Never Stop Learning

What a fun Friday we have had and it's only 2:00pm!  Our day has been filled with learning (disguised as fun).  A little over a week ago, Rylee asked if cows come from milk and how.  A couple of hours later I saw on a Facebook post that the ISU Dairy Farm was having an open house the following week (today) and that it was kid-friendly.  How ironic!!  So, I put it on our calendar and told Rylee we would go see first-hand how milk comes from cows.

The open house turned out to be even more entertaining than I could have imagined!  I figured it was just a guided walking tour of cattle barns and getting to watch the cows be milked.  Instead, we rode on a wagon through the barns as we learned a lot about the cattle and that particular operation.  Rylee and Wyatt both loved being so close to the cows!!  We also got to watch the actual milking process through a large window (I think anyone can go and watch this, as it is in the visitor building).  By the way, the milk from this operation is sold to Swiss Valley, if you were curious as I was.

Now, I loved the wagon tour and learning about the operation....I wondered for a brief moment why I didn't choose animal science as my college major (and to be honest, I just learned about that major on the tour today .. I also learned that 50% of the Ag students at ISU are "city" kids).....but Rylee's favorite part was what came after the wagon ride -- Food and Fun!!

The wagon dropped us off at a barn (picture the hoop barn with fabric roof -- which I learned they use because they are less expensive than a structure with metal roof).  Inside this barn were baby calves to pet, "cow mix" to make (like trail mix, but mimics a cow's diet...think Candy Corn instead of real corn feed), a real cow stomach to look at (man, they're huge!! No wonder they can eat grass all day!), coloring pages and crayons, and best of all...DAIRY FOODS!!  Yogurt (I found a new fav...Land O Lakes..yum!), milk....and of course.....ice cream!!!  And let's not forget they also had bananas...and let's really not forget that they also had.....doughnuts!!!  I wouldn't have had a doughnut, except that it is National Doughnut Day and would have been very un-human of me to not eat one. 

I really learned a lot today and felt very in-tune with agriculture.  I feel so fortunate to live near an amazing "Ag college", and particularly one that provides awesome learning experiences like this one....and for free!  We will definitely be going back again next year!

To continue our "Ag day", we went to James' work to have lunch with him.  As usual, we got to climb in the tractors and ride the little pedal tractors.  Rylee thinks Daddy just plays with farm equipment all day :)  And Wyatt wishes he could play with them all day!!  He is going to be a "large machinery" fan, I can already tell!

Rylee has been to Daddy's work many times, but a couple of weeks ago she asked me, "What do people do at work?"  She always hears me say "he's at work", or "Grandma's at work today.", etc.  So later that same week Rylee had a chance to go to work with Grandma for a couple of hours.  It was a slow day in the office and the bosses were gone, so Grandma's co-workers didn't mind having a little helper.  I thought it would be great for Rylee to see what other types of "work" people do besides "play with tractors".  Well, turns out Rylee and Grandma just watched Frozed on the computer while at work, so this was a skewed example! 

Today, after lunch with Daddy, we went to visit Grandpa at work (where I knew there would be "real" work going on).  Rylee was so excited to see Grandpa's work!!  She went running up to Grandpa and held his hand as they walked around the warehouse and saw people running fork lifts, carrying boxes, etc.  I feel better now that she has seen people working hard and not "playing with tractors" and watching movies :)  I will make an effort to point out people working when we go places too....which will aid in our discussion of "where money comes from" as well. 

I am so enjoying watching Rylee learn about life and welcome all of the questions she asks.  Learning is never ending and something that takes place a lot in our house.  James and I both love to learn new things and are always doing "research".  I hope that my kids will always be curious and eager to learn.  It's days like today that I am so thankful to be part of their lives 24/7 and provide these fun learning opportunities...and learn right along with them. 

Speaking of learning...anyone wonder why it's sometimes spelled D-o-u-g-h-n-u-t and other times it's d-o-n-u-t??  I first used the latter, but then decided to look it up as I wasn't sure I used the right spelling.....turns out it is better to use the longer word, as that was the original way to spell it......

Our Mini-Vacation to KC

A few months ago, Rylee asked to go see some elephants.  She has been into them for a little while now.  So, I checked the zoos around us and found that Kansas City was the closest zoo with elephants (glad I checked online first because I could have sworn the Omaha zoo had them and would have just gone there and had one disappointed little girl!).  KC is only 2.5 hours from our house, so we picked a weekend that we didn't think would be too hot and booked a hotel with a pool.  I read reviews online for some of the "typical" attractions, and found that most of them weren't worth the money.  We asked some friends who have lived in KC for other recommended entertainment and had a small list of places to check out. I am so happy with the choices we made, because all 4 of us really enjoyed ourselves!! 

We left Friday after lunch in hopes that the kids would nap on the way there.  We started our trip with a stop at Union Station.  The building was beautiful, but that's about all we could say about it.  We didn't find it overly exciting.  We stepped outside onto a pedestrian bridge that goes over the train tracks and got to see 4 trains go by in a matter of minutes...Rylee at least enjoyed that part of the stop. I would recommend not making this stop if you are not a big train enthusiast.  There is a small science center within the station, but we didn't go in since there was an admission fee. 

We checked into our hotel after that and Rylee and James went swimming right away (we weren't inside our room 2 minutes and Rylee already had her clothes off in preparation for putting on her swim suit).  After swimming we met friends for supper at Jack Stack Barbeque.  Their cheesy corn bake -- A-MA-ZING!!!!  I'm excited to try out their "at home recipe" they list on their website. 

On Saturday morning we set off for the zoo around 8:30...we wanted to get in and out before it got too hot.  What we didn't realize was that we would be at the zoo for 5 hours...and it would be 85 degrees the whole time we were there!!  It was a hot day and we walked A LOT!!!  The zoo is over 200 acres and is pretty spread out.  You can walk 6 minutes without seeing an animal.  But, this didn't stop my husband and I both from stating that it is our new favorite zoo!!  It is so beautiful and so well maintained!!  I actually felt like I was in the animals' natural environments.  The walkways were plenty wide and even though the zoo was busy, it didn't feel crowded.  There were plenty of shady places, benches to sit on and large fans spraying water to cool us off.  Something that I really loved was that the animals would lay in the shade right up where we could see them...as opposed to the Des Moines zoo where half the animals are laying so far away from the patrons that you can barely see them.  It appears as though the zoo purposefully put the shady spots up next to the spectator fence or glass.  The lions and gorillas were playful up against the glass.  The polar bear also seemed to be showing off for us as she repeatedly swam right up to the glass. 

The elephants were the first thing we went to see, and they didn't disappoint!  There were 5 of them and they were all standing right up at the fence and appeared to be watching us.   I felt as if they wanted to talk to us...like they knew this little blonde girl drove a long way just to see them :)  I was in awe of the large creatures...I may have enjoyed them more than Rylee.  We even stopped back by to see them a 2nd time. 

James' favorite was the penguin building...I have to admit, watching them speed swim and then pop right out of the water is pretty entertaining!!   We also enjoyed a sea lion show -- I am so amazed by their trainability -- smart creatures! 

Rylee rode the carousel a few times (her favorite part of the zoo), and we took a train ride of course too.  The ride she got to experience for the time though was the sky glider.  She and I rode it back to the middle part of the zoo after we finished seeing all of the animals in "Africa", because it was a long way back and we needed a little break (okay, maybe that was just me...she could have ridden in the stroller). 

We highly recommend the KC zoo if you haven't been.  If you have a membership to Blank Park Zoo, you get in for half price! 

On Sunday, we went to Deana Rose Children's Farmstead.  We thought the zoo was fun, but this was more "hands on" fun, and we all had a great time!!  First of all, it is only $2 admission (free during the week)!  And then for $10, a child can fish in the pond with a provided cane pole and worms, ride a pony, mine for mineral rocks to take home, bottle feed a goat, and take a hayride.  You could pay for all of these things separately, but this was a great deal!  We all took a turn or two fishing (Wyatt just watched) and caught 4 fish...Rylee even kissed hers.  She LOVED her pony ride...though I still think she likes to ride the fake horses on the carousel better.  She liked mining and brought home about a dozen neat rocks.  The hayride was actually pretty long and went through the timber...the Clydesdale horses that pulled the wagon were beautiful!! 

My personal favorite activity though was bottle feeding the goats!!  You could just walk right into the goat pen and feed them.  Rylee was excited as she carried the bottle into the pen....until 3 goats started jumping up on her like a puppy.  She freaked out and started bawling.  I grabbed the bottle from her and took over as she clung to me like a leach, scared to death.  Once I was finished she asked me to pick her up and she wrapped her arms and legs around me so tight...she was truly scared of the little goats!!  I could have stayed there and fed them all day long though. 

The farmstead had so many other activities as well.  We went into the old school house, where Rylee got to write on a little chalkboard and talk to the "teacher".  We also fed geese, rode pedal tractors, played on the playground, shopped in the General Store, and got ice cream from the Ice Cream Parlor.  The shops were set up as they might have been long ago.  I just love visiting places like this!!  We spent 3.5 hours there and I could have gone for a second round!  The farmstead was so well kept...I still cannot believe they charge so little for admission.  I did notice that a lot of the staff were volunteers.  We highly recommend this place and will definitely be visiting it again!!

There's nothing like spending time together as a family, and it was a huge bonus to be outside all weekend!  Although it was hot, we had plenty of water and sunscreen and were having too much fun to notice how much we were sweating.  Little Wyatt was a trooper all weekend as he just chilled in the stroller!  I was very impressed with him!  He missed a couple of naps and didn't complain at all.  And Rylee...we did so much walking and she voluntarily walked about 85% of it!!  She did amazing too!  Our first family vacation was a success and I cannot wait for #2!!!

The Fun has Begun!

I've been waiting for the day that my children are able to play together.  Now that Wyatt is crawling (crawling and getting his first hair cut in the same week aged him about 3 months!!), he and Rylee are really starting to play together well.  They wrestle, chase each other, play with toys together and purposely make each other laugh...it's so much fun!!  Rylee is so good to include her brother, even when he might be too little or not understand what she's doing.  I love when she talks to him as if he is going to talk back.  This morning I heard her ask him if he liked her new jammies :) 

Rylee has always been so good to her brother.  Whenever he isn't around (napping), she asks where he is.  When I try to have a mommy-daughter outing she always says, "Oh no!  We forgot Wyatt!" when we are riding in the van.  I'm glad to know that if I ever really did forget Wyatt she would remind me :)  She is always very concerned when he cries and tells me what she thinks he wants....usually she says he wants to cuddle.  She tells me his wants as if he actually informed her of them...."He says he wants his bottle"....maybe it's sibling telepathy.  There are times too that she tattles on him or gets frustrated with him getting into her things...I just can't help but laugh, because I know it's just the beginning of fighting with her brother :)

I have also started to notice Wyatt's "boyness" since he started crawling.  He is definitely getting into things that Rylee never did and playing with toys more aggressively than her.  Just this past week Wyatt has taken the vent covers off and thrown toys down the vent, pulled the bottom dishwasher rack out of the dishwasher, thrown his toys down the stairs and pulled all the DVDs out of the shelves multiple times.  While my life just got easier with his new freedom, it also got harder because I have to pay more attention to him!  I love that he can go wherever he wants now and get his own toys and explore his world.  It's nice to be able to walk out of a room and not have him cry anymore.  Most of the time he doesn't even follow me.....I couldn't even get him to follow me one day...he was finding enjoyment in going the opposite direction :) 

I love having a boy and a girl and feel very blessed to get to experience both genders. I love both of my children very much, but have very different connections with each of them.  Rylee is my little friend and one of my favorite persons to hang out with.  Wyatt is my little snuggler who I think will always want his Mommy close by.  It will be interesting to see how our relationships change with each stage of their lives.  Being a mommy is fun! 

Birthdays, Friends and Family

Another super fun weekend in the books for me!  It started Friday night with a birthday party for my dad at Incredible Pizza (his choice)...what a fun place!!  They have something for every age....it's Chuck E. Cheese on steroids!  We enjoyed the Go Karts, Mini Bowling, and tons of arcade games!  They also have mini golf, bumper cars, a ropes course, and so many other fun things to do!!  I tried out the hurricane simulator....winds blowing at 75mph....my hair was a mess to comb through when I got home!!!  My brother and I decided next time we go we won't bring the kids....all they wanted to do was ride the carousel (at least that's what Rylee wanted to do the whole time, though she enjoyed bowling and Go Karts too).  Their buffet wasn't bad either, and I loved the different themed dining areas too! 

On Saturday, we had some friends and my mom over all day.  The guys built the railing for our deck while the rest of us played outside all day -- what beautiful weather it was!!  The kids played on the swing set, ran through the sprinkler, played with bubbles, threw water balloons, rode the Power Wheels car and we got some Gator riding in.  Ended the evening with my favorite summer/grilling meal and stayed up talking with my friend I see about once a year....it was a great day!  The kids all got along so great too!  Rylee and her new little friend looked like mini me and my BFF :) 

This morning my husband made breakfast for us (my friend and her daughter stayed the night with us)....eggs, muffins and fruit...my favs!  Late morning we headed to WDM where we got Wyatt's hair cut for the first time....it was a fiasco!!...and I'm kinda sad his looks changed so much, but he really needed his hair cut as he couldn't see half the time.  My husband said, "I wasn't prepared for him to look like such a little boy"....me either :(  Then we took Rylee to pick out her fish...she got a fish tank for her birthday, but we wanted to let her pick out her own fish.  She picked out "orange ones" just like she said she was going to.  Let's hope they last awhile!  After that, we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream!!   It was so good -- is it ever not?!?!?  I hadn't had DQ in awhile, as we normally go to the frozen yogurt places for ice cream, but DQ just sounded good today...and it didn't disappoint...mint oreo blizzard!

It was a fabulous Mother's Day weekend...I'm so lucky to be Rylee and Wyatt's Mommy!!!  I was glad to be able to see my wonderful mother this weekend too -- she's the best....and an even more amazing Grandma!! 

I'm looking forward to more fun weekends this summer...our calendar is starting to fill up and I love it!!!  I think I need to live south where I can have fun outdoor weekends all year long!! 

White Balance, Dancing, Sleeping Babies...Oh My!

Sometimes I have too many topics I want to write about and I can't choose just one, or none of them seem long enough for a post of it's own....as is the case today...so I've put them all into one.

Photography
Saturday morning I attended a photography class at a community college.  It was rather strange to get up and get ready to go to class...and on a Saturday of all days.  The class was specifically on White Balance (for you photography gurus).  This was a topic that I was struggling with understanding as I have been learning about photography.  Luckily my camera has an "auto white balance" button and I would just let it do it's thing.  The class was taught by the superintendent of the photography division of the Iowa State Fair.....great guy!!  I learned so much in those 3 hours...and we didn't even get to everything he wanted us to learn, which I was kind of glad about...my brain was too full!!  Without going into too much boring detail about white balance....here are 2 pictures I took at home to practice what I learned:

The first picture is how the camera interprets the color of the doll on its own (with the "auto white balance" turned on).  The second picture was taken after I told the camera what colors to use.  I know you can't see the doll in person to compare, but trust me...the second picture is 95% accurate of the actual colors of the doll!!!!  I am just amazed at how the camera interprets colors so much differently than the human eye.  I am so glad I took this class!!  However, taking the class made me realize just how much there is to learn yet!!  Oy! 


Dancin' the Night Away
My daughter LOVES to dance...she dances to any music, and sometimes just to her own singing!  I'm so glad about this, because Momma loves to dance too!!  Our small rural town had a dinner and dance Saturday night to raise money for the fire department.  I just knew this would be something I had to take Rylee to.  What I didn't realize was that she would be so comfortable dancing alone in the middle of the dance floor with 50 people watching her. 

We got there, just she and I, as the band was getting ready to start.  She kept asking "is it starting yet?"....I told her she would know when it was starting because she would hear the music ;)  As soon as the band played the first note of their first song, Rylee was pulling me out to the dance floor.  O.M.G!!!  I love to dance, but I don't always like to be the first one out there -- EEEEK!!!  I wasn't sure how I felt about 50 strangers watching me dance.  But I told myself, "I brought Rylee here, past her bedtime, for a reason...just do it!"  So she and I held up the dance floor for a few songs before a little boy and his daddy came out and joined us.  After about the 5th song, she told me to go sit down.  I think I was embarrassing her :)  So for the next 45 minutes she danced like nobody was watching, though I could see people pointing and talking about her (in a good way).  When they played a slow song and all of the couples went out to the floor, Rylee came and grabbed me and let me hold her while we slow danced :) :) :)  Glad she wasn't too embarrassed for that!!!  I did get a couple of other dances in with her too.  I sure hope it was the "funnest night ever", as she said it would be on our way there! 

Sleep Like a Baby
There just can't be anything cuter than a baby sleeping with his butt in the air!  James and I love to go peek in on Wyatt after he's asleep and see how he is laying.  No matter his position, my heart just melts when I see him sleeping in his crib.  I don't remember ever watching Rylee sleep....but I now wish I would have, because it just takes you away from crazy life and brings a feeling of joy and peacefulness.  It makes me so proud to be his momma...not that I'm not any other time, but I take the time to think about that when I'm watching him sleep.  I really want to take his picture while he's sleeping so I can view it later in life and remember that feeling I had while watching him....but for some reason I just can't bring myself to do it.  It's like watching him sleep is something sacred that I just want to keep in my brain and heart. 

May 6th ~ Special Day
Tomorrow my little dancing princess will be 3 years old!!  3 years old!!  How is that even possible??  Everyone tells you "they grow up so fast", and while I haven't really found that to be true, I still can't believe she is 3.  I signed her up for preschool for this fall and just couldn't believe she is old enough for that!  I mean, it definitely feels like 3 years have gone by since she was born, but the thought of a 3 year old is just hard to wrap my brain around. 

I'm super excited for her day tomorrow!! We have been counting it down for weeks now!!  She will wake up to balloons and presents...we will go to the park for a play date and picnic, and then a family party at a pizza place (her request).  I'm afraid she is going to be so disappointed when her special day is over...it's been all she has talked about for weeks.  At least we have a zoo date the following day :)  And then it's Grandpa's birthday Thursday and she is also excited to go celebrate with him!  We should have a fun week!!  

Ry's 3 Year Photo Shoot

Well, my first photo shoot is over...and it was interesting.  Photographing an almost 3 year old is tough work!!  She wouldn't give me a real smile and had ZERO interest in looking at the camera.  So, my quest for a good picture of her looking straight at the camera and giving me her beautiful real smile was defeated...BUT, I still got some decent ones of her none the less.  I was so nervous about this shoot.  I have been playing with my camera for a few months now and felt pretty good about my settings.  I had also gone out a few nights prior and took some photos of the locations I had in mind to get an idea of the settings I would need to use according to the lighting at that time of evening.  I waited until a day that was warm enough for Rylee to wear her dress and not windy or too wet.  When that day arrived I mustered up the courage to say "lets do this!" and off we went. 

Rylee, who dislikes wearing dresses, put on the outfit I wanted her to wear and told me she felt like a princess.  I thought for sure this was a good sign that the shoot would go well!  She was excited to go with me (since it included a Gator ride to the location) and I was super excited to get started...and get it over with.  The first 8 minutes or so went well and she did everything I asked (accept give me a real smile or look at the camera).  These 8 minutes were all in the same spot.  When I told her it was time to go to a new spot, she asked if we could go home....bummer.  But I got another 35 minutes out of her and I could tell she disliked every minute of it, but she never once complained!  She asked if we could be done and go home and also told me she was ready for her treat that I promised her..."just a few more pictures," is what I kept telling her, and she humored me each time.  I did deliver on my promise....with a bowl of ice cream and sprinkles as soon as we got back home.

I took a couple hundred pictures and after weeding through them I have about 60 left that are decent...and about 10 that I really like a lot!  I was just hoping for one good one, and even though I didn't get the exact one I was hoping for, I am happy with the results!  I just got my photo editing software and was going to wait to show some of my favs with you until I got them edited...but, I'm pretty sure my first editing experience will inspire a whole other blog post.  So, without further ado, here are some of my favs from our shoot, unedited. 

I learned quite a few things from the experience, regarding my camera settings, things to watch for in the background, composition items to watch, ways to use the evening sun to make the lighting just right, etc.  The most important thing I learned though is that you can't ask a small child to do anything you want them to do, because the picture really turns out "fake".  The best way to photograph a child is by letting them do their own thing and taking pictures as they do it.  The most genuine faces I captured of her were when she was ignoring my requests to smile and look at the camera and just being herself.  I already promised her I will never ask her to look at the camera and smile again. 

I also learned afterwards from my fashionista husband that, "Rylee needed a belt...that's what they would have done on The Devil Wears Prada."  Thanks honey...we will be sure to get your advice FIRST next time :) 

Picture Perfect

Hi everyone!  I'm still here.  I haven't had anything I've been eager to write about lately.  I have felt overly compelled to post something though and while rummaging through my last few weeks I decided to write about my newest hobby that has been consuming my thoughts and "free time" lately.  Photography.

I've always loved seeing that perfect picture with my own eyes and thinking, "where is the camera when you need it?".  Boy have I learned that what you see with your eyes is SO HARD to capture through a lens!!!  It seems so simple....look through the viewfinder and push the button, right???  Well, if you want to trust the camera to get the picture "right", then sure, it's that easy.  However, if you really want to capture the mood of the image and add your own style....that's a whole other set of instructions!!  This other set of instructions comes with jargon of it's own too, like Aperture, white balance, noise, ISO, bokeh, and so on. 

Before I decided to purchase a DSLR camera, I spent a fair amount of time reading about photography and watching youtube videos on how to operate the camera as well as the way to use each setting of the camera.  By the time I was done with that, I wasn't sure I still wanted to jump into this hobby.....I'm still not even sure, ha!  It really is a lot to learn...but practicing on my kiddos is so much fun and every once in awhile I get a wonderful picture of them!  I'm hoping to never pay for professional photos again. 

I have only just begun this hobby and am only surface deep in what my camera can do.  I feel like I am getting a decent grasp on the basics, but then again, I haven't tried taking pictures in many different settings.  I found a couple of neat places to take pictures today, but then I realized I have to get there at a certain time for the sun to be just right and it can't be a windy day, and oh boy, this really is a lot of work - ha!  Oh, and trying to get a stubborn 2 year old to let me take her picture -- forget about it!  I'm already planning lots of bribes for her 3 year pictures coming up!  I take lots of pictures of the kids' toys for practice too...they are so bright and colorful and really quite perfect to practice getting my lighting just right. 

And then there's editing, which I haven't even touched yet....my mind spins just thinking about it!  I've been researching editing software and just can't decide if I want to buy something yet or not.  I like a lot of my pictures without any editing.....but I know they could probably be even better with some touch-ups.  Oye.....I understand why photographers are so expensive!  Though I have to say that now that I'm learning about photography, I'm finding a lot of "professional" photographers' pictures to be mediocre in my mind.  Not saying I can do better, I just find myself critiquing their photos more than I ever would have before. 

I googled "DIY photo backgrounds" the other day and my thoughts are now consumed with all of these ideas I want to try.  This could become an expensive hobby!  I already bought a 2nd lens and am only a few months in!  Who knew that there are so many lens' and they all portray images differently?!?!?  I know in the end though I will come out ahead if I am able to take my own pictures of my kids for the rest of their childhood. 

As I think about it, this hobby is really perfect for me, because it gives me something to learn, practice, perfect...all while creating fun tangible items to keep.  Since I don't have a "job", learning photography has been a great way for me to use those "on the job" skills that have gotten a little rusty....learning on my own, researching answers, patience and perseverance (a different kind of patience than I have to have with my kids), etc.  I'm really quite enjoying it....at least for now.  We'll see what happens in a few weeks when I do my first real shoot with my daughter as she turns 3.  I'd like to get into some landscape photography as well.   My goal is to have an entry or two at the state fair sometime in my life :)