FINALLY!

Our Patio is FINISHED!
YAY! Jason finished the patio! Yeah.... it's a little late in the season but it's sooooo gorgeous and we've still got a lot of warm days and nights ahead. No matter how many photos I have taken, I can't seem to get a good one that shows the whole thing at a decent angle.
Here's Ellie coming down the steps on the side of the patio. There's a nice walkway that goes to the driveway that starts at the bottom of the steps.
I LOVE the lights that he built into the steps. There are 3 sets of steps. One set here where Ellie is heading, the one behind her that takes you into the house and then on the right in the front of the patio (facing the back yard) is the 3rd set. All have built in lighting with a timer. They go on at 5PM and off at 11PM. They give such a gorgeous glow and it's really so cozy to sit out under the night sky.
I'm just SOOOO glad it's done! We've been waiting for 6 months!!

It's a 1944 Willy's MB

And there she is in all her glory! We purchased this beauty from a WW2 veteran who just wasn't able to drive her as often anymore. He didn't want the jeep to fall to neglect. We found out about it from a mutual acquaintance before he even listed it for sale!
We've done some research on the jeep and have found that it served in France during WW2. We don't know any details of who had it or who it drove around. We're still digging for more info. Often the information like that is lost, never to be found.
So now we have the Wc54 1942 Ambulance and the 1944 Willys MB. The next vehicle we would like to purchase is a Staff Car! Every day we get a little closer to getting the museum organized, ready to get into a building and on display! It's a lot of work to organize and catalog everything but will be soooooo worth it in the long run!

I've been scrappin' a little...........

Did this one for Scrapbooking Moments in Time . I'm currently a Design Team member there and enjoying SOOOO MUCH each kit I've gotten! There's SO MUCH stuff in the kits that you can do several pages along with cards and altered items as well! In this kit I received S.E.I. papers and decided to take on a Halloween Feel. (The embellishments are Prima and My Minds Eye)

(Mackie age 21 months - Oct 2003!!)

This little thing is an altered Rolodex Card. What a fun way to dress up the mundane Rolodex! The information of the person pictured on the front (in this case, it's me! ) is on the back side of the card. Again, I used all S.E.I. papers for this with an Iron-on transfer ( white vine on my photo). The flowers are by Prima.

Claws N Paws Animal Park

Last week we had a great opportunity to visit Claws N Paws animal park in Pennsylvania! It was a 2.5 hour drive but was well worth it. It's a smallish zoological park with a lot of wonderful animals. Most of the animals are rescue animals that could not be rehabilitated and released back into the wild.

This is the only zoological park we've ever been to where the zookeepers host feeding time and the public actually gets to FEED a GIRAFFE! (Ignore the "DO NOT FEED" sign. That's there for when the zookeeper isn't present) Look at the TONGUE on this guy!!!

Mackie posing on an alligator sculpture

Look at this cute, cute little ape named Siam. She was so friendly and curious. She's 12 months old and was part of the zookeeper's lecture series. We were in the 1st row so we got up close to the animals.

Camel..oh so funny!!

Ellie became 'best friends' with this goat...

And this one....!!
Mackie and Ellie 'hatching' from dinosaur eggs!
Totally cute tortoises!
The park is mostly shaded which made for a VERY nice walking experience. We all know how it is in August in this area....HOT HOT HOT and HUMID! The shade made for a comfortable day!

Insectropolis

Both of my girls LOVE BUGS! I decided to do a search on-line for a bug museum and there just happens to be one about an hour and 1/2 from us. We put the girls in the car and headed south to:

INSECTROPOLIS!

What a great place for that bug-lover in your life! It's full of displays of real and well, not so real anymore, bugs! Everything is displayed so perfectly. The girls had a blast playing in the ant tunnel!

There were a few art-inspiring moments......... I found these displays of colorful butterflies. I'm sure I'll find a way to incorporate these photos into scrapbooking art!!

Yes.. these ARE alive and yes they are really HOLDING them. *Gasp*!!!

Mackie and the giant Millipede.

Ellie and the Hissing Cockroach

Mackie with a 'walking stick' on her elbow

Ellie holding a tarantula.

The girls loved interacting with these live critters. I was very happy to be occupied with a camera so I didn't 'get a chance' to hold one. Hahahah!!!

Scrapdragons Challenge #3 ~ "Mix It Up!"

I am excited to announce that Scrapdragons has just posted Challenge #3!!
Be sure to check it out so you have a shot at the really awesome prize!!