Giggle

Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo...How About You, You You?

Today we went to the Minnesota zoo with grandma Linda, grandpa Jim, aunt Dawn, uncle Rob, Brady and Alec. (Dawn's good friend Kathy, her husband Mark, and their kids Bella and Jack were also at the zoo and we happened to run into them there.) Zach talked about Bella a lot tonight during story time. I think he's made a new friend. *grin* He wanted to go to the zoo [again] with Brady and Bella tomorrow. Then he said, "Hey both of their names start with B!"

I took over 300 photos today while at the zoo. No, I won't be posting all of them. Some of them didn't turn out so after deleting those I'm down to about 250. (No I won't be posting all 250 photos!) Without further ado - onto the photos from today...

We started the day in the Woodland Adventure

Zach climbing on the spider web

Zach climbing like a spider

Zach looking cool in his shades

Zach riding a walleye

Brady's turn!

Zach and Brady in the boat

Bella Running out of the cave

Zach chasing Bella

Brady, Bella, and Zach taking turns to climb the climbing wall.

 

Alec watching the kids play

Brady, Zach, and Alec in the 'nest'.

Zach, Brady and Bella trying the 'hatch' the eggs.

Elaina chilling in the stroller playing with her teddy bear. (Valerie, Elaina LOVES this bear you got for her!)

Okay get ready for some super cuteness of our nephew Alec...

Alec...not sure if I'm going to smile for you Auntie Megan...

I'm thinking about it....

Okay! Here's a smile for you!

NOW you got me EXCITED!

Big smiles from Alec with his daddy.

Rob and Alec

Carefree Bella

Zach and Brady riding the mosquito

PIRATE TREASURE! "X" Marks the spot!

Bella climbing down Split Rock

Brady taking a breather

We finally talked the kids into leaving Woodland Adventure to look at the animals at the zoo! And we're off to the Grizzly Coast!

Grandma Linda, Granpa Jim, Brady and Zach

Brady

Zach

Zach & Brady - Brady was being silly and won't take his finger away from his nose.

Close up of just Zach from the photo above. This is my favorite smile of Zach's - very genuine!

Jack...gotta love those blue eyes!

Brady hanging around....

Hiding behind the fossils

Cousins and best buds!

"Auntie Megan! Watch me!" Says Brady

CAMELS! Batrain to be exact...no dromedaries here...

We stopped for a picnic lunch in the back of the zoo. Then everyone but Dave, Elaina and I headed out to the Farm exhibit of the zoo while we stayed back to feed baby Elaina who just awoke from her nap. While we we were waiting we took a few photos of Elaina...

Elaina a little blurry and Mommy Megan...

Elaina sitting in the grass at the zoo. (Her outfit is by Tea)

She'll hate me for this photo later - but this cracks me up! A little Elvis going on.

Elaina looking over Daddy Dave's shoulder

This photo didn't turn out as I wanted it to. Elaina is sitting in a pink John Deer Wagon of pink stuffed piggies...the sun was a bit too high in the sky and I didn't have the lighting right. Oh well...But still cute!

Elaina and Daddy Dave. (Can Elaina get her entire fist in her mouth? Yes she can.)

Brady, Zach, Dawn, Rob, and Alec (in the stroller sleeping).

Alec sleeping

Zach and Brady looking at Caribou

Brady and Zach LOVED the map of the zoo and loved looking at it to figure out where they were and and where they should go.  The map! the map! the map!

Grandma Linda and her beautiful smile as she looks at the boys reviewing the map (see above).

Zach (3) and Brady (4) reviewing the map of the Minnesota Zoo

Brady and Zach

Brady at the Lions den..

Zach and Brady checking out their maps at the "Lorax" one of the Dr. Suess sculputures at  the MN Zoo.

Brady and Zach in the submarine!

Zach and the Cat and the Hat - on the way out of the zoo...

Dr. Seuss is on the the Loose at the Minnesota Zoo!

A Playdate and a Birthday Party!

What a busy kid filled day! We started out our day leaving our house at 9 a.m. and driving up to St. Michael to visit friends Marie and Brian and their kids Joshua and Rylie. (Joshua and Zachary were born only 5 days apart with Josh coming first.) Little Rylie is now four months old. Zach and Josh had a great morning playing outside in the backyard in the kiddie pool and water table while the mommies sat on the deck watching them play catching up and chatting. The daddies took off to see "Grown Ups" at the movie theater. Sadly, the mommies were so busy chatting that we never took out our cameras!! Can you believe TWO scrapbooking mommies and not a camera to be seen all day! *giggle* It would have been fun to hang out all day but we had to scoot so the boys could take a nap and so we could get back to the Woodbury area for Zach's second kids event of the day, Olivia's birthday party.

Our friends Carrie and Eric held a birthday party for their daughter Olivia's third birthday at Perpetual Motion, a tumbling and gynmnastics school in Woodbury. Zach's best friend is "Liv" as he (and everyone else) calls Olivia. He was very excited to see Liv as well as Carter (Liv's older brother), Sam and the other kids from KinderCare. (Zach used to go to KinderCare in Cottage Grove. We loved KinderCare - it was FANTASTIC the teachers there are wonderful and we miss them; but since finding Krystal after being laid off we decided not to go back. Not only to save a little money, but Krystal is set up very similar to KinderCare but is small and she fantastic too! If we hadn't found Krystal we would have gone back to KinderCare in a heartbeat! Anywhoo....where was I?)

Zach was VERY excited to see his friends! But Zach being Zach he was a little hesitant to try something new. However, with a little coaxing he was jumping, running and all over the place! All the kids were running and playing so hard they were all sweating! They ran through obstacle courses, jumped on trampolines, jumped in the bounce house, slid down slides, played with bubbles and had LOTS and LOTS of fun!

[Photos -- I'll upload on Monday night]

After all the playing it was time for Pizza, cupcakes and presents!!

[More photos]

After all the fun with Liv he didn't want to say goodbye! So we stopped off at home then headed over to Liv's house so they could play some more! Dave helped Eric put together the new bunk beds. Carrie and Eric are expecting their third child in September so they are getting things all set for Liv and Carter to share a room for awhile.  So while the boys worked the pregnant mommies sat on the couch and watched the kids play. A wonderful way to relax at the end of the day.

I can't help thinking how great it is that our friends Marie and Brian just had a baby girl, our friends Eric and Carrie are having a baby boy in September, and Dave's sister Dawn and her husband Rob had a baby boy this past April - lots of little kids for our new daughter to play with for years to come!

That's all for now folks!

Thanks for reading!

Children's Museum Play Date!

This morning Zach and I met Mommy Marie, Joshua and baby Riley at the Children's Museum for a play date.  We started out our morning in the dinosaur exhibit. When we rolled the boys into the exhibit room they both came face-to-face with the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Both boys were frightened of the moving and roaring T-Rex with his big teeth.  If I was two I would be frightened too! The boys did not want to stay but we mommies were able to convince them that the other areas were OK. Once we found dinosaurs that the boys could pick up and play with they were fine.

Joshua checking out the dinosaurs

Zach carrying a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Triceratops - Josh is playing with a Parasaurolophus.

Josh checking out a Triceratops

Then it was time to move on and see more of the dinosaur exhibit. In the next space the boys took their time to explore the slide. Climbing up the steps then sliding down and running around to do it again...and again...and again.  They were so busy with the slide they didn't see the two large dinosaur models in the room. Sorry - I did not take photos of the dinosaurs...next time.

Here they boys are playing with the cards.

The boys climbed through the base of the volcano and actually started checking out the other side of the room where the big moving models of the Tyrannosaurex Rex and Triceratops were but they didn't seem to care. They were busy running up the bog hill, climbing in the tunnel and playing in the dinosaur nest to really notice.

Josh and Zach in the dinosaur nest playing with the eggs.

Zach is trying to hear the baby dinosaurs in the eggs. *giggle*

Then it was time to move onto another exhibit.  We went over to Habitot and let the boys run and explore.  Habitot is fantastic as it is only for babies and toddlers.

Josh and Zach 'fishing'

The boys ran and played while Marie and I sat and chatted. So not a lot of photos here of the boys. They had fun exploring all the different areas. It was fun to watch them play together showing each other how things worked and copying each other.  Josh was afraid of the little suspension bridge but he was soon crossing it on his own to catch up with Zach.  Zach followed Josh up the rope net ladder not wanting to be left behind over-coming his fear of climbing up on his own. It was fun to watch them play.  We went to the last exhibit room on the fourth floor checking in on the blanding turtle and the gold fish, sliding down the beaver dam slide and then tried to play in the ant hill.  All the big kids from the school group were there and it was LOUD and a bit crazy for Zach and Josh so we took a break and headed to McDonald's for lunch.

After lunch we returned to the museum and explored the exhibits "Our World" and "How it Works". Our World is a little neighborhood with a market, Asian restaurant, house with a front yard, post office, sound stage where you can watch yourself on TV dance and sing, a doctor's office and let's not forget the Metro Transit Bus you can pretend to drive!

Zach shopping in the market filling his cart with all sorts of pretend food and household items.

Both boys were running and exploring so much that Marie and I hardly sat down at all as we were all over the place watching over the boys interacting with the big kids.  Most of the big kids were nice and played with Zach and Josh.

Here is Zach playing with one of the older kids. She was pretending to ring up Zach's groceries. She showed Zach how you scan each item and work the cash register. He thought it was great!

Then it was time to move on to "How it Works".  We made a b-line directly back to the water tables as it was not too busy and knew the boys would enjoy this part the most.

The boys enjoyed playing with the water tubes and ping-pong balls as well as sending boats down the ramp.

The boys were tired (and so were the mommies) so it was time to say good-bye.  It was a great day of fun!  We'll have to go again before Marie goes back to work because the boys had so much fun!

That's all for today! Thanks for reading folks!

Aamondts Apple Orchard

This morning Zach and I joined Carrie, Carrie's mom, Carter, and Olivia for a visit to Aamondt's Apple Farm in Stillwater, MN. I had never been too Aamondt's Apple Farm and I have to say, it was nice. If you have been to St. Croix Vineyards then you've been to Aamondt's as they are at the same location. Something for everyone kids and adults! 

We started our morning taking the kids apple picking. At first the kids were more interested in picking the apples off of the ground until we showed them they could take the ones from the trees. Of course I took a few zillion pictures...here is apple picking:

 

Olivia checking out an apple

 

Zach putting apples in his bag.  He was being VERY independent this morning and wanted to put the apples in the bag all by himself. "No my apples!"

Zach putting apples into his bag again.  (I was playing with some settings on my camera and I blurred out the apples...now I'm wising I hadn't done that.)

I love this shot of Zach looking out from under the tree (Marie...OOPS! Dappled light on the face!)

 

Zach looking out from under the trees, with apple slobber going down his chin. (I was playing with blurring out the branch in the foreground and focusing on Zach then blurring out the background.)

 

Olivia playing peek-a-boo through the apple tree branches

 

Olivia and Zach eating the apples they picked from the trees.

Zach is asking if you would like a bite out of his apple.

 

Running down the apple orchard rows, Carter in the lead, then Olivia and Zach trailing behind trying to carry his apples.

Carrie's mom picking apples to fill up her grand-daughter Olivia's bag.

 

Zach with his bag of apples.  He refused help in carrying the apples.  He wasn't able to pick the entire bag up so he dragged the apples behind him as he walked. That's our stubborn and very independent son!

 

Zach, Olivia, and Carter posing for a photo op!

 

The old married couple: Olivia asks,"come on Zach are you coming or what?!"

 

Hey, what's in here?

 

Carter, Olivia and Zach and the old ford truck.

 

Zach saying, "Cheese!"

 

Carter and Olivia

After all the apple picking it was time to put the apples in the car and then check out the riding tractors!

 

Okay, let's get this tractor started.

 

Carter riding the John Deere trike

 

Mommy Megan and Zach

 

Carter

 

Olivia and Carrie

 

Zach and Liv riding trikes

 

Liv and Zach riding trikes

 

Carter feeding the goats

 

Zach and Olivia running through the hay maze

 

Zach really enjoyed pulling hay out of the hales to throw.

Carter, Olivia and Zach

Silly faces: Carter, Olivia and Zach

A Day Out with Thomas!

Today Zach and I met Mommy Marie and Josh for a play date and a Day Out with Thomas the Train in Lakeville, MN.

We arrived early to check out the little carnival area for the kids. Most of it involved getting wet drenched. They had a bubble station set up in wading pools filled with water, and a 'train wash' where kids could walk through water noodles hanging down and of course water sprayed them as they walked through. I have to admit these activities were very inventive and age appropriate for the kids at the event. But..Marie and I looked at each other and said, "maybe AFTER the train ride."

We found the tattoo station where the boys each got a Thomas the Train Tattoo
   
Here's Josh checking out his tattoo and the lovely Marie smiling for the camera.

We walked briefly through the gift shop and said we'd come back later and headed back to the train tables, and a dry area. *giggle*  Here are a few photos of the boys playing:

Josh (has back turned) and Zach playing with trains.  (The boy in the green hat was also named Zachary actually.)

Zach pushing a train through a covered bridge.  Zach loves pushing the trains through things.

Josh seemed to enjoy playing with the trains too!

Zach pushing all the engines into the round house and Josh pushing the caboose up the big hill. He'll meet the boy pushing the green Henry engine up the other side.

Then another little boy named Zach came over to join our table and started removing all the trains that our Zachary had pushed into the roundhouse.  Our Zach didn't like that at all!  So....

I brought Zach over to check out the track  master trains. 

Then it was time to load up the boys in their strollers and head over to the BIG Thomas the Train to go for a ride! 

We found a window seat in one of the carriages and settled in.

Marie and Josh

Zach all excited for the train ride!

Then the whistle blew! "TOOT! TOOT!" Excitement!

Zach is being funny here...each time I took out the camera he tried to reach and touch the lens! 

Zach checking things out.

Josh showing us his Thomas the Train tattoo

Josh's tattoo up close.

I've decided that temporary tattoos are the bomb!  The kids love them and they can't peel them off lickity split like stickers.

Josh enjoying the train ride.

The coaches were double deckers.  We sat on the lower level but you can see the other seats above us. It was very hot on the train so I'm glad we found seats on the main level.

Zach watching out the window as the train ride comes to an end.

Josh and Thomas the Train. (I wasn't quick enough to catch him looking at us.) bummer! Marie has the photos of Zach and I in front of the train.  I'll post later. :)

Thomas the train

Thomas taking another group of kids for a ride.

After the train ride we let the boys run off some energy in the hay bale maze and then loaded them up in the strollers and headed into the gift shop to pick out some t-shirts and toys for the boys.

Then we used Mappy (sorry Dave I think this name may stick...) and found a Pizza Hut nearby and had lunch with the boys.

The boys fell asleep in their car seats as Marie and I sat chatting in the parking lot. *giggle* We had a great day! Thanks for joining us Marie and Josh.

P.S. I also happened to make this the 4th stop on Zach's Birthday Tour too! Zach's t-shirt is still soaking from his 3rd stop on the tour which is why he didn't wear it today.