Out of order--Omaha Zoo

Summer was quickly drawing to a close for us, so the week before we all went back to school we decided to take a day trip to the Omaha Zoo. We'd never been, even when Jeff and I lived there, and were anxious to take the kids to what was supposed to be a really great zoo.
My mom and dad kept Reese, so that was really helpful, because we never could have had the fun we did if she'd been along needing to eat and sleep like she does.




I forgot to mention that Spiderman and his Teddy, I mean "Spiderbear" came with us!



The boys had a great time! We saw lots of cool animals, but loved the aquarium best. There were large sharks and stingrays in the tank that went up over our heads--a really neat experience.


We rode this cable-car ride across the zoo...Jeff hung on to Grant for dear life. He's a little fearful of heights, but was more fearful that wiggly boy would wriggle right out of the seat!


I'm glad we took the time for a quick little getaway as our last hurrah to this summer...it went too fast!

Exersaucer time

My work schedule has been keeping me busy each day here at home (really? Maybe that's why I haven't blogged in several weeks...). Fortunately, Reese is a happy girl who isn't too picky about where she's hanging out while Mom works. This past month, we tried out the exersaucer. She's had lots of fun looking at the bright colors, chewing on the toys, and figuring out how to be upright. I'm grateful she's able to spend some time without being talked to and held. It's just a bonus that she loves it!

4-5 months

During the past few weeks, Reese got to try out cereal and some baby food.

We're working on keeping her hands out of her mouth now, but at first that was all she wanted to do. She did a lot of spitting the food out, but seems to enjoy it now.

Her favorite appears to be applesauce mixed with her cereal in the morning, but she eats her veggies quite well too.

Now we're dealing with teeth as well, so it won't be long before she's able to eat big-people food!

First Day of First Grade...only a few weeks behind!

We now have an "experienced" elementary student living in our house.

Blog fodder

Grant gives me SO much blog fodder...

He likes to drink "Atorgade" instead of Gatorade
He called me into the living room while I was working because "Urglur is on! Urglur! Urglur!"

WHAT??

"Wordgirl" was on.

He does everything now with "Teddy." And many of his requests come though Teddy as well. Pictures to follow.


He's tough not to love, I'll tell ya that.

Grant says...

Grant has been occasionally waiting "too long" to go to the potty. Who can blame him, there is SO much to do this summer and stopping for a potty break is so not cool. It's happened a few times in the past couple of months and we've had several talks about it, reminding Grant that it takes much longer to change pants and clean up than it does to stop and run to the bathroom.
Jeff went swimming the other day and came home in his wet trunks. Grant ran up to him and hugged his legs. He then stepped back and said, "Dad, your pants are wet. Did you wait too long?"
It was all Jeff could do to answer with a straight face, but at least we know our message is getting through!

Halloween Prep...in July?

If you needed more proof that Connor was my child...he is already planning his Halloween costume. Most people may not know this about me, but coming up with an original and great idea for a Halloween costume probably caused me more stress during my childhood years than just about anything else I can remember. I recall spending hours (really? Not sure...but it seemed like it!) dreaming up and discarding wild ideas, remembering that I would rather not depend on mom's sewing or having to buy anything. I had some great costumes over the years that my mom made for me--Mickey Mouse, a bunny rabbit, but overall I felt that my costumes needed to consist of things already found in my home with minimal extra work. It really was a project every year that stressed me out right up to the end as I second-guessed my choice of costume. I even remember one year being one thing at school and another to trick-or-treat. See, my indecisiveness runs deep.
Back to Connor's plan, though. He was sitting out back reading the other day and I went out to see him. He told me he had a great idea for Halloween. He wants to take a Jack-o-Lantern out trick or treating with us, but we need to cut out the bottom of it. His plan is to make his head "disappear" into his shirt and hold up the jack-0-lantern just as each door is answered. I told him it was a funny idea, but would probably scare all of our elderly neighbors. He told me that was what he planned on. He'd yell "trick or treat!" and they'd see his head "disappear" and would be so scared they would drop their bowl of candy. He would then be able to get extra large quantities of candy from each house. Very creative, huh? Not sure how or if we'll do this. I'm not sure of the feasibility of carrying around a jack-o-lanterns, but we'll see. Hold on to your candy bowls!