A DAY IN THE LIFE...........

The Zoo

Alyvia had an eye exam in Des Moines and it was a early appointment so we decided to take the kids to the Blank Park Zoo afterward. Asher has never been to the zoo...I know poor kid is so deprived. Alyvia has been to a few awesome zoos, but not since I had Asher. Blank Park is a small zoo, and great for an afternoon in the summer. They both loved it of course. I hope next year to take them to the Omaha Zoo.

Alyvia had a eye exam first and here she is in her glasses after her dialtion. Doesn't she look cute???

Red Pandas

One of Asher's favorite parts of the day was the aquariums. He LOVES FISHIES!

They both loved the Jelly Fish

Asher really liked this "Thomas" Fishy as he called it becaue it is blue like Thomas.

My kids both love flamingos and there were tons of them there.

This little guy was just walking around and playing in the grass.

Ever since they saw these they keep telling me that see big tortoises in the yard. If there is a big branch or something they think it is a tortoise.

We all loved the Giraffes. They were awesome at this zoo.

Alyvia is such a big girl she wanted to feed the giraffes.

Asher chickened out so she got to feed them his lettuce too. She thought it was really neat.

Then she decided she wanted to ride the camel. She is for sure a big girl now. Asher wouldn't go near the camel. He just talked to it from a distance. He liked Alyvia riding it though. Maybe when he is 5 he will.

She said it was fun and really high up.

They both loved petting and feeding the little animals at the petting zoo.

The penguins were a big hit and put on a good show. Asher wanted to go swimming with them.

Alyvia must be telling Na Na a BIG story.

The highlight of Asher's day though of course was the train ride. By then we were tired, but had to have that train ride at the end. Then Na Na took them to the gift shop and got them stuffed animals. Asher got a Sea Horse because he and I both LOVE sea horses. Alyvia got, hmm I can't remember and she has so many dang stuffed animals I have no clue. But she knows and remembers each and every one of them so I will have to ask her later.

4th of July

The kids really had a fun 4th. We went to Na Na and Pa Pa's and they had fun doing a few fireworks with Andrew. Then we went to BP and met up with Grandma & Grandpa and Kelley, Caleb, and the girls and put the trucks together. Had supper in the bed of the trucks and watched the fireworks show in the parking lot like redneck style. They had fun eating and playing in the truck beds with the cousins and really loved all the fireworks. The golf course had a great display. Alyvia loved naming off the colors and the girls were all naming each one after the shape it was in. A tree, a flower, a bug to name a few. Asher just kept saying "wow" over and over again and his neck must have been sore from not hardly ever looking down. He didn't want to miss a single one.

My adorable Asher

Alyvia and Asher in the matching shirts Kelley made them.

Having some fireworks time with Andrew

Watching the black snakes grow. Ewwwwwwwww

Redneck fireworks....Sitting in the trucks at BP

The kids thought it was cool

Asher kept saying "WOW"

Big storms we have had this summer

This is the new playset

A few of the power lines after the storm got them.

The old playset after the first part of the storm got it. It was worse after the night was over, but I accidentally deleted those pics.

We have had some crazy weather and bad storms this summer. The worst for us was when we had our playset picked up and threw on the ground. We also had some barn and shed damage, but who uses those anyways. We were more entertained by the playset which was pretty much trashed after the wind was through with it and later on that night when it got it some more.

The crazy part is that the thing was very sturdy and weighed a ton. I can't believe it went over. It took a tractor and a truck to haul it to our house in two pieces and in just a few seconds it was picked up and threw against the tree.

The storm was really bad in our neck of the woods and took out the whole row of electric poles down our road. snapped some of them in two. We had to rebuild the whole playset and finally got it done. It worked out good, because now they have green slides and stuff that match our shudders on the house so I decided to get that instead of yellow like we had. Josh and Caleb rebuilt the playset a lot like the old one with just a few changes. The kids love it now more than ever and play on it all the time so all is good now.

Father's Day

We spent most of Father's Day at my Mom and Dad's. My Grandpa requested a family BBQ with my Dad's grilled cabbage for the day, so we got as many of us together as we could. The kids had lots of fun playing, and eating. They always love the watermelon. It was a beautiful and nice day out and a great Father's Day.

My sweet little girl with her Lamby

My handsome little guy with his NayNay

Grandma and Grandpa got this awesome tractor at a yardsale and Asher loves it.

She may be a basketball player even though her parents have no sports skills at all.

Some of the kids with Grandpa Rusty

The Jackson girls with Grandpa Rusty

The Applegate's with Grandpa Rusty

Panos girls with Grandpa Rusty

The whole clan at the BBQ

Grandpa with his 2 kids that were there. My Dad (Billy) & Aunt

Carol Rae

My kids and their Daddy

Ending Father's Day with their favorite "Piggy" ride.

I'm glad I'm not the "Piggy"

Fun Stuff we did in June

In June BNSF had the BNSF Special again. They only do it every few years and last time Asher was just a few months old. The awesome thing was this year that Josh got to go and he didn't last time. The kids loved it and had a blast and Na Na & Pa Pa and Grandma and Grandpa got to go too. It was a super hot day, but lots of fun. We went to Brookfield to get on the train and had a nice train ride. The company gives out fun stuff to the kids on the train, has a clown, and lots of snacks and stuff. Asher is so train crazy he loved it.