Jack and Mommy time

Jack and I are having a couple of bonding days this week! Andy is spending 2 days at his Grandma Graham's house - getting spoiled and doing all sorts of fun things (the zoo, the park - when I get pictures, I'll post them). He's been wanting to go there for awhile now and we thought it would be good to do before his preschool starts next week. Jack is home with me and it's amazing how low-key and easy our days have been... we've gone for walks, for a jog, to the grocery store, to the park, and played outside. Sometimes Jack will run around the house calling for Andy, but overall he's been enjoying his solo time. And I've been enjoying my 2 plus hours of his nap time and Jack's 8:00 bed time! I even joined Facebook (finally!) yesterday.

Here we are in the backyard. Jack was playing with the sand table for about 20 minutes and then decided to really have fun with it. He climbed up and in all by himself! A little small for a beach, but he made it work. He was able to get out on his own too - I have a feeling we'll be seeing him do this again. But when Andy's home, Andy will flip out if he sees Jack climbing into "his" sand table.

Ready to go out for a walk... I forgot how light and maneuverable our single jogger stroller is!

We spent some time here at this construction site - watching the digger dump dirt into the dump trucks. This is about 1/2 mile from our house and has fascinated the boys all summer. It's going to become a big pond, which is nice.

Relaxing weekends

We've had a couple of weekends at home which has been fun - time for relaxing and enjoying the end of summer weather. Here are a few pictures we have taken over the past couple of weeks...

Jack and daddy looking good in polo shirts

Bailey has been getting LOTS of hugs from Jack lately

Andy with a big smile

Jack giving more hugs to Bailey with Chris making sure Jack doesn't try climbing on top of him...

Having a good time wrestling...

Andy loves making silly faces for the camera
Up-close silly face

We went to the frisbee golf park with the boys yesterday... they had fun, but it was pretty busy with other players. We only got through 6 of the holes then we felt like we were disrupting the other players. (we didn't exactly fly through the course!) But it was nice to get out and walk on some trails anyways.

Andy with his frisbee - Jack following behind

Jack enjoyed walking for the first couple of holes. Then, he wanted to be carried. We should have brought the hiking backpack! "Teeing" offJack found my frisbee for me :) But you had to watch him close because he would just drop it when he didn't want to carry it anymore.

I still have some pictures of our last Door County trip to post. I'll be catching up on that this week. We've had a busy end of the summer. Our softball team finished second in the end-season tournament, which was awesome. We've gotten out for a few runs with the boys in the jogger stroller now that it's getting cooler outside. Next week Andy starts preschool. And both boys will be starting swim lessons next week as well.

Special Memories Zoo

On Wednesday, the boys took a trip to the Special Memories Zoo in Greenville. When hearing about this zoo, I heard they had a petting zoo and some other animals, also a train & playground. We saw so many more animals than we expected!! It was very impressive and very entertaining for all.

Once Jack spotted the first animals, he was up out of his seat to get a closer look.

Here are 2 of the many colorful birds they had...

A bengal tiger pacing close to us. There was also a white tiger sleeping on the platform above him. A zebra that Andy liked because we had just watched Madagascar 2

A pretty amusing sign...

This was a Barbary (or Barnaby - I can't remember) Lion. Extremely rare - none left in the wild. He was very handsome - the difference between him and other lions is that his mane is kind of curly and goes all the way down his back and under to his chest.

Jack getting a closer look at the lion

Jack petting the baby pigs at the petting zoo

Andy petting his favorite little goat

Andy and a bigger goat

Another of Andy's favorite animals - the big tortoise

Andy petting a little bunny

Jack really enjoyed the swing of course...

Andy got pretty dizzy on the tire swing...

The batteries died on the camera so we didn't get all of the pictures we had hoped to. We took a ride on the zoo train and saw many other animals native to Wisconsin - porcupines, badgers, racoons, skunks, wolves, and lots more. We also saw tons of monkeys who were enjoying their berry lunches, a black panther, bears swimming in a little pool, sheep, and otters were among the favorites.

A Trip to the Pool

On Tuesday this week, my mom and I took the boys to the Neenah pool. It had been a year since we had been there, and this time both boys had much more fun. Andy was loving the water - he didn't even wait for us to go in with him. He really enjoyed the little steering wheels that they had to control the fountains and water falls. Jack also loved walking around in the pool - he didn't mind getting his face wet and he did NOT want me to hold him or even hold his hand! After an hour in the pool, we had a snack and then checked out the sand play area. Again, both boys enjoyed themselves. Andy could have played at the sand and water area for HOURS. But Jack was getting tired and in need of a nap, so we headed home. But I think we will definitely be going back soon with Chris!

Andy headed out into the water right away...

Both boys checking out the water fountain area

Andy at the wheel

Jack wading through the water...

Snack time! Yummy icecream sandwich for Jack

Andy got right in there with the bigger kids (he's the one in the tie dye shirt)

Jack doing some digging

Andy loved this part

Mr. Blue eyes

Looking kind of sleepy after a day at the pool!

Birthday cake for me after softball! Jack was already asleep, but Andy enjoyed a piece of cake with us!