Daycare Picnic

Our first day back in Omaha marked the "Graduation celebration" and picnic for the kids from Zoa's daycare. The kids all sang songs and performed a couple dances as well. Zoa participated a little more than last year, but still was not too keen on performing in front of the parents. She either stood next to the rest of the kids, but did not sing or dance, or she stood by us. By the last number, she had warmed up a bit and started dancing around. The picnic concluded with a water balloon fight, which was definitely Zoa's favorite part. We are hoping that by next year she will be willing to participate more.

Here is Zoa plugging her ears while the rest of the kids sang. I guess she was not impressed with their vocal talent. Notice the Elmo party hat she insisted upon wearing to the picnic. I guess this was our fault for calling it a party.
















Zoa took this picture of the other kids performing. Notice her finger in the corner
















Free for all at the bucket of water balloons.

Mad Trip to Madtown

We have just recently recovered from a busy trip to Madison and surrounding areas. We visited family and friends and said good-bye to Great-Grandma's farm. We did not do a very good jobs as photographers this trip, so unfortunately not all our visits are documented here. Zoa enjoyed visits with Grandpa, Great-Grandma, Nana, Papa, Grandma Jan, Grandpa Fuzzy, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Jen, Uncle Don, Aunt Sara, Cousin Mackenzie, Aunt Steph, Uncle Steve, Cousin Nora, Great-aunt Deb and that is just the family!

Zoa really enjoyed her last days at the farm. They were filled with games of Pooh Sticks at the creek, riding Max's Power Wheels, swinging, climbing hay bales, and riding on the tractor with Grandpa.

Here some highlights of the trip.

Feeding cousin Mackenzie. I think that Zoa enjoyed this more than Mackenzie as at one point Zoa used both hands to shove the bottle down Mackenzie's throat. Don't worry, she is fine!
















Hay bale climbing at Great-Grandma's farm. Good fun!




















Playing dominoes with Aunt Jen on the farm. They were making flowers out of them.
















Cheering on Grandpa and Bill at Paddle and Portage.




















Playing with Liam in his bedroom. We visited with Ceri, Glenn, Liam and brand-new baby Amalia (She is beautiful.). I asked Zoa if she was interested in holding Amalia's hand or foot, and she just responded, "No. I'm not interested." Liam was much more fun!
















Jumping on Grandpa's neighbors' (Amy, Greg, Maggie & Sam) trampoline. Zoa said this was her favorite part of the trip.

4th of July Fun

We are in Wisconsin now, so we will post the highlights of our trip when we return. I had uploaded some photos for a post about the 4th, but I never actually wrote one. So, here they are. We spent our holiday at home in Independence City (Ralston, NE). We hit all the small town highlights like the all town picnic, the parade and the fireworks display. Zoa absolutely loved the parade. There is nothing better than marching bands and clowns who throw candy. My personal fave was the Star Wars float. Although, we were a little dismayed that rebel fighters were marching side by side with storm troopers and the Imperial Guard

Summer is finally here...

Here are a few photos from the last few weeks. Most were taken at the zoo where we celebrated my birthday. It was a perfect day, except for Zoa's intermittent temper tantrums.