almost 4

i can't believe it, one week from today my lil livia will be 4. it's been amazing to watch her grow & help her discover her world. i can't wait to continue exploring with her & all the adventures it will take us on. here are some pictures of all my favorite moments of the last year of livi & i to show you, i tried to pick pictures that haven't been on the blog before (that was hard)... so enjoy!!!

20 books

remember how i joined the summer reading program earlier this summer, well i wanted to give you an exciting update! so far i've read over 20 chapter books & if you read 20 books the library gives you a really awesome prize... i have a certificate & a trophy now, how cool is that! i can't wait until next summer to do this again!

it's even signed by the governor

 "2012 Texas Number One Reader"

my friend madi & i with our trophies

let the games begin

yay, it's time for the 2012 olympics in london! we're ready... let the games begin!!!

blue bell creamery

the other day we went on a family trip to brenham, tx to visit blue bell creamery. for you who do not what blue bell is...(i'm sorry) it's the best ice cream you will ever have. it is the only ice cream daddy allows in the house & he is an ice cream connoisseur. blue bell has been cranking out ice cream since 1911, over a hundred years! we got to go on a tour of the blue bell creamery & see how they make ice cream...it was really cool. i wish we were allowed to take pictures on the tour but it is forbidden probably so nobody can steal their secret ingredients from their recipes.  i could watch them make ice cream all day, we got to see how they make rocky road ice cream... talk about the biggest amount of marshmallows & nuts you have ever seen! this is the most amazing thing i've ever heard- guess how many cows it takes to supply one day of production at blue bell...60,000 cows...HOLY COW!!! watching the assembly line was amazing, one mishap & it would be an ice cream disaster (that is the worst kind). they have sooooooo many different kinds of freezers in there, it was crazy, i don't know how they keep them straight. at one point of the tour we saw them throwing away hundreds of ice cream sandwiches (mommy almost had a heart attack, those are her favorite of all time) & mommy yelled at the tour guide "WHAT ARE THEY DOING???" the tour guide told us that for sanity reasons if they aren't wrapped properly they have to be disposed but not to worry all the wrappers are recycled & they feed all the "ice cream garbage" to pigs, livi loved that part. so now when livi eats bacon she is also having some blue bell ice cream, she is way way excited about that! of course they save the best for last, at the end of the tour we got to have a huge scoop of ice cream...mmm, mmm, good.

david adicke's studio

the other day we went to one of the coolest places i've ever been to... david adicke's studio. at the studio they have these 36-foot-tall statues of the Beatles in the parking lot. it's basically just a storage area so they are not "on display" but still very impressive sculptures and the price is right (free). these statues have been here at least since 2007 & mommy has always wanted to see them... so we went. it's best to come during during business hours when the gate is usually open and you can wander in the parking lot. depending on his current projects, there may be 20 or more of his giant president heads here, but we saw probably about 40 of them. words can't describe how cool this place was, everywhere you looked there were statues. it was so hot the day we went, we didn't stay as long as we wanted so i can't wait to go back in the fall when it's a little cooler to spend some more time hanging out. but here are some of the pictures we took...

hanging out inside a president

kithaka update

my sweet litle kithaka

today i got an email from the david sheldrick wildlife trust about how my little kithaka is doing... i was so happy to hear how he's doing. this last month they've been able to rescue some baby elephants, so my lil kithaka has had some new buddies to play with. my kithaka is still the tinest & is a nursery favorite. everyone is so happy that he's finally healthy. but they all hope he stays little because he is so cute & quite a character. but "beware if anyone who touches his "bum" since he obviously recalls the many injections he had to endure in that portion of his body. instantly, this triggers charging retribution, his ears out like dinner plates as he pursues his quarry!" my kithaka also likes pushing anyone who bends down in front of him & is also proving a good soccer player, except instead of kicking the ball, he head butts it instead, something that makes everyone crack up! also kitaka is more like me than i thought, he loves being the center of attention too...lol!

kithaka & his buddies

playing with his handler

lunch time

such a love bug

also in my monthly update was a water colour painted by angela sheldrick, isn't it sweet...