More from the "Aquarium"

The new "aquarium" in town is turning out to be a well purchased family membership. Its centrally located between a lot of places we go. So when we need to kill some time, and going home wouldn't be worth it, the aquarium is a great place to spend 30-60 minutes.

Nathan has only been once. So since school got out early Friday, I chose to take him to the aquarium before it got too busy.

When you enter the "aquarium," you have to go through a room of animatronic dinosaurs. Ruthie is no longer fearful to enter. You have to admit, it's a weird thing for an "aquarium" to have. They even have a "dig site" where kids can dig for fossils. The kids asked to have their photo taken with this guy, he's one of the smaller dinos on display.

 

 

The girls like Izzy the lizard. This time he was outside, it was a nice day!

 

Faith is quickly becoming a crazy bird lady ;)

 

Nathan paniced when a bird landed on him. He spilled on all the nectar. The bird keeper was nice enough to not only refill it for us, but also help Nathan slowly adjust to holding the birds.

 

 

In the smaller bird cage, Nathan warmed up even faster.

And even Ruthie warmed up to the little birds!

 

 

This was her first time holding one - and enjoying it ;)

 

 

And Jonathan? He's still mesmerized by the birds. I put some more seeds on his tray so he could get a closer look. Jonathan has just recently discovered his hands... so in a week or two, putting seeds on his tray will not end well. But right now, he loves it. And so do the birds.

 

 

The kids fed the sting rays

 

And Nathan was the only one to listen and save some shrimp so he could feel the sharks, too ;)



Gymnastics

Yesterday, we joined some friends at a local gymnastics place that has a tots play time. They open up the whole floor for play. It was actually pretty cool, I think we'll go back one day. The girls had a great time! Although Ruth wasn't feeling 100%, so she laid low a lot. Next time we go, she'll love it all the more.

 

 

Playing in the giant "pool" of foam

 

Running and bouncing on the 20' long trampoline

 

Ruthie and her BFF

 

Trying out the uneven bars, and the rope

 

There was a balance beam and a little kid uneven bars too

 

The hour and a half play time disappeared in what felt like seconds.

Everyone had a great time.

The Man in the Mirror

Jonathan discovered himself in the mirror. He's just 3 months old here. In a month, he'll probably be much more interested in himself instead of being disctracted so easily by Mommy & Daddy's reflections ;)

 

He has the greatest smile ever!

 

And this reminds me of when Nathan discovered himself, at about 4.5 months.

And that calls for a flashback photo:

 

 

Whirlwind Trip to MI

My brother and his wife are expecting their first baby - yay for more cousins! Her parents were hosting a baby shower over Christmas weekend, and my mom and sister planend to go surprise them with a visit. The stars aligned and Jonathan & I were able to go to. 71 hours away from home, 21 of them spent in airports/on a plane with a 3 month old. It was a whirlwind trip to say the least. But it was worth it.

I a lot of mostly blurry photos while in MI... I was still learning my new lens. Ok, I'm still learning. But I think I'm a whole lot better at it than I was that weekend in MI ;)

Jonathan, ready for our big trip

 

SURPRISE, David! Your mother & sisters are here too ;)

 

David & Kristen got to meet Jonathan for the first time

 

So did Auntie M.

 

Dave & Kristen had a gender reveal, they gave the future grandparents gifts to open

 

It's a BOY!

 

Then there were some silly games (Melissa did a great job with fun games)

Kristen's crazy aunts sat with us, and kept us laughing!

Everyone needs a crazy aunt or two. My kids don't have one... so does that mean I AM the crazy aunt?!?

 

They got  lots of great baby gifts, and a small family gag gift that makes its round every year. I can't show you a photo, for security reasons. haha  But David got it last year, managed to get it again this year and since he thought he was being sneaky by slipping it in my luggage, he gets to get it AGAIN next year. bahahahahahaha  Kudos to our mom for giving it to him at a non-Christmas occassion - brillant!

 

But after the shower there were real presents to open.

David got a PetPetter, since he won't have time to pet his dogs once baby arrives.

He actually thought it was a real gift for a moment. haha  It was a gag box. But maybe a PetPetter would have been better than what I put inside that box?

 

A t-shirt. hahahaha, it's SOOO Dave! I was tickled when I saw it and had to get it for him. If you can't read it, it says, "WORLD'S GREATEST FARTER. I mean Father"

 

Mom gave som fynny gifts herself, a rifle plunger

 

And the grandmas-to-be laughed as they realized they got each other the same gift - a beautiful scarf :)

 

Gramma got the gift of baby snuggles

 

And Jonathan got a toy, too.

 

I think this photo is funny - Auntie M is playing with the baby's toy and the baby is interested in the big kid toys ;)

 

More baby snuggles for Gramma

And all her kids under one roof - if only for about 30 hours.

 

Jonathan was th elife of the party with his giggles and smiles

 

I like this photo too. I have another photo (somewhere) of Faith giving Aunt Kristen the same smile, they adore their Aunt Kristen

 

And Kristen's nieces adored Jonathan

 

But he wasn't always so sure of them. haha

 

 

One day, I get to show Jonathan that he once slept in a dresser drawer. haha  The hotel did not have pack-n-plays, and I didn't trust the bed. The drawer worked perfect (another brillant idea from Gramma)

 

About 50 hours after arriving in MI, it was time to leave. Bright and early at 4am. Ug.

 

I thought this statue was kind of cool at the airport. Thought the big kids would like it. But they weren't so worried about me being gone. They told Jacob that they wanted me to come home so I'd bring Jonathan. And they prayed each evening, thanking God that Jonathan's photo was on the fridge so they would remember what he looks like. Thanks kids. I love you too.

 

It was a whirlwind trip, but I'm so grateful I got to go.

Thank you, Jacob!