Wedding Weekend

We were in Omaha for John's cousins wedding this past weekend. It was great to see everyone and Cole was able to meet a number of new family members. We are now in Ames for a few days before heading to Mpls. While in Mpls Cole will be spending time with Grandma and Grandpa as well as spending his first overnight without mom and dad. Keep your fingers crossed for everyone.

Below are a few photos from the wedding.

Hummingbirds at the window

We placed a feeder on the window near our table and recently we have had a ton of hummingbirds. It is great to watch them. We have been amazed by the different colors of the birds and it is fascinating to see them fly in with their wings moving so quickly. Apologies for the dirty window.

Zoo with William and Caroline

Our friends are in town from London with their two children, William and Caroline. The kids have been having a lot of fun playing together. On Sunday we went to the Zoo and everyone had a lot of fun. It was a really long day, but all of the kids were troopers.

Cole with his puppy

No, we didn't get a puppy...even though Cole and John would both really like one. We did find this great puppy stuffed animal that Cole really loves.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday to daddy! Cole and Mary were great to me today. Cole was so excited for my birthday that he woke up at 5AM. Mom and dad went out to eat and to a movie today and then came home for cake with Cole.

Always on the search for the perfect chocolate cake, Mary did a great job and found two that were fantastic.

Someone was a little squirmy today and not in the mood for photos.

Labor Day, Beach Day

Labor Day marks the end of the big summer rush to the beaches out here. It will still be busy for a few more weeks, but nothing like it has been most of the summer. Which means traffic will be more manageable soon.

Thought we would share some of the photos from Labor Day.

Playing in the tide pools. This was a new discovery for us and Cole loved it. Just enough water and sand to make it fun.

The shot prior to this on the camera was of Cole hitting Mary with the sandy shovel. I think she is clearing off the sand.

Checking out the waves.
Digging away.

Daddy's Little Helper

It is kind of frightening how quickly he picks certain things up. He is quite handy with tools and has been helping daddy put things together.

Roll to Unroll

Not near the fires

As people have been asking, luckily we are not near the wild fires that are currently burning. They are farther north, and thankfully the wind has been blowing the smoke in the opposite direction - so we're doing ok other than hoping that the fires and this heat wave end soon.

Pretend City and Swimming

This was a packed weekend of activities for our house. Saturday was round two of swimming lessons and a birthday party. The swimming went a little bit better. Cole actually made it into the water and made it through class. There were some tears though. He did the class with Mary this time which seems to have helped. For the most part he was ok, but he wasn't so sure when the instructor had him. A little freaked out and some tears were shed. (And maybe some screams.) But we have been taking him to a friends pool during the week and he is warming up to things.

On Sunday we went to the opening of a new children's activity center called Pretend City. It is a huge new center that is set up just like a city, but all indoors. The kids can ride around in pedal cars, farm, pick produce, go to the grocery store, play at the beach, play firefighter, sing on stage and a number of other really fun activities. The whole place is geared to kids ages 1-6 and there was plenty for Cole to do. He really enjoyed himself. We will definitely go back.

We are in the middle of a heat wave which makes our house a little unbearable in the late afternoons into the evening. Hopefully it breaks soon.

Take care.