Giraffes Next

When we went to the zoo a month ago, Buddy kept asking for giraffes and zebras.  We finally had another free weekend, so we headed to the Como Zoo this morning.  Although this zoo is smaller, it is easier to see everything, it is a little closer to home, and it is free!  We saw all the animals, revisited our favorites, and had a picnic lunch in three hours. 

Of course, Buddy's favorites were the zebras and giraffes.  Really though, he LOVED watching all the animals.  He had a smile on his face the whole morning.  

I wish this photo would've turned out.  I am going to have to learn how to photograph blonde heads better!

Punky walked the entire zoo.  It was nice to not have to push the double stroller through the crowds.  She stayed near us and listened well.  Her favorite exhibit was the polar bear.  When we were right up near the glass, the polar bear dove into the water right in front of Punky.  She was pretty excited!  Her most favorite part of the zoo was probably the cotton candy and the amusement park.  Through the library's museum pass program, we got a pass for three free rides.

Punky chose the Frog Hopper.  She was so excited to ride it with her SHOES OFF!

Buddy and Daddy went on the Choo-Choo Train.  He had a huge smile on his face!

As we were heading out of the park, a caricaturist asked Punky if he could draw her for FREE!  She sat so patiently and followed his instructions so well.  This girl has a knack for getting free things, probably doesn't hurt to be three years old and cute.  

And to wrap things up, here is the obligatory Como Zoo photo.  I think my family has taken a photo in this spot every time we go to the zoo.

 

Sick Girl

Punky had a rough weekend.  On Friday afternoon, Punky's BFFs invited us over for an impromptu afternoon playdate.  The girls played nicely in the backyard while the mommas drank cocktails on the deck.  Buddy ran around like his crazy self (pulling out flowers from their pots, drawing with chalk on the newly stained deck, dumping everyone's lemonade on the ground, etc.).  We were having so much fun, our friends invited us to stay for dinner.  Daddy even picked up some beer and met us there.  Punky's "meltdown" started just before we ate our pizza.  At first, Punky was upset the kids had cheese pizza (she wanted pepperoni).  But, it quickly became apparent that something else was wrong.  She crawled in my lap and cried that she didn't want to eat and just wanted to go home.  We had JUST sat down to eat.  About 5 bites into my pizza, Punky threw up.  We quickly cleaned her (and me) up and headed home.  She immediately went to sleep. 

On Saturday, she continued to sleep most of the day.  Her temperature varied form 101 to 104 the whole day long.  I brought home Rice and Beans after work, but Punky only had a few spoonfuls of rice.  She wouldn't even finish her popsicle.  Luckily, there were no more throw up incidents. 

Sunday was more resting and no more eating.  We had made plans months ago to meet up with my Spain friends and their families for a picnic and fun at a water park.  Unfortunately, Punky and Daddy had to stay home.  I didn't tell Punky where Buddy and I were going.  She thought it was silly that Buddy was wearing a swim suit to go to a "meeting".  But, she didn't complain too much.  Buddy and I had a lot of fun seeing our friends and swimming.  We will need to visit this pool again soon.  There were three toddler size waterslides that Buddy wanted to do by himself.  He was kind of annoyed that I kept going down with him.  I know Punky would have a lot of fun there!

Punky seems to be doing better this evening.  She ate most of her supper and is up playing all sorts of silly games.  She painted a picture, I pretended to go shoe shopping at the Mall of America with her before supper and Daddy played soccer with her after supper.

This all wouldn't have been too big of a deal, except Punky will.not.take.medicine.  We've tried liquid and chewables, strawberry and grape.  Nothing works.  We basically have to force the medicine down her mouth.  Terrible, I know.  She screams, kicks, cries, spits in our faces and works her self up so much that I am sure her fever is spiking even more.  We finally got her to take two chewables (followed by lots of water) this afternoon which led to her feeling much better.  Let's hope she feels better in the morning! 

Two posts in a row with no photos... I promise not to make it a habit.

Kids Win, Parents Fail

This week we found out that Snow White and Her Favorite Dwarf (Punky and Buddy) won second place in the 4th of July Kiddie Parade.  Not too bad since there were only two entries in their category!  The prize was $15.

We decided to go to the toy store and let Punky and Buddy each choose something.  The first aisle we stopped in had lots of animal figures.  Buddy picked out a 3 foot triceratops, a bucket of dinosaurs, a giraffe, a baby giraffe, a polar bear, a grizzly bear, a panda bear, and a hippopotamus.... in about 60 seconds.  We tried explaining to him that we were just going to get one toy, but he wouldn't let anything go.  I headed back to the front of the store to get a cart and then loaded Buddy and all his choices into the cart so we could help Punky find a toy.

Punky looked up and down every.single.aisle... two times... and still couldn't decide on one thing.  She looked at dolls, princesses, games, puzzles, books, Dora, Olivia, and Littlest Pet Shops.  She's been asking for a game called Pop the Pig, but it cost too much.  She randomly found a baton misplaced in one of the aisles and wanted to get it.  I showed her how to play with it by twirling it and gently tossing it in the air.  She decided she wanted the baton, tossed it HIGH in the air and (of course) caught it right in the eye.  She's got a little shiner now and just like that, we were back to square one.  After looking through the aisles another time, she found a Bubble Guppies coloring book that comes with watercolors.

After tearing the extra toys away from Buddy and listening to 10 minutes of him screaming, we went to the front of the store to pay for his bucket of dinosaurs and Punky's coloring book.  We were already in the store for nearly an hour and it was now past bedtime.  As we were driving home, Buddy kept repeating "My didosaurs, open, my didosaurs, open".  Daddy told him we had to wait until we got home, but the little stinker somehow managed to get the cellophane off the package.  Punky was set on painting a picture before bedtime.  I set a timer and she got to paint for ten minutes, but of course, she wasn't done, so it turned into 20 minutes.  We probably shouldn't have tried to squeeze a trip to the toy store in on a busy week night.  It was a disaster, but one I hope I remember forever.  

Busy Saturday

After being pestered asked to guest blog multiple times - it's Daddy's time to take a turn.

Now that Erin has started working, she has to work all day every other Saturday, so Daddy is in charge for the entire day.  This Saturday, Erin also made plans for a supper "meeting" with her friends Hillari and Jess, so it was Daddy in charge from morning until bedtime.

I had promised Punky and Buddy a special surprise for Saturday afternoon if they were good.  After a lazy morning hanging around the living room in our pajamas, it was time to get dressed and ready for our surprise.  This was about the time I realized someone needs to do Punky's hair, and that someone needed to be me.  So I summoned my best hairdresser skills and gave a ponytail a shot.

Not bad for my first try, if I do say so myself!

So tell me more about this surprise thing...

After a classic Derek lunch (Kraft Macaroni and Cheese!), it was time for the surprise - the Hamel Rodeo!  As you've seen before, Buddy is absolutely obsessed with animals and horses in particular.  We made our way onto the grounds (unfortunately we were too late for the pony rides) and found a nice spot on the hill at the arena.

Notice that Buddy had to bring two of his animals from home, horsey and puppy.

Watching the cowboys parade through the arena

Buddy was having a blast pointing at the horses and cows all ready to go right in front of us, and Punky kept asking questions about what was going on.  They loved going down by the fence to stand like the big kids and watch the action.  The kids really liked the calf roping, but I'm sure that had something to do with it happened right in front of us.

It's a good thing Buddy hasn't figured out how to climb fences yet, otherwise he'd have been right down with the cowboys.

I had to play the tough Dad and tell Punky no when she asked about doing the Stick Horse races and the Calf Scramble - I wasn't quite sure I could divide and conquer, and had visions of Punky tripping into a pile of....well, you know, and having to wrangle her and Buddy back out of the arena.  It's a great thing we skipped the calf scramble - this involved about 200 kids chasing 3 small calves to retrieve a ribbon tied to the tails.  Yes, it was exactly as chaotic as it sounds. Maybe next year.

We made it until intermission, at which point Punky told me she had had enough and wanted to go home for a nap.  It's not often she asks to rest, so we packed up, dodged the vendors, and made our way home.

After a long nap, we loaded up and visited Daddy's coworkers house for playing and dinner.  They have a little girl the same age as Punky, and a new baby boy, and also invited some other work friends who have a boy the same age as Punky.  The kids had a great time playing in their awesome fenced-in backyard, while the baby dozed and the adults visited.  Although there was a little drama over who got to drive/ride the Gator and one of the daddy's managed to knock Punky over, the kids had a great time playing together and everyone enjoyed the evening.

They all loved the kid's picnic table (and I think Chloe the dog did too!)

We were pretty excited to find some pirate garb for the ship (aka swingset)

Corn on the cob - to go!

We didn't get home until 10 PM!  Upstairs, pajamas, books, and into bed.  Mommy got home at about 11 PM, and of course Punky had to wake up and rehash the day.  I think Erin was a little bit jealous she missed out, but I'm pretty sure she's excited that her family had such a fun Saturday.  We'll see what the next Daddy Saturday brings!

Independence Day

The heat put a damper on some of our fun this year.  I am not sure of the actual temperature, but after 5+ days of high 90s with humidity, we were DONE with the weather.  In the end, we pushed through and had another fun 4th of July filled with lots of traditions.

This year, Punky and Buddy participated in the kiddie parade.  Grandma Trudi has been asking for the last three years if Punky was going to be in the parade, and this year we finally said YES. 

I decided on their costumes a month ago.  Punky's favorite princess is Snow White, so I thought it'd be easy to just buy a new dress-up costume for her (we needed another one for when friends come to play anyway).  And in order to go with Punky's costume, Buddy would dress as a dwarf.  It was an easy DIY costume.  I bought an over-sized shirt at Goodwill and he wore a pair of Punky's old leggings and her old boots.  I made a belt and hat out of felt and bought some faux fur for the beard.  We even taught Buddy to say "Hi-Ho".  The only problem was that I did NOT think of the weather when I dressed my one year old boy in long sleeves, boots and a furry beard.

I am so glad we decided to participate in the kiddie parade this year.  Despite the heat, both Punky and Buddy did SO good.  Punky waved just like a princess for the entire parade.  She probably walked for half of the route and went in and out of the wagon when she needed to rest.  You could tell she was loving the attention.  And since we were in such a small town, people were shouting her name on each block.  She really thought everyone was there to watch her!  Buddy did not fuss and kept his beard on the entire time.  Daddy told him they were "looking for Dinosaurs", so I think that had something to do with it.  I was so proud of them.  They did a great job!  Next year, we'll try a more seasonally appropriate costume.

We quickly changed clothes before the big parade began.

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa were Grand Marshals of the parade

Punky picked up tons of candy and put it right in her bucket.  Buddy preferred to eat his candy right away and quickly learned how to open each piece on his own.  Punky liked the marching band and the princesses.  Buddy was excited to see the horses, but was disappointed when there were no dinosaurs.

After the parade, we walked to Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa's house for our annual 4th of July picnic.  This is my favorite meal of the entire year.  I love it more than Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner.  More than Chipotle?  I don't know about that.  But I love the taco salad, the pasta salad, the fresh fruit and the barbecues.  Delicious.  This year, though, I was just too hot to eat too much.  I managed to have two helpings of taco salad and pasta salad, but I stuck with only one serving of fruit and one barbecue.  I'll have to redeem myself next year.

We all took long naps that day after being in the heat all morning long.  This was a good thing since we planned to keep the kids up for the fireworks that night.   

After visiting Uncle Randy and Auntie Traci to meet their new puppy, we put our jammies and bug spray on and went to watch Grandpa Scott and the other firemen set off fireworks.

 
Punky loved the fireworks.  After the first big one, Punky's jaw dropped and the look on her face was priceless.  She shouted out the colors of each firework and declared all of them as her favorite.  Buddy, on the other hand, was a little nervous.  He didn't cry, but he buried his head in my shoulder for half of the show.  Maybe next year, Buddy.

Quasquicentennial

Daddy's hometown celebrated its quasquicentennial this year.  How's that for a big word?  For the 125th anniversary celebration, the town of 400 had a weekend full of activities.\

On Saturday morning, we headed to town for a waffle feed at the fire house.  Grandpa is a member of the volunteer fire department, so we went to support him, eat breakfast, and check out the fire hall.  Buddy even got to try on a fireman outfit!  

Wish we would've gotten a picture of Buddy with Grandpa.

Next, we participated in the Memory Walk which was a one mile walk around town.  There were signs along the way with names of past residents that the teams were walking in memory or in honor of.  Three of Daddy's great grandparents names were posted.  There were also historical signs along the route listing dates and facts about the town.  The majority of Daddy's family formed a team called "Lutefisk Legacy" (which comes from our Christmas Eve tradition).  The heat was bearable that morning, but we were glad to have the wagon with us.  As we passed by the elementary school, Punky had a meltdown because she wanted to go to the playground.  I think the heat was getting to her already...  It was a fun morning and turned out to be a great event.         

Grandma and Grandpa were busy that day setting up for the All-School Reunion and the Street Dance, so it was just us kids at home.  We went swimming, took naps, and played Ladder Ball and a new card game.  That night, everyone went to the Street Dance while I stayed home with the kids.  

Squirting Uncle Sean

   

Never without his animals.

The rest of the weekend was just too stinkin' hot to do anything but stay inside.  We did some more swimming and more card playing.  Punky and Buddy did lots of coloring and Buddy asked Grandpa to draw him animals.  He kept handing Grandpa a crayon and would say "Daw Horsey Gampa.  Daw Cow Gampa.  Daw Didosaur Gampa.  Daw Waw-rus Gampa."  It was hilarious!  The heat really wore out the kids.  Out of 5 days at Grandma and Grandpa's, Punky took a LONG nap 4 times.  The little kids did great being away from home for so long.  We stayed up too late most nights and didn't stick to a very good schedule, but we took long naps and slept in late most mornings.  Buddy must've been a little scared sleeping in the basement because he spent most nights in bed with us.  I didn't mind the extra cuddles.  It was a fun weekend, and it went way to fast! 


I'll be back again tomorrow to post about our 4th of July activities!