Boo hoo, Spring Break is over.

Well, actually after taking blonde rascal to the grocery store with me a few times the past week...I am glad school is back in session. Those trips are so much quicker and definitely more sane sans children!

Last weekend I was in Snyder painting. Duh. Two of my girlfriends came down on Saturday to help me paint. Let me just tell you how I adore them for that. Seriously. They were quite a team, Angie and Staci, they came armed with step stools, paint rollers... and margaritas. They were like the Red Cross coming to my rescue! They painted 2 bedrooms and then we may or may not have sat around drinking margaritas. Paint fumes, good friends and margaritas, it is what all good house remodels are made of.

Blonde rascal and hubs came on Sunday. Hubs was safety supervisor as I precariously painted the crown molding, which I guess is about 12' at its highest point, dangling from the extension ladder. Hubs then headed back to Lubbock since he had to work Monday, while blonde rascal and I started our Spring Break week.

Monday I painted some more and got everything ready for the floor installers who were coming the next day. That evening some friends in Snyder came by to see us. I caught wind of the fact that they raise miniature dachshunds. They had 2 left from the most recent litter. They brought them over so we could love on them.Seriously. Puppy breath, soft fur and that sweet face just about sent me over the edge. Luckily, something about the thought of simultaneously remodeling, moving and puppy potty training kept me from caving in and getting one.

Tuesday we made a trek an hour and a half south to Abilene to go to the zoo. Our first stop was in the creepy critters house where, lucky us, Tuesday is feeding day. So much to blonde rascal's delight we wandered around in that dark building while snakes were digesting mice and there were spiders and my skin was crawling.

We thankfully got out of there alive and I was pumped up by the thought of using my big camera lens at the zoo. My first subject was this stunning leopard......who I happened to catch mid yawn....Clearly the Abilene Zoo does not provide the animals with Crest White Strips.


Hello gorgeous...
We got to the zoo around lunch time and were excited by the thought of consuming zoo food... hot dogs, nachos...you know some greasy gut bomb fare. The dang concession stand was closed. I am sure it is only open in the summer, but come on it was Spring Break! There was a lone vending machine chocked full of peanut m&m's, chips, etc...and it was out of order.At the ticket booth they sold packs of these dry, wheat, rye, cardboard-like crackers that you could feed the animals. We bought some and by the end of our visit, WE were nibbling on them. Good thing the drink vending machines were in operation.


I was glad I could zoom in on this guy....from a distance.


Something about this grand creature made me want to hug his big furry neck. However that may not of ended so well for me.

We got back to the house in Snyder and blonde rascal decided to play in the hot tub. Still enamored by my zoom lens, I sat on the other end of the porch and took pictures. Which is fabulous because since I was not in his face, he had no idea I was snapping away.

There was splashing....
shooting hoops...
...and dancing....

Meanwhile, a little closer to the floor....
Pretty, pretty, princess Missy...
...had rummaged up a horse hoof trimming that she was happily munching on. Ewww.

The little shaggy dust mop...
Blonde rascal, who had for whatever reason gotten in the hot tub fully clothed instead of in his swimsuit, had stripped down to his undies to dry off. He was in a fit of giggles as I threatened to take a picture of him in his drawers....

He'll kill me for this.....



"The End"