Zoolympics

This morning, we headed out to the zoo to Zoolympics. Despite the heat, we had a good (free) time! There were 6 different stations that the kids had to complete. One was Monkey Mayhem:

Here each kid had to put on "monkey gloves" that had no thumbs since monkey's don't have thumbs and carry one piece of fruit from one bucket to another. Then the kids had to do the Snake slither :

There was also a Frog jump station, Parrot Perch, Penguin Waddle and Predator Prowl obstacle course. Thankfully, these were all in the shade so we were able to stay fairly cool. Hadley's vocabulary is continuing to grow by the day and we love hearing her say this:

After the zoo, we headed to this fine dining establishment with FREE coupons we had from some friends of ours, who happen to own the place. So, we ended up having a completely FREE day, man, life is good.

Trying to Stay Cool

The temperatures have been unbelievable for only June this week! We went swimming a couple of times this week, just to try to stay cool. Not only has it been hot- 90's, but also HUMID! So, we broke down and turned on our air conditioning and also took advantage of some great friend's generosity to swim at their house. Then, on Friday, Gabe's day off, we went to Lake Springfield's FREE public beach. If you can get past the grossness of lake water, it's not too bad. The water was really warm, which almost made it a little worse on the grossness factor, but the kids had fun. And you can't complain about free. We packed a picnic lunch and ate at the beach, then headed home for naps later in the afternoon. Have I mentioned lately that I love summer, even when it is really hot!

Jumpin for Joy

Can I just tell you how much we LOVE having a trampoline?! It's been great!

New pictures

Whew, what a day! I have been wanting to get new pictures taken with the kids. Since their birthdays are only 6 weeks apart, I usually just get both of them taken at the same time and we hadn't had a family picture in about a year and half so I wanted to get a new one of those too. Getting pictures of a little girl hitting the terrible twos is not an easy task. Drake did great- a little cheesy, but still, very cooperative! Hadley on the other hand, took lots of coaxing (read: bribing) and energy to get some good pics. Finally, we ended up with a few keepers!

**My mom thinks this is payback because I didn't like my picture taken when I was little either. If only I would have known how frustrating that was!!**

4-3-2-1

We had to get this picture while we could. For only another month, Kara and I have a 4 year, 3 year old, 2 year old and 1 year old. Cute little boogers, aren't they?!

The big 2 celebration

Today, we gathered out at the camp to celebrate Hadley's birthday. We had a yummy cookout, compliments of Nana and Papa, with a little help from Grammy and me. Luckily, we had great weather and the kids got to do some swimming and have a good time playing outside. Since we did a pool party, I decided to go with a "flip-flop" theme. I attempted the cake myself this year, something I hadn't done before, and it turned out okay- a little messy, but still cute. It was nice to get together with family and friends to celebrate our little girl's birthday!

Happy Birthday Hadley!!

Unbelievably, Hadley turns TWO today. Time really does keep getting faster and faster! She was the last one up this morning, so all went in to greet her with "Happy Birthday". Apparently, it was a little too early for her to take to well to being sung to this early and she got a little teary about that ordeal. But, she was quickly cheered up by heading out to presents in the living room. After opening her new princess tea set for the bathtub and a new set of Cinderella toys (from Drake) we spent the morning doing some of her favorite activities: eating oatmeal, watching Caillou, and playing with some of her new toys. Then, we headed to ChuckECheese to meet Gabe for lunch and let the birthday girl have a little more fun. Her favorite thing was riding this toy that goes around what looks like a giant clock. More celebrating to come!

To Dye For

Drake got invited to participate in a tye-dye workshop that Kit was doing at the Sunney Art Center in Lincoln. Since Hadley and I were at a shower for Uncle Eric and Sarah in Lincoln, it was great that Drake got to do something fun too. He had fun tye-dying two different shirts and hanging out with the big kids.

Day at Sea

Today was our last day on the big ship. We spent most of the morning at the splash zone with Joel and Hadley while Drake enjoyed some activities in the Oceaner's Club. He had a blast learning "How to be a Mouskateer" "Swinging with Tarzan" and other super fun kid activities while the little kids soaked up some rays and some water. Amazing how a few shoots of water can be so entertaining! Hadley also did an AMAZING job sitting wonderfully still while she got some super cute braids put in her hair. Then, there was time for a few more dips in the pool. After lunch and naps, whatdoyaknow, it was time to eat again! After the kids ate, they each got dropped off at their respective rooms to be entertained while the grown-ups ate dinner. Hadley, however, did not agree with this option, and we got paged shortly into dinner. So, she joined us. Gabe took the opportunity of the day at sea to eat as many ice cream cups as possible. However, part of the way through dinner, his digestive system decided it did not like the 22 ice cream cups he had eaten that day and Gabe made a fast exit for the rest of dinner. I could almost feel sorry for him, except that he did do it to himself. I guess that is his competitive nature kicking in. (He was trying to beat his last cruise record of 44 ice creams- he only made it to 41 this time!) After dinner, we caught one more show- Disney Dreams. It was really good and everytime one of the characters would leave the stage, Hadley would say "MORE!". The productions on the boat were extremely well done and very family friendly. What a great end to a super fun trip!

Castaway Cay

This was probably my favorite day of the whole trip, but I'm a sucker for the beach! We got off the boat just after breakfast and headed straight to the beach. We stopped for a quick picture with Goofy, but the kids were so mesmerized by the sand, that neither of them would look up! Once we claimed our "spot" on the beach, the kids played for hours in the sand and water. The weather was great, slightly cloudy, which helped keep the temperature down a little but sunny enough to feel like a great day for the beach. The awesome thing about Castaway Cay is that since it is Disney's private island the food on the island is also included in the price of the cruise. So, after we ate a scrumptious lunch of bbq ribs, corn on the cob, lots of fresh fruit, ice cream, etc... we went straight back to the water. The kids were great- played around us in the water and sand while we lounged in the beach chairs. Yes, I do believe I am raising beach kids- fabulous!! Once we left the beach, we headed back to the boat for naps and then dinner. Tonight was pirate night, so the serving staff was all decked out in pirate gear. After dinner, we got to watch the premier of the new movie Up in 3D! The beginning was a little sad and Drake got a little teary, but pulled it together to enjoy the rest of the show. After the movie, we tucked in the kids and Nana graciously offered to keep an ear out for them while we headed out to enjoy the pirate show and the late night buffets. (Can you tell the eating was one of my favorite parts of the cruise, too?!)

Cruise Story in the Bahamas

Today was a great day. It started with the kids sleeping wonderfully in our tight little quarters. After the four of us ate breakfast with Nana and Papa, Drake decided to head to his class to check out the fun stuff for his age. He had a blast while Gabe, Papa and Hadley splashed around in the water squirters right by the Mickey pool. Nana and I headed into Nassau and hit the straw market to pick up a few souvenirs. Once back on the boat, we ate some lunch and then went to a 3D showing of Bolt. After Bolt, it was time for naps. Gabe took a nap with the kids while I enjoyed a little time all to myself, ahhh... (I'm so glad my husband likes naps too!) Dinner tonight was kid-less, another wonderful event. Just the grown-ups ate at Animator's Palatte tonight. (Little did I know, this would be our last kid-free dinner, as Hadley proceeded to require us to be paged every night after this.) We of course, had yummy food and got to eat lots of things we don't normally get to eat. After dinner, we got to see an amazing live production of Toy Story the Musical. The productions on the ship are amazingly well done. The kids loved it and sat tremendously well through the whole thing. After that, it was bedtime for all!