Zoo Animals

Well, it's been a long time since I last posted.  May was a very crazy, also very fun, month!  The weekend after mother's day Andy went off to Las Vegas to celebrate Nate's bachelor party.  They had four nights of pure fun and enjoyed their days poolside with a drink in hand.  While Andy was away I tried my best to wear the kids out and keep them busy.  Mission Accomplished!  Between a trip to the zoo, trips to the beach, Grandma's day at the water park with them, and play dates with friends, mommy got to sleep in late (late to a parent is 8:30 right?).  If you were beginning to think I got the short end...don't...because last weekend I went to Chicago for Cristina's bachelorette party (that'll be it's own post). :)   And when you think a family can't get busier...did I mention we are moving too???!!!  All of this is going on simultaneously; it's a bit hectic around our house right now to say the least.

In between chaos, we try to have some fun.  While daddy was in Begas (that's Vegas to Devin), I took the day off of work and met the Beckman girls at the Naples Zoo.  It was the middle of May and felt like the middle of summer; HOT, HOT, HOT!  Nothing could stop our little zoo animals from having fun though. 

This is how the trip started...you can't even make this stuff up...they're the cutest!!!



Miah grabbed Lexi's hand and they took off!

 

They have no idea how precious this is; how precious they are.


 

The Three Amigos!

 

The bright colors caught my eye.  This was an extremely bare tree finally beginning to grow leaves and bloom again.  I believe, and I'm probably wrong, this is a poinciana.



At the end of the day I tried to get some shots of the kids with this beautiful bright green background and no one wanted any part of it!  I got one decent shot and a lot of being yelled at! :)




This is how they roll!




Miah Jane thinks she's hilarious!

 Now for some other zoo animals.........


I always like looking at the alligators, even though you don't have to go to a zoo to see them.  They're everywhere in South Florida and I go to a zoo and watch them swim and sunbathe!



Nothing is more precious than a mommy and her baby.  These are Greater Kudus from Africa having lunch.

 The next series of pictures were taken on the Primate Expedition Cruise.  Nothing is more fun than keeping three toddlers still and quiet on a boat, while it's moving and explaining why we can't get off right now! LOL  This is actually a very neat experience and you get to journey through man made islands and see monkeys, lemurs and apes.  They are all so different; some like to hide out or lounge around and others came out to the boat to either show off or scare us and defend their island.


Insert Tarzan call......

This White Handed Gibbon is one of my favorites.  I think she's so PURRRTY!

I know it's important to keep up the appearance of the zoo but I couldn't believe what we saw on the primate cruise.  A guy mowing the lawn on the island while spider monkeys were swinging about.  The best part of it was there was a woman with a walkie talkie standing there watching him!  What was she going to do, call for help?!  They're on an island, help is gonna take some time!

You know how you have to pick up your feet when someone is vacuuming the floor near you?  I feel like the monkey had to pick up his (hands/feet?) in this next picture so the mower could get by.  That is too close for comfort in my opinion.  I hope the zoo employees have AWESOME insurance!

On to another funny picture...I had no idea giraffe were so darn flexible.  I have at least five pictures of this giraffe winding it's Gumby-like neck around another giraffe.

I got an itch right there!

Well...Hello there!

We probably won't be visiting the zoo again for awhile.  It's too darn hot in the summer time.  Even when you go early, you fight the humidity and mosquitoes.  We have plenty of zoo animals in our own home to enjoy! :)

Next post, CHI-TOWN baby; mommy's fun weekend away with the girls.

Trolley Pub Crawl

Last Thursday night we helped throw a pretty awesome Jack and Jill party for Nate and Cristina.  These two cute love birds are getting married in like 8 weeks!!!  In what is now a Schaps wedding tradition, we rented the Naples Trolley and with 25-30 of Nate and Cristina's closest friends, we went on a pub crawl around town.  It brought back fun memories for Andy and I; we did the same thing with our wedding party and friends days before our wedding 5 1/2 years ago.   It was so much fun and everyone seemed to have a really, REALLY, good time!  Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa O'Dean, Andy and I had a great time too!

The two love birds....

The night started off at South Street where we indulged in pizza and beer.  It was the starting point to a very fun night!  Oh and I must warn you, you may want to turn down the hue on your monitors.  This was a Hawaiian themed party and the guys went all out with the brightest and boldest shirts I have ever seen.

Susie and Kevin

Nate and Andy (who has to be goofy 90% of the time!)



I made them take a serious picture too and it turned out nice!



Kevin and Trent managed to go out that day and buy the same exact awful Hawaiian shirt!!

Cristina and Susie

The other two love birds! :-)



Some of the bridesmaids with Cris: Susie, Audra, Randi and Amy



Add one more bridesmaid...ME!



Cristina with her brother JJ and his girlfriend Amber



A great picture of Cristina and her brother.

Cristina, Me and Chrissy...not sure why I'm making such a funny face?



Crazy Girls!

Let the dancing begin...

Nate treated us like a herd of crazy animals and had to blow his horn at each stop so we'd all gather back together and load up on the trolley.  I'll just say that he took his job of the herder very seriously!

Not sure if you've noticed but Nate changed his shirt at each and every stop we made!



CHEERS to Nate and Cristina!

Not only were we celebrating at the bars we stopped at but we had a pretty fabulous...and windy...party on the trolley too!  Believe me cause I'm leaving out a lot of pictures from the trolley ride. :)

The beautiful bride to be with all of her 'flare'...I don't miss that!

We had so much fun celebrating with Nate and Cristina and their friends.  It was just a small taste of what's to come in the next two months.  Next up...the bachelor party in Las Vegas and the bachelorette trip to Chicago!!  We are so excited for Nate and Cristina and are honored to help them celebrate every step of the way.  We love you and can't wait for your special day in July...and all the special days to come in the future!