Fallin' Into the Forest

After our morning of making pottery, we set off for a picnic at the forest with our friends Will and Krissa. Asher was excited to get outside, run, make noise and to meet up with his friend. It was a beautiful afternoon with temps near 80. We will soon forget nice weather like that, right?

The trees had started to change filling the Fontenelle Forest with beautiful colors. The smell of fall was in the air. The boys started with a picnic, followed by playing a long time at Acorn Acres, and we then had a little walk on the boardwalk. Before we knew it, we had to leave to get back to pick up the girls from school.

What a beautiful way to spend a fall afternoon. Let's do that again!

Going to the forest?
* Wear comfortable shoes
* Dress in layers. It is always cooler under the trees of the forest, but all the walking warms you up.
* Bring your camera to capture nature
* Bring snacks, drinks
* Pick up a trail map!
* Have Fun!

First Trip to Werner Park

Last night, on one of the hottest days of the year, Chris got us tickets to see the Storm Chasers at Werner Park in Papillion (thank you Courtney for your great blog on the Storm Chasers! What a positive influence you are! :) ). What a clean stadium! It seems small, but it works. We arrived just prior to game time, parking in the free parking zone. The free parking zone is just behind the $2 zone, so really, it is not that much more walking. And, it does not kill us to walk! We needed our $2 for all the sodas, ice cream cones, hotdogs, cotton candy and kids zone passes once inside. :)

We found our seats in section 107. Chris work has season labeled seats (how cool is that?!). They are pretty good ones, too. Chris and I tried to keep Addison and Asher interested in the game by having them pretend they were batting, swinging at the pitches. It seemed to work. It also distracted us from the sweat dripping down our faces, chests, legs, etc. We were soaked! It looked like we went swimming in our clothes, not to a baseball game. The smell of beer was overwhelming (okay, I do not drink...so perhaps I am more sensitive.).

As the Storm Chasers were getting blown away, the kids wanted to go to the Kid Zone. For $5 a child, they can jump in one of 3 bouncers (maybe 4), ride the carousel, or play on the gigantic rainbow play set. Addison and Asher played and played. Asher was beginning to look a little too hot, having a sweaty purplish tone to his face, his hair wet, he was just HOT! It was time for some cold ice cream and more to drink! It was Thirsty Thursday, with 12oz drinks for a $1. Thank Goodness! It was SO HOT! It was so hot that the ice cream fell off of the cone and I caught it on my chest, catching it before it fell to the ground. Asher did not mind as he continued to try and eat the cone before it melted. What a mess. (And, DO NOT eat the ice cream there. It does not taste like ice cream and has side effects of many bathroom trips. Just saying. Don't say I did not warn you).

We cleaned up and went back to our seats. The sun was now behind the stadium, offering a little less of a sweaty environment. It was not cool, but it was perhaps a little more tolerable. At about the 6th inning, Addison started whining. She did not look good. Too much heat maybe??!! We stayed until the 7th inning, hit the play zone again, then made our way out of the stadium. The Storm Chasers were sure to lose until they had a HUGE final inning rally.

Addison's favorites: The carrousel, the play zone in general, the ice cream cone and the baseball game (but only after Asher said it.
Asher's Favorites: The play zone, the base ball game, ice cream cone and the cotton candy.
My favorite: Thirsty Thursday with drinks $1. Too bad we did not realize this included soda until the 5th inning!
Chris' favorite: Sweating half his body weight in 20 minutes, hot dog and drinking endless supply of coke, and sitting watching the game instead of watching a computer monitor. :) We are so lucky he got us tickets! I asked...and he got them within a few days! Amazing!

Werner Park is right down highway 370 from our home. It is so close and convenient, that we were surely go again. Maybe next time we will select a milder temperature day. We all had a blast, ate too much, drank not enough, lost 1/2 our body weight in sweat...but it was so worth it! When can we go again?!

Going to Werner Park? Bring your money, a hat, sunscreen, a catchers glove to catch a crazy foul ball if you are so lucky...and have fun!

Riding off into the night...

Celebrating Summer

I had to top the College World Series? Really?

Thursday was the 1st official day of summer, so we had some fun summer things planned today. May as well still do them, right?

I called up our morning play date, and they were still a go for the forest. Yeah! The girls..."NO! WE DON'T WANT TO GO!!" Seriously? I would rather be at the ballgame! :)

We went to the Forest, since I am that mean of a Mom. We arrived and our friends arrived shortly there after. I'm going to put this out there, not happy that the forest does not allow guests on my pass anymore. I think that is total crap (sorry, no better word for it). I mean really, I pay for 3 kids and 2 adults. There were 4 kids and 2 adults today. They would not allow it. UGH! Whatever, guess we know where we will NOT be going to take friends from now on. But anyway...

...the dinosaurs are at the forest, again. Déjà vu anyone? We started at the Acorn Acres area, playing, getting wet and muddy after last nights rain. Krissa and I somehow convinced them to go on the boardwalk to look at the dinosaurs (I believe the goldfish crackers I brought may have saved us for utter meltdowns here). The kids RAN the boardwalk, maybe stopping at half of the dino exhibits. I may not know much, but I do know that kids typically stop and pay attention when they are interested. These dinos just really were not what these 4 kids wanted to see. At least they got some exercise, right?

Finally, we sat down for a picnic. It was nice, shaded, and the weather was perfect. The kids were quite full of energy...perfect way to bring in summer. Everyone seemed happy (after the morning...this came as a surprise).

We moved to the basement and upstairs exhibits before calling it a day. The kids were WILD! It was crazy! The Forest was quite busy, busier than I have ever saw it. We had fun, but it seemed like more work than fun this time. The exhibit upstairs was fun and interactive, and the kids seemed to enjoy that.

We found highway 75 to be closed (cows in the road?! Only in Nebraska), so we took our way home. Our afternoon play date now had other plans, so I quickly came up with something new to fill our afternoon. Asher was now at home, so we decided to roll out, frost and decorate our summer cookies from yesterday. We invited our friends over to help. The kids had a fun helping me roll out the dough, pressing in the cutters, and baking them. But, they had way more fun decorating them! You should have seen the piles of sugar on the floor (and in the cracks of my hated kitchen table!). Pippa, our dog, was in sugar heaven. My friend Krissa helped with the sugars while I frosted the cookies. And, just as I got our friends full of sugar, it was time for them to go home (Sorry, Krissa!).

It was a full day, full of fun and sugar!

Sugar anyone? At least they are cute!

Playground Hop

The kids love going to different playgrounds. Before we moved, we used to go to a new playground every week. Now, we do not get around that much. Really, everything is so far away! But, we still manage to get in playdates at different playgrounds, making the kids happy.

Thursday we had a playdate a Walnut Creek. The kids played and played in the sand. Yesterday we went to

Wildewood Park, 8000 Ralston Ave.

in Ralston. Asher brought a bunch of his trucks and played. We even had a picnic. Our friend brought water balloons for extra fun. Both of these parks have restrooms. You have to take your trash with you at Walnut Creek, where that is not the case at the Ralston parks. Walnut Creek is not protected by trees, so you much wear sunscreen and hats. It feels like you are sitting on the sun there. Where the Ralston parks seem to have mature trees and a place to get shade (although sunscreen is still needed, it is a much more comfortable playing environment).

Next week we will start our adventure for new playgrounds.

At Walnut Creek, Papillion.

Asher's friend Xander.

Asher's friend Keegan, who will be moving soon. I think this is a funny shot of Keegs!

All loaded up!

Looks like trouble!

Making sand pies, cupcakes and birthday cake for Xander.