A trip to the Peoria zoo

We recently visited the Peoria zoo. They have a brand new Africa exhibit with lions, giraffes, rhinos, zebras, and other African animals. It is so cool! It rained on and off, so we were bummed that a lot of the big animals were inside. We could view them through a little window, but we will have to visit again to see them in the huge outdoor exhibits. Holden didn't know the difference and was fascinated with everything.

We saw all kinds of neat things. The warthog was so ugly, but her babies were so cute! They followed her closely and always wanted to hide under her belly. Holden loved the lions and the big, furry rabbit.

We were pleasantly surprised when we parked to notice Grammy and Papa's (my parents) car right by ours! We had them paged and enjoyed touring the zoo with them. Small world thing that we went on the same day without knowing it ahead of time!

I thought this sign was hysterical.

So I used to be totally appalled and horrified by those child leash things. While I don't think I could ever bring myself to use one...I now understand...as this is the view I had of my child most of the day...

This fake camel was the highlight of Holden's day. He threw a huge hissy fit when we made him get off! I love his little wave.

Runner-up was the dolphin in the kids' play area. He would seriously stand with his hands on his hips and glare at other children when they took a turn climbing on it. We are working on the whole sharing thing...

but I still think he's so cute! :)

76xa2ekitv (Ignore this #-it's a code I had to paste here in order to register for a blog tracker. Because I'm a dork and think things like blog trackers are cool!) :)

The past two weeks in review

I am always amazed at how the summer flies by. It's almost the 4th of July already! Our days and weeks are filled with fun activities, and we look forward to several fun trips and events coming up soon. Jay had the past week off and we loved spending time together as a family. Some things we did during the past two weeks:

I saw the movie, "The Proposal," with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. It was so cute and funny! I loved it. (Thanks Mom and Dad for watching Holden.) :)

We spent a lot of time in the Polletts' inflatable pool. Holden and Brady practiced blowing bubbles...and drank about a gallon of pool water apiece!

Holden finished his first session of swim lessons, and we are definitely continuing them! He loves them and has learned so much already. He just got his first pair of goggles and is SO proud of them. He knows that "big kids" wear goggles.

Speaking of goggles...just a typical evening at our house, playing with Memaw. Holden traded her his "workman goggles" for her glasses.

We have gone a couple times to Downtown Normal....or "Uptown Normal," as the new improved version will be called, to watch the construction process. Holden is obsessed with all things diggers and trucks, and is in heaven simply watching the action. Cheap entertainment! One of the workers waved at him from his truck. This had the same affect on Holden as Matthew Mcconaughey waving would have on me. :)

We braved the chaos that is Chuck E. Cheese with Allie, Chelsey, and Memaw one evening. We had to convince Holden that if Chuck E. came out, Chelsey would hide with him! He was very apprehensive the first few minutes, but good ol' Chuck must have been on a dinner break; he didn't show his scary head once while we were there.

We took a "Handy Manny" class at the Children's Discovery Museum with Cade. It was so cute! Everything was construction themed, down to using "rollers" and cars to paint with, hammering golf tees into foam blocks, and decorating maracas so they could dance to the Handy Manny CD. Holden really enjoyed it. We have another class next month all about bears.

I love these shots at the class of Jay and Holden! The one I posted on Father's Day is from this batch.

Watching the Uptown Normal construction out the window. My favorite is the top right one of the back of both of them. (Cubs fans, the date is just for you!) :)

Oh yeah, and Jay and Holden decided to ride a camel just for kicks last weekend! Epiphany church was having its yearly carnival, and animals were part of the deal. I was thrilled when he said he wanted Daddy to ride with him and not Mommy! No jealousy on my part for this event.

Holden was so brave! I thought he might get scared up there, but he just smiled and waved at everyone in sight. He thought he was very cool. He also kept patting the camel's back.

Another thing Holden can check off his list of things he's done: rode a camel in 90 degree weather. >

Famous Last Words...

What, you may ask, do these items have in common? And why did I make a collage out of them? Well, they all have to do with my famous last words: "Just take one more bite." Of watermelon. Which is not in the collage but you all know what it looks like and what color it is. Holden followed my directions. All of this food was in his tummy. He gagged on the watermelon slice. All of these lovely, colorful items came back UP out of his stomach. He'd eaten two gogurts, three slices of bacon, some Pringles stix, more Cheetos than I cared to count, and a bag of fruit snacks. Oh yeah, and almost a full cup of Juicy Juice. Grape flavored. Did I mention he was sitting on my lap at the time? Oh...and that we were at the Children's Discovery Musuem??? Do you know what these items feel like when they are regurgitated and have sunk into your shoe? Landed on your purse? Slid down your legs? Coated on your child's clothes and your own shorts? I will never, ever tell him to "just take one more bite" again. A big thank you to Annie Cunningham and the Discovery Museum worker who helped me clean up. A big thank you to the 20 or so people that I passed leaving the museum who did not laugh at the fact that I was carrying my child out in nothing but a diaper. And a big thank you to the Crocs company for making washable shoes!!! So there was our morning in a nutshell. Oh yeah, and when we got home? Poor kid said, "Mommy, I wanna eat!" Of course you do, sweetheart. Your lunch is all over me instead of in your tummy. (I let him eat what he wanted and didn't tell him to take any more bites.)

Father's Day '09...A Plethora of Pictures!

We were so happy that Daddy had Father's Day off this year so that we could spend the whole day with him! First thing in the morning, Holden carried our special Cardinals shirt in for Jay to open. It says, "World Class Dad, World Class Team." We decided we should all wear Cardinals clothes to church. (If you don't know our church, it is extremely laid-back so we didn't look like bums!) :)

Holden and Daddy cheesin' it. Holden's new thing that he came up with himself is to announce: "Cheeeeeeeese.....BURGERS!" and laugh hysterically. :)

I love you, Daddy!

After church, my parents and my brother, Eric, came over to our house for lunch. Jay grilled chicken (in the lovely rain!) and we also had a full spread of yummy food that my mom helped with. The best part was the cake that she brought for dessert!

Holden enjoyed "helping" Papa with the cake. :)

Uncle Eric played some "car garage" with Holden in his room. They were very intent on their playing.

I love how this family shot turned out. Thank goodness for my timer!

After Holden's nap, we headed down the street to Jay's parents' house for dinner. His grandparents (Paul's parents) also came over. Here is our group shot. It turned out very well, considering that Holden woke up a holy terror from his nap!!!

You can see some of Holden's award-winning post nap personality in this shot. Ha! Four generations: Great Grandpa Schulz, Pepaw (in chair), Daddy, and Holden.

Action shot of Holden stealing Pepaw's hat. He always thinks that is hilarious.

I thought Great Grandpa, Aunt Ally, and Holden looked adorable swinging together!

Great Grandpa finally got Holden smiling by "catching him" while he was on the swing. :)

We decided to drive over to Ironwood Gardens, where Jay and I had our first little apartment together. They have ponds full of ducks and fish, so we took some bread to feed them. Holden held Great Grandpa's hand the whole way there.

Feeding the "quack quacks." (Can you guess who calls them that? No, not Jay.) :)

As usual, Jay and Allison maintained their loving, caring relationship.

Walking to the far pond.

Looking at the fish.

Father/Son shots

There were tons of catfish literally fighting over the bread. It was cool to watch.

We can't forget about the grandmas!

Or Aunt Allie.

Holden playing the "Where's Holden?" game. He covers his eyes and thinks that nobody can see him. It's cute.

Walking with Great Grandpa...

...and running with Daddy!

The ducks recognized us by the time we left. They made a huge line and swam over to see if we had more bread.

Allison spotted this frog hiding in the algae.

I couldn't believe how many ducks there were, or how friendly they were.

We ended the night with some rousing bowling games on the Wii. Holden loves to mock the adults.