friesenfam.net

Friesen family blog

June 30, 2011
by janette
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vacation day 1 – the zoo

Our first stop in Omaha was the Henry Doorly Zoo. We’d been hearing about how awesome this zoo was, so we were pretty excited to check it out!

We spotted polar bears…

and penguins. This was the kids favorite part! I have to admit, they were pretty fun to watch.

Sharks…

and stingrays.

My favorite parts:

The animals are right there! It wasn’t like we had to look hard to find them! We walked around the first corner and boom…there was a giraffe right there. This fence was the only thing standing between them and us…well and a trench of water. But I’m used to having to search for the animals in their habitat. Not so with this zoo!

Rhinos!! These guys were great! They spent most of their time in the mud, which of course my son thought was hilarious!

They were a good substitute for the elephants I had most wanted to see…but that aren’t there anymore.

Jellyfish. I love these!

I also loved this guy! He was in the Expedition Madagascar exhibit and right after this picture, he leapt onto the railing post that was right next to Ellie’s head. She was freaked out…I thought it was great!

It was a hot, hot day at the zoo! The temperature was around 105 degrees. My hubby, the planner, suggested we start at the back of the zoo and work our way to the front, doing most of the outdoor stuff in the morning. We finished up with the indoor buildings as it was getting steamy outside.

6 1/2 hours at the zoo…with no naps, in 105 degree heat and we all survived. I’d call it a success!

June 29, 2011
by janette
2 Comments

A nice start to vacation

For my birthday, Nathan and I went to the Hotel Patee in Perry on our way to our Omaha family vacation.

If you’ve never been there, or haven’t heard of it…you should check it out. www.hotelpattee.com

It has theme rooms, a bowling alley, and a wonderful restaurant all right in the hotel. You can even check out movies or books in their first floor library.

We left our kids at Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Ogden, and drove down for a relaxing evening by ourselves.

We had some tropical sno…

look at the size of that thing. Nathan ordered the small for us to split as a small snack before we went bowling. I’m sure glad he didn’t order the large. Eating this thing was ridiculous. We had it everywhere. I’m just glad I wasn’t the one who had to wash the tables when I was done!

We went bowling in the basement…

and let me tell you, there are few things more attractive than bowling shoes with capri pants!

And then we caught the late show of Xmen:First Class at the Grand Theatre.

It was very relaxing…and a wonderful way to start our week-long vacation!

A couple of pictures of our room…the Italian room.

I’ve got to get one of these window seats!

And this head board was awesome!

The only inconvenient thing about the hotel was that their key system was down and so every time you wanted to get into your room, you had to have the desk attendant or hotel manager take you up there and unlock it for you. However, that was just a minor inconvenience…they were so nice about the whole thing and didn’t seem bothered at all when they needed to take you to your room.

It’s a place I’d definitely recommend…and one I’ll be visiting again!

June 23, 2011
by janette
1 Comment

A preschool graduate

I was looking back through some pictures this morning and realized that I never posted pictures of Ellie’s preschool graduation. I’m just a bit behind I guess.

From the beginning to the end of the preschool year…

and preschool graduation…

(showing off the letters to their first names)

(Ellie’s art and her silhouette displayed at graduation)

(Grandpa and Evan watching the program)

(with Mrs Maley)

(and Mrs Steege)

to Kindergarten round-up.

Oh…my big girl is getting big. And she’s so excited! Kindergarten…here we come.

June 16, 2011
by janette
2 Comments

never in a million years…

It’s funny how a simple pile of m&ms for dessert one night can bring out the silly in a kid.

Now, those of you that know me are probably like…”you let him do that?”

Well, let me just say this.

Sometimes you have to break a couple rules and just have some fun. :)

June 15, 2011
by janette
0 comments

the final chapter

Okay…last one on the book, I promise. But it was just so darn good!

So, the focus on the last section of the book was making this whole “plan” to mindfully eat fit into your life. This…probably the most difficult part. You can think about it all you want…but actually doing…a completely different story. You with me?

It says to make a daily checklist…

Each day you’ll have three goals (each goal amounting to some amount of calorie reduction/better eating). For example. Your goals may be a trade-out (I won’t have dessert unless I workout), or a portion thing (I’ll fill my plate once and not go back for seconds, or I’ll fill half my plate at each meal with veggies and fruits and the other half with my protein and grains), or whatever you see as attainable and sustainable.

Everyday, you’ll fill in this chart at the end of the day…hoping to have 2 of  your 3 checked off…At the end of a 30 day month, you would have 90 opportunities to reduce your caloric intake.

Being a person who loves charts and statistics and all that (sick, i know), I can just imagine how much fun i would have tallying it all up at the end of the week/month.

Now, I’ve been thinking a lot about this system…and need to really nail down my goals. But, I’m going to try it. After all, what can it hurt. Who’s with me on this one??