New year, new car.

At the end of last year (I feel odd typing that since last year was the day before yesterday), we started kicking around the idea of replacing my MINI Cooper Clubman. Mark had shown me that MINI had just released the new ALL4 model with four wheel drive, which appealed to me because I have to drive to what I refer to as "The Great White North" everyday to work, and during the winter months, the road conditions can vary from dry to "clutching the steering wheel with white knuckles" in just one trip. Plus, I really enjoy the driving experience of my MINI, so the new model seemed a good fit for me. It was also available is a gorgeous burgundy color with this amazing blue leather interior, and since I'm a woman, car color is my primary concern.



When we went to the dealership, they didn't have the exact color combination that I wanted. Since that was the color combination featured in their marketing of the ALL4, that wasn't a surprise. But as we were browsing the options, it occurred to me that the blue interior would look pretty sharp with a white exterior. So we began the process of custom ordering my car from the factory. It was so fun choosing all the options, even though I didn't know what some of them were or if they would really be any use. Since I use my moon roof frequently in the summer and heated seats in the winter, those were a must, along with the sound system because I like to play music really loud.



We ordered the car on November 12th. It had to be built at the MINI factory in Oxford England and then shipped by boat to the states. It arrived in Baltimore on December 12th, but then it had to go through customs and inspection by BMW. We finally got the call from the dealership the day after Christmas that it was ready for pickup. Merry Christmas to me!



For the most part, the controls and instruments are similar to my old Clubman, but some of them are in different places, which will take some getting used to.





My favorite part - the blue interior!



This is the command center. Just like my old MINI, you can change the interior lights, but there are several more options. I picked my favorite color.

I think me and this MINI and going to do some beautiful motoring together this year and in the years to come!

Homecoming 2016

As Lauren's band career continues, there are more and more opportunities for her to perform. This year, she has several extra credit concerts that she can choose to participate in, and the first one was this weekend before the homecoming game.

It was a cool, overcast fall day, but luckily, the rain held off. I wish I could say that our hometown football team, the Shaler Area Titans had some luck, but they are currently 0-7 after the homecoming game.



Here are our cheerleaders practicing an impressive lift.



And here comes the drum corp!



Off to the left you can see some of our homecoming court.



And now, here are the Elementary band students performing the National Anthem with the Shaler Area marching band. Lauren would be off to the right somewhere with the other woodwinds, but unfortunately you can't see her.



But if you look carefully here, you can see her running off the field after the performance (It was the best I could do).

A lack of laboring on Labor Day weekend.

All summer, Mark and I have talked about taking a drive up to Lake Erie, and we managed to squeeze in the trip at the last minute. And when I say last minute, I don't just mean the last weekend of summer. I mean that on the spur of the moment we quickly packed for a day trip and started the two hour drive at about noon yesterday.

Since we needed to stop for lunch, we arrived at Presque Isle State Park at around 2:30. After finding Beach 6 to be too crowded for our tastes, we settled on Beach 7.



Beach 7 had a fair amount of sunbathers, but there was practically no one in the water.

The weather was perfect - not too hot, even though there wasn't a cloud to be seen!





Lauren is a veteran lake swimmer. She now has four lakes under her belt, with two being Great Lakes.



She was not thrilled that I kept trying to take her picture.

After we finished swimming, we headed over to Waldameer Park. This was our first time visiting the park together, although given how often my family went to Erie, I'm sure I must have went there when I was too young to remember. It's a such nice a little park. I hope we get a chance to visit it again when we have more time.



This is the park's largest coaster, The Ravine Flyer II. Yes, there was a Ravine Flyer I, but it had a short, tragic history. Anyway, if you look closely you can see Mark enjoying his ride in the third car (fifth row), although I use the term "enjoying" loosely based upon his review. Lauren really liked it though.



Waldameer also has an old fashioned midway with games that suck you in, even though you know you have little chance of winning.



Although we had no luck at the ring toss, the player before us did win a prize. Can you spot the winning ring?

A pontoon afternoon.

Summer comes to an end multiple times for me. First, summer ends when kids go back to school. Then summer ends again after Labor Day weekend. That's when I retire my white pants and my white purse for another year. However, according to the calendar, summer is really officially done for on the autumnal equinox. Since everyone seems to be obsessed with pumpkin everything already, I'll go with the majority and declare that summer is coming to an end this weekend. So it's probably about time I share the last of our summer adventures, including our vacation photos.

But first I want to write about one of the fun things we discovered this summer, which was renting a pontoon boat and taking it out on Lake Arthur at Moraine State Park.

Lauren will be happy once she turns 13 and is no longer required to wear a life jacket.

Even though it's a little bit a against the rules, Mark likes to sit back and let Lauren take the wheel.

Even though the weather was gorgeous, the lake was fairly deserted when these photos were taken because it was a weekday.

Treasure hunting.

Last Thursday, we visited Living Treasures Animal Park for the first time. They have two locations - one in the Laurel Highlands and the one that we visited, which is in Moraine. I've seen their billboards over and over again as we've traveled the PA turnpike in both directions, but I never considered actually going there, even after we had Lauren. I guess I thought it was just a cheesy little roadside attraction, but it wasn't that at all, far from it! In fact, I'd even say it was much better than most of the zoos that we've visited!



What makes it so special is that you can actually feed and directly interact with most of the animals. You can't tell from this photo, but this pen is filled with a variety of hungry deer. They move from one person to the next in hopes that you'll give them a treat. The park provides bags of carrots and feed that you can purchase as you come through the gate. There are also vending machines throughout the park that contain speciality feed.




For example, this gibbon was really hoping I was going lend him a quarter so he could get something out of the "monkey ball" machine.



When you enter the park, you're greeted by a pond filled with flamingos. I've seen a lot of flamingos before, but I never noticed that they have pink feet! I guess because I've never been close enough to get a good look at them.



Here's Mark demonstrating the proper form for feeding a Scottish Highlander.



Now obviously you can't interact with the wild cats. There's no amount of insurance to cover that kind of liability.



This white tiger's name is Peppermint. He had a Bengal tiger friend named Kit Kat who passed away this January.



Of all the animals that you can feed, the highlight of the whole park has to be the giraffes. Check out that weird tongue!

It's just like patting dad on the head. He's almost as tall!

They have a large fenced in area just brimming with goats.

Remember that time when Mark was overtaken by baby goats? Yep, it was awesome.

Here's Lauren with her favorite little goat of the bunch.

Even though she was only partially white, I'd definitely consider her for membership into my white pet club because she was just too cute.

Next was the kangaroos. The one thing that I learned about kangaroos is that they are very sleepy animals. Even as Lauren was feeding them carrots, they looked extremely drowsy.



And holding a baby kangaroo? WINNING! Again, this joey was so very sleepy - he could barely hold his eyes open for the photo! The babies are kept inside their fabric sacks which are actually hung along the wall of the photo booth. They seem pretty content to literally hang out inside their purses, but if I was a baby kangaroo, I'd request the Kate Spade version.

If I had a favorite buffalo, it was would have to be this white bison. She just had the sweetest face. Her name was either Bubbles or Bonnie, but I think she looks more like a Blondie.

She definitely wanted to go home with me. 

Now we get to do the Watusi! This is Walter. He was hanging out under the bridge and then very slowly made his way over to the fence. I have this progression of photos where he gets a little closer in each one - lol.

Lastly, we conclude with this mighty hungry little muntjac. We all agreed that this is what Cookie would look like if she was muntjac and not an Italian Greyhound.