Happy Father's Day

Bandanas. My Dad always has one in his back pocket. We have tied them on our heads, cleaned up spills, wiped rust from motors, opened jars, obviously dried sweat and tears. Most recently Pops had one handy when Bear took a baseball in the mouth at Little League. It was even perfectly red, so Bear didn't see the blood. I'm sure at this very moment he has one tucked in his back pocket, love it. Have a great trip Dad, see you on the rock!

This is embarassing....

Really it is...I wish I could tell you where I have been but it's too long and most of it, I have tried to forget. Not that it was all that bad but we are talkin 4 funerals and 1 wedding....ish. Is there a great title about ear infections? Or randomly foul body functions??? okay, okay. So I'm starting new.
January 1st was so rough I vowed to start over January 10th, kinda got worse so now I'm gonna cough all this up-literally-and Feb 1st....I'm starting over.
So...on January 2nd, we lost BIG. THE Captain, my grandfather, Sam Lawrence met his peace. After years of declining health he passed away surrounded by love. It was strangely one of the coolest things I have ever done. I wasn't great at sitting still in his room, but I was pretty good at running around the house, laughing, crying, striking up conversation, making calls. Our cousins gathered and we bid farewell. Rest in Peace Grandpa Sam, you were simply larger than life.
So I pulled myself together, scooped up the creatures for a fun weekend with Mama Plover and her flock. Little did I know how much fun it would be. Ok, well I think Universal Studios sucks for small children but Disney with a private tour guide...pretty much the best trip ever!
On to Atlanta, with Taxi, Heather and Jill Alfond. My stomach hurts just thinking of how hard we laughed. Maybe not that hard when Taxi lost her wallet, but really hard when we finally got back to Tampa and my car was dead. Call us crazy, we were.
Sadly another loss. Dr. William Hale, the leader of the pack, the head honcho of all things good with the UPARC foundation. I am truly blessed to be trying to walk in his footsteps. Such a beautiful path of love for those who need us. Hang on UPARC, so much good to come!
OKeeeee. quick trip to Ft.Lauderdale/ Miami...mostly spent racing in and out of Mackenzie-child's as much as we could, and also got some amazing plants at the plant show.
Jonny B's wedding. love baseball. love macho scouts. love watching them freeze and cry as the bride came down the aisle. All good. Great COUNTY music, good friends, and a happy couple. Yay for happiness!
short lived. After a quick and drunken (for some) birthday given by the blue heron for her hubby, Shark got the poop flu from hell. 36 hours of nothing but complaining from him and paranoia from me. Yuck. Germy gross zoo and an angry zookeeper.
Fast forward...let Mama pull off one more fundraiser. With my amazing partner, Wendy, we kicked it into gear and our committee and made almost $20,000 for Bella Luna, supporting Monkey's preschool. My old school. downside. I have the plaque, I'm like the ad for Nyquil...coughing, sneezing, runny, stuffy....you get the picture.

So I haven't updated my blog, answered your text, email, voicemail, facebook message, invitation, tweet, etc...but I swear i haven't been sitting on my hiney watching tv at the zoo.

Stay tuned. Need your advice. Will ask you tomorrow!

Uh Oh Zoo

I knew there was a reason I was avoiding to see how long it had been since I wrote, and now Shark is really not going to be a fan of my oversharing, but here goes...So when I wrote we were heading out to Memorial Day activities...and during the week that followed, I had a miscarriage. Yep, it stunk. Such a strange, strange scenario. And now I am going to write a blog about what not to say when someone has a miscarriage. Just kidding. Well kinda. We are all good now...big hugs to any other families who have been through the same.
Now on for some more fun summer info!!! Three words Great.Wolf. Lodge. Go online, find one near you and book a trip. The creatures and I are totally obsessed. It was seriously Disneyesque but no crowds, and so much fun. Water park, bunk beds, storytime, candy store-all in one! Whats not to love?
I will do a separate post about Fishers...cant say enough about how truly blessed I am to be able to have the creatures share our family tradition. If I just close my eyes and take a deep breath of the sweet salty air, I really don't know which year it is...the more things change the more they stay the same.
One last awesome adventure, Mansion on Forsyth in Savannah. An inexpensive, romantic, interesting hotel AND a FAB! restaurant (fried green tomatoes). And its owned by Marriott which means you can use/earn Marriott rewards-because that is how we roll.
Catching up,
The Zookeeper

Memorial Day Zoo

Going Old School. Have read "House Beautiful"for the first time in many years, wow! So many good ideas...cinnamon roast peaches, gorgeous tabletop www.laterrinedirect.com, great framing idea which I desperately needed for some photos of the creatures, Juliska's new line of gift (perfect for some Nantucket brides and grooms), and a very interesting article on the color yellow...I think I may get a subscription. Also just finished making an icebox cake on my mother's "almost" hexagon platter, just like she always did (til I took the plate)! Recipe to follow.
Now get the boys rallied, head to some poolside activities, and come home to nap. I will then go shop the memorial day sales (enter a cringe from my mother, who was probably smiling about the icebox cake) and come home to fire up some burgers.
My thoughts and prayers are with those who are missing loved ones both on earth and in heaven, who are fighting and have fought for our country. Special thanks to all my grandfathers and Shark's grandfathers for their service. They set the bar high, many many years ago. And to my favorite Marine, hope you have a happy day Grandpa Sam!

Icebox Cake
whip 1 carton of heavy whipping cream -I add a dash of sugar and a squirt of vanilla
use 2 boxes of Nabisco Famous Chocolate wafers-sometimes they are in the bread aisle or near ice cream topping

Build a tower by alternating wafers and whipped cream-like a continuous oreo tower
Make two of these and lay them side by side on the platter.
Use remaining whipped cream to "frost" the rest of the cake.

Place in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.
Do not cheat and use cool whip, it wont work!

Good Times at the Zoo

March 19th, really? Perfect, I'm only 56 days behind. All good things though, all good things. We survived Spring Break-Mommy style. That means we took the Owl with us and stayed in some very nice hotels, ordered room service, and swam until we collapsed on poolside couches.
We visited with the DC Zoo-in Boca Grande, and admired how Sweet T has already become a big boy with awesome HAIR!! Made it through Easter with some A-mazing cupcakes, I may even post a photo, seriously..they looked just like easter baskets. Check out http://www.coton-colorsblog.com/ great ideas!
On to the Omlette party to benefit UPARC, simply gorgeous...the zookeeper knows how to break open peonies now , so feel free to call on me for help!
Witnessed Bear's Art Show at school which nearly did Fluffy Bunny and I in, so impressive, we were walking around stunned! And the Monkey actually danced the May Day Dance, he was PRECIOUS! Had a great shopping day in Tampa with my little blue heron, fell deeply in love with MarketPlace Interiors, oh my gosh, every design theme you could want in your home and cool, cool, cool accessories. They are on facebook...and worth the drive to Tampa.
Ummmm, what else....Full Swing for Saint Paul's School Founders's Day and taking the Society of the Alumni to new levels, to my fellow Knights out there, contact me to come back to campus, you will never EVER want to leave!
I'm going to wrap up this run on deal, knowing the grammar may be KILLING my mother in law and auntie...once again Kelly Corrigan, kicked ASS. (sooooo ladylike, but no other word will do). If you have not read "Lift" grab it, download it, do whatever you do to read a little slice of heaven. We had an amazing turnout to support the Lois Odence (miss you Grandma) Nursing Scholarship, and to continue to provide mammography vouchers through the Morton Plant Mease Health system.
Oh, one more thing, threw in a little bit of a fishing tournament this weekend...Bear caught two, tiny little AWESOME fish!
See you again, right here in less then 56 hours...maybe.

365 days...

A year ago, Mama Plover had her "very simple" neck surgery...easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Got that tumor out, put some steel contraption in her neck and just don't lift the baby...easier said then done. A couple of weeks later the call I have tried hardest to forget came, "Momo, I have cancer." I think I perhaps hit the biggest shock and denial of my life so far. I remember walking out to the kitchen and feeling like I couldn't hear.
Fast forward, three surgeries, radiation, some "bone glue" infusions, super healthy soy-free organic diet, and Mama Plover is flying along just fine. We have talked, texted and visited more this year then probably the last five combined. We have laughed so hard that we cried and definitely cried so hard we have laughed. At times we have had some deep and scary thoughts but mostly Mama Plover just makes me feel better. Its the darndest thing.
I have learned weird stuff about cancer, cool stuff about neck braces, watched Daddy Plover puff his chest and protect his nest, and the baby Plovers look knowingly at us and then go back to playing. We have covered bakugan, legos, pajama pants, diamonds, bracelets, charms, mastectomy, lumpectomy, oophorectomy. I have realized that my Northern friends tend to say "white light, positive thoughts" (HIPPIES!) and my Southern friends say "prayer lists, lift up, vigil" (BIBLE BELT!). I say, no matter what, it's working.
I secretly hate "lemonade out of lemons" (as if a young mother has a choice but to make the best of it), but I thank you dear sweet Hillary for this most important lesson. Thank you, and God, for the lessons of the last 365 days...and here's to the next 18,250...(that's 50 years in case you are trying to figure it out) !

Kisses from the zoo!

Here is the bear signing Aunt Hillary's letter that Mommy had to finish before she would make him hot chocolate- teddy
see its the simple things....

(Thirty) FIVE ALIVE

As I type this, I am 35 years and 24 hours. And makin nachos! Yup, thought I'd round out my birthday weekend with one more super healthy meal! Ha! No danger of me running a 5k now! However, I had an amazing birthday thanks to soooo many-see my facebook page-Holy Birthday Wishes, Batman! Currently I am sunburned...I had to head south to get that....and HAPPY! Had an amazing visit with Mama Plover and so many others for whom I give thanks. Lotsa cool presents, yummy meals, and great memories! Thanks to all! PS. I have read a book, and may finish another by end of Feb!