So...we rode an elephant!

Grandma and Grandpa treated us to a trip to the circus yesterday!  We had so much fun and are really glad they suggested it.  Camden was brave as can be from the get-go. 

We started by going down these great big slides.  She climbed right up to the top and there was no hesitation before she slid down.  

 After she got done with the slide, they brought the elephants out for rides.  I asked her if she wanted to ride one, not expecting her to agree.  She said she REALLY wanted to ride an elephant!  So we got in line to ride the elephant.

 Daddy and Kade looked on while we waited in line.  As we approached the front, Camden started to look a little nervous.  I asked her if she was excited to ride the elephant and she just said, "Mom!  I really want to ride it right now!"  She was just so excited that she couldn't wait for it to be our turn.  

 Finally it was our time to climb on the giant elephant.  She hopped right up there like she had done it a million times!  Derek's cousin Chantal came with us and joined us on the elephant ride.  We are so happy to have Chantal in the Des Moines area and even more happy that she joins us for our outings!!

 Daddy and Kade watched as we made our lap around the ring.  In no time at all, the ride was over and it was time for us to get off.  

 The the show started and we kicked back and relaxed.  Aunt Jacki and cousin Emmett also came along to the circus.  Grandma spoiled the grandkids by buying them these light-up swords.  They were a hit!

 And of course it wouldn't be a circus without some cotton candy!

 Even Kade sat still and watched most of the show.  That doesn't happen very often...

 We saw all sorts of acts and loved every one of theme.  There were tight rope walkers and acrobats, unicyclists and clowns...

 But, by far, the crowd favorite were the elephants!

We had a great time at the circus!  Thanks for taking us Grandma and Grandpa!

18-months

I'm not sure how my little baby can be a year and a half old already!  The time has gone way too fast!  

Kade had his 18-month check-up a few weeks ago.  He checked out well!  Here are the stats:

Weight: 26 pounds 7 ounces (51st percentile)

Height: 37 inches (89th percentile)

Head: 17 inches (90th percentile)

 Kade is growing and changing so much every day!  He is constantly surprising us with something new he says.  Lately he's been fighting me taking his coat and hat off when we get home from daycare.  Today I said, "Kade, let's take your coat off."  To which he replied, "No! Coat on!".  I was proud that he was able to put those words together...but not so proud that he was defying me!

And whenever he sees the camera come out, he smiles and says "Cheese." The click of the shutter is promptly followed by the words "me see".  He always wants to see the preview on the camera after he gets his picture taken.

He is very ornery too!  He is constantly pushing Camden, taking a toy away from her or trying to wrestle with her.  I have no worries that this younger child will be able to stand up for himself!  

You can just see the naughty in this cute little face! :-)

Waterpark

Each year Grandma B treats us to a weekend at Bridges Bay waterpark in Okoboji in honor of her birthday.  We made our annual trek up there two weekends ago.  We always have so much fun and the kids get absolutely worn out from two full days of swimming!  This year there were 3 grandkids to play with in the pools.  Reagan made a nice addition to the mix.

We arrived up there on Friday night with not enough time to get to the pool before bed.  So we just put the kids' pjs on and let them play.  Coincidentally, Camden and Reagan ended up wearing the same pajamas the first night.  So of course we had to get a picture of them together!

 Kade did not have the same pjs on (thankfully).  But he had so much fun playing with the rafts before they went in the water.  It was a different story when they were in the water!

 Another failed attempt at getting a picture of all three grandkids together.  It's impossible to get them all to look at the camera!

 Finally it was time to head down to the waterpark and the kids were so excited!

 They ran through the halls as fast as they could to get to the pools!

 Like usual, Kade was a little hesitant at first.  He did warm up to it after a while.  But he never wanted to get too far from Mommy or Daddy.

 Reagan loved the water!  She was very content being held or sitting in her raft.  She loved splashing!

 Kade liked the slide.  He was proud when Daddy set him at the top.  

 But his expression on the way down was priceless!

 Kade and Reagan got tired of swimming before Camden did.  Luckily there was someone ready and willing to snuggle them in a towel and let them watch the entertainment.

 Camden and Daddy spent a lot of time floating the lazy river.  

We had such a good time and can't wait to go back.  Thanks for the great weekend Grandma B!

Vegas!

A few weeks ago we went to Vegas with our good friends Jens and Amy Blessington.  This is our second trip to Vegas with the Blessingtons...our last one was 5 years ago!  This time it was much different than last as we were leaving behind our sweet little babies for an adult getaway.  

Our first night, we arrived in Vegas around 8pm and headed right out.  We went to a tequila bar in Ballys and had a drink...a very large drink.

After our drink at Bally's we went over to Bills Gamblin' Hall and Saloon.  This was the casino we spent the most time in.  It was right next door to the Flamingo, which is where we stayed.  But it's a much quieter casino with lower limits so the perfect place to hang out.

Jens and Derek - cheek to cheek!

The second day, we went to Lagasse's Stadium at the Palazzo to watch the Daytona 500.  It was a very relaxing morning afternoon just hanging out and watching sports.  Derek placed a bet on the field which payed out 25 to 1 so we started the trip up by a bit.  After the race we headed back to our room and got ready for the evening.

We had dinner at one of our favorite places in Vegas called Battista's Hole in the Wall.  We have eaten there every time we've gone to Vegas.  Our favorite part of Battistas is the sweet accordion player named Gordy.  Here's Jens and Derek with Gordy.

After dinner we stopped by the Bellagio to watch the fountains.  This is the exact place Derek proposed to me almost 8 years ago.  Wow, how our life has changed since then!  

Jens and Amy in front of the fountains.

We ended that night with a hypnotist at Paris, which was absolutely hilarious!  

The third day we went to MGM in the morning and did CSI: The Experience.  It wasn't much of an experience.  It sounded cool, but wasn't really that impressive.  We stopped for some sushi on our way back towards the Flamingo.

Then we took the bus downtown to Fremont Street.  We've been to Vegas a few times, but have never made it down to Freemont Street.  It was really neat to see.  We played Bingo at Binnions.  This was much more challenging than we thought it was going to be! They called the numbers really quickly and we could barely keep up.  Unfortunately none of us won big at Bingo...and I think we learned that next time we need to get the electronic devices!

In one of the casinos downtown, they had a Lobster claw machine.  It's like the machines you see in an arcade that have the claw to grab a stuffed animal.  Only with this one, your prize is a live lobster.  And if you catch one, they cook it for you!

The whole concept is a little disturbing, but of course the guys had to give it a try anyway.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) they didn't catch any lobsters.

After downtown, we came back to the Flamingo and had dinner at a burger joint.  Amy and I did some oxygen after dinner.  We realize we look ridiculous!  But Amy had a cold and we were told the oxygen can help...so we gave it a try.  There was no immediate relief for the sinus infection and really no seen benefits of the oxygen.  But it was funny!

After dinner we headed over to O'Sheas and listened to a cover band.  The band was good and the people-watching was even better!

Our last full day in Vegas started with the guys heading to the Callaway Golf course for a round of golf.  Amy and I had a lazy breakfast and then went to the Westin for a massage.  The pampering was incredible and much, much needed!  

While we were at the spa, the guys put on their Hawaiian shirts and went to Margaritaville to celebrate National Margarita Day!  We met up with them there and shared some margaritas.  The weather was awesome and perfect for sitting outside, overlooking the strip and sipping margaritas!

After margaritas we headed to California Pizza Kitchen for some pizza and then called it an early night and went back to our rooms.

All in all it was an awesome trip and a much needed break from the busy schedules at home.  We missed the kids like crazy, but it was good to have a real vacation again!

We've Moved!

Whew!  These past two weeks have been a whirlwind!  And I'm glad I can finally relax and take a deep breath.

It started on the 19th when we went to Las Vegas with our friends the Blessingtons.  We had an absolute blast!  As soon as I download the pictures I'll post a recap of the trip.

Two days after we got home from Vegas we had to be entirely packed up and ready for a move.  This past Saturday we had movers scheduled to come and haul all of our stuff to the other side of the city.  We made a few more trips back and forth between Adel and Ankeny over the next two days to get the final things and do some cleaning.  And on Tuesday it was official...our house was officially sold!

We have a lot of mixed feelings about it all.  We know we are making the best decision for our family by moving to a smaller town and smaller school district.  But we really loved everything about Ankeny.  We are going to miss our friends, neighbors and church there as well as the convenience of having everything so close by.  I'm already suffering with not having Target a half a mile down the road.  The nearest Target is now probably more like 20 minutes away!  Which will be good for my checkbook, but not for the procrastinator in me!

We are starting to feel like we are getting settled in our "new" house.  We've moved into a rental temporarily while our new house is being built.  The house we are in now is certainly not ideal, but will work short term.  We have been meeting regularly with our builder and they are getting ready to start construction.  Hopefully within two weeks they will be able to break ground.  And then it will be about 90 days from that point and we'll be moving in.  It's looking like we should be in by the first of July as long as we don't run into any setbacks between now and then!  We can't wait.

By far, the most difficult part of this move has been the daycare transition for the kids.  We moved them from an in-home daycare that we loved to a daycare center.  We see a lot of benefits in putting them at a center at the age they are at.  The biggest being that they have on-site pre-school that Camden will attend in the fall.  Because it is on-site we won't have to worry about transportation from an in-home daycare to pre-school.

Going into it, I was really worried about how Kade would adjust.  He is very much a mama's boy.  And he's not very good at warming up to new people quickly.  I wasn't too worried about Camden adjusting because we've been telling her that she's going to school and she has been really excited about it.

Well on the first day we took them after breakfast and only planned on leaving them for a few hours.  They were both nervous right away, but after staying with them for a while until they got comfortable, they were both okay with us leaving.  Kade cried on and off for the first 30 minutes after we left, but Camden did just fine.  When we got there to pick them up 3 hours later, they were both happy to see us and neither one was ready to go.  We had to take Kade to a dr. appointment, but Camden opted to stay while we took Kade to the doctor.  We thought we had hit the jackpot and this transition was going to be even easier than we expected.  The next day was a whole different story.  Camden didn't want Daddy to leave her.  She cried and cried when he left.  She clung to his leg and screamed for Daddy.  Derek called to check on her about 20 minutes later and she was still crying!  I called about 20 minutes after that and she had finally calmed down.  Kade had no problems whatsoever.  He marched right into his room and started playing each day this week without looking back for Daddy.  Camden has had some good mornings and some really rough mornings.  But every day when I get there to pick her up she tells me she isn't ready to leave yet and she's having "too much fun".  They certainly surprised us because Camden has had a much more difficult time adjusting than Kade.

The last two weeks have been exhausting to say the least.  And we are thankful things are finally calming down and we can breathe again.  But we are really looking forward to getting further involved in the building process and seeing the house begin to take shape!  Lots of exciting things to come!