Little Rock Trolley

This picture wasn't taken today, but I just wanted to say if you have never rode the Trolley in Little Rock, you should! Check it out....http://www.cat.org/rrail/ It cost our family a $1 to ride it today, and we had so much fun. This is our second time to ride, but they have extended the track to go by the Cliton Library now so we rode again. The driver told us they have plans underway to extend the track 3 more miles to the airport. My kids think they are on a cool train and get so excited about it. It travels over the Arkansas river from downtown North Little Rock to Little Rock. It is really interesting to listen to the history of the 2 cities, and the driver told us all the big plans the Argenta area of North Little Rock had coming up. It is really going to be cool!

Also, the trolley drives right past the Peabody Hotel, http://www.peabodylittlerock.com/ and if you stop at I think 11:00, you can see the ducks making their entrance for the day. We haven't done that yet.

We also went to the Museum of Discovery today. http://www.amod.org/ We love to go there. It is located downtown too. I didn't take any pictures today but have in the past when we have gone. We have a family membership to go anytime we want. For what it would cost our family to get in twice, we were able to buy the family memebership. I know we have been there at least 5 times, and they love it there. We get an e-mail when they have special programs and new exhibits. It is cool there! And, with that membership, we get in free to the Mid America Museum in Hot Springs, which is only an hour from here. It is even cooler!

I have been super busy with photography lately, but I just wanted to post a little about our day. We try to do a fun outing at least once a week. Since we work most weekends, we get to have family time during the week, which is great b/c places are not crowded.

Kids in the daffodils

We traveled to Wye Mountain yesterday and got some fun pictures in the daffodils. Check out my photography blog to see more at www.maurydraper.com

Noah Lost his 1st tooth!

Noah lost his first tooth Sunday night. I think I was as excited as he was! I knew it had been loose, but Clay pulled on it pretty good, and it got really loose. That sucker was so little it was really hard to get a good grip. I finally used a cloth and reached in, and I got. He was so excited, he just stood there with blood running, grinning in the mirror!

A Picnic today

Today our kids have been playing all morning with their new friends. It is great to see them have so much fun. These girls are so sweet to them. Someone had the idea to have a picnic, so we started out with fruit, cheese, and Koolaid, then the girls went and fixed grilled cheese and hot dogs and brought it back. Of course, I had to get my camera!

Just a few more pics

I just love it when my kids are in a good mood and will let me take their picture. The top one.....they were just standing in their room, and Noah put his arm around Leah, then Rachel walked up, and he put his arm around her...then Leah said, "Momma, go get your camera and take our picture"....and they actually waited for me to go get my camera! Rare moment!

Then the bottom 2 were taken on the way to the zoo. Noah wanted me to ride in the back of the van beside him. It is so weird riding back there, I feel like a kid going somewhere in my friend's parent's van!

Great Day!

I love this one at the water fountain.
This Giraffe licked the wall for a really long time! You could see how the paint was coming off in that one spot.


The momma giraffe kept trying to give the baby loving. So sweet!



Eating ice cream outside Dollar Tree b/c we have a new, NO EATING in the van rule. Noah took this one of Clay and me.








We started the day off by everyone pitching in and cleaning the house. That in its self is amazing.







Today, we had one of the best days we have had in a long time. It was a beautiful day, so we went to the zoo, and it was so pleasant. Being the middle of a weekday, there weren't many people there at all, the weather was perfect, and most of the animals were out to see. The kids were in good spirits until right at the very end, (Rachel got tired). I had my mommy cam, and the kids were very cooperative to let me take their picture. One time though, when we were standing by the elephants, I tried to get Rachel to look at me, and she said, "I AM TRYING TO LOOK AT THE ELEPHANTS, MOMMA!" Then, I started picking on her, and she took off running screaming, "STOP TRYING TO TAKE MY PICTURE!" If you know her at all with her little attitude, I am sure you can imagine.







Then, after we got home, the kids made a new friend, a new girl that just moved here, and she was really sweet to them. They get so excited about making new friends, and lately the only one they have had to play with is this girl that is SO MEAN to them, and everyone else. The first thing the new girl said to me was that she knew that other girl, and that she is mean to her too! She had tried to run over her with her bike!







Then, we came in and all worked together to make a pizza for supper. Then Clay and I actually got to sit down and watch one show together while the kids were playing and taking a bath. We played a game, read a book, and the icing on the cake.....Rachel let me hold her like a baby for her to go to sleep! I miss getting to do that, and she lets me every once in an while. I wish I had a picture of that!







Now, hopefully everyone will stay in their beds, and we can enjoy a little bit of peaceful T.V. watching!

My new blog!

So, this used to be our photography blog, but it was too slow loading our pictures, so we have now moved our blog to our website. BUT, most of my friends use blogger, and when I commented on their blog, and signed in, then people would come to my blog and see it hasn't been updated since November 2006. SO.....I have decided to turn this into my personal blog. I am not funny, or a very good writer, but as everyone knows, I have plenty of pictures and wild adventures with our kids to post.

Now, when I comment on someone's blog, I won't have to post it annonymously anymore! I will try to update at least once a week.

For now, I will post some of the silliest pictures of me ever. One of Rachel's favorite things to do is get the basket of hair stuff and "Make me Pretty"! Well, we had fun this day, and fixed us all up. Then, Noah took our picture. The first one is really blurry, but I LOVE how cute Rachel looks! I know these are not the best quality, but they were taken with my mommy cam by a 5yr old! This really cracks me up, b/c growing up, I LOVED to fix up my younger sister Kara's hair....putting a million barretts in her hair, or something else silly, and then take a ton of pictures of her!