It's a Good Friday at the Zoo

Jared and I took Parker for his very first trip to the Zoo on Good Friday this year.  GranJill even came up for the visit.  Wow - it was crazy!  Apparently, every school in Atlanta decided Good Friday would be a good Friday to go to the zoo.  All in all, Parker was much more mesmerized by animals that moved, such as birds, and he was bored with animals that napped and sat still (like the Elephants, Gorillas, and any other animal you think he might find interesting).  He was also pretty mesmerized by the train.  He had his first train ride and his first carousel ride while we were there as well.

 It was nice having an extra adult there to help us chase Parker and pick him up when he wasn't trying to run away from us.

 Parker was BORED with these guys!

 He preferred wondering around the petting zoo rather than actually petting the animals there.  This guy below cracked me up trying to eat the rake.  He was very persistent.

 Parker and Daddy on the carousel.  I stayed behind to take pictures.

 It's a good thing that I did because all of my pictures turned out blurry - must remind husband to put camera in auto mode.  :)

Easter Egg Hunt

We went over to to the Corns for pizza, margaritas and Easter Eggs!  Parker was still pretty clueless about the eggs and had no real cares of finding them and putting them in his bucket.  After the hunt, we played a quick game of kickball.  Eli's team (Eli, Nikki and Jamie) beat Atticus's team (Atticus, Sandi and Jared).

A Day at the Park with the Corns

Springtime Adventures

Parker just loves adventuring and exploring during the Spring.  He loves checking out all of the various flowers.  He loves playing in the dirt and mulch.  He loves playing with sticks.  Our friends Alison and Brandon were close friends with some neighbors across the street (Alice and Rick).  They just moved to Chattanooga and have allowed us to let our dogs play in their back yard.  Parker just does massive laps around the yard checking it out and learning how to walk up and down the hills in the yard.  It's been a lot of fun to hang out with our dog loving friends since our neighbor, Hilly, has ruined all of our fun in the courtyard.  Here are a few pictures of Parker doing his thing outside.

Here are a couple of pictures of the flowers adorning our yard - a nearby rosebush and our new hanging basket of pansies.

Sandi's Snapshots

So, after Parker was born, Jared was kind enough to agree to let us invest in a DSLR.  Rather than doing everything for you, it allows you more creative freedom with its manual controls, better lenses, depth of field and better shutter speed.  About a year after we bought the camera, I had a lesson on how to use it.  Lisa, who has taken Parker's photos, let me borrow a book which was really insightful.  Scott Kelby makes complicated things easy and fun to read - great author for beginning photographers.  During my lesson, the instructor suggested a different lens.  THEN came my Christmas bonus, and I was able to get it.  I have been doing a lot of practice and have had a follow up lesson with my instructor/mentor.

I have started a blog to chronicle some of my pictures.  I welcome you to follow it and give me your feedback.  Feedback and constructive criticism can only make me better.  In the long run, I hope that this is something I can pursue part time as a hobby and possibly to help support our family.  I would love to target my audience towards police, firefighters, teachers and social workers making portrait photography more available and more affordable for them.  Check out my new blog here - Sandi's Snapshots.

Let me know if I can take some pictures of you and your family and friends.

Date Breakfast

Since we haven't grocery shopped in a while, we are running low in the breakfast food department.  After Jared returned home from taking Parker to daycare this morning, I exclaimed, "Boo, I thought you might surprise me with breakfast."  To which, Jared replied that we could go out for breakfast.  At first, we planned to do a quick breakfast at Waffle House, then Jared decided he'd like to have a breakfast skillet at J. Christopher's, so we headed there.  Once we arrived and quietly began looking over the menu, we realized what a treat it was not to have Parker there with us...worried when he might meltdown or wondering when he might start throwing his food.  It was a very grown up breakfast with my very best friend, a delightful treat!

Happy 100th Birthday, Granny Pearl

Jared and I headed down to Eastman for my Granny Pearl's birthday.  We started out the weekend by going to have dinner at Patrick and Jessica's.  They whipped us up some fajitas!  What a lovely evening we had visiting with them and their puppies.

Saturday, we headed to Vidalia for Granny Pearl's birthday celebration.  It was a bit of challenge as Parker woke up that morning burning up with a fever.  Fortunately, the tylenol and ibuprofen kicked in, and he was in fair fashion for the party (although Nikki Corn warned her kids not to touch him!).

100 Candles is a lot to blow out!  Granny needed help.

 Granny Pearl's kids - Granddaddy Billy and Aunt Beverly

 The Grandkids (above), The Great Grandkids (below)

 The Great and Great Great Grands -- oh my!

 Five Generations of Joiners

While we were home, Parker had a great time playing GranJill's piano.