We're off to a good start with some of our New Years Resolutions. The exercise ones? Not so much. I've been sick the past week with a pretty terrible cold and coughing fits every hour. Blah. I used the crockpot again and made a giant batch of Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup which turned out to be another winning recipe from America's Test Kitchen. They have you put the chicken breast in a foil packet on top of everything in the crockpot -- basically steaming it? -- to keep it tender and juicy. The results were delicious! I also parked myself on the couch one sleepless night and the following day, powering through all 530 pages of the book All the Light We Cannot See. What a beautiful, poignant book! The story weaves together the lives of an orphan German boy and a freckle-faced, blind French girl during World War II. Oh, and there are radios. There's a lot of talk about radios. I was completely captivated by the story and highly recommend it.
Back to our New Years Resolutions. We had gorgeous weather last Monday and Robert was off for Martin Luther King Day so we decided to make some progress toward goal #4: get outdoors and explore more. The three of us had breakfast together at First Watch and then we headed out to our first state park. It was awesome!
My love of Spanish moss. And this little munchkin.
We "hiked" the Eagle Trail. There are 3 other trails we'll have to check out next time.
No birds to see today.
We didn't see any armadillos...
...or raccoons, either.
The park also had a great nature center.
This touch table was awesome. Snake skins, shells, etc. So cool!
Abby liked this beehive. She's been all about bugs lately. We've checked out several bug books from the library and she points and nods emphatically, insisting that "Abby likes!" everything. Abby likes spiders! Abby likes bees! Abby likes beetles! She claims she wants to hold each of these creatures in her hands. Yeah, we'll see about that little girl.
She also has a special love of seahorses. She saw this one, cupped her little hands together, and said "Mommy take out, Abby hold (in) hands." Sorry, pumpkin.
Robert wants to take her canoeing when she's a little older. We saw a guy in a canoe with a little dog and Abby thought that was pretty funny.
Overall, it was a highly successful outing enjoyed by all and we hope to go back again soon. We even got some ideas from the butterfly garden and we're thinking about planting a small one of our own.
In other news, I keep having too much fun with art projects. I recently picked up some Do A Dot Markers and glitter paints. (Notice Abby's second Minnie Mouse shirt. She'll drag these shirts out of the dirty hamper so I've had to start hiding them my own laundry. Serious Minnie love!)
My little Monet. Such fun and sweet days!
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