Girls night out

Yep I had one! It was so much fun and I'm all ready to do it again!  I went out with my work girls and had a blast.  The work girls are Candice, LaToya, and Jessica in case you don't know.  We went and got our toes done.  (Yea for cute toes!) Then went out to dinner.  

(I did like a huge blog update, like five posts, so go read them all!)

Candice and I getting our toes done.

Jessica refused to get her toes done.

Candice and I 

LaToya and Jessica

All four of us

Blackberries

We went blackberry picking.  I love blackberries and love going to pick them.  There is just something about going out and picking your own blackberries that is so much fun.  I wasn't sure how we would do this with Owen.  He can't wear sunscreen and there is no shade out there when you are picking the berries.  But, we went in between thunderstorms and it was fun. Hot but fun.

Ethan was actually into picking the berries this year.  Last year he just tripped and fell over sticks and got upset, and we ended up carrying him the entire time.  This time, he still tripped and fell over sticks, but he got right back up and went on with the picking!

Owen enjoyed the ride.

Owen Faces

Owen is so expressive and I love all his little faces.

Eve is 9

There was swimming

There were candles and a cake

There were lots of cousins and a friend.

There were games

I still have a hard time believing that Eve is nine years old.  I met her on her second birthday weekend.  I still remember going down to Chattanooga for the first time, and hanging out with Matt, Bianca, and Eve.  There were no little boys running around and now there are four.  (well three can run) Time flies by and I have the best niece ever.  

He can play!

Yep he can play! I was so thrilled and excited to see him looking at the toy and then grab for it.  (This happened a while ago, just now getting around to blogging about it)  I called Ethan and Dan to come see, then we all just sat around and watched the baby play! 

Atlanta

Well, I'm finally blogging about Atlanta.  We decided to take a long weekend trip and enjoy some family time.  We had a blast.  Ethan loved the hotel and said that he didn't want to leave, he wanted to stay there.  Who could blame him?  Getting to sleep in the same room with your parents, fall asleep with the tv still on, going swimming every night before bed, and just being some where new.  It was great, I agree with him. 

This is our view from our hotel room.

We went to the aquarium. We saw fish.

And a whale shark.

We ate at Johnny Rockets, it was fun. 

We went to the CNN building.

We walked in the Olympic Park.

We went to the zoo. Ethan got some stamps.

I loved the panda's best!

Ethan really wanted the gorilla to wear his hat. 

We played on the playground before we went home.

Owen got to swing.

We had a really great time.  It was so much fun and I can't wait to go back.  Maybe next summer.

Ethan and the cats

I know that I haven't blogged about our Atlanta trip.  I'll get to it.  But, I want to do Iowa while I'm still thinking about it.  I took the boys on a 15 hour drive to Iowa.  My parents, brother and fiance, also went.  I was nervous but the boys both traveled very well.  We left last Sunday, and of course last Saturday Ethan woke up with the croup.  Not fun.  We were able to get him into the doctor that day and get him on meds.  But, of course he was still sick for the first part of the trip.  

We drove nine hours then stopped at my inlaws to spend the night.  The boys and I stayed there and my family got a hotel room down the road. It was a short but nice visit.  Ethan was a little to excited to have all 4 grandparents in the same place.  Whew.  He was wild.  But, a lot of that was that he was also sick.  

Owen hanging out at Oma and Opa's house.

Opa was cooking, Oma talking to Grandpa

Opa and Ethan swinging.  

We got to the farm the next day.  The following morning Ethan woke up with a 101 temp.  Poor baby.  Here he is sick on the couch.  I gave him some motrin and he was able to get out and see the farm.  

The one and only picture of me.  Taken by Ethan. :)  

Ethan discovered the kittens.  This little gray one was his favorite.  He loves it.  The others weren't as easy to catch. 

Grandpa holding Owen and Ethan showing him his kitten.  

Ethan again holding his kitten.

Eldon, Kayla, and Ethan playing with the kittens.  There were some little bitty baby ones that were a few days old.  I'll have to get those pictures from Kayla.  

Ethan walking down the "rocky road".  We always knew that we were almost to Grandma's when we'd turn on this road.  We were walking to see the big pigs.

Ethan tried to feed everything grass.  We discovered that the cats didn't like grass, the kittens didn't like grass, the baby pigs didn't like grass, the dog didn't like grass, but these big pigs LOVED grass! I think they'd eat anything you gave them though.  

We went to my Uncle Boyd and Aunt Patty's house to eat dinner.  Here is mom holding Owen.

We always play football when we go there.  Not sure how that tradition started, but we do.  This was the losing team.  Uncle Boyd, Uncle Brian, and Uncle Blane.

The winning football team.  Grandpa, Eldon, Kayla, and Ethan.  I thought for sure this team would lose.  Ethan was playing you know. 

Half time break.  Eldon, Uncle Blane, and Uncle Brian.

Aunt Patty holding Owen.  Owen found his fingers on this trip.  They are always in his mouth.  Not sure if he'll suck on them or not.  He'll still take a paci, but seems to like his fingers better.

We went to the Omaha zoo, which is the largest and coolest zoo ever.  It's been years since I've gone.  

These little monkey guys were so cute, and climbed right down next to us.

Pretty birds

Grandpa and Ethan.  They got wet from the waterfall and Ethan was freaking out a bit.

Ethan and I went up a little path and could see Grandma through the water fall.

This zoo even has a little aquarium in it.  Ethan posed on the octopus.

The baby sea lion!! Can we saw Awwww?  It was less than a week old.  He was so cute and followed his mommy every where. 

Owen enjoying the zoo.  Kinda.  

Eldon and Kayla with the Gorillas.  

Again Owen and his fingers.

Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Brian, and Uncle Boyd looking at something.  This was in the desert part.  

Eldon, Ethan, and Kayla  

So that was our trip in a nutshell.  I hope Dan gets to come with us next year.  He just couldn't take the time off of work.  But, we really had a good time.  Ethan made a new best friend.  If you ask him who his best friend is he will say "Kayla".  He loves her and needed her to do everything for him.  Thankfully she is great with him and didn't mind.  It made my life a bit easier also.