Saturday morning, the kids and I got up and headed to the zoo bright and early. We met a friend and her little boy. I love getting to the zoo early because that's when all of the animals are the most active. Plus, as we learned earlier this summer, you get to see all of the animals being given their morning meal and their trainers working with them and doing tricks. This zoo trip, we spent most of our time on the playground. That was a huge treat for the kids since we usually skip the playground.
The weather was so nice, the kids and I spent most of the day Saturday running around the backyard. The kids ended their day with a long bounce house session that lasted until well into late evening while mom and dad relaxed on the patio.
Sunday started with chocolate muffins, a quick glance at the Sunday paper, Lego and peg board playing. My aunt Cindi gave me this peg board when she retired from teaching and it's one of the kid's favorite toys. Max enjoys making patterns with the colors and Harrison puts the pegs in and tells me the color and counts them. Sunday was the first time Elizabeth had played with it (I worry about her putting a peg in her mouth since they're on the smaller size) and she loved it! I was very impressed with her hand eye coordination and fine motor skills as she easily put the pegs into the holes after watching Harrison for a few minutes. Looks like I'll have to get this out later this week for the daycare kids as well!Sunday's have been deemed Family Fun Day in our house since it's the one day a week we can count on that neither Matt or I have to work (he has to work some Saturday's every month). Every Sunday (or the Saturday's he has off) we try to do something fun with the kids. It's usually something out of the house since the kids and I are home all day every day during the week. With it being summer and a perfectly gorgeous day, we had to be outdoors! After a nap for Elizabeth and lunch, we headed to Camp Dodge to see the tankers. I can't believe we've never taken the kids to see these! They loved climbing up and pretending they were driving and working on the tankers.
Once the kids had climbed and played, we headed to Jester Park for hiking. We did our usual loop trail because it's perfect for young kids. A quick hike on the usual trail led to our Cookie Picnic. This is something out of the ordinary for them (and myself) but they were so excited about it. I hope when they grow up, it's these simple things that they remember: a family hike and setting up a picnic full of different cookies. The boys and myself played catch until Elizabeth caught a stray ball and wouldn't give it back. She's the smallest one year old I've seen, but she tries so hard to keep up with her big brother's and doesn't take anything from them, including them trying to grab back their ball!
At the boy's request, we found another trail to hike when the cookies had been eaten, their ball stolen, and a stinky diaper from Miss E. We found a trail that was a bit more difficult for the kids (hills and dirt and a bit longer) but discovered some fantastic hidden treasures on the trail. The kids were getting tired after a 1/2 mile, so we turned around, but we can't wait to explore the trail further on our next visit. Matt discovered cabins being built in Jester Park during our drive through the park. I'm hoping these cabins are finished before fall, so we can do an overnight and hike the trails in the gorgeous fall weather and colorful trees!
Hiking on our favorite trail
Our Cookie Picnic
Playing catch with Harrison
A hidden treasure on our hike on the newly discovered trail
Harrison kept trying to pick up tree roots and asking why they were "nail down?"
It was such a fun afternoon. The boys crashed in the car on the drive home from all of the walking and fresh air. We grilled a wonderful family favorite for dinner (http://ashlen-kidspert.blogspot.com/2013/07/kid-approved-grilled-dinner.html) and the kids were in bed extra early, which meant extra cleaning time for Matt and I. Remember when you were a kid and had to go to bed early and dreamed about all of the things you would do when you were an adult and could stay up late?? Well kiddies, this is it: posting and cleaning. I wish I had known then that all of the fun really did happen during the day!!