We had a fabulous fourth of july weekend with family and friends in Columbia. Our friends the Hunts joined us for a weekend packed full of fireworks, lake fun, a beautiful wedding and of course what's a weekend without a brush with DNR (Dept. of Natural Resources).
Maggie was so glad that her buddy Sam could join us for the weekend. Here they are showing their American pride and waving their flags to "wave your flag" a song composed and recorded by Melissa Hunt.
Maggie strikes a patriotic pose.
Sam enjoyed getting to know Churchill and Churchill the same with Sam. I believe they were deep in conversation about Georgia football in this photo. Sam asked Churchill how he could be a Gamecock fan being a bulldog and all. Churchill trying to be as gentle as possible told Sam all about how Gamecocks are really the best and this gave Sam much to ponder.
Swimmer diapers are a good investment, these are the dangers of swimming in regular diapers albeit very cute dangers..
Grandma and Poppa provided a funfilled weekend for us, thanks again!
Maggie has truly missed the JWU students this summer so in an attempt to recapture some of her favorite memories she dressed up as a chef and did some cooking in the kitchen.
There are several activities this weekend that I wish desperately that I had had my camera for and one of those being our friend Laura's wedding to her fiance Mike. They married July 5th and Tyler officiated. The couple married in there back yard and Helga, Laura's dog walked her down the aisle with Mike's father. My mother does have pictures and once I get them I will post some pics, it was a truly unique affair. It was nice and intimate and we were so glad to be there to witness this union. Maggie was so glad she got to meet her friend Laura as well.
Also I wish I had a picture of my incident with the DNR. It would have been terribly inappropriate but good blog material nonetheless. It all happened during nap time, a perfect time for grandma to babysit and the adults to get in some quality lake time. Tyler desperately wanted to wakeboard and I being the sweet wife that I am tried my best to make this wish come true for my husband. First of all know that wakeboarding Zaepfel style is a feat in and of itself, but this weekend it became even more complicated. Zaepfel style wakeboarding consists of Family Therapy, our families pontoon boat pulling you with a horsepower of about 40 on a good day. And, the board we use does not have boots rather straps and is one I had in high school. The strap was falling off so Tyler bought a new strap and jimmy rigged (or is it Jerry) it to the board. Once we got out to the water we opened up a brand new ski rope and it was about 5ft long double looped, so we tried to fix it and make it longer with a little more jimmy rigging. The rope broke after several attempts and about a half hour later right when we actually had it working up come the DNR. The boat wasn't up to date in it's registration and we had no throw cushion. Not to mention that when Jake found the fire extinguisher it read recharge and was from 1988. We were officially busted and had yet to wakeboard. A whiskey foxtrot later and three warnings and we were back in business...somewhat. Tyler was desperate to wakeboard, but the DNR man (not sure of his official title) said the boat wasn't operational until we fixed these three things, but Tyler asked anywas. He says, "well can I at least wakeboard back to the dock." The DNR man seeing the angst and defeat all over my sweet husbands face replied, "sure, I won't look back." ANd so we did, unfortunately we were about 50 yards from the dock, so yet again being the awesome wife that I am, I threw caution to the wind and did one tiny loop right in front of the dock where my whole family waited and stood patiently for us to come back and explain to them everything that had just happened since they were watching the whole scene from across the lake. So, that was our lake adventure. There is a good ending however. My dad registered online and ran out and bought the necessary items including a bright orange whistle to wear while pulling a skier (just to be extra safe...and show those DNR that we take lake safety very seriously even if it may not seem that way at first glance). ANd we were back on the lake and wakeboarding Zaepfel style in no time flat. And I think we all learned valuable lake safety that day too.
The ultrasound tech said he already has hair! I think you can see a little bit in this picture.
That huge rope looking thing to the right of the picture is the umbilical cord not an enormous thumb (don't worry grandparents).
Isn't he beautiful? My heart is so full! 
Here are the girls in the kitchen acting silly.
And, this is the closest we got to an actual group shot.
We almost got a picture of both the girls looking at the camera here but then Maggie saw something she simply had to play with across the room. Side note, see the gingham armchair in the background, I'd wager to say that Maggie spent 50% of her time at the Lamberts reclining in this Maggie sized luxury.
Maggie felt a need to coach Emmylu through her tummy time exercises. I really felt encouraged seeing Maggie with Emmylu because she was genuinely in love with this little baby. Hopefully, she will be just as enthusiastic about her little brother.
Here the girls enjoy some fresh outdoor air.
This is not a shot from our trip, but I felt the need to post this picture because it is so cute. This was Maggie's first experience with corn on the cob. I usually take the corn off the cob and give it to her, but she really wanted to eat it all by herself and so I let her on this particular occassion. And, she did surprisingly well. She probably ate more corn on the cob than she has ever eaten with it picked off.
Here we are all loaded in the Garrison's van clueless as to the adventure that awaits us in Mooresville.
This bear was not part of the petting portion of the zoo and for good reason. However, on the other side of the parking lot there were several animals available for petting and viewing.
This picture makes me chuckle because Maggie looks so grown up here eating her PBJ for lunch. She knew she needed to carb up for the exciting journey ahead.
The Garrison clan enjoying the ride and view.
This is just an example of how close we were to these beasts and to show you the viewer how they loved to eat the food from our buckets.
Oh hello there zebra in Mooresville.
The llamas were especially fun to feed, even Maggie did it. Her giggle when the llama licked the feed from her hand made the trip all worth it. And, as we left she waved and said goodbye Mama. She must have read her book is your mama a llama before we came. Before I close out my blog on Lazy Five Ranch, I must describe my most favorite part of the day. While aboard the wagon and meandering through the open Mooresville plains our tour guide tells us that we may just get lucky today and see the ranch's water buffalo give birth. Well, it certainly was our lucky day because just that was happening on our last leg of the journey. Have you ever seen that scene from Ace Ventura pet detective when the fake rhino is giving birth, well my experience with water buffalo births is very similar. There she was laying on the ground and her baby was literally half way in and half the other. The scary part was that she was just sitting there like she was done. We city folk were feeling a little nervous at this point but our tour guide tells us not to worry this could take up to two days! Talk about your national geographic experience. Anywas if that doesn't convince you to visit this cool place I don't know what will.
Maggie was so glad that her buddy Sam could join us for the weekend. Here they are showing their American pride and waving their flags to "wave your flag" a song composed and recorded by Melissa Hunt. 
Maggie strikes a patriotic pose.
Sam enjoyed getting to know Churchill and Churchill the same with Sam. I believe they were deep in conversation about Georgia football in this photo. Sam asked Churchill how he could be a Gamecock fan being a bulldog and all. Churchill trying to be as gentle as possible told Sam all about how Gamecocks are really the best and this gave Sam much to ponder.
Swimmer diapers are a good investment, these are the dangers of swimming in regular diapers albeit very cute dangers..
Grandma and Poppa provided a funfilled weekend for us, thanks again!
Maggie has truly missed the JWU students this summer so in an attempt to recapture some of her favorite memories she dressed up as a chef and did some cooking in the kitchen.