Dinosaur Journey

We all went to Fruita, CO (just past Grand Junction) to a Dinosaur Museum called Dinosaur Journey. The kids loved exploring and were really interested in the different animated dinosaurs throughout the museum. There was even one that spit water! They got to dig for fossils, control a robotic dinosaur, experience an earthquake simulator, make dinosaur tracks, and play in a water exhibit. Jackson was most concerned about the last animated dinosaur, which was a T-Rex eating a portion of another dinosaur . . . I think he asked me nearly 20 times why that dinosaur was eating the other one . . . it made quite the impression on him! Kinsey, as you can see, wasn't sure about any of the ones that moved, but she did like exploring and was constantly saying "dinosaur".

Denver Zoo

We LOVE going to the zoo . . . but we thought it would be fun to do something different. So we were all set to go visit Denver Aquarium on Tuesday morning, but at the last minute, Jackson said, "We are going to go see ALL the animals, right?". Since the weather was beautiful and he really wanted to see more than just what was at the aquarium, we made a last minute change and went to the Denver Zoo.

Jackson's favorites were the bats and the gorillas. I'm not sure why the bats, but the gorillas were certainly because the 2 in the exhibit together were play wrestling and really active! Kinsey's favorite was the giraffes! It was the perfect outing, as they both slept nearly all the of 3+ hours over the mountains to Dave's parents house in Parachute.

Gone West!

We leave for Colorado tomorrow after church (9/13). It has been 4 years since we have gone out that way . . . having kids has hindered our long travels. But we are excited to go back West and share the beauty of it all with the kids. Hoping to picnic and hike at Rifle State Park and go up the cable cars to the top of a moutain in Glenwood Springs and take the kids in the Fairy Caves. And most importantly for them to visit and play with their family! Check back after the 21st for pictures and updates on our trip!

Jackson's 1st Day at Sonshine School

Jackson had his first day of Sonshine School today. It was really more of a quick orientation, meet the teachers, etc. But since we will be gone visiting Dave's family in CO next week, his first real day, we took our "first day" picture today! He was really excited to go! In fact, he asked me at breakfast, "Mommy, will you just take me and I can stay by myself?" Normally, Dave will take him and we won't all go along, but he was already ready for that today! Can he really be this big already?!

Early Signs of Fall . . . Apples!

My parents have a couple apple trees in their yard and the kids LOVE to help pick the apples and taste them : ) They helped Papa pick some while we were there over Labor Day and even ate a few themselves!

It just isn't Labor Day without . . . .

A trip to the Pana Tri-County Fair . . .
Jackson loved getting to ride a few rides at the fair and getting to eat some fair food, of course. He especially enjoyed the corn dog and the snow cone. Kinsey loved the carousel too!

And the Pana Labor Day Parade . . .

Both the kids loved watching the parade and picking up all the candy. And eating their way through the parade : )

My Growing Belly: 20 Weeks

Baby #3 is sure growing . . . as you can see! Hard to believe how quickly you show with each baby . . . when I was pregnant with Jackson, I was just now starting to wear maternity clothes. Gee, how things change! I was so good with Jackson and Kinsey about having my picture taken starting at 20 weeks and then every 4 weeks following until the end . . . so I want to try to be as good with this last one! Don't want her to feel neglected : )

Now we just have to find a name for her . . . it may be a while before we come up with one. Jackson was my maiden name, Kinsey is my grandmother's maiden name, so we want this baby to have a special family name too, but also something a little different. So the search begins! Good thing we still have several months!!

We'll keep you posted as things (she) continues to grow!

20 Weeks Ultrasound . . . It's a Girl!

Pictures from our 20 week ultrasound from this afternoon . . . obviously it was a Baby Girl! Jackson was a little bummed, but has determined that it is ok because we'll just have to have another baby and it will be a boy! The one on the right is the profile picture. And then the bottom 2 are a couple 4D ones. I guess their machine can switch back and forth, so she switched over to 4D for a couple of shots. The jury is still out for me on if this is creapy or neat that you can see such detail! The face picture is a little alien-ish still. And the one on the right is the knee and leg, the arrow is pointing to her hand which is somehow has reached clear under her leg! The baby looked great measuring just 2 days ahead and weighing about 12 oz. Her heartbeat, which we got to hear, was 145-155 range, which is really good! The only issue of prayer and concern right now is that my placenta is completely covering my cervix right now, so we are praying that it will move up as the baby grows so that I don't have to have a C-section. Hopefully I will post a 20 week picture of me later tonight!

Cardinal's Game

We were blessed to be able to go to another Cardinal's game Friday night versus the Washington Nationals in the Redbird Club (thanks Papa for sharing your tickets). It was a GREAT game and turned out to be a perfect night. There was a threat of rain and it did sprinkle on us as we drove to the stadium, but once we got out at the parking lot it stopped! It was Smoltz's first home debut and he did a great job, making it through 6 innings! Greene hit a homerun to tie it up at 2-2 and then Albert hit a walk-off homerun to win the game! We had a GREAT time and enjoyed an exciting game : )

Enjoying the Weather . . .

The first couple of days this week were unusual for August in Illinois. But we enjoyed them, turned off the A/C, opened the windows, and played outside!! Here are a few pictures of the kids enjoying our backyard and swingset!


Also, a few videos of Kinsey "singing" for you! She loves to sing, of course she doesn't quite get all the words yet, but she does love being the center of attention and putting on a show : ) Wonder where she got that from?! For your listening pleasure: Apples and Bananas, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and This Little Light of Mine (aka Shine, Shine, Shine).

Balloon Fest 2009

My parents, my sister and her family came to visit us to spend Friday and Saturday celebrating my mom's birthday and to enjoy the Balloon Fest. Unfortunately, the windy weather kept the hot air balloons from blowing up, taking off or doing the glow. So it was pretty much a bust . . . though we still had a fun weekend. However, I was not satisfied to have the Balloon Fest just down the road from us and not get to see any hot air balloons (well, more than just the one that they tried to blow up on Friday night). So we went back on Sunday evening to watch them set up the balloons and do their final Balloon Race. It was so beautiful . . . I am so glad we decided to go back!

My Front Porch Band

Jackson, Kinsey and their friend Kiley had fun rocking out on our front porch "stage" yesterday morning. Enjoy this video!

(PS. Grammy and Papa, our neighbors say "thanks" for Jackson's new "flute"! Just kidding!)

Our Day at the Zoo . . .

Here is a quick overview in pictures of our day at the St. Louis Zoo yesterday. I tried to especially highlight the things each of the kids liked best . . . Jackson really loved playing in the Children's Zoo in the water (probably his favorite part of the day, especially since he watched Kung Fu Panda on the way and was trying out his moves). He also really liked watching the sea lion show and seeing the penguins, giraffes, and riding the train. Kinsey really loved riding the train (definitely her favorite part). She also really liked watching the sea lion show and seeing the penguins, fish, giraffes and elephants. We had a great day with friends!

Scovill Zoo with Jen & Evan

We got to meet Jen (my roommate from LCC) and her little boy Evan (almost 2) while they were still here from FL. We met up at Scovill Zoo in Decatur. Jackson loved petting and feeding all the little baby goats in the petting zoo area. Kinsey, on the other hand, wouldn't even let me set her down to walk through the petting area. Though she did like peeking at the alligators. Jackson and Evan both had fun peeking through the picture face holes and just walking around the zoo following each other. It was great to visit and catch up with them!

Diving In . . .

Here is a little video of Jackson diving in this morning . . . I love that he has gotten so brave in the water. Now to teach him to be brave without all the floaties : ) Guess that will be a lesson for next summer!