Mommy and Me...

Checking out raptors...

Benjamin, Ada, Gunnar, and I attended Bald Eagle Awareness Day at the Outdoor Campus. It was a great afternoon. There were many different activities for the kids to do such as making finger puppets, making necklaces, search for the different raptors, puzzles, coloring activities, and a station where they could make a Bald Eagle treat. Benjamin was in heaven with all the different activities to do. There was also a raptor show where we got to see a bunch of raptors. Benjamin thought the little screech owl was adorable. Ada liked looking at all the different birds. Gunnar slept through the whole afternoon. Benjamin and Ada enjoy going to the Outdoor Campus for animal class. It's been great educational entertainment.

All dressed and ready to go home!

Getting Gunnar ready to go home and for his first car ride. Here we are enjoying our time together with our new son. Daddy even picked out Gunnar's going home from the hospital outfit. Isn't it cute? The shirt has a little crocodile on it that says "see you later". Gunnar is quite the snuggly little bear. He certainly is spoiling us with all these cuddles and snuggles!

My mom and me...

I love spending time with my new little boy! He is such a sweetie and is quite the little cuddlier! I love just holding him, snuggling him, and rocking him. Dave says he can tell that Gunnar loves spending time with me and that Gunnar has a favorite spot to cuddle in. It has been so much fun to get him dressed and not just have him wrapped in blankets like the other two kids had to do for pretty much their first month of life. Gunnar has been a great baby. I have enjoyed each and every day of my maternity leave just spending time with the newest addition to our family. Have I said that I love this little guy?

DinoQuest...

Benjamin loves dinosaurs! He cannot get enough of them! Ada is even starting to really get into dinosaurs. So for their 2nd and 4th birthday we took the kids to Omaha's DinoQuest Adventure. We went over Native American Day weekend which we were looking forward to all summer long. We arrived in Omaha only to find out that they had received 5 inches of snow! Can you believe it? Our dino adventure was a very cold, snowy, icy, slippery experience. Benjamin loved it and really got into it. Ada could have cared less the whole time we were outside. She came to life the moment we went inside. Everyone received a map of the trails marking where the dinosaurs were and you were turned loose to explore the trails and find the dinosaurs. Benjamin loved reading the map, giving us directions and running to the next stop. It would have been very beautiful walk if the weather was nice. We were one of the only ones there so the trails were ours which was nice. Dave stated that if the weather would have been beautiful he was pretty sure that the trails would have been packed! Once inside there was a museum of things to look at and plenty of activities to do! There was a paleontology lab, coloring station, dress-up area with costumes, books, puppets, and other dinosaur toys. Like I said before this was right up Ada's ally. It was so much fun watching the kids explore while learning about dinosaurs!

Pool Time!

While in Omaha we stayed at a hotel that had some indoor slides. Dave was pretty excited to stay there so Benjamin could go swimming and sliding. Let's just say, Benjamin LOVED it!! He was in Heaven! All we did the first day when we got to Omaha was go swimming/sliding. Benjamin would wake up early and go to bed late just so he could go swimming/sliding! He would sleep hard each night as he was so tired from all of our activities. Don't let the pictures fool you...Ada HATED the slides. She went down each slide once. One time with me (little slide) and one time with Dave (big slide). For the picture I put her on the slide and let her slide down by herself. She did great but she didn't like it at all. She enjoyed swimming and had no fear of the deep water she just didn't like the water slides at all!

Family Photos by Sweeter Images...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

My friend, Wendy Sweeter, has started her own photography business so we decided to have her take our family photos. Since Dave and I have been married for 5 years I requested a few extra photos (sorry, we did not do anything racy - as I have included all photos taken in the slide show) and Wendy exceeded my expectations! The photos turned out great and we had a good time. Ada wasn't too into the whole photo taking session but for those of you that know us, know that Ada has never really been into the photo taking thing.

I highly recommend Wendy as a photographer. Back in her amateur days (5 years ago) she was our personal photographer for our wedding. She capture all aspects of our wedding day from the behind the scenes action shots to guests to the posed shots. They also turned out great and I cherish them very much. If you would like to get a hold of Wendy you can email her at mailto:sweeterimages@yahoo.com or by telephone at (605) 695-9819. Thanks Wendy for a great session! We are looking forward to another one!

S is for Salamander

Since Benjamin is 3 years old he can participate in a few "sprouts" classes at the outdoor campus in Sioux Falls, S.D. The class he went to was called "S is for Salamander". It was a pretty good class. This was the first time other than his daycare (where he is used to 5 or 6 others kids at most at his daycare) that he was immersed in a group setting with other kids his age. Let's just say he was an extremely shy kid! He walked into the room with me, took one look around at all the other kids, parents, and instructor and turned the other way and walked right back out. I convinced him to come back into the room but he did not leave my side. Making the salamander magnet caught his attention and then he was in his element. I could have left the building and he would never have known! He enjoyed the class and still talks about it and is so excited for going back to class in July. He tells me that he will not be a shy boy next time. Only time will tell.

Ada and Dave had a daddy and daughter day planned for while Benjamin and I were at class but the rain ended up changing their plans. They were able to hang out in the building for a while and then went out to the van to watch a movie and have a snack. I have always said that Ada's favorite time is snack time. Here is Ada, flat Ada, mommy at the outdoor campus museum. What is flat Ada/Benjamin? At daycare they made their friends to take on their summer outings. We are supposed to take pictures of them so they can look back on their summer adventure and have fun reliving the memories.

The Circus Came to Town!!

Dave and I took Benjamin and Ada to the Shriner's Circus in Sioux Falls. I don't know who was more excited, Benjamin or me! We had a great time! I could not get over how long the show was. I loved watching the elephants, the sheep dogs were Ada's favorite, Dave enjoyed the costumes (that's what he said) and Benjamin just loved taking it all in (light show, elephants, dancers, etc.). We both enjoyed seeing the excitement on the kids' faces when they saw something that caught their eye. Ada did really well throughout the whole show; she did get a little stir crazy right before intermission but then walked around the whole time during break. Benjamin just sat eyes glued to the 3 rings. It was great! We found out that we have two little cotton candy monsters! At first they didn't know what to think of the stuff and then quickly decided that they loved it. The four of us had a great time! I can't wait for next year!

Coloring, coloring, coloring

Benjamin loves doing art projects. He enjoys drawing, coloring, and painting. Ada loves doing whatever Benjamin does. She also enjoys coloring. When I got home from work today Benjamin and Ada had to show me the pictures that they made and had daddy hang up. They had pictures in our (Dave & mine) bedroom and hanging beside each of their beds. They were so proud of themselves and their pictures. It was so sweet!