Indianapolis Zoo

What was supposed to be a "family" trip with our friends the Brinsons....ended up like any other "activity" day. Amanda, Natalie, Lane and me! The daddy's both had to work at the last minute!! BOO!!!!

Nevertheless, we had an excellent time! Lane was fascinated with the swimming animals like the polar bear or walrus and even the little fish amazed him. I can't even begin to count the number of times I heard, "WHOA!!!!" or "Mommy..Mommy...WHOA!!!!"

We watched an elephant take a bath and was able to feed a giraffe. We sat through a nice dolphin show. (Let's be honest, after you've been to Sea World's dolphin show....everything else suffers by comparison) We did get a walrus to wave to us which was exciting b/c I didn't know they could do that.

Lane rode a pony all by himself. I asked if he wanted me to walk with him and I got a very firm and loud, "NO!". He is very independent and I am quickly learning that he is not, in any way, my baby boy anymore.

He tackled a goat when he was only supposed to pet it. But it was as little as Raider and had dark hair, so in his defense, it could have been a very stinky dog with horns ... he was just too excited to know the difference.

His absolute favorite exhibit was two brown bears playing in a little pond. He laughed until he got the hiccups. (Like mommy, like son) I literally had to bribe him with a train ride to get him to leave the bears. They were very very cute.

All in all, we had a great day! And we drove by the Colts stadium....can't wait for the fall!! I might become a Colts fan after all. :)

Much love,

Nikki

Our many blessings

Sometimes I have to take a step back and wonder why I have the blessings I have. I've said it many times before but there is no other explanation. God is 100% in control of my life and it is such a blessing b/c I would have made such a MESS of it otherwise! Justin and Lane give me more joy than I could have ever imagined possible. This weekend was absolute JOY!

We took up a new hobby this weekend. Biking!! We bought all the necessary equipment, except Lane's helmet (working on that) and took off without really knowing what to expect. First time out, we went a little too hard. My back side is still feeling the aftermath of our little adventure!

Lane loved every minute of it. He is such a trooper....nothing phases him. If I want to go shopping all day...he laughs when we enter the 100th store. Or if I want to try on 20 pairs of jeans....he laughs b/c the mirror shows his reflection. "Look Mommy - Belly Button!" If it is 90 degrees outside and the humidity is 100%....he laughs at the sweat rolling off his nose! I don't know where this child got his love for life but, WOW, he loves EVERYTHING! Justin is the same way when I think about it. Not too much effects Justin negatively. I have a lot to learn from both of them. ;)

Our first bike ride took us about 4 miles to a park on top of a VERY large hill!!! Overall, the ride was wonderful and I didn't have to work out that afternoon! (More like I "couldn't" work out) My rest was letting Lane play on the playground. I had to catch my breath...there are a lot if hills around here.

To cool off, we pulled out Lane's swimming pool. It was really hot this weekend, if you couldn't tell from Justin's shirt. Lane played for another hour in his pool before I put him down for a nap. Mommy need a break! Basically, our weekend was full of fun, fun, FUN!!!

And no, I didn't forget Father's Day. It was just more of the same....we love our bikes and swimming pool!!

So many celebrations!!

June will always be such a busy month for celebrations!

Justin and I celebrated fours years of wedded bliss on the fourth. Justin marked 28 years on the seventh and in just a few days we will celebrate what a wonderful father Lane has!!

Justin and I went out for our anniversary to the best steak restaurant we have ever been to. Personally, I would much rather enjoy a piece of fish than steak but I did order steak and am happy to say it is the BEST steak I've ever had!! Justin was in heaven with his big, pink chunk of meat!! (EWWWW) It was so nice to be able to go out, just the two of us, and not worry about Lane or rather chase Lane.

We didn't do an outing for Justin's birthday b/c he was working but Lane did manage to squeeze in his gift before breakfast. Lane loves books, any and all books. So we found "Daddy and I" which is the perfect book for any little boy to give to his daddy. It's about the adventures a daddy and little boy experience together and how much it means to the little boy to spend time with his daddy. Justin loved his present from his little guy!

Lane adores Justin in every way. He runs to greet him when he comes home from work and follows him around the rest of the night. He even pushes his mower around when Daddy is mowing the grass. They now have "chat" time before dinner. I love watching the two of them together, they really have a unique bond. My cup is truly overflowing!!

Lane did manage to squeeze in a new toy this week....like he needs anything else. This one actually has it's own spot in the garage!! A MOTORCYCLE!!!! :) I never thought we would find a toy to replace the loyalty and love he had for his red car but the motorcycle is proving to be a close second!! You know what we will be doing the rest of the summer.... :)

Hope everyone has a great week!!!

Much love,

Nikki

Beautiful weather

The sun is finally shining and we LOVE it!! Winter was waaaayyy too long and the rain over-stayed its welcome but now it finally feels like summer and we couldn't be happier!! Lane loves to run through the sprinkler. This weekend was actually the first time it was warm enough to even think about letting him get wet outside. We've had the Finding Nemo sprinkler for weeks and Lane just looked at it....never getting to play with it, until NOW!!

We decided to continue to enjoy the wonderful weather and take Lane for a little nature walk. We have a beautiful State Nature's Reserve by our house and you can walk around the pond and through the woods. Most people fish but the water looked a little stale to be fishing...Anyway, Lane loved the walk. Raider got to join us, Averi stayed home because he can't be nice in public. Lane and Raider chased the birds and picked up everything in sight. We topped everything off with a picnic!!

Lane took his first stab at finger painting. I was very impressed with how neat and clean he kept it until I stepped in. He needed just a little encouragement to get his hands dirty but once they were - LOOK OUT!! He had it on his face, in his ears, hair and even up the nose. We blew blue snot for a while. (I know... TMI but it is just too funny) In the end we made a special picture for Daddy's office and another for his playroom. Not bad for his first try....

Hope you all have a great week!!

Much love,

Nikki