Toledo Zoo!

 Nathan and I have been wanting to go to the Toledo Zoo ever since we moved here, and the other weekend we were like "lets go, why not!" So we invited some friends who just moved out here from BYUI as well to come along and Saturday morning we were off to Toledo, Ohio! It is only an hour drive each way, so not too bad, but definitely makes it for a long day! 

So the first thing we did when we got to Toledo was find a Chick-fil-a! (The closet one to us in Michigan is actually in Toledo) We have missed it!! haha!! So we stopped there and got some yummy lunch before heading to the Zoo. 

The Zoo was SO much fun that day! We all had such a great time! We saw some fun animals, and most of them were all pretty active, which made it way fun to watch! They have 3 polar bears, the mama and two cubs, and they all were playing and wrestling with each other. I had never seen polar bears so active before. It was so fun and entertaining! 

Mama bear!

The two cubs playing around!

This cub started chasing a bird! So funny!

The Orangutan's were fun to watch too, they were having fun showing off all of their cool tricks to us. 

We got to see two hippos walk and swim around, we saw two Rhinos too! Those things are huge!! Both Nathan and I had never seen Rhinos in person before, so that was definitely very exciting! And the Zoo has a baby elephant which was fun to see!

And OF COURSE, we had to see the penguins!! So so cute!! :)

So we found out that Siegfried and Roy loaned the Zoo 3 male White Lions from their litter of 4 cubs.  The other one, the female, is at the Cincinnati Zoo where they were all born. I guess one of the males died in surgery this summer, so we only saw the 2 males. But wow, they are so pretty! Apparently I didn't get any pictures of them..:( so I found these pictures on the internet.

One of the Tigers we saw was super active! He was running all around and climbing up and down the rocks! And he started roaring towards the end, which was so cool! You could hear the Lions roaring back to him too! When we were getting ready to leave the zoo that evening, we could hear all the different animals going off and making noises, so fun!! Definitely the most animal activity I have ever seen or heard in one Zoo trip! 

So long Toledo Zoo, we had a great time and will definitely be back!! :)

Our first B&B Experience!

Nathan had his first 'paid holiday' off on Labor Day, so we decided to take advantage of the 3-day weekend and get away! We went across the state to a fun beach town right on Lake Michigan called South Haven. It has beautiful white sandy beaches and fresh water, without all the seaweed and seashells, and sticky salt water!! :) Also since our 1 year anniversary is coming up at the end of the month, so we decided to splurge a little and stay at a Bed and Breakfast while we were there! 

 The first day we got there we checked into our B&B, went and hung out on the beach for a couple hours, then cleaned up and went out on the town for the night! We walked around the town and looked at all the little shops and went down around the boardwalk looking at all the different kind of boats, then ended our night eating dinner at this AMAZING italian restaurant called Maria's! The next day we just spent the whole day at the beach! Which was so fabulous! Just swimming in the lake, building sand castles and relaxing on the beach! By that evening we were pretty wiped out and pink from the sun, so we stayed in and cuddled and watched movies all night!! Our last day there we went north about 20 minutes to another beach town called Saugatuck. We heard it had some fun shops there, so we spent a couple hours walking around going in and out of shops and people watching (or in Nathan's case, car watching)! Then sadly the time came when we had to make the drive back home. 

Just drinking some coconuts on the beach!

Our sand castle! Kingdom Brooskby! ;)

Nate & Kay = Love!

We had such a great time that weekend! The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold... sunny and beautiful! The soft sandy beaches were super clean and the water temperature was perfect, about 75 degrees. The B&B was perfect, such a nice place to stay, with amazing breakfasts' every morning, and yummy snacks throughout the day. The couple who runs it was so kind and generous, and the other two couples staying there were way fun to get to know! Nathan and I are converted to B&B's! You get the comforts of a home, and great cooking without having to clean up anything! haha!! But really, this trip was just so fabulous! We both loved being able to get away just us two, and have a fun and relaxing weekend! We will definitely be going back! :D

Our room at the B&B!

Hanging out in Saugatuck!

Heading home

Atlanta, Family, and the BIEBER!

 Sorry it has been awhile since I last posted, I've been busy with lots of projects! A post about all my projects will be coming soon! But first, let me share about my recent time in Atlanta!

So I got to fly down to Atlanta a couple weeks ago to spend some time with my parents and little sister! They had just moved to a new area in Georgia, so it was fun to see their new place. Their backyard backs up to some woods and they get some fun little visitors every once in a while and if you're lucky you get to see them!

 

  I spent most days hanging out with my mom helping her with the new house and catching up! We had fun going around to different stores looking at furniture and fabrics, getting ideas for their new home.

So....one day we were unpacking and setting up the 'play room' and I found my old beanie babies! It made me so happy... they are all so cute!! haha!! And yes... yes I was one of those weirdos who collected beanie babies... and I loved it! ;) haha! 

A fun surprise came while I was in Atlanta. One of my best friends (Kirsten) who moved away from Idaho last summer to go to grad school in Alabama, was visiting her fiance (who lives in Atlanta) the same weekend that I was there! So we were able to meet up and spend an evening together! It was so so good to see her! We haven't seen each other since before I got engaged, and now she met a wonderful man and is now engaged!! Such a small world eh? Two friends from Idaho, one now lives in Alabama, the other lives in Michigan, the one in Michigan comes to Atlanta to visit her family who just moved from Idaho to Atlanta and meets up with the other who is visiting her fiance who lives in Atlanta.... haha!! So crazy!

 So during our evening of fun, Kirsten decided to finally take the plunge and get her ears pierced! AHH so exciting!!! It was so fun to be a part of that adventure with her! (I think I was more excited than she was! haha) :)

Woohoo!!

So later on that night Kirsten's fiance, Sam, joined us for dinner! It was so great to finally meet him! He is such a nice, kind and fun southern man! Kirsten deserves such a great guy, and she found him!! Just the way those two look at each other, you can tell how much love they have for one another! It is so precious! I love seeing my dear friend so happy!! It makes me so so happy!! :)

I saw this cheesecake in the front of the restaurant we went to that night, so of course I had to try it! "Killed By Chocolate"... that was SO made for me!! And oh man was it delicious!! MmmMmmmMmmmm yummy! :)

Now for the main event............ the JUSTIN BIEBER CONCERT! ;)

My dad had gotten my sister, Malarie, Bieber tickets for her 16th birthday back in May. My parents weren't to keen on going with her to the concert. Which I don't know why?!?!? Thousands of screaming girls, screaming so loud that you are pretty much deaf after the concert, is one of my favorite things to be around! ;) hahaha!!! So instead they flew me down to Atlanta so I could go with her! It was actually a really fun concert! Besides the all the screaming girls... and I wasn't kidding about not being able to hear after the concert because of them..... it was really fun! Malarie is my little concert buddy, she has been since 2009 when her and I went to our first David Archuleta concert! I'm hoping we will be able to go to many more concerts together! :) 

David Archuleta 2009

Justin Bieber 2013

We found Dippin Dots!! YAY!!

Someone was very excited when the Biebs came on!! A dream come true for Malarie, and it was so fun to share that with her!

Thank you dad so much for the tickets and for letting me go with Malarie! We had a great time!

The last night I was there I was able to go on a date with my dad! We went to see 'Man of Steel'!!  (Such a good movie by the way) I just love going on daddy/daughter dates with my pops! I always have, ever since I was a little girl! When we get together our 'nerd' side comes out and we just have so much fun together! I just love that man!! :) (He is the one who got me into Harry Potter.... and those of you who know me real well, know my LOVE and obsession with HP... and it's all because of my dad!! hehe! So thanks pops!) ;)

My trip to Atlanta was so great! It was so good to spend some individual time with my mom (who is a fabulous lady), it's been a long while since her and I had spent some good quality time together, so it was just really good! I really enjoyed being able to spend the days with her and to talk with her so much! I also enjoyed being able to spend some time with Malarie and see her growing up to be a beautiful young lady! And of course spending time with my pops! :) 

It was hard to be away from Nathan for so many days tho... 5 days... that's the longest we have been apart since we got engaged! haha!! So I missed him lots!! I was happy to go back home to him, but I am very happy I was able to go to Atlanta and spend some time with my family!