KC Zoo, Nikita

Meeting Nikita the polar bear is most certainly the highlight of the Kansas City Zoo. He puts on shows for his visitors. Check out these pictures that little 'ole me got! He's amazing! And the kids just loved him. I love the pic of him face to face with Larkin and Sierra.

A new addition to the KC Zoo is a ski lift over the Africa part of the park. Larkin and I had fun, Nama (who doesn't like heights)... not so much.

When we got off the chair lift, we ended up at the chimp exhibit and Larkin had some great face time with a friendly chimp that seemed to interact with her through the glass. She had fun there.

Here's a pic of Larkin watching some male lions sleep. These males look like females since they were castrated so young that they never grew a mane.

Other fun at the zoo... time with Nama and the carousel!

Deanna Rose Farm with Sierra

Happy 4th of July

A tradition for us is to celebrate 4th of July with our friends the O'Callaghans at their annual party at their house. They bought a big blow-up pool with slide and Larkin played on it for an hour non-stop. She only stopped when she was so blue from the cold water that she couldn't stop shaking.

Then, it was time for playing outside, standing by the bonfire, eating amazing BBQ, and just hanging out. Then, fireworks! Larkin loved the glow sticks and the earplugs!

Pool - First Dunk!

We spent a good amount of time at the pool this summer. Larkin is really getting the hang of it and we plan on getting her in to swim classes this fall.

Today she did her first official dunk in the pool and she loved it! She kept doing it over and over and over.

Then we were on to throwing Larkin up into the air. Always a favorite!

Playdoh Tower

Outlet Mall Accessorizing

We spent a day at the outlet malls and had a great time. We found a lot of "good finds" and Larkin loved accessorizing herself. She'd find the scarves and sunglasses at stores like LOFT and Banana Republic and once she'd adorned the accessories, she'd walk around to different patrons and show herself off. She got more than a few laughs out of people which just kept her going for more! Fun day.

Picking Flowers

Majestic Sera in Gaston's

These are some of my favorite pictures of Sera in Gaston's this summer. She loved it as always and I loved watching her have fun. Isn't she just beautiful?

Driving the Boat on Bull Shoal's Lake

A big part of our trips to Gaston's involve taking the boat out on Bull Shoals Lake. Larkin loves "Papa's boat".

I tend to like to stay in the boat to take pictures of the rest of them swimming. Yes, it might have something to do with the fact that I like my lake water to be like bath water... warm. The lake is okay once you get into it, but I only go in about 50% of the time, although I get teased 100% of the time!

Larkin loves to sit in the hammock thing and she even played a little water tennis. She hit the ball back to Papa. I was fairly impressed that her hand-eye coordination was good enough for that!

The big highlight for Larkin was driving Papa's boat! She loved it! Captain Hittle in the making.

Tree Hugger