Chestatee Wildlife Reserve

Each month the local newspaper publishes a magazine with "Things to Do with Children" in the local area. I had a chance to review it and found several places I thought would be great to take Cameron. This month the magazine featured a place called the Chestatee Wildlife Reserve that looked amazing (on paper). Cameron loves animals and we do too. So today after church we decided to take him.........

Okay all I can say is......REALLY..... Great concept, not so great execution. First of all it was in the middle of NO-WHERE. Secondly, the $25 that we paid for entrance into the zoo is supposed to go to food for the animals. However it looked like the animals had not eaten in WEEKS (see the camel as evidence)! Really, we saw a goat rummaging through a bucket (that should have had food in it) but the bucket was empty! All we could say was "poor goat".

I will say it was fun for Cameron to be so close to the animals but the animals really needed to be taken better care of. We can say we went and supported the cause but trust me when I tell you, we will not be returning to the Chestatee Wildlife Reserve. LOL!

Family Time

Cameron had a chance to spend some quality time with his twin cousins today and he LOVED it. AJ and Lexy are about 5 months older than Cameron but Cameron can hang with no problem. When they arrived at Auntie Margaret's house they were a bit reserved (Cameron had not seen them in about 6 months). But it didn't take long before Cameron and AJ were all over the place and all over James (their dad, Jante's first cousin). Lexy being the sweet little girl she is had the boys in check. She made sure they cleaned up when they were supposed to and played fair with each other. It was too cute to watch.

Happening Now

Once again Cameron was hiding from Mommy. When I called his name he started screaming, "Look Mommy". How easily he entertains himself.

A Visit to Dr. Kwon

During Cameron's 18 month check up Dr. Pitts talked with us about Cameron's "teeth brushing" habits. He informed us that most kids have their first dental appointment between 18-24 months. I honestly meant to schedule Cam's appointment for just before his 2nd birthday but things got crazy and I forgot! (I'm not a bad mommy I promise)

So during Cameron's 2nd year check up I asked for a recommendation for a pediatric dentist and we were able to get an appointment for this week. Even though we had not visited the dentist before I felt pretty good about Cameron's teeth. We do a really good job of making sure we brush and floss his teeth daily. But you never know so I did have some anxiety going into the appointment. Additionally because Cameron is QUITE active, I was certain this visit would be a tough one.

Well to our surprise Cameron did GREAT!!!!!!! I mean he was like a dental champ. Really, the dental hygienist and dentist were SO impressed. Before the d.h. started she informed us that most 2 year olds #1 don't want to even get in the chair and #2 she normally doesn't actually get to clean (and by no means floss) the kid's teeth on the first visit. She said normally its just poke around -if she can- and put some fluoride on their teeth. But our baby let her do EVERYTHING, clean, brush, floss and poke around! And she was also impressed with how his teeth looked. They both said we have done an excellent job with Cameron. We told them that it's really Cameron who is doing all the work, he is the one that will not get in the bed at night without "brush teeth mommy".

Check him out!!

Future President

Auntie Tiffy just returned from a month long break visiting her family in DC. While there she picked up the cutest plate I have EVER seen for Cameron. Here's to one of our future presidents! TOO CUTE! Petty, thanks so much.

Happening Now

After a quick trip to Target, my child HAD to have this ball before leaving. Of course mommy didn't want a temper tantrum so I bought it. Now look at where it is......LOL!

From Kiawah Islands.... to Lake Lanier......

Well family, we are back from the Glenn family beach vacation!!!!! As most of you know Jante' and I had planned this WONDERFUL beach vacation to Kiawah Island for our first of summer vacation. Kiawah is truly one of our favorite places to visit and in fact we have decided we WILL purchase a vacation home there (hopefully one day soon). Well folks, we never made it to Kiawah! I know, what happened. Let's just say it was all my fault. I got a phone call late Friday for a last minute meeting for work on Wednesday - one I could NOT miss. So here I am scrambling at the last minute to try to find somewhere for us to go. I could not disappoint my sweet baby after 2 weeks of him saying, "beach mommy, beach!"

So because we are so close to Lake Lanier I decided to check out what was going on there. Luckily for us I was able to make a reservation and get one of the villas for a few days. While it was not Kiawah it actually turned out really nice, kind of a "stay-cation" for us.

Even though Cameron got bit by a bee while relaxing on the deck, he had a BLAST! We took full advantage of the walking trails, the beach and the waterpark. We took a trip out to the Lake Lanier stables because he kept saying "ride the pony daddy" but when we got to the pony he wouldn't even get out of Jante's arms. The lady at the stables said that this is normal for a 2 year old but by the age of 3 we wouldn't be able to get him OFF the pony.

Things learned.......

It's interesting how kids go through phases and change so quickly. A few things we learned as we prepare for our next family trip.....

1. ALWAYS take plenty of juice and milk with you vs buying from room service, otherwise they will charge you $15 for one glass of milk and one glass of apple juice!

2. Make sure we stay in a suite....who wants to go to bed at 8pm with the baby. You need another room to stay up late with the hubby in (lol). We have always done this but it is important now more than ever because he is quite nosey now...if you know what I mean!

3. I slept in the bed with Cameron for the first time, NEVER again....that baby was ALL over the bed. Next time it will be separate beds for sure!

Last but not least don't ever wait until the last minute to book a trip again, rates are OUT OF CONTROL, especially on a holiday weekend. The resort could care less that you had a work meeting that could not be missed. Lol!