Alpaca faces

Here are some closer pictures of some of the alpacas.

They are so cute, but unfortunately they don't really like to be petted.

Alpaca Time!

One of Chad's cousins got married in July in Blairsville, GA. We found an alpaca farm that was nearby where we were staying so we decided to check it out. It was really cool. The farm we went to is called Lasso the Moon (click on the name to go to their website). The farm owner not only raises the alpacas, but she also makes really cool glass bead jewelry - there's a section on the website where she sells it online too. I bought a blue/green bead shaped like an alpaca.

Greedy Kitties

If you can tell from looking at this picture - Roxy completely ripped open this bag of treats. I made the mistake of leaving them out on the coffee table and when we came home they were torn open. Both of them LOVE treats, but Roxy in particular will try to get into the bag if you don't watch her!

Parade Prizes

During the 4th of July parade this year we sat at the beginning of the parade route, so we scored better freebies than we have in the past. Chad got me the Chick-fil-A cow and I got the flag, plus we got TONS of candy. Chad also got the hat that he's wearing in the fireworks picture too.

Fireworks!

It's very hard to take a picture of fireworks, but Chad got the hang of it and took some really great pictures of the fireworks display in Harrisburg.

More 4th of July

Here are our nieces, Kathryn & Karissa, with their 4th of July ribbons.

Here's a picture of me & Chad at the Harrisburg park for the fireworks.

More pictures from the 4th of July Parade

This farm decorated their float with Sandra Boynton characters.

One of the Harrisburg fire engines.

Harrisburg 4th of July Parade

Chad loved this Carolina Tarheels Mule from the parade.

Paul Revere rides through the streets of Harrisburg.

Sandy's jewelry

If you look closely you can see that Sandy is wearing a milk cap ring like a bracelet. The milk cap rings are one of her favorite toys.

Biological clock ticking...or not...

I just read this article from Newsweek online called "Stop Setting Alarms on my Biological Clock" by Carrie Friedman. Basically the author talks about how much she does want kids, but is very frustrated and irratated with all the people she comes into contact with who want to know when she's going to get pregnant - and basically she says it's none of their business. All the harrassing doesn't really encourage her to want to join the motherhood club that so many people are hard-core recruiting for. It's like I could have written that article, except for the part about really, really wanting kids. I'm still very ambivalent about whether I want to have kids, but I'm really sick of everyone who has kids trying to recruit me into their exclusive club. My husband and I are the only couple I know that doesn't already have kids, is pregnant or actively pursuing pregnancy, adoption, etc. - but many of my friends think that when I hold their newborn I'm going to be suddenly converted to the cult. If we decide to have kids it will be on our terms and because we want to - not because we finally caved to all the pressure from other parents. I think this is a great, very relevant article - click here if you'd like to read it.