Weekend Update

Owen has come a long way with hats. A few months ago he hated them - now he tries to put them on (keyword: "tries")

The NEW Zoo is much different on the "non-free admissions" day. We were able to actually feed the giraffes! The giraffe lost interest as soon as the food was gone - kind of like Owen. Owen spent most of the day walking and pointing at anything that moved ... animals, plants, kids, shadows, Mommy, etc.

Owen's first experience with a bubbler. We don't plan on exposing him to drinking fountains.

Owen still likes the cement animals. Feel free to compare to the last visit to the zoo in June.

Owen's First Bachelor Party

Uncle Brandon's bachelor party was this weekend and Owen insisted on coming. The day began with a golf outing at Kestrel Ridge golf course (Owen skipped this part since his plastic Little Tikes golf clubs didn't meet the course standards). Nick had a great round (only lost one ball).

In the afternoon the bachelor party continued at the Paint Ball course. Owen skipped this part as well - Mommy didn't think it was the best idea. But that didn't stop Nick from playing Rambo. If Action Packed Paintball gave out medals of honor Nick would have picked up a few. Such as the time he and Uncle Brandon captured the Ridge, eliminated enemy combatants and reached the red flag with time ticking away. Daddy sacrificed himself by falling on and slowly getting off the final combatant (there was no hand to hand combat allowed and he ran out of ammo). This allowed Uncle Brandon to reach the flag and return to camp a hero.

Nick During Paint Ball

The evening saw the final chapter of the bachelor party - the kegger. Owen had no intention of missing this opportunity.

This should be enough for me ... what are you guys going to drink?

Uncle Brandon was excited to show Owen the ropes.

Owen really struggled with the rules of bean bag toss. He refused to stay behind the line when tossing the bags.

A family tradition - Owen is already on his way to Croquet greatness.

Grandparent's Birthday Party

A few weeks ago we made the trip to Nick's parents house to celebrate their birthday.

Evidence to prevent Grandma and Grandpa from claiming they are not another year older.

One duty of parents is to, "take pictures of child that will cause embarassment later in life". Done.

BEARS!!!!

Owen has been very attached to his bear. He received it as a gift when he was first born and hasn't slept without it for 6 months.

Needless to say, it was becoming quite gross. Not to mention indispensable for getting Owen to sleep. It has become the new third parent!

Our plan was to purchase a second "My First Teddy Bear" and place it in a rotation with the original "My First Teddy Bear". Owen would never know and he would have clean bears to hug and cuddle with (as well as throw against the wall, bite and sit on).

As day care started, Owen was having trouble sleeping and the new bear became the "Day Care Bear", leaving the original bear to hold down the fort at home.

Owen found the second bear. It's really too bad his parents can't hide anything from him.

Extra Credit

Owen already has a higher score than all of Mommy's Chemistry students. This afternoon we used Owen to show examples of the extra credit assignment. For a given element, a student will have to show an example with a picture (element + student) and an explanation.



Here are the photos Owen came up with for Calcium:



Okay, so there isn't that much concrete in the Pulaski arch ... we just wanted to take a picture of him next to the arch.



Marble has a lot of calcium (says the Chemistry teacher). The only marble we could find was in the cemetery.

Whose idea was it to let Owen hold on to the chalk .. really ...

Owen was giddy when he realized TUMS has a lot of calcium. Mission accomplished!

A visit to Pamperin Park

Even though we've driven by Pamperin Park every day for the past 4 years, heard great things about it, and enjoy going to parks ... we never went until Saturday. Owen's Godfather was in town for a wedding and suggested meeting there.

When we arrived we were surprised to see the following scene. Owen didn't know where to start. No one else did either.

Owen and his Godfather, Bryan, discuss the next move.

Owen didn't have time to pause for a photo - too much to do.

Owen received a wonderful IKEA Pelican storage basket from his Godfather, Bryan. It's meant to hang on the wall and store toys or clothes ...

... but Owen had other ideas.

Shawano County Fair

We took Owen to the Shawano County Fair on Saturday. This is the second year that Owen has attended. We visited the barns, the machinery, the food stand, the beer stand (not really, but it was open at 8:30 AM), and the show ring. Owen was very interested in all of the animals and was intent on looking at each one. Owen may very well have forgotten the entire experience on the way home, but Mommy and Daddy enjoyed seeing him take in the sights and experience new things. Plus the trip was free since we came so early.

Owen couldn't understand why the pigs were not pink - like the ones in his books.

Owen wasn't sure what to think of the sheep. He proceeded with caution.

The goats were fairly content with ignoring Owen's screams and giggles.

Owen didn't have a problem petting the rabbits ... especially since he couldn't read the sign that stated "Don't pet the rabbits".

It looks like we'll have to attach a large block of wood to Owen's feet for him to reach the clutch.

We're always looking out for Owen's safety. That's why we only let him drive John Deere Gators with safety roll bars.

After completing his inspection of the manure spreader tires Owen was very concerned that the lug nuts were not tightened to the 100 foot-pounds the manufacturer recommended. It was too bad Owen left his Little Tike's torque wrench at home or he could have fixed it right there.

Owen was a little disappointed when he realized Barack Obama would not be showing up at the grand stands. Maybe John McCain will.