The weekend before this one was a great “last hurrah” to summer, as we had sunshine and temps in the 80s. On Saturday we had Jeff’s work picnic at the zoo. We packed up the car and headed out for a day of fun. Max loved feeding the giraffes and the birds and riding the carousel. He also loved the fact that at the picnic they had ice cream sandwiches.

Sunday found us heading north to my Grandma’s house. We hadn’t been up there in far too long, and Great-Grandma was itching to see the kids again. It was wonderful to spend the day with family and Max loved the toys Great-Grandma has. When we told him we were going up there that day, he said right away that he was going to play with the mailbox toy. It has been quite a while since we were up there, so we were impressed that he remembered that.

I went back to work on Wednesday last week. I can’t say I was looking forward to going back, I have loved these months at home with Max and Anna. But I’m trying to focus on the positives, like the fact that I can bring Anna with me until she’s six months old (amazing benefit!) and that I am part-time and get one day a week at home. The first few days went well and I think I’m now caught up on my email. Monday did come around awfully quickly though!

I have a few pictures from when Oma and Opa and Greg, Leah and the girls were here that didn’t make it up last time, so I wanted to be sure to post them now. Here are Leah, Elizabeth and Emma making s’mores on the grill:

Reading a story to Anna:

Max is a fan of corn on the cob:

I’ve mentioned that Anna doesn’t love tummy time. Our friends Rain and Wes sent this cute owl toy for her and she loves to stare at it. We’ve had some improvement on tummy time with propping her on the Boppy and letting her look at the owl:

Taking pictures of a toddler and a baby together is hard. I don’t know how my friend Justine gets such great pictures of kids all the time. So when I do get a shot where both kids are looking in the general direction of the camera, I’m thrilled. Here Max was sharing Chester with Anna, which was quite impressive since Chester is his very special friend.

The zoo! For $5 you can feed the giraffes, and it is money well spent. Max holds out the leaves and says, “Here you go, giraffe!”

Climbing around:

Feeding the birds, another hit:

Anna staying cool in the shade at the picnic:

Carousel ride!

Our trip to Great-Grandma’s house:

Four generations:

My aunt Wendy is an amazing baker, and was kind enough to make pie for us. Max was a big fan!

On the porch swing:

Cousin Trinity was so happy to hold the baby!