Five for Friday - snake handler's edition

Warning: There's a picture of Ella petting a snake so proceed with CAUTION!!






Don't say I didn't warn you.

So January has been pretty insane but a lot of fun too.  We had a day of 'if we don't get out of the house, there may be blood shed' so we called some friends and arranged a playdate at a nearby nature center.

This particular center doesn't get a lot traffic during the week, and the naturalists are all super nice so they're very happy to take the creatures out of their cages and let the kids pet and/or feed them. They got to feed the turtles and pet the snakes. :shudder:

My baby girl petting a snake. She held it and it slithered around her arm.

I almost fainted so I didn't get a picture.

They have a playground with climbing ropes and rocks. My little man striking a pose.

(He dressed himself; I know you're impressed.)

Next we scheduled Ella for a Wegmans cooking class. If you have a Wegmans near you, definitely check out one of their classes. Very hands on and very fun for only $5 per. She loved it. She and Shane are both signed up for one in February. I may sing a different tune after they toss us out onto the street because Shane was a butt scratching hooligan (my Facebook friends will understand and appreciate that one).

Because only boring people sit at home and do things like vaccuum or do laundry (that's what I tell myself because those things are not happening at my house), we decided it was time for another AT hike. This time we brought along one of Ella's friends from Girl Scouts. I think we'll make it a regular date. We all had a great time and Elizabeth found a very cool fungus.

We had an opportunity for 4 of us to catch a MD game with good friends as well as Bill's dad and his girlfriend. Ella was sick so she and Jake stayed home playing Wii while Bill and I took the little boys to the game. Afterwards we celebrated MD's win with dinner and a Tic Tac Toe tournament at Silver Diner.

As the month is winding down, we visited our library for a Chinese New Year craft and parade. Ella was the only Chinese person attending -which is actually unsual for our little town. She felt a little shy in her Chinese dress but I stuffed Shane into our last remaining boy's outfit so she wasn't the only in traditional dress.

Do you feel out of sorts with too much white space on your calendar? Apparently I do.

aaack!

We had a crazy weekend and a busy Monday.

Today I'm trying to get myself packed and organized so I can leave tomorrow night for my annual girls' weekend pilgrimmage to Florida.

In the midst of trying to figure out how to fit everything into a carry on (because I'm too cheap to pay to check a suitcase...don't even get me started on that one!)....

I started the day with a 2 mile run/walk and headed to the basement to ride my bike (she needs a name). I saw what looked like a toy snake under the couch. Only it didn't look like any toy snake the boys have so I leaned over for a better look and almost pooped my pants and died all in one shot. It was a real snake!

Bad- Bill had already left for the train station.
Good- He answered his cell and agreed to come home and save us even though it meant he'd have to drive to DC (yuck!). Thank you, Bill!

He captured it - a ~5ft black snake - and tossed it into the field next to us, with lots of jumping up and down and squealing by me.

Shane woke up and was mad he missed all the "fun" and while I was snuggling with him I found a tick on his neck. Removed it, put it in a baggie and labeled the bag with the date and location on him I found it (because I"m supremely forgetful).

I cut both watermelons that we got just last night, and they were both overripe and inedible. With the cost of gas, it's cheaper to turn them into chicken food. And I have been craving watermelon all day.

Ain't nothin gonna break my stride though...I'm having dinner with friends tonight. My birthday is Friday. I'm going someplace warmer with just grownups in a day and a half. It's a good day and it's going to be a great week!

Between track practice and getting the kids' stuff together for Bill I probably won't have time for any updates so have a great weekend and see you next week!