Ah, Rats!

Charlie and Daisy

We have two new additions to our family. They arrived on Tuesday, July 21st! The boys had been promised a little pet if they did certain things and had certain behaviors. The day finally arrived (and actually, we got them two days early because we found these two that we liked and the pet store lady said they could always get sold as feeder rats. Eeek! So we bought them early!).

Initially, we were going to get hermit crabs, but after reading all that was involved with them, I kind of prompted the boys to get rats. My step-brother had one growing up and I liked it. I had also read that they make really good pets, are smart and social, and you can teach them tricks. This sounded more like something the boys would like. Charlie mainly wanted a hermit crab because of their pretty colored shells, anyway. Once I explained to him that he can't really play with a hermit crab but you can with a rat, he was pretty much sold.

We are really happy with the rats so far. They are even pretty cute! We got two females and named them Roxy and Daisy. Roxy is Jack's and Daisy is Chalrie's. Daisy has a little more gray on her face than Roxy does.

Last night while I was gone running, Doug texted to say that Charlie was really being nice to Daisy and Daisy was hanging out on Charlie's shoulder. Jack needs a little supervision. He tends to be a little rough, but then again, he's still only three!

When we bought them, the lady at the pet store told us that they shouldn't be handled much for the first week, so they can adjust. The boys have had some trouble following these directions, but we're trying. We have had fun feeding them brocolli, bananas, and grapes. They can pretty much eat most fruits and veggies. We even fed them popcorn, which is a staple in this house.

Roxy
Charlie and Daisy again!

PUMPKINS!

A few weeks ago, we planted some pumpkin plant seeds in our backyard along the house. The other plants are doing okay, but are pretty small. This one particular plant, however, has gotten huge. It's way bigger than the others. We can't wait to see how the pumpkins progress and hope to have some by fall!

We also planted some carrots in May. The didn't really grow. Charlie insisted that we plant them. I didn't really want to, so I dug a hole and just dumped the whole packet in. He was happy and has only asked about them a few times. I just told him it wasn't a good place for growing carrots. He seemed okay with that answer.

A few months ago Charlie ate an apple at preschool all the way down to the seeds. He asked his teachers to put the seeds in a baggy, so he could take them home and plant them. So we did. I tried to explain to him that apples wouldn't grow from those seeds. We even googled how to grow apples and I explained it all. He still waited and waited for those apples to spring from the ground. Finally, he lost interest, and still, there are no apples!

We talked about planting a real garden next year-tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. I think the boys would really enjoy that. They love flowers and planting things.

July

The month started off with the 4th of July. My cousin, Sarah, was back in town with her kids, so we attended a family get together, which was great. I didn't take pics there, but my mom and cousin did and hopefully I will get a hold of them soon to post. The boys had so much fun hanging out with their second cousins and watching fireworks. For the actual 4th, we stayed in our neighborhood. There was a block party. We ate a ton of food and hung outside most of the day.

We made another couple of trips to the zoo this month. It was really crowded, but we still had fun. The boys probably had the most fun playing on the old, unused train.
This weekend we made a trip to Schramm State Park to see a snake exhibit. They were showing species of snakes that are in Nebraska. While there, we also walked through the aquarium, which showcases Nebraska fish. No, they aren't red with big N's on them. After the aquarium, we went on a walk and fed the fish. Then we hiked on a trail for a couple of miles. On the walk, the boys found lots of snails and named them all Gary in honor of Spongebob's 10th birthday this weekend. We also walked over a suspension bridge. It is a really nice park and we plan to go back.

One of the snails named Gary.


Snail Races


This whole weekend we have been lucky enough to have really great weather. The boys have been outside non-stop and we put the tent up today, so that they could pretend camp. Right away they lined their snacks, markers and paper up against the side of the tent. These are their most important items! This is the tent that Doug and I got for our wedding almost 9 years ago. It has never been out of the box until today. I guess we aren't really big on camping! ha ha.

I wish I was able to capture here all the fun we've had this summer. We have stayed up late so many nights having drinks with the neighbors while the kids run around catching fireflies. We've slept in late. I have been able to read a few books, do a lot of running and spinning and take a lot of naps. We've been to several area waterparks, parks, the zoo, Great Wolf Lodge and the Children's Museum, just to name a few. We've also spent quite a few days at Nana and Papa's house playing outside and hanging out with them. We've gone for walks, to the library, had swim lessons and baseball, grilled out and all around just hung out. I am so happy and lucky to have the summers to spend with my kids. It couldn't make me happier.

Finally! June!

So, let's see. What has happened during the past 7 months? How is it possible that I never blog? Oh well!

This summer has been really fun. I will probably cram all we've done in this one post and then not do this again until Christmas!

We have spent a ton of time outside this summer. The boys prefer it out there and so do we. Here are some photos of one of the many times they have run through the sprinkler with the neighbor girl, Grace.

On June 21, we headed down to KC to stay two nights at Great Wolf Lodge. We had not been there before and it turned out to be a lot of fun. The boys loved it and so did we! We will definitely go back again. We went down on Father's Day and came back that Tuesday. One of the things that made this trip so great was that the boys weren't afraid to try anything. We thought they might be, but they went down all of the water slides and Charlie even started swimming really well on his own. We spent a ton of time at the outdoor pool. The weather while we were there was over 100 degrees. We all got some sun! We did story time while we were there, ordered in pizza, ate ice cream and ordered a pay-per-view movie. We watched Coraline, only because Charlie insisted. They loved it though.

While down there, we visited the T Rex Cafe. The boys loved this as well. The place had really cool dinosaurs and we ate lunch in the Ice Cave. There was a meteor shower in the cave every 30 minutes and the walls and ceilings would light up and turn different colors and there would be a lot of noise.

We also made a trip or two or three to the zoo in June. Quite frankly, I am kind of zoo'ed out at this point. Didn't know that was possible. We visited the first time with Charlie's preschool friend Scotty and his mom and siblings.

Charlie also turned 5 1/2 in June. We celebrated by making him his cake of choice and eating it for dessert. They really enjoy signing "Happy half birthday to you..." They laugh and thinks it's pretty cool. Plus, the cake isn't all bad either.


Now on to July!