Mesker Park Zoo Trip

While we were down in Evansville, we headed over to Mesker Park Zoo since we get in free with our Fort Wayne membership.  Sweet perks huh? It was Ike's first visit, and probably Dave's fifth or so.  We like zoos!

Ike enjoying the rainforest section.















This jaguar was super intense.

New animal species?  Half jaguar, half David!

 Josh and the boys (and jaguar of course).

Dave playing with the giraffes.

Checking out the hornless rhino.

Bat-Dave!

Almost big enough to ride on shoulders.












As usual, we had a blast at the zoo.  And this officially ends my posts from the Evansville trip!

Evansville Part II

As was probably obvious from the first recap, we didn't do a whole lot other than hang out (which is why we love going down to visit!).  Our main purpose for trips to Evansville are to see family and relax, and I think we accomplished both those goals this time!

The weather warmed up considerably, so we spent a lot of time in the pool.  




Dave navigating his ski doo.

Ike really enjoys the water.

Dave not cooperating for a picture.

And he finally smiles when Ike looks away.

Dave washing up his new wheels.

Ike and Papa Charlie.














On Saturday, Dave and Ike got up bright and early to go fishing with Papa Dave. 

Reeling it in.

The boys and grandpa.










We went over to Dad and Kyra's for one last bit of hanging out while Josh and Tony went golfing.

Dave helping Papa Charlie till up the garden.














Then Josh and I got to go out for a date Saturday night!  (Thanks to everybody who watched the kids for us all week!) We were able to get away quite a bit over the course of a week.

The boys and Gamma before we headed back home.








So we had a great trip!  It is always nice to get to spend a big chunk of time down there so it doesn't feel like we are rushed.  Hope everybody else had as much fun as we did!

Evansville Part I

 So I took way too many pictures while we were in Evansville last week.  Consequently, I am having to break up the visit into multiple posts.  Here goes...

 We started off right by helping Papa Charlie cook some steaks-





 Such a good helper.

Seasoning is very serious work.













Dave was up bright and early every morning, and everyone worked hard to keep him quiet so Josh and I could sleep in a bit.

Dave and Andrew working on the world puzzle.








On Saturday, Josh, Tony, my mom, and Andrew all participated in a golf scramble.  The kids and I went over to dad and Kyra's to hang out.

Dave and Papa doing some yard work.

Such a cute face!  Standing up like a big boy.









We hung out a little by the pool on Sunday, but it was pretty chilly at that point.

Trying to get warm-and not at all pleased by my picture taking.

Ikey and grandma Kyra.

Family picture on Mother's Day.












I think the next couple pictures are from Tuesday or so...gets confusing after a while.  Anyway, here's a few from hanging out with Gamma.

Hey, who put me in a planter?

I guess he forgave her!

Dave giving me a ride in his new (to him) wheels.







Alright, I think that sums up the first half of our trip!  More to come soon!

7 Months Old

Well our little guy continues to grow up.  Sometimes I wish he would stay a baby forever, but then I look at Dave and I can't wait to see what kind of toddler and little boy he will grow to be! 

He is working on all kinds of new things, the most exciting being standing up!



 


 




Climbing up his play table.


















Cheesing out for his picture.

What is that?! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Showing off his new skill.

He also learned how to sit up in the last month.












Another new activity-emptying everything out of boxes.

 

 

Ike and Dave helped me garden the other day...if you look close, you can see all the dirt on his face.
















I love both of their expressions so much.












Ike and Bennett playing in the crab pool.









So here is a quick Ike update.  He loves to attempt to climb up on things, eating any type of solid, biting anything in sight, blowing crazy spit bubbles, and watching Dave and other kids play.  He does not enjoy taking naps and is starting to dislike when I am gone (bummer!).  Words (or sounds) that he makes:  mama and dada for sure, and some weird one that sounds like bwa bwa.  Like I mentioned above, he is sitting up on his own now, and can get across a room pretty quickly while still not crawling.  I'm starting to think he won't crawl at all.  He's beginning to lose the baby fat and I think he looks a lot older recently. 



Trip to the Zoo

We headed up to Fort Wayne for our first zoo trip of the year on Wednesday.  Our neighbors joined in on the fun and I think Ike had a great time (I know Dave has the most fun every time we go!).

Of course we started things off right with the goat petting area.

Really checking that goat out.












The goats kept licking the babies' feet.  Ike was a little freaked out.

Closest thing to a smile...he is very intense at the zoo.














Speaking of intense poses-Ike and Bennett look very serious.











Got Ike to smile, but Bennett still seems unsure.













Showing his pacifier off to the penguins.














Speaking of the pacifier, I lost that thing on two different occasions on this trip.  The second time was at the very end and I didn't even go back to look for it.  Another one bites the dust...






Dave always has his map out to see where we have to go next.

He got to touch a giraffe!  

Dave and Adi posing outside the zoo.  

 The kids did great (we had four in total).  No meltdowns and everyone got along well.  We even had a picnic at the park next to the zoo.  Definitely will be doing trips to the zoo with the other moms on campus again-I was a little nervous to go without Josh since this was my first big outing with both kids.  But we all had a great time (though we did miss Dad!), can't wait to go again soon.

Sunshine Day

We are really enjoying this warm sunshine lately by being outside basically all day long.





Dave cheesing out.

Ike loves being outside.

It's pretty difficult to get a picture where they both look happy.

Dave was not thrilled with all the picture taking.

To get him to smile I have to resort to saying ridiculous combinations of words.












Dave loves being able to ride his bike and scooter pretty much all day.  He's gotten really into action figures (like Thor and Hulk) so he plays with those outside on adventures too.  We've also been able to hang out with all the neighborhood kids, which has been really good for him. 

This isn't a video of outside, but Ike is getting very proficient at moving around, so I thought I'd include a video on this post.  Ike on the move.  It is only a matter of time before he is full on crawling.