Bikes at the zoo

Last week we made a last minute decision to head to Garden City one morning to get some groceries. On the drive up, we made plans to meet some friends at the zoo - Kristy and Grayson Zeller and Chelsea and James Voth. 

I tried something new and brought along Cole's bike for him to ride through the zoo instead of riding in the stroller. He did great!

We had a picnic near the giraffes and (NEW) rhinos and then made our way through the zoo. 

Cole didn't mind wearing his helmet the whole time we were there. 

Grayson is one year older than Cole. They do really well together. There was a lot of roaring and climbing by both boys!

Look What I Found

Check out this scene I came across when I was driving Marc's truck today...

A car seat and (unused) diaper. Not something you would've seen a few years ago. It just struck me how much our lives have changed. How much fuller they are. What blessings! And i love seeing evidence of daddy Marc overlapping consultant Marc. 

Baby Girls

Two of my friends had baby girls soon after I did and we happened to be at the park together the other day, so we got a picture. 

Eva 4 months

Selah 1 month

Hope 7 months

These girls could be in the same class. It'll be fun to grow up together!

Hope is Moving

I took a picture of Hope sitting up, and this is what I got. Oops. 

I guess she's not sitting yet. 

She is getting so mobile - rolling, pulling herself with her forearms, rotating all around. She can get to where she wants to go, slowly. It's fun to watch but makes me apprehensive for when she's really on the move. That's gonna be a whole new ballgame...

Summer Library Fun

The library has some new Lego tables that we got to play with for the first time this week after story time. Cole LOVED playing with the Lego characters from Planes. It kept him occupied for quite a while. All the kids had a fun time. 

The library has a lot of activities to support their summer reading program this summer - a clown, magician, puppets, etc. along with story time twice a week and a movie with popcorn once a week. It all culminates with a hotdog party for those that read and log the minimum number of books. I've even started a log for the books I read Hope. We'll look forward to participating at the library when we can. 

We are lucky to have such a good library in our small town. 

Birthday Gifts

Other fun gifts for Cole's birthday: 

My mom and dad got Cole a huge set of MagnaTiles. They are these thin tiles that connect with magnets to build things. They're awesome! 

Cole loves to make little boxes and put figures inside of them. 

(Don't mind the pile of clean laundry...)

Look how high we got this tower!

And he got a new Memory game (Kay and Norma both had the same idea!). 

It's been fun to play with him. He's starting to get the idea. I'll be happy when we can play all sorts of games together. 

And he got a little Cozy Coupe from Shandra. He couldn't wait to pull it out of the box and put it together. Thanks to grandpa Voth for doing that hard work. 

(Cole sitting in his cozy coupe shell checking out all the paw patrol stickers from Cindy.)

It's been fun to have new things to play with! Happy 3rd birthday, Cole!

Watermelon

Hope trying watermelon. She liked it, but

Not as much as she liked her cheering section...

Cole wanted to put a bib on like Hope. Mom made the one Hope is wearing for Cole. He is happy to share. 

Balance Bike

For his birthday, Cole got a lot of fun gifts that we've been playing with lately. Marc and I got him a balance bike. It has no pedals, is low to the ground, small, lightweight and he propels himself along with his feet. The idea is he learns to balance now so when he starts with a bigger bike with pedals, he might not need training wheels. He loves it!!

Riding at the rec center with grandma and grandpa. 

I pulled my bike out and aired up the tires and dusted off the cobwebs and we've been riding together on the street in front of our house while Hope takes a nap. It's fun. 

He got some birthday money and decided to buy a helmet. He wanted orange to match his bike and found this one right away. 

Twice now he has ridden over to Grandma Voth's "by himself". I walk him to the corner and she waits for him in her yard. He thinks he's pretty big stuff. 

Today at the rec center he tried to put his bike in the bike rack. We found out it's not made for 12" tires. Ha!

It has been such a fun addition to our day. He is getting really good and picks his feet up as he goes down the drainage dips on the street. He can go pretty fast but I can keep up walking, so it works great. I hope you get to see him ride it sometime!

Bananas

I have kind of been dragging my feet with feeding Hope solid food - mainly because I'm lazy (have I already said this?). So, when Mary and Janet told me about Tirzah eating bananas out of a mesh bag thing, I immediately thought I'd give it a go - the lazy mom's baby food solution. Sue had given me one with Cole and he never really took to it, so I hadn't thought of trying it with Hope. But, I was pleasantly surprised to find that she liked it really well. Thanks for the idea, Mary and Janet!

Look Who Stopped In!

Look who came to visit! Mary and Janet stopped in for a night on their way home from Texas. What a treat!

We got to play Qwirkle. Janet won!

I'm glad they took the time to stop in. After they left, they were driving through Dodge and going to check out the new water park - The Longbranch Lagoon (clever, right?). I'll be curious to hear what they thought. 

Also, I learned a few things. Did you know that Janet knows all about horses and had some growing up? She was talking to Cole about his horses and using lots of terms I didn't know, like the horse's blaze (do you know what that is?). I also learned that Janet is really "political", as Mary called her. Like, she writes letters to legislators and gets responses back (regretfully, usually just form letters). Her and Kathryn need to get together. Wonder how their politics line up?

Also, they stopped in Austin at Joel and Cindy's. Have you heard that Joel's gotten into bird watching? He feeds them and watches them on his back patio and has a book that identifies them. Ha! I love it. That guy always has something fun!

I love family!

Chopsticks

We went to the "sushi place" after church on Sunday. Cole got to use chopsticks for the first time with his steak. They gave him a pair that they had made for kids. He was pretty good at it!

He loves using tongs/"pinchers", so this was right up his alley.

(Check out my Stitch Fix jacket and shirt. I like them both a lot!)

Supper Prep Antics

What do you do while your mom makes supper?

If you're Cole, you make a tower of condiments. I think he was making a wall to protect us from something. I was frantically trying to get supper prepared while Hope took a nap and was a little distracted. 

And by the way, I made Fried Rice using this recipe from Gimme Some Oven (a blog I heard about through Abby). It's the third time I've made it this month. I would highly recommend it!

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/fried-rice-recipe/

A Roller

Mark it down. We have a roller!! Hope surprised me yesterday when I went to get her after her nap and she was on her tummy though I had laid her down on her back. I snapped a picture to send to Marc. 

And, unlike her rolling from her tummy to her back, which has been quite sporadic, she has been showing off her new skill time and time again. I think she's pretty proud of herself. 

She's growing up!

Potty Training

This is the face of a boy who experienced pure victory in potty training today, on his own volition, and who got rewarded with a trip to Presto for a treat! Way to go, Cole! So proud of you!

#pottytrainingpartdeux #yuckwhydidhechoosetheliquidcandy

Entertained

Hope keeping herself entertained with the leftover pasta in the colander while I put together the pasta bake. 

Looking adoringly at her daddy