Omaha- A trip down memory lane

On Saturday before we headed back home we headed west to see where Zach lived from 4th-6th grade. First we saw the Country Club where his dad was superintendent. How interesting that the golf course is still there but it is completely run down. It's not open for business & the fairways & holes have been allowed to grow freely. It was a little sad.

The club house

The pool where Zach spent a lot of time

After seeing the golf course we drove by the house that Zach's family lived in. Not much had changed except the colors. Zach was impressed to see the basketball hoop still up in the driveway. He told me he spent many hours on that court!

Finally we drove by the elementary school & the middle school that Zach attended. A lot of the area is commercialized now and looked completely different. It was still fun to go back & see.

Omaha- Henry Doorly Zoo

On Friday we took in the Henry Doorly Zoo. We got there shortly after it opened & we ended up staying until a half hour before it closed. We really enjoy the monkeys & apes. In the ape exhibit there was a informational sign saying that the male apes often charge the glass windows not because they are angry but because they want to scare the zoo goers. We witnessed this & had we not read the sign already, we would have been pretty frightened. Isaac & Caleb loved the monkeys & the apes. Caleb fell asleep in the desert dome

Isaac & daddy in front of the monkeys Isaac & Caleb (after waking up) looking at the big ape

Another favorite was the aquarium. Inside the aquarium is a tunnel where you walk underneath all the fish, sharks, turtles, etc. Zach got some very cool pictures.

Isaac loved the lions, tigers, & bears (the Roar's, as he calls them). We were going to check them out in the morning but lunch crept up on us too quickly so after the aquarium we took the train across the zoo, walked up some MAJOR hills to get to the exhibit, then walked back to the train and finished our tour of the rest of the zoo. By the time we finished the train, both boys were tuckered out & ready to leave.

Daddy & Caleb on the train

Mommy & Isaac on the train

Mommy & her boys waiting for the train to come back.

Omaha-Children's Museum

We went to Omaha August 18-20th to take in the Children's Museum & the zoo. We also took a drive down memory lane as Zach spent a couple years living there as a child.

We drove into town on Thursday afternoon & took in the museum first. The first thing we did was play in the toddler play ground. There was a playhouse, firehouse, a big fire engine, a place to play in some water, & a mini grocery store where kids could pick out their food & then scan it at a checkout. Isaac immediately sat in the big John Deere tractor. Then they moved over to the fire engine. Caleb, immediately found the water & would not be moved.

Isaac & Caleb in the John Deere tractor

Caleb's 1st choice to play: the water

Isaac in the fire engine all dressed up!

Daddy & his boys

Eventually both boys found the mini grocery store & had fun shopping & scanning their items. Caleb loved throwing food in his own cart & in other strangers carts too.

Both boys loading their carts

Caleb loved the Manwich cans. He emptied the shelf into his cart.

Isaac in the dairy aisle
Caleb needed some more food

Off to the check out

Yummy carrot!

After we were done in the playground we headed over to a room with balls. There were all sorts of tubes running throughout the room & when you stuck your ball into a tube it would shoot up through the tubes to the container in the middle of the ceiling. Every so often the container would drop all the balls out onto the floor again & the kids got to do it all over again. Isaac loved putting his ball in all the holes but Caleb just loved throwing the balls everywhere. He was extremely disappointed when all the balls were in the middle & hadn't been released yet!

Isaac watching his ball go through the tube & into the middle
Isaac waiting for the balls to be released again

Caleb decided not to wait on the balls to drop again & found something else to play with

The final thing we did at the Children's Museum was to see the dinosaur exhibit. When we walked in Isaac got scared & wouldn't move. Zach told him the dinosaurs weren't real but Isaac said "yes they are". We finally convinced him to go in & he had a blast! We got to dig for dinosaur bones in the sand which was pretty cool! Outside the exhibit was a play area with slides and such for kids to play on as well.

The dinosaur that Isaac thought was real!
Digging for fossils

Isaac sliding down the elephant

Caleb in the eye of an alligator, ready to crawl out!

We put Isaac & Caleb in Mighty Minnows this year. This is Isaac's 3rd year & Caleb's 1st. Both boys did really well. Isaac is warming up to the water pretty well although he still won't let you put him under. He did start jumping in this year as long as we were there to catch him. Isaac loves the water but doesn't always like the "swimming" part of it.

Caleb LOVES the water & is night and day different from Isaac. The first thing they had us do with Caleb was to throw some rings under the water & have Caleb go after them. Isaac hates this & still won't go after the rings unless we are in shallow water where he doesn't have to get his face in. Caleb, stuck his head in and grabbed the ring like it was no big deal. He loves to put his face in the water & blow bubbles or try to drink the water. He didn't even cry when I dunked him a couple of times. He didn't like it but he didn't cry. The one thing with Caleb is that we have to use earplugs due to his ear tubes & that is a pain in the butt. I think I lost 2-3 of them in the water this summer!

Here are some more pictures of Caleb's 1st Mighty Minnows.

Waiting on instructions

Relaxing in the pool while mommy does all the work

Caleb was mad because the sun was in his eyes while floating.

4th of July & Fishing at Grandpa's

It's been a while since we've updated anything so I am going to use naptime to catch everyone up!

We went to Austin, MN for 4th of July this year. We spent an afternoon out on Grandpa Erickson's pontoon fishing. Isaac loved helping daddy & Grandpa reel in their fish & Caleb did really well for being 1. Good thing Grandpa had fish food on the boat to keep Caleb entertained!

Isaac helping Daddy & Grandpa get the fish.

Caleb needed something to do so pushing the lure box around seemed like fun. The only problem we had was when Caleb tried to toss it in the lake.

Daddy catching a fish with Isaac

Grandpa entertaining Caleb with his glasses

Caleb feeding the fish & mommy keeping him from falling in.

Isaac liked feeding the fish too

The Erickson men fishing together

We bought an infant life jacket for Caleb but it didn't fit & he was angry with it on so we took a risk & left it off.

On Sunday we decided to go to the parade in a small town near Austin. Isaac really loved the big tractors! Here are a few photos of the parade activities.

Daddy & Isaac taking in the parade

Isaac & Grandpa in the bounce house.