We went to the Zoo!

Wow, I feel bad that I haven't posted on the blog in a whole month but it's a been a busy one for sure! I started watching my nephew Liam and so we go somewhere almost every day this summer, just trying to keep these guys busy! Here's a look of some of the fun things we've done!

June 3rd
We got a new kiddie pool this summer and so about once a week we'll fill this up and let the kids have some fun!

June 6th- finding the slug
It's been a hot summer as usual but it's also been pretty wet! We'll get a couple days of some strong downpour and one day it seemed to rain the entire day. One day we came out after the storm and found a slug on the wall! I can't remember the last time I saw one. And even though he's slimy, he's antennae are so cute! And, actually, before we found this live one we found a dead one (ewww) and I won't post those pictures but to tell you that Sydney is becoming quite the bug killer! She is not afraid to squash ants and spiders we find in the house and while I had my back turned she squished this (already-dead!) slug. I said, "Sydney, why did you do that?" She said, "I thought I saw it move!" Makes me laugh!

June 8th- Farmer's Market
Well, this whole week my Aunt Dawn was in town with her 4 kids so we went over to my grandmother's a lot and the kids swam almost every day! Then on Saturday, we went to the local Farmer's Market where all the kids had some great face-painting done!

 I was so impressed that Jonas was still enough for them to get this full-face mask on there!

Sydney is Hello Kitty!

 The skeletons! Hunter, Liam and Christopher.

 June 13- Marshmallow Snowmen
So I know it's summer but I had these marshmallows in my cupboard and thought we'd do a craft with them and then eat them. So naturally, snowmen. The kids got pretty creative with them! I helped them make hats and then Liam made them guitars!

June 21- My 25 pounds down weigh-in!
I am so excited that after 6 months, I've lost 25 pounds! It's been slow progress but so worth it! This was what I weighed when I got married, and when I started school at BYU-I so I haven't seen these numbers for almost 8 years. Hoping to keep going! I've dropped 2 dress sizes and probably 4 inches in the hips and waist (only started measuring those in April so it's just a guess..). I've done it with regular exercise and changing my eating habits. I have incorporated more fiber and protein in my diet with healthier snacks and then portion-control for other meals. I allow myself to cheat on the weekends but still try not to go over board. So here are my before and after shots!

And my in-laws were asking a few months back how far I was from my weight at the wedding so now that I'm there, thought I would take a picture to prove it!
 Here I am back in the wedding dress! Most definitely could not have fit in it 6 months ago.

And here's me in one of my new outfits. Loved getting these pants!

and of course, if there's pictures being taken, the kids want in on the action...

June 22- the Zoo!
The kids had a blast as we went to the zoo. I think it was the first time we took Jonas to the zoo.

 They had SO much fun feeding the birds. Look at Jonas with his cute little SpiderMan backpack! He wore it all day too! When he was feeding the birds, he would put his stick out there and say "Here birdie! Want eat? Woohoo!" And then when he got a bird on his stick, he said, "Dad! Look! I got birdie!"

So it was a blast! We hope to go again later this summer. The kids did so well. Sydney says her favorite animals are penguins and giraffes. We got to see them feed the penguins so that was fun. 

So that's pretty much been our month! I take the kids to playgrounds often and we have playdates. They got to pet some stingrays at the local Science Museum but it being only me and me needing to make sure they don't grab the stingrays (more Jonas than Sydney) I didn't get any photos. But they did great with them and then we also got to feed them. They eat shrimp and you can hold it at the bottom of the tank and they'll eat it from your hand. So fun!

We have more family visits planned this summer and we're still waiting to see if Sydney starts preschool this fall. Cross your fingers!