Lions and tigers oh my!

Zoo visit with Grandpa Dave and Uncle Matt: We saw the tiger for the first time. Sebastian kept saying "ajax" as it paced in front of us. We also saw the female lion kill a squirrel, which was exciting for the adults. We went on to see other animals however, Sebastian kept requesting to see the monkeys, so we headed to the children's zoo.

We had a private ride on the zoo train:

Sebastian and mommy rode in the caboose

Grandpa and Uncle Matt in the peacock car

Sebastian played on the equipment. His favorite part was a puddle he found in one of the rock formations. That was the end of his dry clothes.


That evening Sebastian kept talking about the monkeys and papa and Matt. The next morning he continued to have monkey fever so we took a run to Vilas park and then visited the monkeys, who put on quite a show. Of course no zoo trip is complete without waving to the zoo train.

Egg Chair

An early Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa Zabel. At first Sebastian was intrigued by it, but not ready to sit in it. So he piled his toys in and sent them for a spin, to make sure it was safe. Good thinking kido. Eventually, with some coaxing from me, he sat down and went for a spin. Then it was "more, more, more". He came out of the chair a bit tipsy and stumbled into a speaker (don't tell daddy) and then sat on a wooden toy. A little too much excitement, time for some quiet time.

By the afternoon, he had it down. In order to take a spin, he needed a blanket and three pull toys to accompany him. It was my job to place the blanket and the toys. He made sure that the strings from the pull toys were inside of the chair before spinning - safety first!

Apple Picking

Saturday morning we went to the apple orchard with Aunt Kristine, Hannah and Caleb. I was hoping that Sebastian would want to run around, but no, he just wanted to ride in his cousin's red wagon. Eventually he had fun picking up the windfall apples and throwing them. After we picked apples we went for a hay ride which Sebastian loved! He liked the horses. When it came time to get off, he signed and said "more" and then cried when I carried him off. I had to distract him by showing him the tractors up close.

18 months!

(September 15) Sebastian celebrated his 18 month birthday by starting another round of swimming lessons. This time he was very excited and couldn't wait to get into the pool! He had so much fun splashing and kicking. Jumping off the side of the pool was the best! Although he did give daddy the slip and run away to check out the swim noodles. I'm not sure if he really strengthened any skills tonight, but all those beach days this summer sure kept him interested in the water. I wish I had brought the video camera.

Michigan Camping Trip

Or otherwise known as Noordijkpalooza. Sebastian LOVES camping! So many things to explore and play with. The best part is getting dirty, dirty, dirty. He wore us out since he was uncontained and needed constant supervision.

Hoffmaster State Park is located on Lake Michigan. The beach was within walking distance of the campground. We had two really beautiful beach days. Sebastian enjoyed playing in the sand near the water's edge and splashing in the waves. Daddy took him out deeper to practice his swimming. We ate lunch on the beach and introduced Sebastian to peanut butter sandwiches. Then he napped in his chariot on the beach. This allowed mommy and daddy to go swimming, nap or kayak.

Sebastian watching movies in the tent on Daddy's iPod

Michael built these Kayaks!




This is how he carried them to the beach...




Beach!

First peanut butter sandwich on the beach

Sebastian in his napmobile (after a nap).
Re-sunscreened and ready for some more beach fun.

First kayak adventure

Mommy got to kayak while Sebastian napped!

After a nap on the way home

Shiner Bock Baby!

Zoo Visit

It turned out to be a sunny morning instead of a rainy one so Sebastian and I biked to the zoo. Of course we had to play at the playground first. He is getting more adventurous. He can climb the stairs up to the slide in the shoe all by himself - those are some steep stairs!

Once in the zoo we visited the lions, but they weren't roaring so we moved on. Next was the sea lions. Sebastian liked watching the three of them swim around. Then we saw a giraffe, and he was intrigued. The monkeys were hiding, which is too bad because they were quite a hit last time. We watched the zoo train. Sebastian waved to the conductor and the passengers. overall, the animals were interesting, but climbing on rocks and playing with ropes was much more fun.