Family Day At The Zoo

Yesterday we had a fun family outing to Como Zoo!  John had the day scheduled off and I decided to take a vacation day as well and do something as a family before the summer is over.  The kids were excellent and we had a fun time, despite the heat and humidity.  The animals must have been feeling the heat as well because there were really only a handful that were actually moving in their pens (giraffe, zebras, gorilla moved once).  The lions, tigers and polar bear just laid around. We didn't even see the wolves because of the heat.  That didn't both Megan - what was her favorite part?  Reading the map and telling us where to go next!  That and her with her binoculars, she was quite the little tour guide!

Mommy and Daddy were not supposed to hold the map.  Megan was looking at all the pictures of the animals which had arrows to their location on the map.  Nevermind that we were right next to the giraffes... we had to go to the wolves' home first because that was "next".  Eventually we were able to see everything in the four hours we were there.

We quickly learned that it wasn't worth it to try and go to any of the demonstrations since you can't hear or see much anyways.  But we did make it to the Sparky the Seal show.  It was right around lunchtime and the kids were asking for snack breaks anyways so we sat down to eat our picnic lunch while watching the short show.  Hydration was key in the heat and we went through lots of fluids.  Owen hung in there not taking a nap until we got to the car around 2:00!  

Stoller loaded and ready to go!

Like I said earlier, I didn't take many pictures of the animals since they weren't doing anything too exciting but it was fun watching the kids look at them!

 

Owen looked good on the turtle statue!

We liked the giraffes!

 

And we LOVED the goofy mama gorilla!

John was exhausted but kept a smile on his face!

Last on Megan's itinerary was the Como Town Train ride.  We put some money on a ride pass and she was able to ride the train, as the co-conductor, all by herself!  She was absolutely in her glory!

We still had some money left on the card so we put the kids on these little cars.  I wasn't sure how Owen would do since he was trying to climb out before the ride started but after it got going he just rode with a big grin on his face!

As we started driving for home I asked Megan what her favorite part of the zoo was.  She didn't reply and I asked her if it was reading the map.  I got a tired little response of, "I think so..."  Owen was sleeping before we left the parking lot and Megan was shortly after that.  It was a successful family outing!

Touch 'Em All, Megan Lewis!

Last Wednesday John took the Megan to her second Twin's game of the summer!  John was especially excited to find out that there was a special event after the game where season ticket holders could run the bases with their kids!  They drove to the game instead of taking the bus since they'd be around awhile afterwards.  Megan cheered her hardest and had a blast running the bases after the game.  (And I think John had fun running the bases, too.) 

 

 

Target Fashion

I have some catching up to do with family updates and while looking back through pictures I came across some fun pictures from a Target outing last month.  John was in the market for a new pair of shades so while he was trying on sunglasses the kids and I had a little fun!

 

 

Our Little Flower Girl

Our little Megan was asked to be the flower girl in my cousin's wedding.  Aaron and Katie's wedding was last Friday night, August 9th.  It was a gorgeous night, location and we had the most precious little flower girl.  She was so excited to be the flower girl and we even watched YouTube videos to get her prepared.  Megan fell in love with her dress when we went shopping and wouldn't let me look at any others.  Katie found a simple coral colored pin to stitch in the waistband (and match their colors) to replace the pink flower that it came with.  

I decided to do Megan's hair when we got to the church that afternoon but she was so excited it was hard to sit still that long.  The whole day was exciting for her from getting ready, pictures, dinner and reception and of course the dance.  After getting ready we went outside for pictures.  Megan actually was only in a couple poses but the plan was also to do a Gennrich family photo as well so everyone was there!  The wedding was at Faith Covenant Church in Burnsville and across the street was the most gorgeous "park" - not by Megan's definition, though, because there was nothing to play on.  Poor girl was so busy exploring it was hard for her to look and smile for pictures!

 

 

Snapped a quick picture of John and the kids!

And the most darling picture from the day :)

Oh, wait, these two are!!!

Of course when Megan was walking down the aisle at the wedding it was quite different than the rehearsal - mostly because of all the other people there.  She waited in the nursery with all the other bridesmaids and my dad who was an usher told her when to start walking down.  She was a little confused as what to do when she got to where we were sitting.  Luckily, the officiant, Zachary, Aaron's cousin on the other side of his family, motioned for Megan to keep going and stand by him.  She did and stood there nervously the entire time while Katie walked down the aisle.  When it was time for the congregation to be seated she came to sit with us.  Then she left the church as part of the recessional.  (And of course, proceeded to come back in with Grandpa to dismiss the everyone.)

Reception was at the Eagan Community Center.  We had some time before dinner so Megan and I snagged this photo of just us!

And someone was so excited for the dance!  Plus, this dress was made for twirling!  I liked this picture because it also shows how I did her hair for the occasion.  French twist on the top and ringlet curls on the bottom.  I hadn't had time to get to Claire's for cute pins but Aaron and Katie gave some to Megan as a wedding present along with her pretty jewelry.

John's Home Run & Kid Pictures At His Game

John is two weeks into a five week fall softball season.  This team isn’t necessarily the same quality as the Hoppers summer team, nor are the fields as nice as van Valkenberg, but John is still having fun.  The fields at Bryn Mar do not have any fences around them which is one of the downfalls, but on the upside the lack of fencing allowed John to hit his first home run ever!  The outfield players actually moved in a bit when John came up to bat but he showed them.  A hard hit to right-center and John was off rounding the bases for his first home run.  They ended up losing the game several plays after this at-bat but John was still pretty excited about his hit – As he should be!!

The kids and I sat and watched the game while we had a picnic dinner but they didn’t want to sit for much more than that.  My sister was also at the game since her boyfriend, Nate, agreed to help out them team due to player shortage.  Nate did a great job and I was happy to spend time with my sister! 

Here are a few pictures (of the kids) that I took while the game was going on.  :)

I think this is too many bats for this little guy to hold!  And he doesn't know yet that he could just let go and drop them - he just stood there waiting for someone to take the bats from his hands.

Some cute pictures of Papa Lewis and Owen!!

 

 

To celebrate John's home run, Rachel and Nate took us to a Yogurt Bar.  Frozen yogurt and pretty much any kind of topping and syrup you could imagine!  

Swimming Lessons Passed!

The Sunday before last, August 4th, was Megan's last swimming lesson class of Puddle Jumpers 1!  She passed with flying colors and loved every minute of the session!  She's quite the little fishie in the water and willing to try anything.

Oh, and just so I remember for future - Megan's favorite swimming activity was the M&M game.  One at a time, kids would stand on the side of the pool and chose a color of an M&M.  Megan always chose purple.  Then the instructor and the rest of the class would pretend to be mixing the water up, turning it the color the student chose.  Then then the kids would jump into the water towards their pretend M&M.  What a fun way to get kids to jump into the water!

We will probably enroll Megan in Puddle Jumpers 2 for the winter session just to give her a few months break.

Funnies: July Wrap-Up & Into August

Owen's napping so time to recap on this week's funnies!  

Last Sunday while Owen was napping Megan and I had a waterfight outside.  It was so gorgeous outside and I had planned just to relax in the front yard while she played in the water and sand in her swimsuit.  Well, the garden hose is still a favorite of hers so on went the faucet and she started spraying me.  I didn't like it much so I backed the car into the driveway and let her spray that.  Soon I was the target again and went screaming and ran behind the car where I knew the hose would not reach.  Well, Megan has a solution for everything, as you all know.  She started opening the car doors with plans to shoot the water straight through!  

Also on Sunday we went to visit a cousin of mine who has a son Megan's age.  But first we had to fill my car up with gas since it was almost empty.  Megan asked me why I needed to fill up with gas.  Of course her answer was better than mine... So we can go really fast!!!!

We have a lot of traffic by our townhouse and there was a rather loud thud one night.  Megan always asks what the sounds are.  I told her it was a truck that drove by.  She thought she was so clever when she exclaimed that it was Papa's "Hiccup Truck"!!

Here's Owen.... So happy that he is learning Mommy's computer too!!

Great time last night with my family.  Too bad John had to go to the Twin's game because he would have enjoyed the time too!  Megan was taking our pictures after dinner.  She could handle the four of us but once Catherine joined in it was a little complicated... She just couldn't get the landscape orientation down...

 

When I went to give her instructions on how to hold the phone she hopped into my spot!  Fun times!

Maybe you saw the "Magic Show" video on Facebook but everyone was sitting on the paver blocks in the picture below and Megan used the two towels on the clothesline as her stage.  She welcomed everyone for coming and invited guests up to do acts.  Catherine did bunny ears behind the towel, Nate attempted to juggle beanie babies, Rachel and Megan sang Twinkle, Twinkle, Kevin disappeared before Megan could call her name and then my mom and Megan blew bubbles between the towels.  Lots of laughs for sure!

Then they all did the chicken dance, probably to practice for our cousin's wedding on Friday!  

Oh yeah, then my dad held Megan up so it either looked like one really tall person or that she was holding herself up by her own strength.  And then to finish it up there's a picture of "Grace" Grandma and Megan!