First Week of July

 July 4th
We are still not use to being home on July 4th.  This is the second year in a row that we are not camping over the holiday with my extended family.  This year we decided on July 2nd to ask my parents if they would join us for the day. We played some games, had a BBQ and set off some fireworks.

 I have been wanting to do some Grilling. To be honest, I am not the best on the grill, but really want to improve my skill.  So this day, I did some overkill!  I grilled BBQ Chicken, Corn on the Cob, Zucchini and Summer Squash and Asparagus. And even if I do say so myself, it all ended up fairly tasty. 

 Emma helped me set the table for dinner.  She loved having Grandma and Grandpa over to entertain her (because lets be honest, at the age of 4 it is all about you!)

 

 July 5th
Taking advantage of Glenn having a Friday off, we decided to visit the zoo.  Emma is totally enamored of Tigers lately, so she was thrilled to watch this one do more then just sleep. Actually, it was a great day for the zoo, and with the nice, but cooler weather in the morning, many of the animals were active and put on a good show.

 We enjoyed chatting with this keeper about the birds.  They seem to love her hair, and as of this point in the day had not left her any deposits.

 Emma got a new friend at the Zoo which was named Tigerlily after much discussion.  It had two things going for it. 1) It is a Tiger... and 2) it is Pink. She has played with it pretty much non-stop since we purchased her.

And did you know our zoo had Flamingo's?  I saw the adds, but had a hard time believing it since I had not seen them last time I was here (in May).  So this time, I went searching, and I found them.  Emma loved these guys as well because... well, their Pink!  She does love anything pink.

 If I ever want a study of Emma's growing, all I need to do is find her photos of the zoo statue's.  She spends half of each visit climbing and playing on these things.

We were thrilled to see Baby Lily, and were lucky to catch the penguin feeding.  It is really quite fun to watch these guys be fed.  They are quite funny.

 July 6th
Saturday was upon us, and something I have wanted to do for years was visit the Farmers Market.  This day, we made it happen.  I was excited to get some farm fresh vege's to help with my diet.  And I really thought Emma would love the experience.  What Emma loved was the fountain!

After the Farmers Market, we ran lots of errands.  Isn't that what Saturday is for?  We did take some time to stop and play at two different play grounds, eat (of course) and get a nap.  I had only slept two hours the night before, so a nap was essential.  Also, with as busy as we had been the past few days, Emma was starting to get a little cranky.  A nice family nap was the perfect break in the middle of all our errands.




We ended our evening with Dinner at the PF Chang's at Bridgeport.  We had a lovely meal, but did end up with a wait for our food.  I had ordered the Salmon, and the kitchen ended up having a problem with their Steamer.  We really didn't mind the wait since Emma had her food, and Glenn and I had already had our soup and dumplings, but the manager came to our table and apologized for the long wait and took the price of my meal off our bill.  He also gave us gift cards to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the company.  It was such a great experience that I just have to let people know that it is a place worth going.