28th Brithday

July 10th was my 28th birthday! I hate to admit it at this age, but I still do love my birthday and look forward to it each summer. Jeremy was working all weekend, so I decided to head to DBQ to celebrate my birthday. We started the weekend by heading over to the Kaune's house. Aundrea gave Ellie some presents for her birthday coming up on the 15th and then we walked to Flora Pool. The kids really loved this pool and it only cost the 4 of us $7.00...compared to $17.00 in Cedar Rapids!

I forgot to get my camera out until the end...they all look a bit annoyed with my picture attempt :)



After the pool we went to Happy Joe's to celebrate both Ellie and my birthdays. It was a lot of fun, Ellie was very excited when they sang to her, and enjoyed her ice cream!



Mmmmm ice cream!



Mommy and Owen

Owen loves drinking from a straw

 I then brought the kids to my parents house and headed back to the Kaune's to go out with Aundrea in DBQ. We had a great time, although my requested 11:00 bedtime was missed by 3 hours thanks to Aundrea :)The next morning I woke up went for a long run (not by choice I got lost on my short run) and headed to Panera to meet Jerica and Sarah for breakfast. It was great to catch up with the two of them! I then got my hair cut (still cannot find anyone to do it right in CR) and then headed back to my parents. We had Happy Joe's pizza (I cannot get enough of the place:) and my mom made my favorite ice cream cake. After lunch and dessert we all jumped in the pool!

Swimming with Yaya and Papa

Sunday on my actual birthday Jeremy brought me home a cookie cake (another one of my FAVORITE desserts) and the next day we went to Zoey's for the best pizza in CR. I'm obviously a pizza kinda gal :)

Makes me hungry for another one!

Owen couldn't resist

Next up is Ellie, and she is more than excited for her big day!

A Day at the Beach

Palo Beach

Jeremy had off work today and it is 90 degrees, so we decided to go to Palo to the lake and hang out on the beach. I had never been there before, and was pleasantly surprised. It is very clean with bathrooms and showers. Also, the crowd at the beach seemed to be very pleasant and low key. The kids love to be in the water, but the Cedar Rapids pools cost us $17 as a family every time we go, and with the kids being so young we never stay for very long. After playing in our kiddie pool at home day after day, I believe we found the perfect solution at Palo Beach. The kids can play in the sand or in the water...and it was FREE! :)

Mommy and Ellie

I didn't get any pics of us in the water, just a few while we ate a snack on our blanket.

Swimming makes you hungry!

Nap time!

Happy 4th of July!

This year we stayed in Cedar Rapids for the 4th of July and Fireworks. The last time we were in CR for the 4th I was pregnant with Ellie, and we went to a Kernals game. Jeremy and I had no clue where to go for the fireworks in Cedar Rapids, but Ellie was adamant about seeing them (and I love them as well :). We thought about going to a baseball game (fireworks afterwards) but worried about the kids not being able to sit the entire time. So, we made up our minds to head into Cedar Rapids and find somewhere to watch the fireworks. We didn't get downtown until 7:00, and surprisingly it was not CRAZY with traffic like it always is in DBQ. We found a parking lot to sit in 6 blocks away from where they set off the fireworks. After parking we set up camp with our chairs, and waited. 

Waiting for the fireworks



She was so EXCITED



Chilling



Seriously mom put the camera away!

 Josh joined us and brought bubble guns for the kids (they LOVED them). Ellie also packed "chalk walk" as she calls it in her book bag. We had a few visitors stopping in to say hi along their way, but other than that it was just the 5 of us.

Owen and Josh (saying cheese and closing his eyes)

Bubble Guns

Cheese

Watching the show

It was a great 1st time experience at the CR fireworks. We plan to go back next year!

Balloon Glow at Brucemore

Last night we went to the Balloon Glow at Brucemore as part of the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival. Brucemore is a historic mansion located in Cedar Rapids. It is beautifully landscaped with gardens, trails and a huge lawn area. 
We went with our good friends Josh and April and their two kids, Emerick and Brinley. Emerick and Owen are 12 days apart and Brinley is 7 weeks old. We started the evening at their house for pizza and root beer floats. The three older kids ran around like crazy animals, while Brinley watched from someones lap.

The Baby Whisperer

All the kids and Jeremy

After dinner we headed to Brucemore. It was my first time at the Balloon Glow and I was shocked by all the people there. We sat down on the lawn, watched the balloons and caught up with each other. The kids proceeded to continue to run around like crazy and eat even more.

Hanging out on the lawn

Ellie and Owen (Owen thinks saying cheese is closing your eyes)

Saying "Hi" to a lion

Lit up

All in all it was a good time, and the perfect night to sit out side.



The Aristocats

Last night Ellie and I attended a production of, The Artistocats. It was presented by Playtime Poppy and a local high school. Little did I know that Playtime Poppy has been around in Cedar Rapids for 59 years!!! They collaborate with 4 different area high schools in Cedar Rapids a year to put on shows for children. It only cost us $3 to go and lasted about 45 minutes...perfect for Ellie. I didn't have any expectations going in to the play and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was!. Ellie loved it sang along, and really got into the story. She would get upset and yell "oh no" when something bad happened to Duchess and her kittens.:) It was really cute and fun to see it with Ellie. We got into the auditorium a little early and were able to get a really good seat. Funny thing though about the seats....I took Ellie's coat off and sat her in a seat which immediately flopped back in on her. She doesn't weigh enough to hold the seat down, it never crossed my mind. The look on her face was priceless as she was helplessly folded into the chair. She had to sit on my lap the entire time...neither she nor I minded though :)

Ellie and one of the Alley Cats

First Trip to The Children's Museum

This past weekend Jeremy was off work, and we thankfully had nothing else going on! No plans out of town, nobody was visiting, no plans with friends...it was just US and we were so excited about it! I have been wanting to bring the kids to the Children's Museum in Corallville for awhile now, so we thought Sunday would be the perfect day to do it! We headed to Coralville early to grab lunch and get to the museum just as they opened. Ellie was super crabby Saturday night and all day Sunday, so I was a bit worried, but she did great. Ellie and Owen were sick last week and Ellie is still coughing a lot, I'm hoping this is the reason for the crabbiness and not a new attitude. I really liked The Children's Museum it is a great place and you can tell that they have invested so much thought, time and money into making it what it is today. I think that it will fit our family really well in two years or so, once the kids are both a bit older.
Owen had fun but wasn't able to interact with much. He did find one room he loved...can you guess...The Farm room! :) Those who know him well, know how fitting this is for him. He loved to cruise around through the tunnels, up the stairs, down the slides. He enjoyed driving the tractor, and playing with the farm sets. The Farm room was for kids ages 0-5, and it was a bit frustrating when parents let their older kids come in and play. They were just too big and out of control, I had to run to grab Owen a few times, because I thought he would be trampled. Like I said, it will be a better fit for us in one or two years.

Crawling through the tunnel

Little Ham

Playing with the farm

Ellie loved the farm room as well, but she probably enjoyed the grocery store and driving the ambulance the most! She screamed  and cried when we had to leave both of those areas (again a bit crabby on this day).

Crawling underground

She insisted on riding the cow

Loading the tractor trailer

Driving the tractor

Up and Down...Repeat

Both kids loved this long tunnel slide in the Flight area. I took both of them down multiple times. Owen giggled and giggled the entire way down, and Ellie kept asking to go again.

Flight Area

Weeeeeee!

Pilot and Co-Pilot

They also both loved the book area. It was a nice way to relax at the end of our time at the museum.

Relaxing in a tree

Waiting for the girls...whats new!?!?!?

Sick!

I had started this post on Friday morning and titled it "Weekend Fun", we had plans with Aunt Julie to go for a walk on Saturday and watch Lindsay and Josh bowl on Sunday. I got a call from daycare Friday afternoon that Owen was running a temperature, when I went to get him he did not look like he felt good :( On Saturday we started the day off with a sick little guy. Owen was running a high fever, refusing to eat and not wanting to get off my lap. He slept all morning in my arms. Jeremy met the 3 of us at a walk in clinic in CR, and the verdict was: Virus...with pink eye :( Owen took another nap this time in his bed when we got home, and was in better spirits when he woke up. While Owen was sleeping Ellie and I made a carrot cake (Jeremy's favorite) and watched a movie. Saturday night Jeremy brought pizza home for dinner and once the kiddos went to sleep we had planned on a movie date night at home, but both crashed by 8:30! :) Sunday...started the day with Owen feeling a bit better, he took a very long nap, during which I was able to make dinner and get some laundry started. I did notice that Ellie wasn't acting like herself, she didn't want to eat and kept lounging on the couch and asking to cuddle. Sure enough, she is now the sick one with a temp and not looking well at all. She has taken multiple naps on the couch throughout the day and keeps asking to watch movies. While she was resting Owen was a HUGE help. :) We did laundry, washed the dishes, cleaned out the desk and other chores around the house.
This may be one of the first Sundays you will hear me say "Is is Monday yet?" I'm actually looking forward to going back to work...this weekend was exhausting!Next weekend Jeremy has off and we hope to do some fun things and have 2 HEALTHY children!

Sick

and sick!