Playing at Nana & Papa's House

On Sunday we went over to my parent's house and the kids played in the sprinkler for awhile. The boys ofcourse fought over who gets to go as you can see from the picture of Joshua trying to pull James down. You can also see that Gracie wasn't to fond of the sprinkler, it was too cold for her. They all had a good time and Papa enjoyed turning the sprinkler on and off trying to get the water to shoot in the kids faces.

Deanna Rose Farmstead

We took the kids to Deanna Rose Farmstead yesterday. They really enjoyed themselves, my kids just love animals!! Joshua was more brave than I thought he would be, he actually went up to the goats and petted them and let them eat out of his hands and lick him (I know gross!). Gracie wasn't too bad either, she kind of got a little scared the first time we got really close to a goat but she warmed up to them. The Farmstead is wonderful!! There is so many animals to see then they have two different playgrounds which the kids loved. You can go into their barn and see the cows and even milk a pretend cow which Joshua just loved to do. They also have pony rides which Joshua did and loved, he also got to feed baby goats milk from a bottle. They also had fishing but we didn't do that. We got there first thing in the morning and I'm glad we did because around 11 or so it started getting packed but we were about finished and didn't have to deal with the crowds thank goodness. Joshua keeps talking about seeing and feeding the animals we are going to have to take them back sometime. Needless to say they were worn out and passed out in the car on the way home.

Omaha Zoo

Look Daddy, penguins!!

Showing Joshua how to touch a sting ray

This girl is so silly

Lunch break

Watching the Polar Bear swim

Banging on the glass, trying to get the Polar Bear's attention

We finally arrived!!

We decided to take the kids to the Omaha Zoo over the weekend. They love the KC Zoo so much and since we are Friends of the Zoo and get in for 1/2 price at Omaha we thought it would be a nice little vacation. We headed up on Friday after work and stayed at the hotel for the first night. On Saturday we got up and headed over to the Zoo. Little did we know we were in for a looong wait. The College World Series was going on and ofcourse the baseball park is right across the street from the Zoo so we ended up waiting in traffic for about an hour.

The kids absolutely loved it!! We started off by seeing the monkeys then went over to the bears. They loved watching the Polar bear swim, Gracie went crazy and started banging on the glass at it. We got to see them feed the black bear which Joshua thought was funny. We went into the night creatures exhibit and Gracie got scared so we had to move very quickly. We walked alot, stopped to get a bite to eat and then headed into the aquarium which is Jason and my favorite part of the zoo. They have a tunnel tank that you can walk through and you are surrounded by the fish and sharks. At the beginning you can go to this tank where you can touch sting rays. They are very clear about telling you to touch them gently with two fingers only. Joshua watched me and then decided he wanted to touch them. He was very good at listening about touching them with two fingers, or so we thought. He was too short to reach into the tank himself, so I was holding him up. He approached them then freaked out and wanted down. After the aquarium we headed over and saw the Giraffes by that time the kids were worn out, we tried to go into the Butterfly exhibit but Joshua started throwing a fit and we decided it was time to go.

We swam later in the afternoon at the hotel and just hung out the rest of the evening. We headed home on Sunday and we were ready to be home.

Gracie's 1st Birthday Party

YUMMY Cake Mom!!

Drying off from the pool

Playing with the balloons

It's time to party!!

Well today was a crazy day!! I got up early because I knew I had alot to do. Gracie and I first went to Hy-Vee to get the drinks and snacks for the party and also to get her free pizza and dozen cookies since she is part of the Hy-Vee Kids club. We then headed over to the $1 store to pick up a couple of last minute things. It was then time to get home and bake the cake and clean the house. My sister-in-law Christel came over early and helped me clean (THANK YOU SO MUCH!!) I sent Jason off to get the ice and balloons. I had trouble with the cake thanks to my bright idea of trying to save money and buying the cheap cake mix. But it all worked out in the end thanks to my parents for interjecting. We had a house full but it was a great time. We set up the pool in the back yard for the kids to play before everything really got started then it was time for presents and Gracie got way way to much as usual. We then had cake and ice cream and as I suspected Gracie doug right in and loved the cake. There was alot of clean up and I am exhuausted.

Thank you to everyone who came and helped Gracie celebrate her 1st birthday!!

Gracie's 1st Birthday

Gracie is already 1 year old!! Jason and I took the day off to hang out with Gracie on her birthday. We went to the zoo for a couple of hours, then went shopping for some last minute party items and gift. Then in the afternoon we took Gracie to get her 1st year photos taken. We didn't get any family pics done because Joshua's face has broken out really badley so we are going to wait until fall to get those done. I found out the breakouts are probably caused by him eating so many oranges, that boy goes crazy over them!! I think Gracie's pictures turned out really well, she takes after her brother and is a total ham!!

Obviously we didn't get her 1st hair cut today since she hardly has any, plus she's a girl and I like little girls with long hair so I can play with it.

Tomorrow is her birthday party, exicted but I know I will be exhausted by the end of the day. Not only are we having her party tomorrow but we are also watching Evelyn for the night. I know I am crazy!!