Good Times, Good Friends, & Lazy 5 Ranch!

This past weekend we packed up and headed to Charlotte to visit some of our good friends, Michael & Amy.  Time had gotten away with us and we hadn't seen each other since February.  That usually doesn't happen but time does fly!  I wish I could go stay at least a week because there are so many of my friends up there that I miss so much and would love to see!  One weekend doesn't quite get the job done.  I'm hoping to get more time up there soon though.
We had a free weekend and decided to make the most of it so we went to see Michael, Amy, Kaden, and Ashton.  They are always the best hosts and we have so much fun catching up with them.  Its also  very nice that they have 2 boys the exact same ages as our girls.  I think I've mentioned that Amy & I have been pregnant together both times and only 1 month apart :)
When we got there Friday we spent the evening talking and catching up.  Michael is the best cook so we had a yummy dinner as well.  The kids had a blast playing together.  Ashton and Kate had changed a lot since February but it was so cute watching them play together.  Amy & I decided to take a Target trip to get some things and we just laughed at how nice a trip to Target without kids is!  I think we felt old just saying it out loud!  I love the fact that we can go months without seeing each other but pick right up where we left off.

Kaden & Cohen settling in to watch a movie

Saturday, we woke up and after breakfast we headed to Mooresville to Lazy 5 ranch.  This place is like a zoo/safari type place.  You can drive your car through or ride on the wagon and they have all kinds of animals!  The animals all come right up to the wagon and let you feed them...some a little too close!  The only ones you can't feed are the zebras, and they bite.  We saw and fed all kinds of cows, deer, buffalo, pigs, water buffalo, a rhino, and giraffes.  Cohen's favorite animal is a giraffe so we were so excited to see those.  Kelly lifted her right up to the giraffe to get him to eat out of her bucket.  I think he smelled it but both giraffes were not too interested.  I tried to get a picture of her beside of it though since she loves them so much.  I wish they had been as hungry as some of the bulls!  They seem to eat and eat.  We enjoyed the trip though and they also loved going through the petting zoo part.  We saw the cutest baby goats, and even saw a baby giraffe that was just 10 days old!  Kelly & I laughed at how we never had been to this place in all the years we lived in Charlotte but I said not having kids then probably explained that.

Pretty parrot...I felt like I was back in Costa Rica

Feeding the cows in the petting zoo part

Unsure about the camels...

They look so big!  

Cohen started to enjoy feeding them out of her hand

A baby goat just her size

Baby giraffe!

The Kirchgessner's :)

1 day old pigs!

This one was ready to wreak havoc on these animals!

Feeding the buffalo

Trying to feed the giraffe

Kelly felt back in Costa Rica too when he found the brahma bull!

This was the largest dairy cow I've ever seen and check out the tongue on this thing!

After leaving we grabbed a late lunch then headed on to do some shopping.  Unfortunately Kaden got sick after lunch so we shopped while Michael & Amy took him home.   We weren't sure if there was a virus going around or not.  Tara & Jessica were planning to meet us for dinner but we didn't want anyone to get sick just in case.  Jessica did come over for a while and I was glad to see her.  She is definitely one of my "bestest" and like a little sister.  We always have several laughs!  We ended up driving back late that night.  We thought it might be best for Kaden to rest.  We had such a fun weekend though!  I'm already counting down the days until our next weekend together.  Here are a few pictures of Ashton and Kate playing Saturday night.  It was so cute watching him push her on the toy and every time she would drop her cup he was right there to get it for her.  Kids are so precious to sit and watch!

This baby was out in the car coming back from shopping...she was worn out!