Zoo

We have an awesome zoo in our area & for whatever reason, we have never taken Mason there....until today. I don't know who was more excited to go...me, Shane or Mase :)

It was raining when we had originally planned on leaving so we had about an hour delay before we got out the door. The rest of the morning ended up being cool & overcast which was absolutely perfect to spend the day at the zoo.

We made our way through the entrance & the first stop was the polar bear. We were lucky enough to see him swimming laps around the pool & sat there for quite some time watching this amazing animal:

Next we made our way over to the seal pool & hung around to watch the splash show. Mase decided to take a break, sit & watch the seals do their thing.

There was SO much ground to cover at the zoo & between Shane & I we took TONS of pics & video! So I apologize ahead of time for all the photos :)

After the seal show we headed over to the penguins which Mase loved. They were one of Mama's favorites also!

We have recently watched the movie Happy Feet & Mason kept asking "why they no dance Mama"? It was SO cute. I kept telling him that the penguins were probably tired of dancing & needed to rest. He just said "otay Mama" & moved along.

After the penguins, we bought tickets to ride the sky tram which is a 45 foot chair lift that takes you above the giraffes, zebras, & rhino & drops you off at the back of the zoo.

Once we were dropped off we went to check out my very favorite zoo exhibit - the chimps: 

There was a baby chimp named Milo born March 27th & he was SO cute to watch laying there with his Mama.

 I mean look at these guys - how can you not love them???

Mase & Daddy ended up having to drag me away from the monkeys. Next we went over to see the rhino up in person, then the lions who were all snoozing & then we hopped back onto the sky tram & decided to eat a bit of lunch.

After lunch we walked over to see the orangutans. He was cracking us up the way he was covering himself with the burlap sack. He got tired of staring at Mase & went & laid down after covering himself up - so cute!

The train ride was something Mason kept asking about as we kept seeing it go by us around the zoo so we promised him a ride. He was SO excited & loved every minute of it - especially going through the dark tunnels!

Before we hopped onto the train the sun came out & it started to get super hot & humid. We got off the train ride & made our way inside for some Icees. It was nice to be able to sit, cool off & take a breather. Before we headed out we made sure to catch the bird show which was a nice ending to our day. 

We packed up our stuff, loaded up the car & got 5 minutes down the road when this happened: 

Little Bubba was exhausted & took a great 3 hour nap once we left! We had SO much fun at the zoo (if you couldn't tell by all the pics) & we can't wait to get to go back!!

JoCo Fair

I was on call this weekend for the hospital but thanks to one of my co-workers, I was able to have 8 hours free on Saturday to enjoy a fun outing with my boys!

I knew that the Johnson County Fair was going on & being a 4-H kid myself growing up I spent many summers being part of our county fair up in South Dakota. So I really wanted to take Mason & show him what the fair was all about!

Once we arrived, we made our way over to the livestock barns to check out all the animals first! We saw all the beef cattle & then made our way over to the pigs where we got to pet them & watch them eat watermelon which Mase thought was hilarious!

  Next stop was the goats...

Then we made our way over to the barn that had the bunnies & had so much fun petting their soft little ears!

After we made our way through all the livestock barns, we headed over to the carnival area. The next couple of hours were spent eating yummy fair food (funnel cakes, sno-cones, fresh squeezed lemonade - just to name a few) & Mase rode all the toddler rides.

He had so much fun on the motorcyles & cars!

Daddy even got to ride a few rides with Mase including the carousel & the spinning aliens:

Even though it was extremely hot outside & we were all covered in sweat, we had a great time & are looking forward to coming back next year!!

Two cool dudes

Ted's & Friends

The "game-night" girls gathered together for dinner this evening so Mase & I joined these lovely ladies for dinner at a new Mexican restaurant - Ted's Cafe Escondido. 

I wasn't sure if I was going to make it or not as Shane ended up being out of town longer than usual this week. If I went I would have to bring Mason & these days I never quite know what mood he is going to be in once I pick him up from daycare! 

 

I hadn't seen many of these girls in months & I really wanted to see them & catch up so I decided to test Mason's mood & luckily for me he was quite the happy camper at pickup. So I notified the girls that Ted's was a go!

 We got their a bit late but quickly found the girls, settled in our seats, ordered our dinner & had a great time catching up with everyone. Mason ended up being a very well-behaved 2 year old for once & loved his "esa-diya" (quesadilla) & rice along with the chips & cheese sauce & yummy complimentary sopapillas.

So glad to get to spend a little bit of quality time with these ladies & hoping we can get together this fall once the summer activities die down & school gets back in session!

Best Buds

Mason & Greyson

Mason's teacher at daycare took this picture & posted it on my Facebook page today - what a couple of cuties!!

This is Mason's best buddy Greyson & these two are inseparable at daycare. What makes this picture even cuter is not only do they look like they could be twins, but they are dressed alike also. For some reason they both end up wearing the same colors or same kind of shirt on the same day. Yesterday they both had on navy shirts & khaki shorts. The day before that they were both wearing little muscle shirts. They day before that they both had on superhero shirts with their matching Spiderman shoes - all totally unplanned!! It cracks me up at the end of the day when I see the both of them together & what they are wearing - as if Greyson's mom & I called each other & planned it - lol :)

I just love that he is developing little friendships at daycare - it is so fun to watch. Whenever we aren't at daycare Mason asks me every 30 minutes:

"Where is Greyson?"

"With his Mama?"

"At his house?"

"Go play with Greyson?" 

I have a feeling that these two are going to be the best of friends well into high school & I can't wait to watch them grow up together!

Cell Phone Dump

Lots of pics to "dump" from the cell phone this month:

 

$20 find on Craigslist - SCORE :)

 Cool dudes!

Sticks his tongue out just like Daddy when concentrating :) 

 Best part of Chick-Fil-A?? The "I-Keem" (ice cream)

 

 Enjoying some pool-time while the kiddo naps

 

 Ooops - looks like I need a new glove?!

 

Our little Picasso

Cheeeese :)

Dinner & Dessert

Tonight I met some of my "Elite" girlfriends at Cheesecake Factory for dinner...one of them being my bestie Mama JenJen & her little girl Miss Ava Jean :)

Ugh - just love these two girls to pieces!!!

Mason wanted to sit right next to Ava Jean after we all ate & share an episode of Mickey Mouse with her on the iPad.

Then it was dessert time for these two. Mason ate only the whipped topping while Ava Jean ate only cheesecake....a match made in heaven :)

It was so good to see the "Elite" girlfriends & finally be able to sit down & catch up!! Although trying to visit with friends & manage a 2 year old at the dinner table is not an easy task....somehow I make it happen :)

Playdate with Olivia

My co-worker & dear friend Leann mentioned to me a few weeks ago that she & her little girl had never been to Deanna Rose Farmstead. As soon as I heard that come out of her mouth I demanded a play-date be scheduled with these two!!

We made plans to go the day after the 4th & met after church before the day got too hot. I had told Mason that Olivia had never been to DRF before so he would have to show her the ropes which he did every so proudly.

When we made our way into the farm we made our usual 1st stop at the chickens, then went & saw the baby cows & then Mase showed Olivia how to feed the baby goats.

I had bought a ticket for Mase to ride the pony but for some reason he wanted nothing to do with riding the horse. So we chose to feed the ducks in the pond instead. We made our way over to the general stores where we sat for a bit & had snacks & water. Then it was time to hit the other side of the farm.

Leann & Miss Olivia fed the bigger goats:

While Mase ran around in the children's gardens:

 

 

 We stopped to pet the bigger horses & take a group photo:

We had such a fun morning & can't wait to get these two littles together again soon for another fun play-date!!

Happy July 4th

Happy 4th of July to all my family & blogger-reading friends :)

This year we celebrated in style with good food, fireworks & surrounded by family!

Shane's mom Betty, Aunt Jenny, brother James, nephew Jordan, his wife Sam & their 7 week old baby Boston all came over & we all enjoyed the afternoon visiting & catching up with each other. Shane was tending to ribs on the smoker as well as grilling hamburgers & I was in the kitchen preparing all the yummy sides together. 

Mason spent most of his time hanging out with Uncle James & baby Boston. He was being so cute with the baby & so gentle. He kept patting his tummy, staring at his sweet little face & just seemed to be in awe of him. It's moments like this that make me extremely sad that Mase will have no idea what it is like to be a big brother :(

We all ended up eating around 5pm, had apple pie & angel food cake with strawberries/cool whip for dessert & then everyone gathered in the living room to watch the Royals game. 

Mase kept bugging me to "shoot 'works Mama" so we went outside & started shooting off the little kid fireworks. I spent way too much money on fireworks this year but I didn't care. Since we were in Minneapolis last year for the 4th we never got to shoot off our own fireworks so this year I wanted to make sure he had some fun memories.

We did the usual smoke balls, snakes, snaps, tanks, race cars & parachutes:

But the most favorite of them all - the pooping puppy:

We also had a pooping pig - LOL! Gross but oh so funny - Mason thought it was hilarious every time we lit one of those up!! Hearing him laugh was worth seeing it over again & again!

Shane's family left around 8:30ish & we stayed outside to shoot off some of our bigger fireworks. We grabbed the lawn chairs, parked them in the driveway & enjoyed watching our fireworks as well as the big, huge fireworks set off by our neighbors. They must have spent hundreds on their display - it was so awesome & Mason had SO much fun watching!!

 July 4th selfie - Mase & Mama

Hope you all had a very safe & fun holiday with your friends &/or families!!

She's Crafty

We have been living in the new house for a month now & even though there is still so much yet to do, buy, arrange & unpack - little by little the new house is becoming "home".

I have visions & thoughts of how I want to decorate each room in the house but the one room I wanted to get done first was Mason's room. When we moved, I had packed up all the bedding, pictures & baby things in his nursery (cue the tears) at the old house & it was time to turn his new room into a "big boy" room.

I decided on a sports them with primary colors & love the way it is coming together. Sadly, Mase is not in love with his bedroom like his Mama is :( He used to have an awesome routine of bath-time, PJ's, reading storybooks & then going to sleep in his crib without any trouble. Now all he wants to do after bath-time is sprint to Mama & Daddy's bed, curl up, watch Mickey Mouse & fall asleep in our bed.

Other than having his little world turned upside down & what was once familiar to him is no more, I think part of the problem is that he is still in his crib. Much to my dismay, I am considering transitioning him to a big boy bed as well. Ugh - I am just not ready mentally to tackle yet another milestone of this magnitude!! Perhaps I need a few weeks to think about this before I do it?!

In the meantime, I have been searching/pinning all kinds of sports-themed ideas from Etsy & Pinterest for quite some time now...all with expensive prices. So being the crafty (& frugal) Mama that I am, I was determined to save a little bit of money & make some of these things myself. 

Unfortunately I was quickly reminded how working full-time, taking call at the hospital, being a domesticated wife AND a Mama to a 2 year old gives me hardly any time for crafts let alone working on this blog -  obviously ;) 

So with the minimal time I have left in a day, the first project I tackled was Mason's wooden letters. This was my Etsy inspiration:

(photo credit)

I purchased the wooden letters at a local craft store along with some spray paint & acrylic paint. I sprayed each letter, let them dry & then put my "craftiness" to the test.

After they were all painted, I sprayed them with a clear coat of Mod Podge clear acrylic sealer, let them dry & displayed them in Mason's room. I'm super pleased with how they turned out & Mason loves his letters :)

Letters ordered from Etsy + shipping: $70

Letters made by HT: $30

$40 in savings doing them myself - SCORE :)

Next thing on the "Operation Big Boy Room" list was to order his pictures from Etsy. Now this was something I couldn't recreate so since I saved some money on the letters, I went ahead & splurged on his pictures. They are four 16x20 painted canvas prints & I LOVE how they turned out! The seller on Etsy (Toad & Lily) was SO nice, easy to work with & I am very pleased with how they look on the wall.

The pictures had little stars in them so I had bought some metal stars at Gordman's for $3 each, spray painted them the same colors as his letters & hung them with his pictures. 

The other two pictures are on the wall to the left & have a little shelf in between them with little sporty kinds of knick knacks on it.

Once we get Mason's "big boy bed" I will be ordering these sheets in both the red & blue stars from Pottery Barn Kids:

 

I am looking forward to getting his room all done & having him fall asleep in his new bed soon :)

Once Mason's room is completed & am going to start working on the master bedroom. I have a few ideas for that room also so I am excited to get started on it! 

Updates to come....