Zoo trip

The 3 Shinsels went to the Asheboro zoo yesterday, and we had a fantastic time! First of all, the weather was perfect. We have had a real Spring this year in NC. It was about 68 degrees and sunny. The NC zoo is split up into North America and Africa. We started in North America and saw tons of animals. Lincolns favorites were the aligators, cougars, and the sea lions (He cracked up everytime one swam by the window.).

We had a little picnic. Dave shared his "coke" with Lincoln. Everything kind of soda is a coke to Lincoln.

I knew Link was wearing out after lunch, so we quickly headed through Africa. We only made it to the giraffes and the elephants, then he past out. He stayed asleep through the entire 2 hour drive back. All that walking and talking about animals just wore him out!

My 2 Bros

I am a lucky girl because I have 2 fantastic brothers; one older and one younger. Cleve, my older brother just called up with news that he and his family will be stationed in Japan for 3 years. I am so excited for them: what an adventure! It will be amazing to go visit them sometime.

I'm writing this because I'm feeling a little disappointed. My family hasn't been all together since I was married in 2006. My younger brother, Reed, has been on a mission for 2 years out in Utah, and he is coming home this June. This was the year we were finally going to have Christmas together! Oh well, maybe we can convince the 'rents to have Christmas in Japan.

So, here's to my brothers, who always keep things entertaining....

Cleve is 3 years older than me. He wasn't happy when I was born, but we became good friends as the years went by. I would/still do believe anything he says. Cleve loves to make people laugh, and he is not easily embarrased. When he was working as a waiter at Outback, he was always the one to sing the Happy Birthday song the loudest, in opera style. I wish every girl could have an older brother, because they are really special. I know that's a lame way to say it, but I can't think of any better words. Cleve is the father of 2 adorable kids, Carson and Penny. Carson is 3 years older than Penny, and he has a great teacher of how to be a good big brother.

Reed, who is 5 years younger, marches to the beat of his own drum, which I LOVE! It used to drive me crazy that he was different, but as I got older and over my stuck-upness (I just made that up) I came to find out Reed is the coolest boy. He has no coordination for sports. When he was younger, he would be drawing "piggies" in the tee-ball field instead of playing. What he lacks in coordination, he makes up for in the arts. He is a great actor and singer! Everybody loves Reed: he is so polite and friendly to everyone he meets. I havn't seen this kid for so long, and I'm ready for him to get home.

Love ya both!

This time last year...

This time last year, we were doing the same kinds of things: looking for work, packing up the apartment and playing with our little boy. Lincoln had the chubbiest cheeks as a baby. Not all of the baby fat is gone though: a lady in the grocery store exclaimed, "Look at them jowls, I jes can't believe them jowls!" (Remember we are living in the South.)

"them jowls" this time last year

Raptor Adventure

Link and I set off to the Raptor center in Charlotte last week. The center has rescued hundreds of birds of prey. I didn't realize all the birds were outside and you had to walk the mile route to see them all. It normally would be fine, but we went on a sunny 85 degree day. It was so hot outside! After the 5th type of owl we saw and he hoo-hooed at, Lincoln was more interested in playing in the dirt; he wasn't old enough to appreciate all the birds. I did get some good outside shots of him though.

Check out that belly!

He wanted to climb in with the owls. He wants to climb everything these days.

Dude...Rachel E bought him this tee-shirt.

The search begins...

At the end of the day today, I will have applied to 5 jobs for Dave. How exciting is that?!? Let's keep our fingers crossed that we get a job soon after graduation, because the bank account told me it is SO time. It has been very patient these past 2 years...


Speaking of patience...


I'm just sayin'

Savannah

One of my favorite towns is Savannah, GA. It has so much charm, and you feel like you are in a different time period. My grandma from New Jersey has always wanted to go, so we drove down two weeks ago.

The first thing we did after the 4 hour drive was eat at Paula Dean's restaurant, Lady and Sons. It was absolutely amazing, and we even ate the buffet food! My mouth waters when I think about the fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and even the collard greens.

After lunch we walked around the city. I love the moss that grows on the trees (even though it isn't healthy for the trees): it just makes the town look mystical.


We also visited the house where Juliette Gordon Lowe (the founder of Girl Scouts) grew up. Dave and Lincoln didn't make it through the whole tour...it must be a girl thing.



On our walk back to the hotel, we ran into the lovely St. John's cathedral. Dave got some good shots of the outside, but we forgot to go inside when it was open.

Lincoln had fun playing around/in all the fountains that are in the city squares.


He also had fun playing on River Street later that night. There are tons of restaurants and shops on River Street and there are musicians that perform down by the river. Link enjoyed this sand pit.

He also enjoyed watching all the boats floating by.

We got an early start the next day, because Lincoln likes to wake up before 7am now. The whole gang took a historical walking tour of the town. I wouldn't recommend doing that with a child. Link was pretty good, but we ended up leaving before the end of the tour. After he went down for a nap, Gma and I went out to tour a couple of gorgeous homes, while Dave stayed with little guy. When he woke up, we went back to River Street for some shopping and playing. The best part of the day was going to dinner at the Pirates House. The food was excellent! Dave had some tasty pecan glazed fried chicken and I got some very creamy she-crab soup. There was even a visit from Captain Jack Sparrow.

Dave and gma went on a gravestone and ghost tour (totally not my thing) that night, while Link and I chilled at the hotel. The next day, we went to Tybee island, about 20 miles from Savannah. Gma's friend suggested to go to the crab shack there. The food wasn't really impressive, but they did have lots of alligators, cats, and birds so Link was entertained. The view was nice: it overlooked the coast.

The four hour trip home took 6 hours, because of nasty car accidents and lots of traffic due to Good Friday. Lincoln was such a trooper! He was so good in the car thanks to Dora, Wonderpets, Thomas, and Elmo.

Where did he get this from....

I am really procrastinating blogging about our Savannah trip and Easter. Both events were wonderful, but they require pictures and videos to be downloaded first.

So, recently I have been surprised by some of the things Lincoln has been doing. I just don't know where he gets some of this from...

1. Lincoln loves to play in my brother's van that is sitting in the driveway, waiting for him to come home from his mission this summer. Anyway, he likes to turn the wheel, honk the horn, and run around in the back. My mom and I were outside watching him, when my mom got a frantic look on her face. Lincoln had a screwdriver in each hand (he found them in the back of the van) and was making gun noises, "shoo, shoo." Neither of us taught him about guns or gun noises, so his little boy instincts are kicking in.

2. I have been using my serious mommy voice lately, because it seems right at 18 months, Lincoln decided not to listen. One day he had been told not to throw a ball at my parent's fireplace multiple times. When he did it again, I started to use my serious mommy tone, but Lincoln pretended to sleep even using some snoring noises to try to convince me he wasn't listening. To me, this incidence totally screams Dave. Doesn't it just sound like something Mama Shinsel went through too?

3. We were walking back to our hotel in Savannah with Lincoln in his stroller. There was a large group of middle schoolers walking in front of us, and they weren't going that fast. They stopped right in front of us and didn't move for maybe 30 seconds. Before I had time to say, "Excuse me," Lincoln used his bossy voice, pumped his fist and said, "Go, go, go." The kids turned around and looked down at him smiled and giggled a little, but Lincoln still wasn't having it. He totally ignored them, which he is also very good at doing while watching tv.

Dave conquered

The 3 Shinsels just got back in from Savannah, GA and I have so much blogging to catch up on...later. BUT I quickly wanted to write that Dave conquered his comprehensive grad school test that he has been studying for since February! This means he can graduate; this also means he can finish his resume, which means he can start applying for jobs, which also means we won't be poor for much longer.