Apple Orchard

Last week the kids and I went over to McClure's Apple Orchard in Peru.  We've been there several times before-when we find an activity that involves getting to pet animals, we tend to frequent it.  It was Ike's first visit, and he seemed to enjoy himself.  He always loves seeing goats!

Good job looking at the camera boys...at least the tiny horse had the courtesy to look.

Dave starting to rethink his decision to go down the slide.

He actually went down!  Definite improvement over the last time we were there.

Dave loves to be king of the castle.

Ike was just the right height in his stroller to be the lowest apple.

Of course Dave had to get in on the picture and look like he was being tortured.







While at the orchard, we bought some apples, which Dave had to try immediately.  But he won't eat an apple with skin on it...so guess who had to peel the apple by biting the skin away?  Blech.  Things no one tells you about motherhood!

Here's a funny video of Dave trying to get Ike to laugh by tickling him.  Notice how he completely just gives up and walks away at the end.


And Ike learned how to play a kazoo this week.  My kids have skills...totally preparing his application for Juilliard.  :)






Ike practicing his new instrument.

Hanging Outside

Here is a peek into our past couple of days...lots of outdoorsy stuff since it's been so nice.

Last week we went to the Charley Creek Gardens with Stacey and Bennett (neighbors).  It is a really cute garden in the middle of Wabash.  It even has a maze that Dave loved running through.

 






Dave finding our way out.














The kids were more interested in the rock path than the flowers.

You know, just swimming in the rocks.





 




Last Friday, Josh had a men's retreat for church, so the kids and I crashed Barry and Divana's camping trip for the evening.  Dave had a blast of course.  We also went out on Saturday to have dinner again...we are slowly easing the boys into going camping someday.  Can't wait until they are old enough to really enjoy it.

Campers!














Finally, on Sunday, Josh and Dave were doing a little constructing in the front yard when they came up with a super awesome new game.  Not sure if it has a name, but it was basically attaching random items to the power drill and then turning it on and watching it whip around.

Dave got a good one going!









Here's a video of Dave in action.

While they were playing, Ike attacked the stroller.

Dave and Josh having some "best friend time".

Planes, etc.

I was having trouble figuring out a title for this blog post, so I looked to Josh for some inspiration.  His idea wasn't all that inspiring after all, but I went with it!  We have been hanging around the house for the most part this past week, so I didn't take a ton of pictures and the ones I did take didn't fit into any kind of theme.  My life is full of problems huh? 

We played in Stacey's new sprinkler the other day...unfortunately the sprinkler was a bit of a flop, but Dave still had fun!

Best picture ever.  Goggles are totally in this year.















Ikey was outsmarted by the sprinkler.

 
Bennett and Ike contemplating how best to climb up the playset.  Both can reach the top by themselves now!






 Dave has been begging me to make meatloaf (blech), so I finally gave in.  He was feeling super helpful that day and insisted on cutting up the bread to go in it.





Checking to make sure he was cutting them to my specifications.

Dave then took his new chopping skills to another level.







Last Saturday we went to Kokomo to check out the Grissom A.F.B. Museum.  It was totally awesome.  On the inside there are several planes and helicopters to climb into and then outside there were about 20 different types of planes to walk around.

Dave driving the helicopter.

Ike was a little distracted.

Hanging from a wing.

Ike and Bennett totally uninterested in the giant planes right in front of them.







After going to the museum, Josh and Dave (along with our neighbor Jason and another friend Greg) went to watch the new movie Planes in the theater.  Stacey and I went shopping with the younger guys.  All around, a really fun day down in Kokomo. 

Bowyer Brothers Update

I realized I actually got a couple pictures of the boys together this week (never happens), and since I haven't done a brother update in a while I figured now was a great time!

Dave seems to be much more interested in Ike lately, mostly due to Ike's increased mobility.  He is constantly into all of Dave's stuff (beyblades, tortilla chips, train tracks, etc.) and I hear "Mom, come get Ike!!!!" about a million times a day right now.  He can still get jealous on occasion, but has definitely gotten better recently as Ike has started being more "fun" for him.

Isaac absolutely loves Dave.  In fact, he can even say Dave's name now (he says about 5 words pretty regularly).  Ike is always laughing at Dave's crazy antics and loves for Dave to pull him around by his legs.  

Here are some brother moments from this past week.

Dave was worried that Ike was going to fall off of the rocking chair.  It's funny to me because Dave was such a dare devil at this age too and now he's super worried about Ike's welfare.

  




Note the look of concern.

Brothers cruising the yard.











Dave decided Ike needed a mud puddle to play in.

It was a big hit!














Here is an example of how my pictures of them always turn out.  They never cooperate for me!

Ike smiling.

Dave smiling (and trying to inch Ike out of the picture).

I am so excited that the boys are beginning to play together and really interact.  Can't wait to watch them grow up and get into all kinds of crazy shenanigans...I'm sure there are plenty in my future :)

Ike Turns 10 Months

Well, we hit double digits with Ike today.  He continues to become more fun every day and his personality is really starting to show through.






His official 10 month picture.  I love those dimples!













He had his 9 month well check a couple of weeks ago...here are his stats.  Weight:  22.3 lbs (85th%), Height: 30 in (92nd%), so still a big fella.  I do think the height was a little generous, but it is really hard to get babies to lay still for that to be accurate.

As far as milestones, Ike is really cruising around to everything that is his height.  He also walks along the walls.  No steps quite yet, but he has started standing without support for thirty seconds or so at a time.







Doesn't look too steady yet.














He has stopped using his pacifier completely and now puts himself to sleep at night.  He only cries for that when he is overtired or sometimes when he is teething.  Speaking of teeth, no new ones to report.  Though his top two are going to be here any day I think.  He loves to get pull everything out of drawers and cabinets and is very good at saying "no" because we say it to him so many times.  He also says mama and dada and something that sounds an awful lot like Dave.

His favorite activities include:  eating (especially ice cream), playing with balloons, carrying random objects around and slamming them on the floor as he crawls, sneaking into Dave's room while brother's supposed to be sleeping, and playing in the toilet.  He does not enjoy car rides (much to our dismay), goats nibbling on his hand, or being told that the ice cream is all gone.

Here are a couple of pics from this month that didn't make other blog posts...

Wearing sneakers for the first time.  

With Grandma Bertie.

Hanging out at Mississinewa with Grandma D and Papa Boo.

Family picture on Ike's 10 month birthday.









That was supposed to be the end of this post, but while I was working on it, Ike got really quiet.  So, I peeked into the front room and found this...

Guess I need to move this chair for a while.












Naturally, I got him off the chair and then videotaped him doing his new trick!  Ike climbing.  

He was very proud of himself.

Evansville Children's Museum and Fort Wayne Zoo

While we were in Evansville, we went down to the Children's Museum of Evansville (cMoe).  We have never been, and figured Dave was at a perfect age and that Ike would at least tolerate it.  It was a blast!  They have all kinds of stuff to do there and the kids really enjoyed it.

Playing in the water area.  Ike loved sticking his hand in the stream.











This thing was like a giant toilet and it kept flushing.  Dave loved it.
















Posing in a car.












Loader bucket with gamma.

Little young to be driving...

I turned around for one second and he was halfway up this tunnel!  Getting too big.

He was super thrilled to have this picture taken  :)










So I highly recommend the museum if you are in the Evansville area.  Definitely was great for younger kids and kept mine thoroughly entertained which is sometimes hard to do!


Once we were home, we relaxed for a day, and then headed off to enjoy the zoo on Saturday.  It was gorgeous out, so it was pretty crowded.  Since it was Josh's first trip to the zoo this year, he got to choose the places we visited:  Africa and Indonesia.  Of course, we stopped off in the petting zoo first to see the goats.





Soooo excited to see his favorite animals.













Ike was not as impressed.

And he was definitely not liking the goat trying to eat his hand.











 Dave really getting up close and personal.