Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Date Nights

That's right...nights is plural!  Jared and I have been on a couple of dates during the last couple of weeks!
Lets start with our "Zoorific Evening"!  I entered a Decatur Park District contest called #selfiesafari.  You had to take a selfie while at the zoo and post it to Instagram or FB with that hashtag.  During the timeframe of the contest, the kids and I went to the zoo...just the 3 of us (see Last Day of Summer blog post).  The winner got 2 tickets to the zoos fundraiser event, "A Zoorific Evening" AND a family pass to the zoo for the next year.  If you can't see this coming...I WON!!  I never win anything!  Here's the Instagram photo that won it for me ;).


So, the day I found out we had tickets to the Zoorific Evening, happened to be the same day of the event.  I made a couple calls and Roger and Sandra came to babysit the kids for us and we all had a great night!
Basically the evening was an adults only trip to the zoo.  There were food stations set up all throughout the zoo with lots of yummy food.  It was a circus theme, so they had circus acts throughout the zoo as well.  So much fun!  We got up close and personal with some of the animals and the zookeepers were all out and about answering questions and giving us the insider info on zoo happenings.  I loved it, and would consider buying tickets next year!
Feeding the camel! 
Petting the zebra...who really just wanted to bite us!
Fun night at the zoo
We got to see the 8 week old red panda.  So cute!!
Selfie with the wolf 
We even got a private ride on the carousel!

Date night #2= Cardinals game with Abby and Alex.
Friday night we met my parents to drop the kids off with them for the night and we headed down to St. Louis.  We went to the Cardinals- Cubs game with Abby and Alex and had a great time...even if the Cardinals didn't win this one.
35 weeks (+1 day)
Sisters enjoying some Friday night baseball!
My handsome date for the evening!
After the game, we decided donuts sounded good.  Abby had heard of Strange Donuts and we decided to drive a bit out of our way to check it out.  It has to be different (or strange, if you will) for a donut shop to be open at 11pm.  It was definitely worth the drive.  The guys went along begrudgingly, but in the end, agreed that it was well worth it ;)!  Especially after Jared bit into the Maple Bacon donut!
YUM!
Donuts after dark!

We stayed the night at Abby and Alex's house and my parents brought the kids over the next day for lunch at Dewey's.  It was a great start to our holiday weekend!  More on the rest of our weekend later!

Thursday, August 21, 2014

More Kindergarten

Since Ethan's first day of school was a half day, we met Jared at Krekels (Ethan's pick) for lunch.  And you can't have Krekels without an ice cream cone...with sprinkles!
Chocolate for this boy!  He wouldn't sit still, so it's blurry.
Pink for this girl!
Ethan's second day of school was a full day and he was so excited to use his new Ninja Turtle lunchbox.  His lunch request:  {homemade} Salami lunchable, snap peas and an orange.  I also put some cheetos in and for a treat, 3 tootsie rolls.  It came home empty!  He said he ate it all except 1 tootsie roll that he shared with his friend (whose name he doesn't remember) :).
Packed and ready!
Walking into school like a big boy! *tear*
And today, being his 3rd day of school...he couldn't get out of the car fast enough.  So, I'm thinking he likes it ok ;)!

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

First Day of Kindergarten

The big day finally arrived!  We had his backpack packed, clothes out and ready (including new shoes) and alarms set!  Last night we went to his school for kindergarten orientation.  His school doesn't allow parents in the classroom on the first day, so I was really happy to get to meet his teacher and see his classroom with him ahead of time.  Jared went into work late this morning so he could see Ethan before school and take him to school with us!  It was great having him here for all that!
Here are a couple pictures from last night at orientation...
Sitting at his spot at the table!
Ethan and Mrs. Warren- his new teacher
This morning was actually pretty calm around here.  We had enough time to get ready and take plenty of pictures before loading up and heading off to school.  I was under the impression that when we get in the drop off line at school, we just pulled up to the sidewalk, said good bye and out he got (I think that's how it's supposed to be).  Anyway, we got in the line and there were parents getting out of their cars everywhere and parents walking kids to the door and parents walking kids inside...I asked Ethan if he wanted me to walk him to the door and he said yes.  So, I did, gave him his hug and told him to have a great day.  There was a teacher at the door to tell him exactly where to go and before I knew it, he had disappeared into the school.  Didn't even look back :)!  And, no tears...until I got back into the car.  And even then, I did pretty well for my first kindergarten experience, I think!  On to the pictures!

Oh, if you remember from his first days at preschool (prek1, prek2), I wrote on his chalk board what he wanted to be when he grew up... I didn't make room for it this year, but this is what he told me: "I want to be a construction worker that builds roads, because they drive cool, big trucks!"

So proud of this boy!
Nora had to get in on the pictures.  Both kids squeezing me!  I love this picture and them! :)
Ethan and Daddy
My 2 favorite kids...ever!!
Heading into the school.  Looking so grown up!
He will ride the bus home.  So today, Nora and I walked to the bus stop to see him get off the bus and walk home with him.
Nora and our neighbor Henry, waiting for the bus to come
Bus #3 is here!
All smiles coming off the bus!
Ethan/Mama Question and Answer Session after school ;):
M:  How did you like your first day of school?
E:  Good
M: What was your favorite part of school today?
E:  I don't really know...Um...
M:  What did you do today?
E:  I played on the playground 3 times.  Um, and I colored a smiley face yellow and wrote my name.
M:  Did you get your pencil box out of your cubby?
E:  Yeah.
M:  What did you do use from it?
E:  The yellow crayon and 1 pencil.
M: Sounds like you had a good day!  Are you excited to go back tomorrow?
E:  Yeah! To do more fun stuff and lots of other things, like math and reading and eat lunch!  And I would like not having to take any money to get milk because you already paid for it!

Sounds like a successful first day of school to me!  We are so proud of him and can't wait to see how much he learns and grows this year!

Monday, August 18, 2014

Last Day of Summer

With today being the day before school starts for Ethan, we decided to go to the zoo.  Actually, Ethan got to pick where we went.  His options were the park, zoo or pool and he chose the zoo!  It was just the 3 of us and it was a lot of fun!
Selfie by the penguins
Nora, loving on the wooden penguin.
They always want their pictures taken with these things...

We got sno-cones on our way out.  They enjoyed them and stopping to see the wolf one more time before leaving!
Have to ride the train!!
What a fun way to spend our last full day of summer vacation!

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Mini-Golf

Decatur recently opened up a new mini golf course.  Ethan has been begging to go since before it was actually opened.   Dustin and Amanda come up for a visit today, and we decided it would be a fun outing for the afternoon.  It was a great time and the course was really fun.  It was specifically designed for Decatur and our little zoo.  There were a lot of fun references to the animals in our zoo from the snakes to penguins to the meerkats.
Nora was efficient...she usually started with her ball in this spot :)
Ethan loved it!

Dustin and Ethan got a hole in 1 on the penguin hole!!  And Nora joined in the fun!
So excited about his hole in 1!
Hanging out on the penguin

This was my favorite hole.  Golfing meerkats and water!
This was not my favorite hole...hit the ball in the snakes mouth.
She looks so sweet ;).  And she usually is!
Waiting patiently to let another couple "play through".
Nora is getting some help from Daddy
The last hole was a Cubs/Cardinals theme.  So cute!  
It was a fun time and I'm glad Amanda and Dustin came up and were able to go with us.

Some Kindergarten Prep

The big day is Tuesday.   The day every little kid is so excited about and every mama dreads.  Or at least that's the case in this household.  I'm so excited for him and I know he will absolutely LOVE kindergarten.  It's just a change, and I'm not the best with change.  And I'll miss him like crazy!  Anyway, we've been getting ready for kindergarten for months now.  Doctor appointments, shots and sore legs, dentist check-up with Pop.  More recently, school supply shopping and trying on his loaded backpack.  He's so ready!
Ibuprofen and and ice pack after his shot :(
1st, ever, eye appointment
He did everything just like they asked him to!  (And he passed...no glasses needed)
School supply shopping with such a big boy!
Excited about his packed backpack
We go on Monday evening to meet his teacher and see his classroom.  And stay tuned for first day of school pics.  He won't get out of here without a few (or a lot).