her medal!

Harris Lake

We were driving around checking out the area on Sunday afternoon and ended up at Harris Lake. Looks like they have some great bike trails. We're looking forward to riding when the girls get a little older.

Feeding the squirrels

Ella spotted a couple of squirrels with the nuts in their mouths. :-)

This is why we decided to get out of the car while driving through the park. :-) The girls loved the playground!

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

Last Friday we made a trip to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. They opened a new wing about a month ago.

Across the street from the museum

In front of the entrance to the new wing

Crayfish

Eastern Red Bat

Watching a flea treatment for a small hamster

The new wing has a lot of cool stuff, but it's definitely geared for older children and adults. The Naturalist Center looks really interesting, but they only let children 8 and older in, so we'll have to wait about 6 more years for that.

This is the kids discovery room in the original section of the museum. The girls had a blast in here!

Possum Ella

Looking through the microscopes

Uh oh, Emma found her favorite feature, the sink!

Animal prints! We'll have to look for some of these in our backyard or at Bass Lake. ;-)

Ella was fascinated with this bear skin, especially the paws.

They have lots of these themed boxes containing interesting things for the kids to explore. Ella liked the ocean, dinosaur, and shark boxes the best.

The rest of the museum is really fun too. The have large walk-through dioramas depicting North Carolina’s natural habitats and the animals that live in them.

There's so much there that we couldn't cover it all in one visit. We'll be returning soon to check out more of the museum.

http://naturalsciences.org/