Omaha Zoo

We went to the Omaha Zoo a couple weekends ago. We finally had a weekend open and we hadn't been there yet this year. We had beautiful weather! It was just cool enough that the animals were active and just warm enough that it was comfortable to do the outside as well as the inside exhibits. The kids love this zoo! We played in the farm area where you can touch the animals for a long time. We tried to get Caleb to recreate a picture from when he was 2 where he kissed a goat. This time he was older and thought we were ridiculous! Abby could have brushed and petted the pregnant goat by her in the picture all day. Bryce got a little surprise when the donkey tried to get him.
We did a lot of the inside stuff in the morning and then headed outside to the outside exhibits later in the afternoon. We finished up the zoo day with the Jungle (which is everyone's favorite) and the Aquarium (which we all love but is always too busy to really enjoy).
Since we were in Omaha for the day, Robb and I decided to chance it and eat at one of our favorite restaurants even though  I wouldn't consider it to be incredible kid friendly. We ate at PF Changs and the kids did great! It probably helped that they were so tired from the zoo they didn't have enough energy to be naughty. We had to make quick stop at the shoe store so I could return something and then we headed home. It was a quiet drive home with 3 sleeping kiddos.

Mud Run

 This post is really out of order. But, in my attempt to catch up on blogging things may get a little jumbled. I figured this better make it into the blog so there is proof I actually did it. Steph approached me about doing a 5K mud run a couple months ago and I agreed that it would be fun. I figured I had plenty of time to train and be ready. Of course, I didn't use my training time wisely and was rushing to get some miles in the couple weeks before. We had a team of 7 girls. Some were friends of mine and some were friends of Steph's. It was quite the atmosphere when we got there. I have never seen so many clever phrases on t-shirts in my life. Some teams went as far as to wear tutus and wings while they ran.
It was an experience That's for Sure! It was like running in a pasture with small tress and lots of bumps. The running was a little more brutal than I had thought it would be and it didn't help that I didn't really train much. There was sections of running broke up by obstacle courses. The obstacles were muddy messes. Steph and I were troopers and decided it didn't make much sense to do a mud fun if you were going to skip the obstacles. So in we went. I have never been so dirty in my entire life! All in all a fun time! I know it's not a very long run but it felt good to say I did a 5K.

Teacher Conferences

We had teacher conferences the first week in October. I will admit I was pretty nervous to see what the teacher had to say. She started out by saying "well we have a problem" luckily it was just that we got our picture money mixed up with our fundraiser money. I was worried she meant the boys were a problem!
Mrs. Martin said the boys were very well behaved (whose children was she talking about?) and they were doing very well adjusting to school. They had been tested to figure out what reading groups they would be put in. To figure this out she showed them all the letters (capital and lower case) and they had to tell her what letter. She also showed them the letters and asked them to tell her the sound that they made. They also had to rhyme words and tell her what letter words started with. They both did pretty well and already have their own strengths and weaknesses.
Bryce identified all the letter but a couple. He also was able to tell her the sounds of most of the letters and if he couldn't remember the sound, she said he remembered the alpha friends rhyme and could then guess it. He got 3 out of the 4 for rhyming and 3/4 for guessing the beginning sounds.  Bryce is learning an amazing amount everyday and has even been able to identify and write some new sight words. He also enjoys the math worksheets that they bring home a couple times a week. She said he is very confident in the classroom, makes friends easily and is very outgoing.
Caleb identified most of the letters also and we just had a short list of letters that he either had trouble identifying the capital or lower case. He had trouble with the letter sounds which we have been working on. He also got 3/4 for rhyming and 3/4 for beginning sounds. Mrs. Martin said that it seemed like he was starting to feel more comfortable in the classroom and even on days where he cries when I drop him off, he is fine by the time he gets to the classroom. He really enjoys the "specials" such as computer, art, music, library and wellness class. I can tell that he likes music a lot because he comes home humming and singing new songs all the time.
It was a relief to find out that they were both doing a good job in school. Their teacher is very nice and you can tell she loves her job! She showed us some of the ways that she teachers different  phonics and math skills and she is very creativ,e which keeps things fun for the kids. Well, we made it through our first 2 months of school. It hasn't been completely painless but hopefully it will just get easier from here.

Football Season

Our little line backer

 Its that time of year again. Football Season! I will admit that I dont' really like to watch football, I do like the atmosphere. Cool days, neighbor parties with yummy snacks and cute kids yelling GO BIG RED at the TV constantly during the games. The kids were excited for the first game because grandma and grandpa were going to come over and watch the game with us. Little did they know Grandma and Grandpa had a surprise for them at the last minute. They had got tickets and they wanted to take the boys to their first Husker game. The boys were so excited! I was a little nervous that they wouldn't be good or they wouldn't sit the whole time but they did great! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the great experience!

Future Cheerleader

Quarterback?

Running out to the car to meet Grandpa. They couldn't wait to go to the game.

The randomly ended up seeing Robb's twin cousins there. The cute twin twin picture.

Apple Orchard

 I'm kinda behind  on blogging again! We went to the Apple Orchard by Ceresco about a month ago. I have been wanting to go to pick apples for a couple years now and we have never got the chance to go. The day we had planned to go was cloudy and rainy but we decided that it was our only chance to go so we gave it a try. It was cool out but we didn't get rained on. The Honey Crisp apples were supposed to be ready which was the kind we were after. (Honey Crisp are Robb's favorite). Each of the kids picked a bag full of apples and ate a couple on the way. It was a small farm but they had some fun things for the kids to do. They had a tire mountain to climb, little paths to follow, a tire swing, and a dog that Abby and Bryce loved. It was a fun family outing and we got some yummy apples to eat for the next month.

Peanut Scare

We have known since Caleb was 2 that he had a peanut allergy, but mostly just from having allergy testing done on him. He hasn't really ever had a reaction other than vomiting and that was when he was pretty little. Until now. He gave us a scare the other night. I had bought some cookies from Eileen's bakery as a treat for a no cry day at school. He had one of the M&M cookies after school and was fine. I was at work later that night when I got a call from Robb saying that there was a problem.
Caleb had eaten one of the cookies as a bedtime snack and immediately started coughing and couldn't stop. He ended up vomiting and when Robb got him calmed down a bit he noticed that he had bumps on his tongue. Robb opted to not give the epi pen and instead took Caleb to the ER. Luckily I was working with really nice people that night that were willing to take over for me so I could leave. Not to mention Tasha was the charge nurse and when I said it was fine I could stay, she said I should go. I meet them at the ER and by that time he was doing better but was pretty shook up about the entire ordeal.
They decided he was doing well enough that he didn't need his Epi pen but they did give him a dose of Benadryl and then we had to stay for 3 hours while they watched him. It was a LONG evening. Luckily he handled it very well but it was a terrifying experience for us. We have been pretty lax about what he can and can't eat the last couple years and this made us rethink that a bit.