Snakes and Snails...Well, just mainly snakes!

Each week this summer our library has brought in a special guest. (We've only been able to go to the last two, but they've been great!) Last week was a science show--cool chemistry and physics that kids can get into--that kind of stuff. This week there the play bill listed "Reptile Show." Cool. Christian loves reptiles! It didn't disappoint either!

The guest was a herpatologist by the name of Jeff Nieves. This man knew his reptiles and was a real-life Jeff Corwin or Crocodile Hunter. He told us about his trip to study and photograph komodo dragons (and he got up close and personal with them...along with scorpions and 18 inch centipedes too! Yikes!). And, to top it all off, he was a fabulous presenter! (See photos below of some of the faces he was making while holding a white rat snake--can you imagine how he was talking??)



Mr. (Dr.?) Nieves also brought along an alligator snapping turtle, a fairly large monitor lizard (see below of him grinning at it...and is it smiling back??), a baby python, a vine snake, and....

Last, but not least, meet Sampson. Sampson is a 70 pound albino anaconda. CRAZY huge reptile. Christian was in heaven. He came over to me afterwards (b/c I was sitting in the back with the other adults) and made sure I got lots' of cool pictures. Emily was a different story. She liked the non-snake reptiles and the pictures he showed. Once the snakes came out though, she was back with the grown-ups and on my lap. Kari thought it was all pretty cool...as long as my supply of pretzels and animal crackers didn't run out!

This guy has loved reptiles since he was 8 yrs old and is a very accomplished scientist. He really emphasized that he began to nurture his interest in herpatology through books and asking questions--very simple ideas for kids to understand. It was a great show and we're so glad that we were able to go!

Our Other Visitor

Well, our other visitor this week was more beautiful than just cute and she definitely wasn't fuzzy--it was my mom! Grandma Karen came for a "visit" and stayed for just about three days and even two nights!

The origin of this idea was that sure, Grandma lives in town and so we see her fairly often. However, it's usually only for a few hours at a time and it's often times over a meal or an afternoon and it's usually just a tad crazy! So, my mom thought, "Why don't I pretend that I'm coming from out of town for a visit and then we can spend some large chunks of time together, and we can all both play and relax." Sounds great to me, Mom! And it was great--even if the weather was so hot and humid that we didn't want to venture out to anywhere but the pool!

But, even the icky weather worked out okay since that gave us an excuse to have a kick-back day at home and go through some closets, re-organize some toys, all that good stuff that Mom is so fantastic at! And, as you can see from the picture below, a day of relaxation was needed for one busy little boy!
This little scenario actually repeated itself a couple of times this week! (He plays hard, he crashes harder!)Thanks for coming to "visit", Grandma Karen! My vote is that this become an annual summertime tradition! We love you!

Fuzzy Friends

We've had some fuzzy visitors lately! These caterpillars love our front flower bed. We can usually walk out our front door and find 3-4 of these little guys crawling around; at one point there were 8!

Not quite sure what type of butterfly or moth they'll will become, but they're awfully cute and the kids love how fuzzy they are!

Group Shots

Here are "The Group Shots." Now, we had meant to get pictures of each individual family, but it was 100 degrees outside (literally) and the humidity was oppressive. Not exactly condusive to a huge photo session with multiple little ones. Plus, we only had about 20 minutes to take them before Amy and Luke had to get to the airport. (And the reason we only had 20 minutes was because Cubby and Shawn got lost trying to find the movie theater to get tickets for Harry Potter!--Our one "show" that we saw in Branson! Ha!) So, we did the best we could!

Here are the "original" Lindseths...minus Peter who just got a new job and couldn't get away. We're going to try and photoshop him in :-). Here is the whole clan! Not too shabby either considering our circumstances! (And, this outdoor shot was taken on a hill that was atleast at a 45 degree angle and we were all just inches away from sliding right down it!)
And, finally, I just love this shot! Regan, Auntie Amy, and Emily look soooo similar it's spooky!

The Pool

So this is where we spent most of our time while down in Branson! And, can you blame us? This pool was fabulous and perfect for the kiddos (and the grown-up kiddos :-) ).

Emily is such a waterbug!

(Her cousins Carson and Kaden--doing the dead-man's float---were also loving it!)

Cubby took Kari down one of the slides (she wanted to!)...it was a VERY fast ride and Cubby did his best but in the end, she got dunked! Amazingly, she didn't cry...but she also didn't want to go down the slide anymore :-). Instead, Kari enjoyed being thrown back and forth!

Kari has also joined the Waterbug League

And here is Christian! He had a great time being Scubba-Steve... And blasting everyone with his new water-gun from Granmda and Grandpa.

Here's a fun little group shot--happy campers..er, swimmers!

Ride the Duck--a Trip Through Dantes' Inferno

Here's the group before the trip...all smiles! (Well, mostly...we're a big group!)
This is the Duck-mobile (with us in it)

QUACK!!!!
While in Branson, we did the "Ride the Duck" tour. Now, the online reviews were all very positive; and, if it hadn't been over 100 degrees outside, it would've been a tad more enjoyable for us as well!

Now, granted, we knew it was going to be hot. How hot, however, we had no idea! Never-the-less, we made the best of it and honestly, most of the kiddos were impervious to the heat and humidity. (The adults and babies knew better and we were oh-so grateful for the air conditioning upon our return!)

Here we are on the outset--trying to keep it cool in the shade!

Emily and Reagan (and Auntie Amy looking chic in the background)

Daddy and Christian--

By the end of the trip, the late-night fun and the heat combined to put Christian into a coma-like nap.

The highlight of the trip for the kiddos was getting to "drive" the Duck! We went out on Table Rock Lake and each kiddo got to take a turn at the wheel. (It was honestly all I could do not to jump ship into the cool water!)

Here's Cubby's brother, Shawn, and baby Sovie--poor thing, she's just so chunky and it made it that much tougher to cool down.

They were pouring water down her legs to try and help keep her more comfortable!

And, finally, here's Miss Kari, drinking her juice with her oh-so-rosy cheeks. All of the kids (and adults!) were real troupers but everyone definitely needed a rest once we got back to the cabin.

So, if you're down in Branson and want to take a tour, the Duck tour is great...if the temperature is less than 80 degrees outside. The guide was funny and had a lot of information about the town,the strip, the dam, and local fish hatchery too. It was fun to be out and be able to do something all together as a family. Unfortunately, it kind-of made us realize that any family outing from here on out would need to be kept to the local pool!

More to come....

Family-time Highlights--Part 1

Here are a couple of the "at the cabin" highlights that we experienced: Meeting our newest cousin, Sovie!

(This little beauty is only 4 1/2 months old and has the chunkiest legs I've ever seen on a baby--and Christian was nothing to scoff at!) Those chubby legs were quite fun to kiss!

Bathtime with cousins Reagan and Kaylee!

(Can you tell these girls are related??)

And, finally, some craft time! Here are the girls are doing some painting. And here, Auntie Amy is showing everyone how to make fairly slimy silly putty! Lots' of fun!

More to come....

Lindseth Family Reunion 2011

We just got home from our first Lindseth Family Reunion! All of Cubby's family (minus one brother who couldn't get off of work) gathered in Branson, Missouri for a week of family-filled chaos! (And, with 11 grandchildren 8 years old and younger, there was definitely a fair amount of chaos!) It was an extremely hot week (the day we arrived it was 110 degrees!) So, we didn't venture too much further than our cabin's near-by pool! But, I'll post more pictures later...well, as soon as I get the disk from Cubby's sister, who took the majority of the pictures! Ha! Here are Grandma and Grandpa with all of their grandchildren! As you can tell, some were more willing to be photographed than others :-). But, we did the best we could!

I got the idea for this picture from good-ol' Martha Stewart! Thanks to a friend of mine with a fabulous Plotter, I was able to cut out an iron-on decal and gave each grandchild a shirt with a number corresponding to the order they were born in.

I will definitely post more about our adventure later--it was such a great time; we miss everyone already!

Our Fantastic Fourth!

This little sign from Emily says it all! We had a wonderful holiday--a very full day of fun! The day started with a big game of Hide and Seek! (For anyone who hasn't played that game in awhile, you really should--it's a lot of fun!)

After Kari's morning nap (yes, she still needs two naps!), we headed over the the pool. Now, Kari has not wanted ANYTHING to do with the water ALL summer. We're talking no toes in the water, crying, the whole nine yards. However, she had not yet gone swimming with Grandma! My mom stayed on the sidelines with her, playing in the shade, until finally she made her way with Kari over to the water, "following the baby with the pink hat." (Kari loves babies.) Gradually, she got deeper and deeper until Kari realized that she actually LOVES the water! Yup, we stayed an extra hour so that Kari could enjoy splashing, putting her face in the water, and even jumping off of the side! It was fabulous!!!

Christian and Emily did not disappoint either--both "competed" in the splash contest by doing their biggest cannonballs off of the diving board (to their favorite lifeguard, Caitlin)! It was great!

After the pool, we had a great time in our own backyard, BBQ-ing it up with our neighbors! This past summer, a new family moved in behind us--and they have three little girls the EXACT ages of our kids. They are so sweet (and normal!) and the kids have all become fast friends. Another family that lives nearby also came over with their boys (Christian has been thrilled to get to know these fun little boys who have lived near-by all this time...and we never knew it b/c our schedules have been so different!). It was a wonderful night and I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story!

Christian, throwin' up some sort of gang sign??

Kari's back-in-action and full of energy! She loved eating, jumping, and hanging out with Grandma Karen.

This was our evening's entertainment--whatta' band!

We also had a water balloon toss/fight. Good times!

Christian and Henry...does Mr. C have to use the bathroom??My mom was blowing bubbles--I love Kari's hair in this shot! (And yes, it was extremely humid--Harvey was sweatin' it up just like the rest of us!)

This is our version of fireworks (sparklers!).

Christian had "too much fun" and needed a little Mommy time at the end of a very big day!

Yin and Yang

These are my two new favorite pictures. I call them Yin and Yang.

Can you see why? Kari had a FANTASTIC Fourth! All smiles!

(And Cubby's looking pretty cute too!)

Classic Christian. Love it!

Ballgame Extravaganza

Friday night we went out to the ballgame! Recently, our city became the new venue for Omaha's minor league baseball team. It is a beautiful new stadium and incredibly convenient for us. (My mom and I took Kari home to go to bed and I drove back once she was asleep to catch the fireworks--that's how close it is!)

In anycase, it was a pretty hot and humid night (that's part of the reason Grandma volunteered to stay home with Kari!), but the kids didn't seem too phased. The hometeam won and we even got a ball! (see above)

The highlight of the evening (for the kids, anyway) was the "Kid's Zone". There was a carousel, a bounce house, a playground set, and an obstacle course. The first time Harvey and Cubby took the kids to a game (a couple of weeks ago), their seats were along the first base line and they didn't get over to said Zone. This time we were along the third base line and it was right behind us. So naturally they were just itching to try everything out.

After the game came the fireworks! This is the first year that we've been able to take the kids to a fireworks show without one of them freaking out because of the noise. By the time I made it back, the heat and humidity had gone down and it turned out to be a really lovely night. We all love having a ballpark so close by--it really helps for us to capture "summertime" with the kids. Thanks for treating us to the game, Harvey!