Saturday, August 29, 2009

Saint Louis

The timing could not have been better. It turns out that we have been planning a roomate reunion for months. I lived in a house with 7 girls during college and we have all gone our seperate ways, but still stay in touch. Most of us have our masters or PhDs, some are married, some have kids, one lives in Spain...but we all get along so well!

So, as the date of the trip approaches, Best Buy ends up needing me in work for Saint Louis a few days before our reunion! So I head down a few days early, then catch up with the ladies over the weekend!

I met up with Corinne (finishing her PhD in neuroscience) and NJ (just finished her MD, and is practicing in vascular surgery in Saint Louis.) Corinne was my best friend in college, and my roomate for 3 years. She came in on Thursday night and stayed at NJ's. We hugged, drank bubble tea, went to the free zoo near her house and walked down to a street that reminded me of my college days. NJ lives close to campus so everything was within walking distance. We ate Middle Eastern food and chatted the night away. Amanda (finished her PhD in nueroscience) and Jake (just finished her PhD) arrived from Pittsburg at 10pm. We drove to the airport and picked them up.

--penguins at the free zoo in Saint Louis. This zoo is AMAZING!--

 --puffins, one of my favs!--


--tigers that were born in the zoo last year, all grown up now!--


--chowing down on amazing food!--

After we picked up the girls we talked for hours then called it a night. The next day we hit the zoo again, headed to the arch, ate at a local pub, watched Penelope, partied downtown, watched the naked bicyclists, and danced the night away!

 --NJ, Amanda and Jake heading out!--


--walking in the park by the arch--


--the arch was huge, and the wait to go up was like 6 hours, so we just took pictures from the ground--


--walked to the boat house and sat by the water--


--we went downtown only to see that the annual naked bicyclists had just finished their ride--

 --corinne dancing by the camel bike--

What a fun trip. Although it has been years since we were all together, you wouldn't have known it as we all started up right where we had left off. So amazed at where we all have ended up in life, and so proud to be part of the life of these amazing women!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Kenna-isms

Today on the ride home

Kenna: "mom, I fell on the swings today"
Mom: "oh darn it, did you hurt your bum?"
Kenna: "nope. I hurt my whole e-tire body!"

Look Who's Lovin Tummy Time

He's loving rolling, tummy time, grabbing everything he can get his hands on and shoving it right in his mouth....ah to be 4 months old!


OH BAM

Where did this come from? Lately McKenna has been using BAM a lot. As in "Oh BAM, I forgot my drink." Or, "Oh Bam, I dropped my doll." I have NEVER heard this before and have no idea where she got it, but it is too funny. Last night she was putting her jammies on in her room. I was in Zachary's room changing his diaper and I hear her say "Oh Bam, stupid jammies" I about died laughing :)

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Getting Ready

Sometimes the best part of our day is right before we all leave for work/daycare. The kids are happy and giggly, and always look so cute before the endless activities mess up their hair/clothing. Kenna insisted we take pictures of her next to her brother so she could "be bigger." And I had to snap some photos of the cute overalls my mom got him with a bear in the pocket. I thought he might get mad at the bear by the end of the day, but Eski said he loved it, because it was a toy he would never lose!

--caught him off guard--

--eating his bear--

--he LOVES his big sister, no one makes him smile the same way--

--I think she kinda likes him too :) --

She loves comparing herself to him. Look mom, I'm bigger! Or, Zachary has 10 toes like me, things like that :)

Funny Moments

Zachary thinks watching Kenna spin is hilarious!


What's all that noise coming from downstairs?


--"its me mom....I going to work"--

BBQ at Stone's

Two weekends ago we went to a BBQ at Stone's house. Jason, Leticia and baby Grant were here for a visit, and it was the perfect excuse to get together. The kids all had fun playing with rocks and in the little kiddie pool, and we had fun meeting baby Grant. Lucy, Zachary and Grant are all within about 6 weeks of eachother, so was good to swap stories. Meanwhile, Kevin showed the girls all his cool gear, and taught them how to roll down the hill.

--rolling down the hill--

--eating sweet corn--

--corn was definitely the highlight-- 

We had such a good time, and aside from the small breakdown we had when it was time to leave, a perfect BBQ!

Crazy Best Buy

What a fun company I work for. We hosted a meeting recently, and we did a hollywood theme. So our team dressed up as Gilligan's Island. Too fun!


Reiman Gardens

A few weekends ago we went to Reiman Gardens in Ames with Gona, Auntie Em, Kade and Grandma Great. The gardens are right off of ISU and were absolutely gorgeous. I got lots of ideas for what I would love to do with our forrest area, you know if we had a million dollars to spend down there :)


--beautiful pond--


--covered bridge--


--kenna in her "garden dress"--


--they have a big dome with over 800 butterflies in it, man was it hot in there!--


--kenna loved the butterflies--

Was a fun way to spend the morning! We went to lunch afterwards at Panera, and daddy got a chance to work on his shelves! Zachary slept most of the time, but we had fun!

Sunday, August 02, 2009

Lazy Sunday

Just having some fun with the kids this morning. I keep my work laptop downstairs, so why they are watching Cinderella - thought I would put some pictures up.

--isn't he getting big! What a cutie!--




--all smiles for his mom. Just starting fitting in 6 month jammies!--



--Kenna thinks its funny when they hold hands, because he tries to put her hand in his mouth....ahh the giggles!--

Last night Kenna slept downstairs in her tent. I let Zachary cry for just 15 minutes when he was waking up. He was sleeping through the night for a month and I got a taste of sleep again. Now he cries every 4ish hours. I go in to see what is wrong and he has the biggest grin....I know he isn't hungry, just having a hard time going back to sleep. So last night I would let him cry just for a few minutes, and didn't want Kenna to wake up. He went back to sleep just fine, so hopefully we will be back to our normal routine soon!



Probably Had to be There

Some funny stories over the last few days:

Josh bought some brownies for his meeting Thursday night. Kenna saw them and with an angelic tone said "can I please have a brownie after dinner?" We said yes. She ate all her dinner. Josh and I were talking and Kenna says "brownie please." We weren't quite done with our conversation so we didn't say anything. Then she said "Brownie Please!" Again, we didn't acknowledge her right that second. Finally she throws her hands in the air and looks up at the ceiling and says "Please for the Brownie!" For whatever reason this was completely hilarious to us :)

Lately she has formed a new game. "Mom, you are the garbage man, and you take the (doggie, baby, fill in the blank) and I chase you." Where did she come up with this?

Finally she was laying with her head on the couch, and her feet on the other side of the couch. Her bum was hanging over the gap. She was doing that for quite a long time and I asked her what she was doing? "Mommy...shh, I am being a hammock." Silly me! I didn't even know she knew what a hammock was!

Saturday, August 01, 2009

She is Just Loving Dresses

These days it is hard for me to get her to wear anything but dresses! But she does look so darn cute! Thanks Auntie April for this one....she loves it!

Kenna's Summer Vacation

This last week was a whirlwind. Heather was on vacation and Eski couldn't take her for the whole week yet, because the girl who is leaving her daycare doesn't leave till the 3rd. So, Kenna had a week with Gona, Auntie Em, one day at Eski's and me!



--at gona's they played in a little pool on the deck--



--looks like she had too much fun!--



--running around outside--



--playing with kitties--



 --and picking flowers for mommy--

Sounds like she had a lot of fun with Gona. The next days she went to Auntie Em's. They went to a small fair and saw animals. On Wednesday she went to Eski's and it sounds like it will work out great. She got along great with the kids, did fine going potty by herself. And at naptime even pulled out a little cot and slept next to the other kids! What a big girl! So happy we live near family so that she can have her own little vacation!