Things to Do

So at the beginning of June Mason, Dallin, Drew, and I sat down and made a list of about 10 things that we wanted to do during the month of June. They include things like taking a "hike down on the river trails (which has been post-poned for a while), having picnics, and attending different farmer's markets each week (that way we know which ones are the best). We live about a one minute walk from the huge school playground, so we go there nearly every day. So here are a few pictures of what we have been up to in the past week or two.

As many of you know, my kids could go to the zoo at least once a week and still want to go more. They never get bored there. So we always have a family membership to the current zoo. This was last week at the Blank Park Zoo here in Des Moines.

I think I would prefer to skip the snakes, but my kids love them (maybe it's a boy thing).

There was a elephant statue that shot water out of it's trunk every 10 seconds or so, Dallin and Mason really enjoyed it!

Today, was craft day. We went to Michael's and I let them each pick out a thing or two to do. Mason and Dallin each got a snap together model jet and one plaster animal to paint. Drew got three animals to paint. Here's their master pieces.

They were so focused and very quiet while painting - at 69 cents each I think I better go back and load up on these.

High and Dry

I wanted to thank all of our concerned family and friends checking on us Iowans. We are dry and safe. It has been devastating watching much of the state succumb to the flood waters and severe storms. We have been extremely blessed and have had no problems. We happen to live in an area not very close to any creeks, rivers, or lakes. Though you don't have to go far to see flooding. The only thing we noticed was our sump pump working hard the last couple of weeks. The ground is simply saturated. We are grateful that the storms seem to be calming. We love you all and thank you for thinking of us.

Fun in the Sun

Today was one of the first Saturdays in a VERY long time that we didn't have any plans. Usually I love to have lots to do, but I felt like just being home with nothing to do sounded great! We all slept in and that was heaven, I can't remember the last time I slept for 9 hours in a row. The last week has had many long nights with the very strong storms (including a trip to the basement to wait out the tornado warning), Dallin doesn't do too well with lightening. So this morning we had breakfast on the deck and then worked on the lawn while the kids rode bikes and squirted us with water guns. It is very hot and very humid out today, so we entertained ourselves by running in the sprinklers(Drew cheered from the sidelines, he wasn't a huge fan of the sprinklers). I love days like this.

Dallin Turns Six!

Dallin when he was 5 days old.

Dallin turned six on Friday! I have a hard time thinking about my sweet little guy turning six. Kindergarten has flown by. For his special day we had some family friends come over and eat "cake" and ice cream. Dallin isn't a big fan of cake, so we improvise and have doughnut cakes.

Dallin wanted to go to the Omaha zoo for his birthday. On Saturday we headed over to Omaha and had a great time. The Omaha zoo is incredible, we spent most of the day there and still didn't get to see it all. It's a good excuse to go again.

Science Center

Last weekend we went to the Des Moines Science Center. The kids had a great time (as did Mark and I) playing and learning. The kids got to go on a "safari", travel to outer space, build rockets, and even play with wildlife.

Spring is on it's way

I thought I would share these photos about the changing of the seasons here at out new home in Iowa. Since I'm just starting the blog, I have to share some of the pictures from the past winter so you can get the whole effect. Now you know why we talked about wanting spring to come. Though the snow was fun, by the end of March we thought it would literally never get out of our yard.

OK, so Dallin has his eyes closed, but you have to see the tunnels and "rabbit holes" the kids built with Grandpa Hamilton in March. It was pretty cool!

Here's Mason kicking out snow to make this tunnel run into the one right next to it.

This was a cold, dark day when the snow drift first started really appearing. As Mark said, "I thought we bought a house, not a ski resort." It was actually in our yard for four months.

This is another attempt at snow tunneling - they were using sand shovels from when we went to the beach to try to dig this out.

That's our neighbors 6 foot fence - the snow drift at this point was equal in height. But at it's peak the drift was about 7 feet and butt up right next to the neighbor's fence. The kids could literally step down over the fence into the neighbor's yard. And it was about 10-15 feet wide depending on the week. Tunneling, sledding, and just plain fun was had when the temperture was about 20 degrees or more.

And now it's spring. Almost exactly one month from when the snow drift finally all melted, we mowed the grass for the first time. Notice that our neighbor is out planting his field the same day. And of course we have awesome neighbors because they use green machines. Go John Deere!

I just loved this picture! I know it's of our backs, but I think it says a lot. We really enjoy living in our suburban home, but with a definite country feel! The sunsets are unbelievable!

Here goes...

So I'm finally going to try the whole blog thing. Hopefully I can keep up with it. I've been saying I'm going to blog for ages, but this time I'm really doing it. And thanks to Mark for helping me figure this thing all out.