Another Fun Weekend

Sarah, Mike, Zach and Drew came up to visit us for a whirlwind of a weekend.  They arrived at bedtime on Friday night, so we didn't do much that night, but Saturday started out with some good times including feeding the fish, dropping clothes down the laundry chute, and eating some tasty blueberry coffee cake and yummy scrambled eggs.  Then we rushed off to the zoo.  You might notice that we are all wearing sweatshirts or jackets because fall seemed to come a bit early this past week with temps barely getting into the 60s.  Will refused to wear a sweatshirt because it is the middle of July. 

Zach and Drew's parents are cool enough to shell out the $5 to feed the giraffes.  Who knew giraffes ate crackers? 

Anders skipped his morning nap due to all the fun stuff to look at, he also got tired of the stroller and found this prime seat for checking stuff out (and for pulling hair).  

Here he is ignoring the really beautiful Siberian Tiger.  The tiger was nice enough to roar for us a few times, it was pretty cool and got Zach roaring.  It also got several grown men roaring, which seemed a bit odd.  

After a rather chilly lunch, we went into the tropics building to warm up a bit.  Does anyone know what made these tracks?

Here is your answer - the Radiated Tortoises warming themselves under this lamp.  

The zoo was great, but it would have been good to have slightly warmer temperatures.  After the zoo, the 3 boys took naps, as did I.  I had had a terrible night - I was asleep for about 20 minutes when something woke me up.  Suddenly wide awake, I ended up reading for a couple of  hours and then ended up waking up early.  I got around 3 hours of sleep Friday night and was obviously tired as napping for me is unheard of.  

There was lots of playing at our house this weekend.  Drew had a tough time with Anders, who seemed to like to do everything Drew was doing.  The old tractors from Will's grandpa's house were a big hit, as was Anders' walker wagon.  It was interesting for me and Will to see Anders interacting with the boys - it makes us wonder what he is like at the Montessori.  In this next shot Anders is terrorizing Drew.  

We ended Saturday with some delicious home-made pizza and brownies made from scratch.  The boys slept extremely soundly Saturday night.    We started Sunday with some really good waffles that Will made.  After Anders took his nap, we rode bikes over a park on the Mississippi for a picnic and some playing. 

Zach really seemed to enjoy this digger quite a bit. 

This thing is a teeter-totter of some sort.  They made the other side so an adult can join in on the fun too.  

Somebody asked if these two are twins.  

Slides are always good.  There is also a fun water play area, but it still seemed a bit cool for swimming suits followed by a bike ride home, so we avoided that.  Next time though...

We forced Drew to ride in the trailer with Anders on the way home.  We expected some pestering by Anders, but it seems that didn't happen.  Will just told me that at one point he looked back at them and they were just staring at each other.   They are just 6 months apart and we are expecting some good times between them, but maybe also some good fights. 

Drew and I took some time to relax while his parents packed up their car.  

Zach played with the old school Tonka truck we have.  He wants us to bring the claw to Iowa the next time we go down. 

And Anders rested a bit.  

Anders ended the night with a much needed bath and hair inspired by his cousin Zach.  He is looking forward to see you guys again in September, thanks for coming up!