Playing at the Parks

One of the things we love about our neighborhood is the playground which is just around the corner from our house. Sometimes we walk to it and other times we ride in the bike / bike trailer.

One of my new goals is to get the boys outside every day at least once to play. That seems like an obvious or even silly goal, but with everything else that goes on in a day with naps/housework/errands/playdates, sometimes it is hard to make it a priority to actually make it outside.

Typically we play outside in our front yard with things like chalk, tennis rackets and riding toys, but the boys both love coming to the neighborhood playground.

Isaac is learning how to go down the slide, but he almost always goes down feet-first on his belly.

Noah likes to push the stroller sometimes as well as run ahead on our walks. He is turning into a little runner as much as he asks to if he can go running.

Who, me?

One of the benefits of having an older brother is you learn the tricks of the trade earlier. Poor older brother had to discover everything for himself. Younger brother simply watches and learns.

Isaac's latest skill is to push stools around the house to step up and reach what he wants.

I think we're in for trouble.

Not that my countertops ever have anything stashed on them, of course... :)

A trip to the "ba-Zoo"

We took a trip to the "ba-zoo" (as Noah calls it) this weekend to use the tickets we received as Christmas gifts from James and Lauren. The weather was perfect, a little overcast and cooler.

In the deserts, we saw snakes, iguanas, lizards, tortises, meerkats, and many of the plants found in the desert. The desert dome was warm. I was fascinated at the many varieties of snakes!

James and Lauren brought their nephew Evan, who is also 3 years old. We visited the Oceans. The kids tried to touch the sharks, but I think the sharks were not up for it. There was a good crowd at the zoo, so I can only imagine the sharks get tired of little kids touching them.

We got to see the sea lions and penguins. Penguins are usually my favorite, but they were really mellow. They weren't really up for swimming.

In the Forests, Evan and Noah checked out the new tiger forest exhibit. We saw bears, bats, baboons and probably other animals I'm forgetting.

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The underwater viewing area for the dolphins is really neat. It does limit the amount of space available for the dolphins to swim, but a very cool way to see them swim!

Checking out the turtles, lemurs and flamingos.

In the Plains, we got to see the giraffes, cheetahs, elephants and an ugly warthog. There was a brand new baby elephant born last week. Her name is Kalina. She was so cute but my picture didn't turn out well.

To end a fun-filled day at the zoo, Uncle James and Aunt Lauren took the boys for a ride around the plains on the train ride.

Wanted

A great writing and organizational skill to teach kids is list-making.

Things somehow continue to go missing in our house, so the other day I taught Noah how to make a list. Together we made a picture list of the items that are currently missing in our house.

As you can see, a few of the items have already been found. Noah knows that the finder's reward is 25 cents per item, and currently he is excited about putting money in his money jar.

The "safe places" to store things in our house are dwindling, as motivated Noah and Isaac discover new ways to reach greater heights in our home!

...And once again, God is teaching me patience and grace with having small children!

House Project: the upstairs bathroom

The upstairs bathroom before was a very pale, buttercreamy yellow. I was looking for a "before" picture of the bathroom in our old pictures but don't think I had taken one.

So thinking "Panera colors" and earth tones, I spiced it up a little. I picked a deep brown/orange color. It looks brighter in these pictures than on the wall.

I did it all in one afternoon naptime. I need to repaint the trim in the bathroom white since Noah "helped" paint for a few minutes and managed to smear paint on the trim....go figure!

And we have a camera again!

After a month without a camera, we are finally owners of a camera once again. I am saddened that we have no pictures of many of the things we've done in the past five weeks...

• Aunt Katy's visit from Colorado
• cousins visiting from Ft. Wayne
• trip to Kentucky
• the 4-H fair fun
• Aunt Carol's visit from Washington
• pool time
• cookout with Uncle James and Aunt Lauren
• Swiss Days
• Noah's first trip to the dentist
• Monon Center waterpark
• playdates with friends
• the State Fair

to name a few!

But instead of complaining, I am thankful that I have two little boys that are worth photographing. :)

Hopefully we will make so many more memories that a lack of camera the past month will never be remembered!