Cousins

Daniel and I spent a great weekend in Missouri with Zach's brother, Lee, his wife, Cass, and their two munchkins, Corinne (18 months) and Davis (6 months). Dan had a great time getting to know his cousins and he especially loved playing with Corinne. It was pretty funny watching the two of them interact. Corinne is tall and skinny, but she can sure lay out a textbook open field tackle when she feels like it. And Dan just loved to get a handful of her curls whenever the opportunity arose. Davis was just along for the ride most of the time, chilling and taking in all the action from a safe distance away.

On Saturday, we went to the Butterfly House, a cool greenhouse with thousands of butterflies. We also took a ride on a 100-year-old carousel in the same park area. It felt a little like Hawaii in the greenhouse--hot and muggy with beautiful tropical flowers. The rest of the day was spent back at home, exploring new toys and trying to climb the stairs. Dan is definitely fearless!




There was a storm in the middle of the night Saturday night and it must've broken the heat wave because the weather on Sunday was gorgeous--not humid, mid-80s, sunny. Definitely not typical summer weather for the Midwest. We splashed around in the inflatable pool and Dan had his first turn on the swingset. He laughed and laughed the whole time. I know one thing that we'll be saving money for when we have a yard in North Carolina!

Between naps and meals and moods of three kids, we managed to find a lot of time to just play and play. Daniel loves anything with wheels--cars, trains, shopping carts, etc. Even if a toy doesn't have wheels, he'll push it along the ground anyway, just in case it might roll somehow. My little man is all boy, that's for sure!







Thank you so much, Lee and Cass, for a great weekend! I know it probably wasn't the most relaxing for you guys, adding an extra little body to the mix, but we were so glad to finally get a chance to see you all. Next time, Zach will be there and then the real fun will begin!

Video of the cousins attempting to sit still for a photo shoot (Davis is being such a chill little buddy that you might not even notice him because the other two are up to their normal shenanigans):

Update coming!

What a great weekend in Chesterfield! Daniel met his cousins, Corinne and Davis, for the first time, and I had a chance to catch up with Lee and Cass. When I get my laptop up and running in Buffalo, I have a lot of pictures and video to upload, but for now, check out Lee and Cass' blog, Rashman Kids (link on the right)!

Just a few more hours until we're in the Land of the Seven Grannies!

A boy and his cow

We saw this adorable cow push toy in a children's store a couple of weeks ago, but we decided to hold off since Dan is perfectly happy rolling golf balls around anyway. But when Aunt came to visit and we went back to the store, she just had to get it for the little man! And he absolutely loves his new cow friend. It has great rolling wheels, a leather body, and horns that are springy (kind of like a doorstop). When he gets a little bigger, he'll be able to ride on it, but for now he's content to push it all around the house. Thanks, Aunt!

Happy Father's Day!

I was really hoping that Zach would call today so that Daniel and I could wish him a Happy Father's Day, but I haven't heard from him yet. There's still time, but I sent him an email, just in case I don't get a call. We missed him today but we managed to have a good time with my dad, on his first Father's Day as a Grandpa.

We went to church then out to lunch at a Mongolian BBQ place (probably very authentic, Mongolian in Wichita, but it was delicious anyway). Daniel was one tired little buddy because he stayed up too late, playing at my aunt and uncle's last night with my cousins while we went to a wedding and reception. He had a great time and so did we!


Happy Father's Day, Daddy! We miss you and can't wait to see you in just a few weeks!

The Zoo!

After all that wildlife on the farm, it was time to take Daniel to see some truly exotic animals. So we headed to Sedgwick County Zoo, "a nationally renowned zoo that is the 18th largest in the US and the state's most popular tourist attraction." (The world's largest ball of twine is going to get jealous.)

We had a great time, even though it was approximately 150 degrees. No, not that hot, but I've become accustomed to temperatures that stay in the 70s and 80s, so I was a little toasty. We saw giraffes and elephants and tigers and monkeys and snakes and pretty much every other kind of cool animal that you can imagine.

The petting zoo was pretty cool. They had different areas: Asian Farm, American Farm, and African Farm. Each one had little food pellets that we bought for 25 cents and then fed to the animals. Mom made the mistake of going to the food pellet station inside the fence, so all the goats swarmed her and she couldn't even get the food out without wedging her body against the machine to block the greedy goats. It was quite humorous to the rest of us, not so much to Mom.






After having some beets for lunch:

Today we're planning a little shopping. Aunt and Grandma came up from Oklahoma and Aunt's favorite activity is shopping so I'm happy to oblige. I'm looking for a homecoming dress--even though Zach probably won't even notice me since he'll go straight for the baby. But at least I'll look good in pictures!

Speaking of Zach....

He called today! He hadn't been able to call for almost 4 weeks, so it was great to hear his voice. He mostly just wanted to talk about Daniel--what's he eating, how he's sleeping, what's he doing, what sounds is he making, etc. When I asked him how Afghanistan was, he said, "Indescribably terrible." So I left it at that! Needless to say, he's very excited to come home next month!

NC House update

Here are a couple of pictures of the new house! Siding should be going on next. We (okay, I) picked a color called Ivy for the exterior--it's a light green, so it should look really good with the white trim. I've also picked carpet for the bedrooms, tile for the bathrooms, wood floor for the main living areas, granite and cabinets for the kitchen, and the porch railing style. Whew! All that's left now is interior paint colors.


In other exciting news, I received a general timeframe for when Zach will be home! Because of operational security concerns, I don't know the exact date and I can't really even say the date range, but let's just say that the end is definitely in sight! (And if you were planning on sending a care package, please send it before June 19. If you send it after that, it will probably just get re-routed back to Hawaii.)