Home of Douglas Loots

One of the games we’ve always played with the kids is “Bank.” Some time ago, Grandma Bernadine gave Brayton a little train bank, I think it was Easter of 2006. At some point we found out that Brayton loved to put the coins in the little slot. This became a game, we’d dump out all the change and B would put the coins back in. It was also a learning opportunity, by the time he was 1 year old B could identify the differences in pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. We’d say, “put a dime in” and he’d choose a dime out of the pile. He couldn’t say the names, but he knew the difference.

Some time later, I bought a jug of pub mix at Costco. The container was clear plastic with a screw on lid. I cut a hole in the top of the lid and this became our new “bank”. I was concerned that with our kids increasing activity the train bank Grandma had given us it would eventually get broken. At least this new bank was plastic and if it was broken we wouldn’t care so much.

Lauren over the past few months has really taken to playing “bank”. She doesn’t know the difference between all the coins the same way B did, but she loves playing. We also think it’s good to help the kids tune their fine motor skills. With Lauren, she really loved putting the coins in her mouth so it took us a little while to get her to the point she wouldn’t put the coins in her mouth.

The result of all our playing bank was captured this morning before Mass when B was upstairs with me while I was getting ready for church. Colette and Lauren got to play “bank,” uninterrupted by big brother.

As I just wrote about, here’s a little video clip of Brayton and Colette going down the giant slide at the fair. I still can’t believe how expensive this silly ride was. But I guess it’s not about the cost, it’s about having a good time and getting some film to publish for all to see.

I’ve not been very good about posting the past ten days. I have been wanting to put up some clips from the state fair, but have been sort of lazy and just didn’t get this done like I wanted to. I blame the Olympics being on TV. We’ve been watching pretty fervently since one of the Olympians (Shawn Johnson in gymnastics) is practically our next door neighbor. Consequently we have been glued to the TV and staying up past our normal bedtimes.

So, about 10 days ago, it was Wells Fargo day at the State Fair. All employees get in for free and we get vouchers for $20 worth of food. We probably wouldn’t go to the fair if it wasn’t free, the crowds are insane, it’s usually extrememly hot, and the kids don’t last more than an couple of hours there before they are cranky.

Sunday, August 8th, we made the trip out to the fairgrounds. We walked around and saw all the cattle, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, pigs, and every other animal there. We saw the biggest bull of the fair 3000+ lbs of him. We took some time to eat cotton candy and carmel corn. We wanted to try a funnel cake, but no vendors could tell us if their cakes had eggs or not. So we didn’t get any funnel cake.

We also took a little bit of time to try out some rides. We put Brayton on a little motorcycle ride. The first couple times around he was okay, but as you’ll see in the video, about the third or fourth time around he decided he didn’t like it at all. We tried to get on the ride with him, but the operator wouldn’t allow adults to get on. So, we had to stop the ride early and get him off. It was good there wasn’t any other kids on the ride.

The second (and last) ride we tried was the giant slide. Colette took B all the way to the top of the slide and B had a great time going down. This wasn’t nearly as scary as the motorcycles, probably because Mommy was right there. Once he was to the bottom, Bratyon immediatly wanted to go again. I would probably have let him, but it was $12 for one trip down the slide. I believe this has to be the most profitable ride at the fair.

Last night I was talking to Brayton about the fact he was going to Grandma and Pappa’s this weekend. I told him how he needed to be be a good boy and not whine, cry, or tease his sister while he was there. I told him how he needed to eat a good dinner every time, and not cry when Grandma put him down for naps and at bedtime.

Just to make sure he was following along with our conversation, and to be repetitive I asked, “B, where are you going this weekend?” He said, “Grandma Coke’s and Papa Allan’s.”

I said, “What are you going to do there.”

B said, “Eat emmies!” (M&M’s) “Pappa keeps them in his pocket.” “I’m going to eat emmies and watch a movie!”

Well, it’s obvious how important those M&M’s are in Grandpa’s pocket. I bet I know a little girl who will also remember that Pappa keeps those M&M’s in his pocket too…

After picking our sweet corn in the garden Tuesday night, Colette had the opportunity to cook it up for supper tonight.

This isn’t the first time our kids have had the opportunity to eat sweet corn. Colette had bought some at the store for supper one night last week. It didn’t work out the way we had hoped, the kids were not the least bit interested in that corn. Lauren had sore gums from teething, and B was just not into eating the corn that night. So, Colette and I ate about six ears each.

Tonight was a far different story. Maybe picking the corn on Tuesday night solidified the fun of picking our own corn and then eating it. Maybe Lauren’s gums weren’t so sore tonight from teething. Not sure what got into them, but they both ate all their sweet corn tonight.

Colette held the corn for Lauren, and B ate his on his own. They both really cleaned up and seemed to enjoy the corn. I have to admit it was pretty good too. I think we’ll plant more next year.

Tonight we had the opportunity to finally get in the garden and pick some sweet corn.

Brayton had helped me plant it earlier this year, he actually tossed the seeds all over the place when I gave them to him to put in the furrows, but nontheless some of the corn came up and did fairly well.

I reminded him of when we planted it, I’m uncertain if he actually remembered but hopefully he did. He just looked at me with a blank stare.

We went out and picked about a dozen ears, but only eight were any good. I think I didn’t plant enough of it for it to fully fertilize itself. I thought about bagging it but never got around to it.

He really seemed to enjoy getting in there and picking the corn, I think he just liked being in the garden and pulling the ears off the stalks. We proceeded to shuck the corn together and tossed the husks in the compost pile. Not sure he fully understands why we did it, hopefully I can get it to sink in tomorrow when we eat the corn for dinner.

This weekend we packed the family and Uncle Matt and Aunt Audra in the van and headed to Omaha for Maria’s birthday party, a trip to the Henry Doorley Zoo, and a night at the Springhill Suites Hotel.

We took off at 9:30 Am and got to the Zoo shortly before lunch. We couldn’t believe the crowd at the zoo. We went in and walked around for a bit until Ryan, Mikhael, and Maria joined us. After eating lunch we continued through the zoo for another couple hours. It was about 92 degrees and everyone was hot hot hot. Fortunately there were enough buildings that were air conditioned we got cooled off every now and again.

Brayton’s favorite part of the zoo was the jungle, but he also liked the aquarium, and the petting zoo. He liked trying to feed the goats and watch the sharks and fish swimming around in the aquarium.

After the zoo, we checked into the hotel and had a swim in the pool. The kids had a great time, and we swam for about an hour and a half. I was surprised they did so well. We ate supper the Colette had prepared in the hotel room, watched a quick movie on the laptop and then everyone was in bed by 8pm. Lauren crashed immediately in the pack & play, however, Brayton was still a bit wound up. B & I were sharing a bed, and Colette had her own bed. I put my arm on B to try to hold him in place, which worked alright, but he was not ready to go down yet. He was talking, saying nursery rhymes, counting, ABC’s etc. I was pretending that I was asleep and watching him through the corner of my eyes. Finally I decided to close them all the way, all of a sudden I felt a finger go up my nostril. I pushed his had down to his side and didn’t say anything. He proceeded to pretend that he was sleeping, and waited about a minute (which was probably an eternity for a little boy) before attempting the finger up Daddy’s nose again. This went on for another time when I decided enough was enough. I held his hand by his side and he again began reciting nursery rhymes.

After a while Colette had had enough. She told B if he wanted to sleep on the floor he could. That lasted all of about 2 minutes, and the ultimatum was that if he didn’t want to sleep he had to lay next to me and be quiet. He decided that was okay, crawled into bed and was out like a light in just a few short minutes.

The next morning, we had some breakfast and went to Mass and met Ryan, Mikhael, Maria, Grandpa Gordon, and Grandma Cindy there. After mass we went back to Ryan’s house and celebrated Maria’s birthday party.

Poor Lauren fell down and cut the inside of her lip up, it was cut bad enough that it was still very sore today and she was very fussy and wouldn’t eat much.

All in all, our first stay in a hotel room went really well, and everyone was worn out after the weekend and slept well when we got home.