Staycation Day Two: Blank Park Zoo

Day two of our staycation was supposed to be better in the weather department so we decided to head out to the Blank Park Zoo.  The zoo opens at 9:00 which is awesome because we are early risers so we were there a little after 9:00.  It was surprisingly busier than I thought (but not nearly as busy as it could have been) because although it wasn't raining, it wasn't a beautiful day.  Elsie had a great time (even though I think she was still feeling not 100%).  She loved pointing at the animals and she would repeat a lot of the names as we would say them.  

The first stop was the Australian exhibit.  For this one you enter in through the gates and are among the animals.  Elsie loved spotting the Wallabies all around us.   

After that we were walking around and spotted an elephant.  Right now Elsie is obsessed with elephants and gets so excited when we come across one in the books we have been reading.  Well this elephant was just a statue so we thought we would go take our picture by it.  Boy, were we surprised when we got close and it sprayed water at us.  Haha

Moving on to the cats.  Everything was a Lion (she has now become obsessed with lions after our visit to the zoo).  She also roars like them.  

I actually think one of Elsie's favorite things at the zoo was this jeep.  She threw a mini fit when it was time to move one.  

After the cats we checked out the Seals and Sea Lions. 

Not too sure about this rhino statue

Of course we had to try to take her on the carousel.  The last time we went on one was when we went to Omaha.  It didn't go over too well.  This time she LOVED it and didn't want to get off when the time was over.  Yay! 

We made a short stop at the Koi Pond to feed the fish. 

Stopped to watch the sea lion show

Went for a ride on the train

And ended with the aquariums.  

It was a great time and like I said, I think she really did enjoy it.  

After the zoo, Elsie fell asleep the minute she was strapped into her carseat.  So we grabbed a quick lunch at the drive thru and drove around exploring again.  We ended up at Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt.  As we drove in we notice a Rendezvous was going on.  It was open to the public but since Elsie was sleeping we chose not to get out ;).  There were tons of tents and tipis set up and people dressed from attire in that era.  It reminded me of a coworker from camp who I believe would go to this particular one to get some program supplies.  The park was an interesting find.  Neither of us knew it was back there.  There is a campground you can stay at and you can rent kayaks and canoes.  The campground was pretty flooded and despite it being Memorial Day weekend was almost vacated.  It would be a nice afternoon to head back out there and take one of the wetland trails once things dry up a little bit and not everything is so flooded.  It was neat to discover a new outdoor place so close to home.  

We finally made our way back home and stopped in at John's parents where his sister and the girls were at.  Elsie had fun playing around for a little bit before we headed home to play more outside and get dinner going.  It was about this time things turned south for me.  I started to get achy and the chills.  Unfortunately, by the time I went to bed that night I was in full sick mode with a fever, sore throat, and achy all over.  Not a great way to end such a wonderful day.  Well onto day three of Staycation 2013.  

Staycation 2013-Day One: Science Center of Iowa

This Memorial Day Weekend we originally had reservations at a State Park near St. Louis.  We had all these plans to go camping, see the arch, go to the St. Louis Zoo, go biking, and visit Grants Farm.  Well as the week went by we watched the weather and the forecast was a lot of rain and storms.  Well St. Louis is about 6.5 hours drive and we figured it was a long way to sit in the camper and deal with rain.  So we decided to cancel our reservations and reschedule for another weekend.  We did that on Wednesday and by Wednesday afternoon we had Elsie in to see the doctor for an ear infection.    I am so happy that we ended up canceling because it only got worse from there.  We had her back in on Thursday and Friday and by Friday night she was fever free and starting to feel better.  I am so glad we cancelled our vacation.

So I decided that even if we can't go on vacation we can have a "Staycation".  I was hoping to avoid housework, meal prep, etc. but that didn't happen but we did have a great weekend...until I got sick.  So here we go!  Day One: 

We woke up, got ready, and headed out to the Science Center of Iowa.  I knew that Elsie wouldn't totally be into it but I knew there were areas that she would enjoy.  Plus, I had purchased a groupon and we got in 1/2 price.  We were also hoping to get to the Downtown Farmers Market but it was just pouring so we passed on that.  

The very first exhibit we went to was in the Star Theater.  They had a Sesame Street program with Big Bird about the stars.  Elsie was enthralled!  She just kept looking all around her.  It was fun to see her so interested.  After the program we went to the room with the animals.  

Then we went to "When Things Get Moving" where we spent most of our time at the ball wall.  It's nothing like the room of balls at the Omaha Children's Museum but she still had fun.  

After spending quite a bit of time at the ball wall we headed down to "Small Discoveries", a room designed for children Elsie's age so it was perfect! 

Elsie walked all the way up the steps the "normal" way.  

I was so proud of her and she was so proud of herself!

Elsie has been obsessed with bubbles at home so it was fun to blow big bubbles with her. 

She made a little friend at this exhibit.  He was showing her how it all worked.  

After we left SCI, we walked to one of my favorite restaurants downtown-Hessen Haus.  It is a yummy german place with the best Beer Cheese Soup!  It has little bits of bratwurst in it and is so good! 

Then we headed back in the car-Elsie was asleep in minutes so we decided to drive around.  We ended up at the Saylorville Dam, someplace I had never been to.  When John and I go on vacations we like to drive around and take in the sights so it felt just right to do the same in the Des Moines area.  It was a pretty drive.   

We came home, played for a while and grilled out for dinner.  After Elsie went to bed we took it easy and relaxed a little and hit the hay early.  

Week in Review-5.24.13

This week was a fantastic week if you don't count all the stupid sever weather we had and the fact the Elsie was sick!

1.  The weekend was super fun!  We had our first campfire and had John's family over.  See Post:  Saturday Evening BBQ and celebrated a birthday of a special little boy.  See Post:  Tailgating in Des Moines.  That evening we had our first batch of severe weather, complete with Tornado warnings and watches.  Book club was cancelled and postponed to Monday night.  Before the weather came in though we took Elsie out in the Burley for the first time and she loved it!!!

2.  Another round of severe weather came our way Monday night so we swept Elsie up out of her crib and headed back to Dale and Bev's.  After the storm passed we went home and say this beautiful complete double rainbow.  I then headed over to Amber's for a very small book club group.  There was just three of us.  This months book is our choice:  Whatever we want to read and then we will share what we read over the month.  

3.  I can't believe it but my niece Allie graduated from pre-school and will be a big kindergartner next year.  I can't believe how fast she is growing up! 

                                        

4.  Well we dealt with some sickness again in our house this past week. Elsie was diagnosed with an ear infection on Wednesday but no fever so the doctor recommended waiting on antibitoics to see if it would clear up on its own.  Well it didn't and by Thursday we were back in with a fever and she was put on antibiotics.  Well on Friday we were back in again because she was in so much pain, was so upset she was inconsolable when the ibuprofen was wearing off.  It just broke my heart.  She stopped eating and drinking and I was kind of concerned because it seemed like she was getting worse, not better.  So we called and they thought we should bring her in.  Well the doctor thought it was just her ears...I thought there was something else going on and later in the weekend I would end up finding out first hand how crappy she actually felt. 

Even when she is sick she can still be naughty :)

Of course, the minute we got home from the doctor she was feeling miraculously better and wanted to play outside-she looks happy to me. 

5.  One day I told Elsie to go get her hat so we could go play outside...well this is the hat she came back with and wanted to wear it outside.  

Week in Review- 5.17.13

Yes, I am behind on my Week In Reviews but here is my attempt to catch up :)

1.  The few nights prior to this were rough...Elsie was not sleeping well.  We were up at my parents house and she was up a bit in the night but the best part is she slept until 8:20!!! Something that has never happened!  So I just had to take a screen shot of it!

2.  That weekend we spent up in MN celebrating Mother's Day.  It was so good to see family!  Well Saturday night we went to visit some friends.  Elsie was fussy and a bit shy at first but after awhile (and some tylenol) she warmed up to Taylor and Greta!  We also found out that Randi was expecting!!!  Such great news!  

3.  Elsie loves playing with her MegaBlocks-she loves to take them all out and then sit in the little storage wagon.  This particular day she sorted out all the single blocks and stacked them all up as high as she could go!  I was impressed that she sorted them out.  

4.  I have been in a pretty good routine with running lately and I absolutely love getting out.  There are very few days I dread going out I just struggle to fit it in the schedule, especially since I want to run before dinner. Well on Monday 5/13 I ran by fastest 3 miles to date with an average pace of 8:48/mile.  Don't you just loves those days when the run just "feels right".  

5.  Also on Monday 5/13 after almost 15 years I finally got my permanent retainer removed!  Oh it feels so good to run my tongue along my bottom teeth and not feel metal!  

6.  Elsie and I had such a good Friday!  We set out for a walk early to do a little shopping downtown (which out downtown isn't very big.  I decided to treat her to a little ice cream treat and she loved it!!

After ice cream we went to a little park close to downtown to kill some time until John and Grandma Bev and Grandpa Sorem could meet us for lunch.  

Dam to Dam-5k and Elsie's First Race

This past Saturday I participated in my third 5k of the year.  Although my time improved by 1 minute and 10 seconds I was not very happy with the race.  After my last race I set a goal to do this run with a 9:30/mile pace.  Well, I reached that goal but deep down I wanted to finished with a pace of 9:00/mile, something I know I can do because I did it under that twice in the past two weeks.  Well after the official results came I was a bit dissapointed because my time came in at 29:20 or a pace of 9:26/mile.  So I guess I beat my original goal but fell short of my revised goal.  I shouldn't have been so surprised though because it was a rough run.  On the way there I ate a stupid tums because I was worried that the coffee I drank would bother me.  Well I think that was a big mistake!  My mouth was so dry during the entire run.  Even right before the race started I stole some water out of Elsie's sippy cup.  So around mile 2 there was a water station and I decided to drink water (i never drink water during a run) and that just made things so much worse.  It was just not good.  And I walked...I haven't walked on a three mile run since mid-April.  Oh well...better luck next time right? I guess if I am looking for something more positive I was in the top 20% overall and for my age group.

The biggest highlight of my morning was the youth run.  I decided on Friday to sign Elsie up for the youth run and it was so cute!  They lined up the 1 and 2 years olds and they ran (with their parents).  I was worried she wouldn't want to do it but she did and she waved and said hi to all the people lined up along the sides cheering the little ones on.  :)  So Elsie ran her first race-race bib and all.  Oh and her number was "1" because it was their age.

So I did the 5k but the main race of the even is a 20k.  I had three friends that race the 20k-Kedra, Hillary, and Heidi and they did so awesome and should be so proud of themselves!!

Kedra, Me, Hillary and Heidi at packet pick up

Pre-Race with my little good luck charm

Post Race with my best two cheerleaders

Elsie's First Run :)

She got a little bag of goldfish at the finish.