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.

Caleb's One Year Photos

On Thursday we went and got our pictures taken for Caleb's one year photos. We also got Isaac's three year photos and family photos. Below is a sample of some of the better ones. First is Caleb, then Isaac, then the boys together, and lastly our family photo.

Caleb's and Isaac's New Thing

Isaac LOVES to dance & recently Caleb has been showing off some of his moves. Here is a video of the two of them together, notice Isaac's somersaults!

Although Caleb is not walking on his own yet, he is cruising behind his car. He loves to chase Isaac as Isaac pushes his dump truck all over the house. We are waiting for Caleb to take off on his own but it hasn't happened yet!

I find this video really funny as Caleb loves to push around two trucks or cars or tractors & walk behind them. I think he is trying to be like big brother as he watches Isaac push around his dump truck.

We found out this week that Caleb is probably going to have to get tubes in the near future. I actually have it scheduled for July 13. He hasn't been sleeping well for about 3 weeks & always has fluid in his ears at doctor appointments. We definitely know he is Zach's boy!

Here are pictures of the boys playing outside. Caleb loves to be outside with his car but has trouble understanding his boundaries. We can already see that he will be a good tantrum thrower!

Last Week

I have been riding to work in a vanpool through DART for the last couple of months. I am a backup driver and last week the main driver was on vacation so I drove all last week. The 15 passenger van was in the driveway all week and Isaac loved the "big" van. He wanted to sit in it, so I let him and took a picture. Below is the photo. I also gave him a ride up and down the driveway. He really enjoyed it.

It was a long week last week with Regina's mom being released from the hospital after open heart surgery. There were lots of trips and Caleb and Isaac were at friends houses a lot and didn't get the best sleep. Below is a picture of a tired Caleb in the van.

Last weekend I ran in the dam to dam race in Des Moines, IA. It is a 12.4 mile run from the Saylorville dam to the Center Street dam in downtown Des Moines. My goal was to finish and I did. I only was able to train for 5 weeks and found out that isn't enough training but I made it. I even received a medal for finishing the race.

The last three days here have been very hot and humid, so on Sunday we got our little pool out and filled it up for some play time in the evening. The pool was pretty cold the first night, so Caleb was on the outside of the pool playing and Isaac and I were in the pool playing. Isaac and I enjoyed soaking each other with water and Caleb had fun grabbing toys and throwing them out of the pool. Isaac and I were in the pool again on Monday evening and the water was a lot warmer. On Tuesday Regina, Isaac, and Caleb played in it during the day. Below are some pictures.

Caleb grabbing a ball out of the pool.

Caleb grabbing the ball again, but this time he had his leg up on the side of the pool and was trying to get in. He had the side of the pool pushed down far enough that he was emptying the water out of the pool.

Isaac in the pool.

The boys in the pool for a picture.