Zoo Day!

Last Sunday Bill had his company picnic at the Fort Wayne Zoo. We thought it was great! They rented a pavilion, where we had lunch. They also had a magician walking around, and face-painting. The boys were pumped about the face-painting!
They both wanted dragons for some reason...and they turned out pretty cool!
After that, we were off to the zoo. The first stop (Nick's request) was to feed the ducks. We bought some food and started throwing it to them, when all the sudden tons of catfish came to the surface for the food. They thought it was awesome... (Me...not so much)
Next stop was the petting zoo. The goats were super friendly!
Bill gave this one a scratch behind the ears, and it followed him all over the pen
Here, the boys are taking a break in the African tent area:
We rode the sky lift in the African part

This guy like the lettuce the boys fed him!



This bird was so close to Nick at one point, he could have touched it...and he really wanted to - but his Mom wouldn't let him! :)

First Day of School 2011

Tuesday was the first day of First grade for Trey, and Kindergarten for Nick. Every time I say it, I can hardly believe it!

Here's some photos as we waited for the bus:
NickTrey
Both super-excited for their first day!!
The bus pulling up to the house, and some crazy waving...
That night, both said they had an "awesome first day"

TinCaps Game

We had our last little outing before school started last week. We went to a TinCaps game in Ft Wayne. We all enjoyed it...but when we got to innings 6-7 it was a little harder to keep the boys attention. Hence, Nick's little photo shoot below:


At the end of the game, they let the kids run the bases!
One last picture before leaving for the night...

Mini-Vacation

We had a weekend get-a-way this past week! It was a lot of fun!!
On Saturday we were at Kings Island all day. It was a scorcher, but the boys did great! Trey was tall enough to ride some of the bigger roller coasters, and he loved them! He's fearless! If you ask him, his favorite was The Beast.
This was the very first ride the boys went on... We didn't realize it was for really little kids until it started. They both were giving us this look like "are you kidding me?" I laughed for the whole 30 seconds of the ride.
Next was the kiddie bumper cars
This was at the entrance of a water ride. I didn't want to get wet, and the boys (all 3 of them!) were hoping we got soaked!
We went to a 3D movie called Dinosaurs Alive. Here we are waiting to go in the theater

In the heat of the afternoon, we let the boys get in their swim trunks and run through a big sprinkler area in the park. We were thankful for a rest in the shade, and they had fun.
Trey & Bill on the Monster
That night we stayed in a hotel close by. This is the boys swimming in the hotel pool the next morning

On our way home, we stopped by the Wright Patterson Air Force Base to look at all the planes they had sitting outside.




Our last stop for the day before heading home, was at an IMAX theater to see Transformers 3 in 3D. That was our first IMAX and 3D experience, and it was pretty awesome!

We ARE still alive!!

Because of the huge outcry for blog posts, I'm finally updating (okay, maybe the huge outcry was only from my mom...) ! I've decided to work from the most recent to oldest - just to keep the same flow going...

Last weekend was July 4th weekend, and we spent it with my parents at their lake cottage. On Saturday morning Bill caught wind that a piece of the World Trade Center was being transported through a town nearby. We drove to the town to see it (below on the flatbed)...It turned out to be pretty amazing. This picture doesn't do it justice, but a group of motorcycles escorted the piece from point A to B. Motorcycles passed in front of us, going about 30 mph for over 20 minutes. We heard later that there were somewhere around 9,700 bikes. I was skeptical when we left the lake to go see this, but I'm glad we got to experience it with the boys.
My Dad, enjoying a beer on the patio
The weekend before the 4th, was Willshire Days. I can't really explain why, but our family really enjoys this every year. The boys got to play tons of games, jump in the inflatables, compete in the kiddie tractor pull & ride ponies. They love it! This year Trey won his age group for the Kiddie Tractor pull. He won $4, and he was pumped! :) I even talked Bill into playing some Bingo with me!
Below Nick is playing a beanbag game:


Here they both are, decked out in all their prizes for winning at the games...
Bill competed in the Corn Hole game. He did pretty well! (Just look at that form!!)
Pony Rides!!

Let's back up some more now...
Trey joined Cub Scouts this Spring, and I think he really enjoys it! I think he looks so handsome in his uniform! :)
Do you remember when we had those torrential downpours this spring? Well, we ended up with mini-ponds in our yard one night and the boys decided to run through them and get soaked!! You just can help but laugh, when they get such joy out of something like this!

Rewind to the end of May, and we had a couple "Graduation" ceremonies to attend. Trey had his Kindergarten recognition program. Here he is with his certificate...
We took a couple family photos afterwards. Can you spot the difference? haha!

Our "little" Nick graduated from preschool in May also! Here he is being recognized, on-stage, with Mrs. Wettig - his teacher for the last two years...
He was very proud of this poster...he's been looking forward to getting one for a whole year!
And now, let's go ALL the way back to Easter. Here's a few pictures of the boys hunting eggs outside, and Trey w/his basket...


WHEW!! I think we're finally caught up on all the major events of the last several months! I'll try to do a better job from here on out!