Ready for 3rd Grade

Monday marked the first day of 3rd grade.  We've enjoyed our summer together, but both Bailey and I agreed that we were ready for school to start and the learning and daily routine to begin.  She's already been talking to some of the kids at the daycare who are older than her and have told her about all the homework she is going to get.  Last Thursday we were able to meet Bailey's teacher, Mrs. Olson, at Van Allen's Open House.  My first impression was that it is going to be another great year.  Mrs. Olson has already sent a couple notes home explaning how she is really going to be working with the kids this year on personal responsibility.  That is music to this mother's ears.  Bailey continues to love reading chapter books.  Her favorite series is Katie Kazoo.  She has the same love/hate relationship with math that her mother did. Although the other day when I asked her what the best part of the day was, she said 'you're going to think I'm crazy Mom, but it was math'.  Yet another sign of a great start to the school year. 

Saint Louie Louie

In high school band, I loved playing the song 'Louie Louie'.  My love for visiting Saint Louis has grown just as fond.  With the city only 3 hours from Mount Pleasant, Bailey and I took another weekend trip this summer to enjoy some of the sights.  One of these years we might get up to The Arch, but with Bailey claiming she is petrified of heights, I thought it safer to stay on ground again this year.  Other than the occassional ride at Six Flags that took us high in the sky (the picture to the right is just before taking off on the ferris wheel), we enjoyed riding the lazy river at Hurricane Harbor, seeing almost all the animals at the zoo and spending a couple hours at The Science Center.  It was a fun little getaway just before the start of the school year.

These little red pandas look like stuffed animals.  We watched this little guy and his buddy play for 30 minutes.

If you ever get to the Saint Louis Zoo, you have to see the sea lion show.  It is great entertainment.  Robby and RJ were actually born at the zoo and are very funny and talented.

We did make a stop at the Build a Bear store at the zoo and Bailey chose a puffin just like those at the penguin and puffin exhibit.  This exhibit was a nice break from the heat since it was 40 degrees inside.

Our first stop at the zoo was to pet the stingless stingrays.  The first hour in this area was free so yet another lesson that getting to places early can pay off.  Stingrays are very smooth and little slimey.

Our final stop of the day, and what has been one of our favorite exhibits the last 2 times we've gone to the zoo, are the hippos.  This huge hippo tank has about 4 hippos that swim by you and they will also peek their eyes above the water which is fun to watch.

This is Bailey's impersonation of the mechanical dinosaur in the background at The Science Center.

This picture says it all in how much fun we had once again at Saint Louis.

Nephew's Birthdays

Summer 2010 has been filled with lots of family get-togethers.  A couple of those were to celebrate the birthdays of the special little guys in our lives, Austin and Graham.  We celebrated Graham's 1st birthday in Des Moines on June 19th.  As first birthdays go, he took in all the people and new toys to play with.  And also enjoyed his own piece of birthday cake.  A couple weeks later, we gathered again in Cedar Rapids on July 4th to celebrate Austin's 3rd birthday.  When we pulled up, he was giving sister Alli a ride on his new woo-woo (4-wheeler).  This kid is all boy with his love of things that go and spending lots of time outdoors.

Graham's Birthday Cake (Dirt Cake)

Animal cupcakes for the kids

Austin's Cake

Fun kid photos

Vaca in Omaha

This summer Bailey and I decided to take some weekend trips a little closer to home for our summer vacation(s).  I have wanted to take her back to the Omaha Zoo for a couple years now since she was only 1 year old when we went the last time in 2003 and she slept most of the time.  Our trip back did not disappoint us (despite trying to find the monkey house for an hour, only to find out that it had to be closed and the monkies reassigned to another area of the zoo because they were being naughty).  Since we did not get to some of the exhibits, the Omaha Zoo has to go on our 2011 summer schedule so we can go back and revisit the penguins, walk through the rainforest again and check out the Madagascar exhibit.  Maybe I'll get her to ride the Skyfari next time too.  We also went to the Omaha Children's Museum and had a lot of fun in their science exhibit area.  We've been to a number of children's museums throughout the years, but this time was the first time we did not spend the entire day at the exhibits.  Could this be a sign my child is growing up?  I'm afraid so.  In a couple of weeks we are planning another weekend trip down to Saint Louis with lots of fun in store as well.

1st stop: Penguins in Scott Aquarium--We spent almost an hour watching the penguins, but easily could have spent the entire day there.

Bailey spent about 45 minutes watching the penguins swim underwater and getting nose to nose with them.

See the shark in the background

Bailey with her new friend, Omaha

I usually don't want just animals in my pictures so I ask Bailey to pose with the animals in the background.  She's a good sport about this and plays along with me on this simple request when we visit zoos.

Yes, Bailey has blue lips.  No, it was not cold in the rainforest.  We had stopped for an ice cream treat prior to going to Lied Rainforest.

Omaha Children's Museum

This was a pretty amazing set up where kids could load plastic balls into different areas of the contraption.  They collected in the ball drop area and then a siren went off and the balls fell out.

And they all fall down.

Last stop before heading home.

Science Center of Iowa

On June 18th, Bailey and I were Adventureland-bound.  However sirens about 10 miles from Altoona alerted us to a high wind advisory of 70 mph winds which caused us to detour at a Kum n Go station.  After checking the weather forecast for the rest of the day, showers throughout the day did not seem like an enjoyable time at the amusement park.  Instead we spent the day inside with Hope and Graham at the Science Center of Iowa in downtown Des Moines.  I had wanted to visit this at some point in our travels to Des Moines so this worked out great.  We will return again to check out the exhibits we didn't have time to play at and also play at some of our favorite stations.

Fun with air and a beach ball

The weather forecast station had a green screen with green pieces of fabric for the kids to have fun with.  Bailey's dramatic flair definitely came out as she reported the weather forecast.  WHO-TV does broadcast the weather from this location occasionally, but that day they did not.

We scored 2/5 (slightly cracked) on the gigantic egg drop both times we attempted to create a protective case.

We created a paper rocket and then blasted it off to see how far it would go.  (I had to put my Physics knowledge from back in high school to work on this one).

Huge vats of soap and water provided fun with bubbles

Fun With The Seegers Cousins

A couple weeks ago we made a stop at Heath and Amy's house on our way up to Maynard.  The kids had fun riding bikes (Lauren and Alli can now ride without training wheels).  We'll be spending more time with the Seegers cousins this weekend to celebrate Austin's 3rd birthday.

Austin finds a centipede to torment in the torn up driveway

Here comes Lauren

Here comes Bailey

Here comes Alli

Here comes Austin

Miss Kate at 4 weeks old

2nd Grade Highlights

Today marks Bailey's last day of 2nd grade.  It's been another great year!  Here are some of the school highlights throughout the past 9 months.

1st Day of 2nd Grade

Last Day of 2nd Grade

Mount Pleasant Art Show

More artwork

Ready for the music program

Field Day