Happy 3rd Birthday Ellie!

Happy 3rd Birthday to our sweet Ellie Bean! She has been looking forward to this day for months (no joke!) and I don't think she was disappointed.
Ellie woke up to a present from Mommy, Daddy and Owen. She opened it immediately and found a brand new kitchen! When asked what she wanted for her birthday she would always say she wanted cupcakes, but I don't think she would trade her new kitchen for anything. Not to mention she says that it is "Ellie and Owen's kitchen"...never just hers....such a sweet girl to share her new gift so willingly.

3rd Birthday Gift

Cooking with Owen

 After presents and a little playing we went to Donutland for breakfast...they have the BEST donuts EVER!

Milk and a Sprinkle Donut

We then made a trip to The Playstation. I had a coupon of 2 admissions for the price of one, and adults are free. The $5 bucks to get in was well worth it. Both Ellie and Owen had a blast! Very cool place and they gave us another coupon to come back!

Here are all the pics from The Playstation:

Climbing through tunnels

Cheese

Owen the monkey

 



So brave climbing through the clear tunnels



She loved playing in the ball cage

Daddy even jumped in!

Buried

She loves to pretend she is driving

We love you Ellie, and hope that your 3rd birthday was a great one!



Mess

Monday morning I woke up around 4:30 to the sirens going off. We immediately tried to turn the TV on which only stayed on for about 2 minutes and then all of the power went out. After looking outside and hearing the wind we decided to get the kids up and go downstairs. I pulled out the bed downstairs and we all laid down to get some more sleep. Needless to say Owen was the only one sleeping...and snoring very LOUDLY! Ellie is still talking about how loud Owen was snoring. After awhile Jeremy and Owen got up and I was finally able to get some sleep downstairs with Ellie. This is what we woke up to:

Tree down in neighbors yard

Tree branches came down in our front yard

Back yard is a disaster

Trees down in the backyard

We could not even get down the street to the right of us. Power was not restored in Center Point until Monday night. Owen was one hot, sweaty, crabby little guy!
Not the best site to see when you are attempting to have an open house on Sunday. Jeremy bought a chainsaw he has been wanting, and we were able to get everything picked up. Our neighbors had it a lot worse than us, so we consider ourselves to be a bit lucky. Ellie wants to sleep downstairs again tonight :)

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