Jack Turns 4!

Jack turned four this weekend! We celebrated the entire day and even Grandma Barb and Aunt Jessie came to town, too!

The day started with a birthday donut breakfast! The boys always enjoy their sprinkle donuts.

Then we headed down to Omaha's very awesome zoo! That was Jack's choice of things to do. We rode on the train, which we all enjoy.

After the zoo, Grandma Barb and Aunt Jessie headed back to Cedar Rapids. We all took a really long, much needed nap of several hours. After the nap, we made ice cream cone cupcakes that were peanut butter with chocolate frosting. These turned out well and were really good!

Late that afternoon, Nana and Papa came over for dinner and gift opening. We ordered in pizza, ate cupcakes and opened presents. Jack was very spoiled the entire day and Charlie was a great big brother! There were just a couple instances of jealousy over the new gifts, but overall, Charlie did a great job!

The best and funniest part of Jack's birthday is that he is really into fireman and firetrucks. Most of his gifts, aside from the Spiderman bike that we got him and a few others, were focused on the fireman theme. He got a couple of really neat firetrucks and a rescue helicopter. He also got a neat set of rescue vehicles. We got him some fireman pajamas and fireman rain boots. My mom got him a fireman raincoat. He was so very excited for all of his fireman gear that when he put it all on, which he did a lot that evening, he renamed himself "Firefighter Joe." This is what we are to call him when he is in his fire gear. When he's in regular clothing, he's just Jack. He ran around the house a lot throwing his gear on and saying he had a fire to go to or a job to do! Then he would take it off and just be Jack again. Later that evening, as the boys were outside playing with their Matchbox Color Blaster set, Jack decided he needed to get the hose out to help him fight fires in his fire gear. He is so animated that it's hard to capture the scene in words, but we took a few pictures.

Here are a few more photos from the day:

Charlie's Big Day!

Wednesday, August 12, was Charlie's first day of kindergarten. Such a big milestone for us and him! We talked school up all summer, and he didn't really seem all that impressed or excited for the big day. He was definitely more excited for the Scooby-Doo backpack! We all took him to school the first day. He didn't want to talk much about it, and there weren't too many smiles on his end. We took the madatory pictures in our front yard, and then took more as we got to school. Once at school all of the the teachers were outside lining their students up. We weren't to go inside with the classes. We had to say good-bye at the door and watch them walk in with their new friends.

We got there a little early and Charlie seemed a little nervous. He said he was tired and that it was going to be a long day (We had explained to him there wouldn't be naptimes as in preschool). I rubbed his back like he likes me to do and he just stood and waited patiently. He did stand in line by his new friend Collin and as his new teacher led the class inside, Charlie and Collin held each other's hands into the building. It was very cute. I didn't cry, but got a little teary-eyed. It wasn't that I was sad, but that I was nervous that he was nervous. He always does really well with new situations; he makes friends very easily. We talked all that up with him and in the end, he had a great day. When I picked him up that day, he said he had a great time!

Charlie standing with Dad and Jack

Charlie and Collin

I ask him daily how school was and I am learning the questions to ask that will elicit good responses from him. The first two days he said he didn't want to talk about it because he was too tired. Last night, though, he finally told us a lot more about what went on inside the classroom and the things they had done that week. For instance, the teacher plays a game with them where the teacher is on one team and the students are on the other. The student team is called the skunks. Also, that he gives the teacher a hug at the end of the day, and they get one Skittle if they are good that day. The teacher also has a huge stuffed bear with a Superman t-shirt on named Superbear! The bear is there to "keep his eye on the kids", Charlie tells me!

So, overall, it sounds like the first week of school was a success.

Last Week of Summer Vacation!

Ah, this is it. No more summer vacation after this week. Seems a little sad, but at the same time, I think we are all kind of ready to get back to the school year routine. We've tried to cram a lot in this week and last, getting in some more zoo visits, etc.

Last Friday we visited the Durham Western Heritage Museum and Kennefick park. The boys love looking at all the trains. The Durham had a neat exhibit called Moneyville to teach kids all about money. It was pretty interactive and you could even make money with your picture on it. They loved doing that.

Monday we met Charlie's preschool friend and his family at a park to play and then we went to The Amazing Pizza Machine, which is a place the boys love! We had a really fun time. The boys went on the bumper cars, rides and played the games. We ate a lot of pizza and dd not want to leave. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera that day, so I don't have any photos.

Today we went to Fontenelle Forest to see the new DinoQuest exhibit. This was actually pretty cool. All along the boardwalk were dinosaurs with some information about each one. They looked very real and the boys and I talked a lot about what each one ate and what they were like. It was pretty hot today and quite crowded, so we didn't end up staying too terribly long. I had promised the boys we could hit McDonald's on the way home and they are always excited about that.

Tomorrow we are heading over to Council Bluffs to hit a family favorite-Christy Creme. We love their sherbert, malts and fries! Then we are going to the zoo for member day. Thursday or Friday we will be heading off to Mahoney State Park to go swimming with some friends for a last hurrah! Then it's back to reality! It's been a great summer!

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!