Summer Updates!

This summer is flying by.  It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that it's almost August.  We've had such a great summer with the kids, they're at such great ages.

We've found ourselves staying busy with many activities - the kids favorite is always going to Adventureland!  We've attended a few of the local parades - through various town festivals.  The kids have enjoyed gathering candy (Gabby) and watching the Fire Trucks (Drake).


Airplane Rides with Daddy

 Iowa (much like the rest of the country) has been inundated with the HEAT this summer.  This week we will have three consecutive days of 100 degree temperatures.  One obvious way to combat this heat is to go to the beach!  It's always amusing to see how the kids will approach new events/situations - the first time we went to the beach Gabby was in heaven swimming in the water, while Drake was mesmerized with solely playing in the sand.

We've built numerous sand castles, rivers, ponds...etc. during our beach trips and the kids favorite part is always getting buried in the sand - an obvious summer adventure.  Drake spends a lot of his time picking up sticks and rocks and filling up his duck with water to transfer to his "Rivers".  Gabby loves making "Castles" and burying Mommy and Daddy with sand.

Beach Boy!

A quick update on the kids -

[Drake] 

Drake is still mommys little shadow - which I still can't seem to get enough of!  I say he's already grooming his skills to be in sales - as he'll be quite the naughty little 2 year old and then follow it up with an: "I love you Mommy".  Drake has taken an interest into always wearing a hat.  He's quick to turn it around when the sun isn't out - it's amazing to me how inherently he is like Brandon.  Whether it be from his competitive spirit or his natural draw to sports, he is very similar to his dad.   With one exception - his temper :)  He certainly gets this temper (or passion as I like to call it) from his mother! 

Drake still loves his Dinosaurs, Balls and Food. The kid loves to eat!  He (like his sister) loves to read books and just recently mastered knowing all of the days of the week and counting to 20.  He is getting ready to transition to the next room at school - and will have Gabby's favorite teacher: Miss. Elizabeth.  We are excited for him to make this transition as he is cognitively and socially very ready for the move.

Best Buds!

New Hiding Spot

[Gabby]

I know this is cliche' but Gabby truely is 3 going on 23!  This child has always kept us on our toes - and being 3 has not changed this.  The other morning when I went to wake her up she simply says: "Good Morning, Mom - How was your nights sleep?"  Speaking of sleep - she still loves it.  She can be quite the bear in the morning, it often takes us around 20 minutes just to get her out of bed.  On the weekends, she'll sleep until 8:30 - which is a far cry from the 6:00 a.m. wake-up that's programmed into her little brother.

Gabby recently told us as we were getting ready to go to dinner one evening that her shoes were "Fabulous".  The picture below is her explaining just that (the glasses are her Dora sunglasses which she frequently wears).  She loves her shoes and dresses - often times when we go to get her from her afternoon rest time, she will have a completely different outfit on.   She has been potty trained for awhile and has only had an accident a few times, so I was surprised when I picked her up from school one day and they told me she had had a potty accident.  When I asked her why this happened she said quite frankly:  "Because I wanted to wear my other pair of pants!".

Gabby loves to learn - we've been introducing her to very simple chapter books as she is increasing her ability to string words together in terms of reading.  She's quick to read those words in which she's memorized and is getting very good and sounding out those words that are new to her.  One of her favorite things to do every night is to "Jump" into a book - basically she opens up the book we're reading to a certain page/chapter and we all "jump" into the story and then she uses her imagination to act out the story - pictating to Brandon and I what she sees.  She's all around a pretty amazing little girl!

Gabby's New Favorite Saying: "I'm FABULOUS!"

Hamburger Hat and Princess Hat

Sunday Afternoon Movie

Popsicles on a hot Summer Day!

Princess Gabby

Christmas In July!

We had another "first" in our house in July - both Brandon and I needed to travel for business in the same week - same days.  Yikes!  Luckily, both of our mothers were able to bail us out (so - note to everyone, you DO always need your mother) and were both able to attend to our business obligations.
Brandon was able to attend a San Francisco Giants game at AT&T Park - which I had the pleasure of flying over both the Indianapolis Colts and New York Mets stadiums.  He loved the game and even got to educate some of the other attendees on what a ball and strike is.  Apparently they didn't get Baseball 101 at age 1 like our little Drake did!

AT&T Park - San Francisco Giants

 Last week we both traveled again to Savannah, GA as I had the pleasure of standing up in my dear friend Gina's wedding.  As noted above, it was hotter in Des Moines than Georgia the weekend we were there!  We traveled with my good friend Laura and her husband Jimmy - it was such a great trip.  The wedding was a lot of fun and the city of Savannah was beautiful.  We spent most of Monday walking around the city center, shopping, drinking and eating.  It was a nice escape from our day to day craziness.

Savannah, GA

River Street & Savannah Bridge

Savannah Cemetary

Wedding Fun! - Congrats Gina & Keith



Boo & Brew Tour - walking tour of local breweries and Savannah's most "haunted" areas


We are excited for the rest of the summer and all that it entails.  I'm sure more visits to the Pool, Adventureland, the Zoo and even those lovely lazy Sunday movies are in store.  We are taking a mini-vacation in August to travel as a family to Omaha in my nephew Braden's 1st Birthday.  We'll be taking the kids to the Children's Museum and the Omaha Zoo - which we know they'll love.

As I look outside my window to the 102 degree day - I hope everyone is staying cool!

Busy Weekends!

Now that the weather is nice, we find our weekends to be very busy.  We've added to our "amusement" in the backyard with the additon of a Playhouse and an enclosed Trampoline, so the kids spend every waking moment outside.  They received a picnic table for their birthday, so almost every meal is a "picnic" outside - which makes for easier clean up for Mom & Dad.  We recently finished a landscaping project around our deck and are contemplating doing another project around the back of our house.  There always seems to be something to do!

This past weekend was special as we took Gabby to see Sesame Street Live.  She had a great time - she sat in pure amazement for the first 15 minutes and then once the shock wore off enjoyed singing and dancing to all of the songs.  She had her first treat of Cotton Candy - and had the pink lips to prove she loved every bit of it.  She saw a friend from school (Liam), so that made the day just perfect. As soon as we left she was telling us about how she couldn't wait to tell Miss. Elizabeth all about the "show" at school come Monday.

 We received a very generous Christmas Gift from my aunt and uncle - Season Passes to a local amusement park (Adventureland). We took the kids this past Sunday as it was an overcast day - so we assumed it would be less busy and we really weren't entirely sure there would be a lot of applicable rides/activities for kids as young as ours. Boy, were we ever wrong! We got there around 10:00 and didn't leave until 2:00 - for anyone with toddlers, you know that's quite the dedication...especially going into nap time! They both loved it, enjoyed all of the rides - many of which we went on 3 if not 4 times. They were old enough to understand waiting in line and having their seat belts fastened...etc. - it was a very enjoyable day. One that both Brandon and I said was probably one of the best "family" days we've had thus far - just purely from watching how much fun they both were having! We are excited to go back this weekend as the large water park opens.

We look forward to the summer months and warmer weather. We seem to have a "pass" for just about everything there is to do in Des Moines (aquatic center, Adventureland, Blank Park Zoo, Science Center) so we're excited to spend our weekend out and about with the kids.


We are having our group of friends over on Saturday for a Memorial Day BBQ - I've been searching Pinterest for cute ideas for the kids and adult beverages for us older folk. Speaking of older folk, as of midnight I'm officially enjoying my last day in my 20's as tomorrow I turn the big 3-0. I was joking last weekend that I was spending my last Saturday in my 20's at Sesame Street Live! The glorious life of a mother :)

Mexico

Brandon and I spent a week in Mexico in March - it was a quick trip but a nice escape from reality and we thoroughly enjoyed our time together.

Spring 2012

We've been enjoying this weather to the fullest - I can't remember a weeknight that we didn't go straight outside after dinner until bath-time.  We've been spending our weekends at the Zoo (love our Season Pass) and the various parks around Ankeny.  The kids love being outside - Drake enjoys throwing the baseball, kicking the soccer ball and throwing rocks :)  (we're working on good choices!) and he still loves to swing.  Gabby enjoys looking for ladybugs, naming off every animal we see, riding on her Dora Quad and taking walks in the wagon.

We went to the zoo again with Brandon's mom as she has greatfully come back to watch the kids while Brandon and I take a much needed tropical vacation :)  She came a week early to spend more time with the kids, and of course we'll never turn down an extra set of hands.  Both of the kids enjoy the zoo - but Gabby being the animal lover that she is enjoys it to it's fullest.  She went as far as correcting everyone that it wasn't a "parrot" it was a "macaw".  She is engrossed in learning about animals and spouts off random facts as we venture through the zoo.

Drake loves the petting zoo - as much as his germaphobe mother trys to protest :)  He gets a thrill out of feeding the goats and adamantly protests when it's time to leave :)

Brandon and I are looking forward to a much needed vacation. He recently took on another high profile account at work and I took on two additional verticals/departments (and 7 more employees) in February. Balancing our careers and home is always a work in progress, but I'd like to think we're managing!

Mini-Brandon

SUNSHINE & a visit to Omaha!

Hello SUNSHINE!!  This week is projected to be un-seasonably warm, so we are enjoying it to it's fullest. After school yesterday we took the kids to the park, it's always fun to see what things they enjoy as they go back at a little older age.

The park we went to has a large basketball court and  many pick-up games were going on between older boys.   Drake has a large attraction to basketballs, baseballs...etc. so, as soon as he saw the basketball games he ran as quick as his little legs would take him directly into the middle of all of the basketball games.  I had just come from work - so attempting to catch him in my heels was not happening.  Luckily they all stopped their games for him to "shoot" the ball a couple of times and he thankfully did not get ran over :)

Gabby still loves the playground equipment, but started expressing interest in climbing trees yesterday after seeing some boys attempting to do it when we first arrived.  It was quite a sight watching her try to get her short little legs up a relatively straight tree.  Once Brandon arrived they worked hard to climb the tree - which ended with a nice scratch down the middle of her tummy.  A rite of passage, I suppose.

Gabby and I (along with my mom) took a trip to Omaha last weekend to see Molly, Jeff and Baby Brayden.   Upon leaving - Gabby was telling Drake goodbye and she says:  Goodbye Drake, I love You...don't let the bed bugs bite!  It was too funny!

Gabby was in heaven with the "baby" and also Molly & Jeff's dog: Shelby.  Shelby is a 90 pound mix, who loves to give kisses...Gabby spent a lot of the afternoon following Shelby around the backyard and throwing her ball to her. We took advantage of the nice weather and took her to the park - and later that evening watched Baby Brayden so Molly and Jeff could enjoy a much needed night out.

When we first arrived we took Gabby to the Omaha Children's Museum - she had a great time!   She loved the shopping center and the house - everything is to scale for toddlers/small children so she was in heaven!

We had a nice weekend with Molly, Jeff and Brayden - they've build a beautiful new home so it was fun to finally see it all done (we'd seen it mid-progress).  Gabby got to take a bath in their big whirlpool tub - in which she told us she was a "mermaid"!  She slept in a big bed with Mommy and got to go to many restaurants....one of her favorite things.