The Riley Family

We just found out that there is a small zoo about 15 minutes away from us, in Aurora, call Phillips Park Zoo . We went today and had a good time looking at the elk, turkeys, cougars, and a few other animals. It is very small, but free, and fun to explore. There is also a huge park too, so we went and played, then had our picnic lunch. Luckily we went early this morning so it wasn't too hot! Pics at Picasa !

I just keep forgetting to take my camera with us these days. Will try to be better this weekend as Paul is taking a couple of days off!

We are actively trying to train Scout. He can sit, and lay down, and is working on shaking paws and rolling over. Scout is pretty good about going outside to the bathroom, but we need to keep an eye on him. Of course he loves to get a hold of toys when he can.

We planted our garden about 1 1/2 weeks ago, and we are starting to see the sprouts! We planted okra, peas, squash, cantaloupe , cucumbers, tomatoes , corn, broccoli, and sweet peppers. We did have asparagus too, but Olive, then Scout dug it all up. Will plant spinach there instead. 5/30/07: I replanted corn and spinach. Then Olive dug up the spinach. Not sure what her deal is with that part of the garden. The okra and peas are doing great, as well as cantaloupe, squash and cucs . The others are starting to come along, but I might replant in another week or two. 6/5/07: Everything is doing well. Especially the squash. We added a trellis for the peas and the cucumbers, hopefully that will help keep those manageable . Might look into staking the squash too. Only a few tomatoes are coming up. I need to thin the broccoli, but I have such a hard time thinning plants. 6/18/07: I replanted corn again yesterday. Also planted some spinach and sunflowers in some empty spots. We will see what hap...

Jack just started drinking some whole milk in the last few days, and he seems to really like it. Before he hadn't wanted to drink any skim. He loves water too, especially on these hot days! He is still nursing a bit too, but much less than Kate at this age, really only about 3 times a day.

We found a knock-off Burley (1st step or something) at a garage sale last week for $20, so we have been enjoying lots of bike rides! I had the one seat on my bike, but needed a trailer so both Kate and Jack could go in the bike. Now they can ride together in the trailer, or Kate can bring some animals and Jack can ride in the seat. I'll try to take some pictures next time.

I guess that comes with the warm weather. Kate's knees, elbows & hands all have scrapes, as well as Jack's knees and face. Jack tries to walk too fast, then he falls on his hands, but sometimes he has too much momentum and ends up on his face :(. At least we have a full collection on band-aids, from Dora to Pony's and even Elmo!

Uncle Matt is now officially a member of the Rockford, IL police department, and Officer Bowman. He will report to the Police Academy in Urbana this coming Monday for 12 weeks of training. Congratulations!! Pics at Picasa .

Grandpa Bill took Kate fishing yesterday! (and Jack too, but he didn't do much). Before I was even out of the car with Jack, Kate and Grandpa had already caught a small blue gill. Those fish were so hungry they ate all the garden worms we brought along! Pics at Picasa .

Kate's music teacher, Miss Wendy, has created a 1/2 hour piano class for 3 year olds for this summer. There are 7 kids in her current class (over 2 days), and I think a lot of them will continue with this piano course. The cool thing is that often these classes just keep going session after session, so she will be with the same kids for as long as they keep taking piano. And we are lucky that Mrs. Wilson across the street is a piano teacher as well as the music director at our church.

We have had Scout for almost a week, and so far it is going well. Scout is a lab/White German Shepherd mix, and he was born on 3/13/17, making him about 8 weeks. Scout really loves the kids, and wants to please us. He is doing a good job 'going' outside, but so far that is because we watch him like a hawk. Soon enough he will know to tell us. He is very good with the kids, but sometimes gets excited and jumps up. We are really trying to get him to not chew on Jack :). Kate loves to run with him in the backyard, which is great for both of them.

A couple of weeks ago Kate borrowed Mia's old bicycle. So now she is riding a big girl bike, with training wheels of course. She is doing a fantastic job riding it, even though it is a completely different ride than her old tricycle. Lucky for Jack, he gets to ride the tricycle now. He even has a new helmet. Pics at Picasa .

Kate got to hang out with her friends this weekend to help celebrate Elena's 3rd birthday. There was a cool puppet show, and Kate was cracking up at the funny princess, bunny and dragon. She was laughing so hard that she was making the other adults laugh! In the car she described the show as 'enormous' but we quickly realized she meant ' hilarious .'

Wow, in the last few days, he has just taken off! He can walk across a room, change directions, turn around, go around obstacles... even stand back up by himself! Of course he looks like a drunken sailor when he walks, but he is still cute :).

Anjie's parents visited last week, and we had a great time hanging out with them. Of course we spent most of the time outside riding bikes and playing with Scout. Pics at Picasa.

We are excited that Grandma and Grandpa G will be staying with us tomorrow. We haven't seen them in a few months, so it will be great to catch up. Pictures to follow.

Jack's lower right lateral incisor popped through the gum on a corner today, bringing the tooth total up to 8!

We finally found a dog! We saw an ad in the paper the other day, and today went to meet two lab mix puppies. We ended up bringing Scout home :). He is very good natured and loving, and the kids just adore him, only after a few hours. At bedtime Kate ran over to Scout's crate and said, "Good night Scout, I love you." There are a few pics at Picasa, and many more to come, I am sure.

She is having a great time in class, and loves to tell us what she learns and sing some of the songs. She has become very independent, and likes it that Jack and I drop her off for class instead of waiting. They do not have the same class next session, only one for 4 year olds, so we will switch to either art class or pom-poms, what ever one we can get her enrolled. But, Miss Wendy said she could probably start piano in the fall!

We are slowly trying to get Jack to a different nap schedule. He is still taking 2 half hour naps - usually around 9 or 10 am, then a second one in the afternoon. We are trying to move towards one longer nap around lunch time. Some days it works, some not.

Jack has gotten quite adamant about feeding himself lately. Of course this works better for some foods than others. He is good at getting the spoon to his mouth, just sometimes without the food.

We went over to Clow Airport today for lunch and to watch the planes. They have some outside tables and we had summer weather again today (75 and sunny) so we hung out and watched the planes. We forgot the camera, but I am sure we will be back. The airport is only a couple of miles from our house, and it is a lot of fun. Kate was very interested in the planes, and Jack loved waving at them, so it was fun for everyone :).

He is getting closer every day. And a lot more brave too! He has started taking 10+ steps at a time, and will often walk without anyone prompting him. It is so funny to see what he decides he wants to walk to! Thankfully no big scrapes/crash-ups yet, but he almost always ends up on the ground.