A Weekend Trip to Omaha-The Zoo

After a late night at a baseball game, we still decided to leave fairly early and go to the Henry Doorly Zoo.  We got to the zoo around 9:30, and even before we went in, we could tell it was super busy.  We started at the north entrance of the zoo, which proved to be a good choice because for the first couple hours looking at animals, it wasn't terribly busy.  It was when we went to the main part of the zoo where the aquarium, Desert Dome, and Lied Jungle were, we found out just how busy it really was.  I have never seen so many people at that zoo all at once! Walking through the aquarium was literally a zoo of people.  It was wall to wall filled with people and moving at a very slow pace.  It's a good thing none of us suffer from an extreme case of claustrophobia, because it was horrible!  Needless to say, the kids didn't enjoy this part much (neither did I since I'm not a fan of crowds of people...I'd rather it be us and maybe 10 others at the whole zoo, but oh well), but overall I think they had a pretty good time!
 Here they are at our first stop, the petting zoo and the goats!

 Keely pointing at the bears...she's always loved bears for some reason!

 Brooks was really excited to see the polar bear! He was waiting to be fed so he didn't swim at all, which would have been fun for Brooks to see, but at least he was up and moving!

 The gorillas...Brooks is here saying, "I don't know what he's doing??"  I think the gorilla was looking right at him!

 Brooks liked checking out the map to see where we should go next! :)

The giraffes...one of my favorites!

 And the butterfly house was also a favorite, but super packed with people! At least we saw more butterflies here than we did at the Lincoln zoo!

 The aquarium was next.  I always think it is one of the more fun places for the kids to watch the fish and bright colors, but with so many people, we really couldn't watch much and didn't really want to stop and look real long either!

 The desert dome...one of Blake's favorite because he likes the dark kingdom underneath it.  Not sure why, but he likes the bats! I didn't take any pictures of it though because it was so dark.

After the zoo, we relaxed at the hotel for awhile, then went out to eat for supper.  Keely thought sleeping on the cold tile by the fridge was a good idea...she was just being goofy and didn't stay laying down much longer than for me to take a picture, but it was cute!

 Brooks and Grandma relaxing with iPads..

 We decided to eat at Joe's Crab Shack, and Brooks finally fell asleep for his first nap of the day on the way there.  He can be so stubborn with naps if we are anywhere but home!

 Blake getting ready for his crab legs

After supper, we went to the hotel pool.  The water was FREEZING!! It was pretty ridiculous, but Brooks was so excited to go that we had to stick it out for at least a little bit.

 Blake and Keely look pretty cold in this family picture!

 On Sunday before we left Omaha, we decided to drive out to the pedestrian bridge over the Missouri River to check it out since none of us had really been there before.  Here is a picture of Keely in Nebraska and Brooks in Iowa...the states they were born in! The kids were getting tired by this point and were not too impressed so we didn't make them get out, but we at least got a picture of them in the stroller over the state line!

 Blake and Brooks checking out the water

 On the way out of town, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for a late breakfast.  It was actually lunch time before we got in to eat, but we all still enjoyed a big breakfast! I guess except for Brooks and Keely who had chicken fingers, fries, and corn!

It was a fun and busy weekend, but the kids did really good considering there were no normal bedtimes or nap times.  It was also nice to just get away for a little bit even if it wasn't very far away!

A Weekend Trip to Omaha-Baseball Game

A couple of weeks ago, we took one of Blake's weekends off and planned a trip to Omaha with Blake's parents.  We went to an Omaha Stormchasers baseball game Friday night and then the Omaha Zoo on Saturday.  Brooks was really excited to spend the night in a hotel again, and both kids did really well the whole weekend.  We stayed at the DoubleTree Suites and so both rooms we got had a separate 'living room' from the main bedroom.  This worked out perfect for our family because Keely could sleep in the pack n play in her own room in the living room of our room and Brooks could sleep on the pullout sofa bed in Grandma and Papa's room.  Having the kids have their own sleeping space separate from ours worked out really well...especially with Keely!
Here are some pictures from the baseball game

 Brooks was really excited to go

 We were pretty close to the field, so we had to pay attention to the game so we wouldn't get hit by a foul ball! A few were hit our way, but not close enough to catch one for Brooks.

 Keely did well for the first part of the game, as long as she was snacking!

 Papa bought Brooks a blue slushy...he loved that it gave him a blue tongue, and definitely gave him a sugar rush to make it through the rest of the game!

Towards the end of the game, Grandma got Keely to finally fall asleep.  The game started at 7 and by 10, we started making our way out of the stadium since it was getting so late for the kids! We started walking out at the end of the 8th, but ran into a couple of Blake's college friends (JD and Clint) on our way out, so we stopped to talk to them for a little bit.

 As we were leaving the stadium, we heard a loud bang on the roof of the stadium, and when I turned around to see what it was, it was a foul ball! There wasn't really anyone else around, so I started running towards it, and about that same time, Blake realized it was there too.  He was holding Keely, but took off after it too.  I quickly realized I am pregnant and can't move real fast, and stopped running, letting Blake run the rest of the way to get it! Brooks was super excited to get a foul ball! I don't think he realizes how rare it is to get a real foul ball, but it was still special! This picture was from Sunday on our way home, but he still was excited!

 I have a ton more pictures from the weekend, but I'll put them in the next post as I need to go get the kids down for nap now!

Fresh from the Garden

We are still struggling to get Brooks to try new foods.  However, for some reason, he will try anything that is straight out of the garden.  It seems completely strange and opposite of what I would have expected from a 3 year old, but we are not complaining! One of Brooks' favorite things this summer has been going over to Grandma Jost's house and look in her garden for fresh veggies and fruit.  Here are some pictures from early summer...Brooks is checking out the first of the cucumber crop. 

 He was super excited to pick one!

I know this isn't the garden, but he liked checking out some of grandpa's corn on that trip too.  It was so short then!

 Enjoying his first fresh cucumber of the season!

Since that first cucumber, we've had lots of opportunities to pick and try all sorts of things from the garden....
Green beans have been a favorite...he won't eat them well after they have been cooked or even brought home, but if we pick them straight from the garden, he'll eat 3 or 4 before moving on to something else.

 Lots and lots of cucumbers...

 Another favorite, Raspberries!! Brooks loves them fresh from the plant, but won't eat them real well if I buy them at the store.  Who knows why...

He'll even eat some cherry tomatoes in the garden, but won't touch them if I buy them...

 Keely even got in on some zucchini tasting.  Both kids weren't huge fans of the fresh zucchini, but they both took several bites before putting it down.

 And then of course fresh sweet corn has been a huge favorite!

With the help of Grandma Burgess, we planted a few tomato, cucumber, zuchinni, and pepper plants in our backyard, but they haven't produced anything yet.  As of this morning when we checked, we do have some small green tomatoes growing and some itty bitty green peppers, but that's about it.  It won't be a bumper crop, but maybe we can enjoy a few things!

 Keely hasn't been as big of a fan of the fresh veggies like Brooks always has been, but she's at least trying! I think the sweet corn has been her favorite so far.  She is not a huge fan of cucumbers, and plays with them more than anything!

 So our little rabbit eater has had fun this summer eating a lot of vegetables.  We are now awaiting some fresh bell peppers to be ready!

A Wedding and Cousins

A couple of weekends ago, we had a houseful of family and a wedding to attend in Omaha.  On Thursday, Blake's parents and Brooks' cousin Pearl were the first ones to get here.  Brooks and Pearl had fun playing in the afternoon before Pearl's siblings and parents arrived late Thursday night.  Thursday evening Blake's parents and I took Brooks, Keely, and Pearl to Wendy's and then swimming at the hotel in York. Brooks actually loved the swimming this time, and we will have to continue to build on that since we haven't had the greatest of luck getting him to enjoy the big pools.  (It doesn't help that we have only gone like twice this summer....whoops!)

 Brooks actually jumped in holding Grandma's hands a few times and liked it! But when we got a little water in his mouth he wasn't impressed with it anymore!

 But at least we got him away from the shallow stairs!

 Keely had fun!

 Keely also had fun showing Cheyenne to Rosa!

Then on Friday we drove to Omaha for Blake's cousin, Mark,'s wedding.  The kids struggled to sit still during the ceremony (especially after riding in the car for 2 hours), but they did ok.  Brooks kept Pearl entertained with the iPod.

 Keely was a little more difficult to keep still.  She was very busy going from one person to the next, but we survived.

 Here's the one picture we got of Mark and Liz!

 The kids had much more fun at the reception.

 Brooks dancing to the live singer they had as everyone was getting there.

 Keely enjoying a roll of bread

 I was a little worried what we would find our picky eater to eat there, but he has to learn at some point to just eat whatever is available, so we found what we could! He ate a couple of bread rolls (he has never eaten bread in a roll shape before, so this was actually good for him!).  Plenty of blueberries, strawberries, and grapes, and a few pieces of plain lettuce with a little cheese on it.  He also tried the cooked zucchini slices, but wasn't a fan of the peppery spice that was on it, but at least he tried!

 We attempted to take a family photo, and didn't get a real great one, but oh well!

 We also attempted a cousin picture, and this is the best one I got! It was hard to get 6 kids to look at the camera and smile all at once!