Indianapolis Zoo Boo

Today was a good day.

We started off the day at church where our pastor talked to us about being more service oriented. I guess that is the kind of sermon you would expect from him since he just returned from Haiti. Serving those in need is really a family theme for us as Stephanie and I met while working together serving children in need on Indy's near East side. We are very excited to see how God uses our church to help those with needs in Central Indiana (which is everybody).

After church, we had some fantastic homemade breakfast burritos. Here is a link to the recipe n The Pioneer Woman's website so that you can make them yourself...yummy!!! Kai took a nap after brunch for a couple of hours then we were off to the Indianapolis Zoo for Zoo Boo.

We are zoo members and this is one of the included perks of being a member (although you don't have to be a member to go to ZooBoo). We had a great time and we will be going back next year and the year after that and the year after that and...well, you get the idea.

We ran in to Kai's buddy Master P right at the entrance. Master P is on the left and he is dressed up as a old time golfer and Kai is the tiger on the right.

We got a few more pictures around the zoo with the boys together. Here they are checking out a giant rabbit.
Here they are with some old dude.

A family photo of the Indiana Lesnets at Zoo Boo.

Kai wanted his picture taken with a real tiger. Its hard to tell them apart, but Kai is the one that I'm holding and the real tiger is in the cage.

With hooks they pulled him into a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon. They put him in prison, so his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel. Ezekiel 19:9

A long week, but a great weekend!

There are a few things that parents should never be without. Of course, there are many and more than my list here, but here are some items that come to mind:

1. A washer and dryer
2. Hot water
3. An emergency babysitter
4. A muzzle for unruly children

Well, this week we had times when we were without any of these things (we still haven't secured a good call at any time babysitter...one of several disadvantages of living in a different state than both sets of grandparents and all aunts).

On Monday, our washing machine and dryer were moved from our laundry room to our garage as the contractors started the work on fixing up the water damage caused by some faulty installation of our new set that we bought on July 4th weekend. Our contractor(s) did a great job and finished up everything in just a few days.

On the day that our contractor(s) were finishing up, we were blessed because we had a hard time finding the wall paint for the contractor to use for paint touch ups. Not being able to find things is always frustrating and is rarely a blessing but sometimes God uses these types of delays to save our bacon. Stephanie and I had both been down to the basement searching for the paint a few times and weren't able to find it. I gave up and decided to take Kai to school and continue on in to the office. After I left, Stephanie went back down to look one more time and saw that our water heater was leaking (she also found the paint). The water was really spewing out but she was able to contain the water with towels before it damaged any of our awesomely finished basement. That day we were also blessed by our awesome plumber friend who came out and replaced our (under warranty) water heater before we got home from work.

That same day, Kai got bit at school. We didn't witness the incident, but the story goes something like this; he was on the climber at school and a little girl wanted to get on there. Our speed demon, Kai didn't move fast enough for her so she leaned over and bit him. His teachers have taken the oath of silence and therefore won't tell us who bit him, but we asked him about it that night and he said "Audrey" "bit" "No, No", so we think it was Audrey. He was injured in the incident as she drew some blood but he's a quick healer and the tooth mark is almost gone.

A little comic relief to the biting story is that when Kai says "bit", it sounds a lot like "b*tch". He continues to tell us about "Audry bit" and it just cracks his dad up.

On Thursday, I picked Kai up from school and he had a lot of waxy discharge around his right ear. Of course, us rookie parents freaked out and assumed that his tube had come out and that we were going to have to get those redone. We tried to make an appointment to see his pediatrician on Friday but they are just packed with flu patients so we took a deep breath, relaxed, and called Kai's otolaryngologist. They said that the discharge was normal, that he had an ear infection and that the tubes were doing their job by letting that junk drain out. They called us in a prescription for some ear drops and he's doing great!

On Friday, Grandpa Lesnet came down to visit us for the weekend. Kai was elated to see him and gave him a hug right away (our boy is not a hugger)! Grandpa brought down some gifts from him and grandma including a new raincoat. Kai does not like wearing coats but he loves this one! Last weekend Kai would not wear his coat (it was cold), so Stephanie had a great "mom" moment. After the third time of Kai unzipping his coat and leaving it on the driveway, she put it on him backwards, and zipped it up. Kai did not like the hood in his face or the zipper on his back. She turned it around and he kept it on the rest of the afternoon.

Kai loves his new fireman coat and wore it all weekend.

Grandma and Grandpa Lesnet also gave him a great new toolbox and I'm not sure who had more fun playing with the tools - Grandpa or Kai.On Saturday, Chad took grandpa and several other friends (Trevor, James, and Eugene) to Purdue for some Big Ten football. We had a great tailgate complete with pancakes, beer, sausage, beer, burgers, beer, Hawaiian brats, beer, and beer (really not that much beer). We also enjoyed the game as Purdue whipped Ohio State!

Stephanie and Kai had a great Saturday hanging out without Grandpa Lesnet and I. They went to the Farmers Market and for a walk with friends. Kai wore his new Superman shirt and really wanted to get some pictures in it. Kai takes great pictures all the time but good photos are so much easier when he asks you to take pictures of him.

Cheese!!

Kai was so glad to see me when we got back from the game that he tackled me and wouldn't let me up.

Here's what Kai looks like from my perspective when he's sitting on my chest.
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them. Though they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them. - Amos 9:3

Kiki Run Away??

This past Tuesday (10/13) was a sleepless night here at the Indiana Lesnet estate as Kai woke up terrified that Kiki had ran away.

He was completely inconsolable and just kept saying "Kiki run away?" over and over. Kiki had not run away and was doing a great job sleeping through all the commotion. She was pretty irritated when we kept calling her to us to prove to our young son that his precious beagle was safe and sound at home. Kiki received no sympathy from Stephanie and I though as she sleeps all day long!

Kiki is a great dog but is a lot of work. She is a lot more work than Kai and we have thought about giving her away several times. She is great with Kai though and he loves her very much.

I think that this picture is worth more than 1,000 words, it shows pretty clearly why Kiki is going to continue to be a part of our family.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. - 1 Corinthians 13:4

Rock-Tober!

Holy smokes is it chilly outside here in Central Indiana these days! The average temps in this area this time of year are in the low 70's and I don't think its climbed over 55 degrees for over a week and the lows are hovering just above freezing. Throw in a lot of rain and most folks just choose to stay inside...but of course the Indiana Lesnets play outside no matter what.

Stephanie ditched us last weekend to spend some time down in Brown County, Indiana with a bunch of her friends while Kai and I (Kiki too) held down the fort up here in Noblesville. Kai and I did great (more on that to come) and Stephanie had a great time hanging out with her friends for a much needed girls weekend. She wanted me to add in that they "had a wonderful time celebrating friendships and that her friends are amazing women" (I agree that her friends are amazing).

October is a very busy time for both of us at work as it is time to once again close out the quarterly books and report the numbers to the SEC. Unfortunately, we are also running out of food in the freezer. In order to help get us through the busy time and restock our chest freezer with yummy meals, Stephanie's sister Jessica came to visit for part of the weekend and did our freezer cooking for the next several months. She also had watched Kai while I got in some time at the office on Saturday. We are very thankful for Aunt Jessica and her culinary skills.

Here is Kai tickling the ivories in his old man pajamas. I personally think that old man pajamas look stellar when they are covered with basketball dunking gorillas! Would you agree?

Kai and I went to McDonald's for breakfast while mom was gone.

On Sunday, the boy and I went shopping and got some new toys for Kai. I was on a mission to get Kai a basketball hoop for his basement playroom but we picked up a set of golf clubs and some legos instead. Toys-R-Us is celebrating "Block-tober" this month and have all of their blocks on sale and I just can't resist a bargain. Kai loves these new toys, especially the legos. He has kept us on his toes with the golf clubs as he hits mom, dad, Kiki, the wall, and whatever else he can reach along with the golf balls.

Stephanie took Kai to the doctor this week as he had / has a ugly sounding cough. He was diagnosed with croup (he's better now) and found out that he now weighs 28 pounds. He has grown a lot these past couple of months and has caught up with and passed many of his friends.

Kai's vocabulary is also growing quickly these days. I really need to get a little better at keeping track of his words but here are a few that stick out. He knows some colors, specifically black, blue, and yellow. He says animal, blanket, Kai (sometimes if you ask him his name he'll tell you). Thankfully he hasn't picked up any questionable language yet but I'm sure its just a matter of time.

Kai is also doing some cool new stuff. He is learning yoga at school which is pretty neat but Stephanie and I don't know much about Yoga poses, I guess we will learn. Kai has outgrown his size 7 shoes and is now in a size 8. He is still a mommas boy but is happiest when all 3 of us are together. He is also a fantastic hugger and has started giving squeezes if you ask. I love being a dad!!

Although he is growing up very quickly, he only gets to drive on the weekends.

Now on to this weekend (er, I guess today).

This morning we started the day with a pancake breakfast. Stephanie has a great recipe for blueberry banana pancakes that are fantastic (the secret ingredient is almond butter). After breakfast we went to the farmer's market right here in Noblesville. We picked up some mums, pumpkins, mustard, barbecue sauce, and some apple butter.

After the farmers market, we went to Stony Creek Farms Pumpkin Festival. While we were there Kai:

Rode a pony
Went on a hay ride (we refused to ride the one with the green tractor...us Lesnets are red tractor folks)
Spent some time in the pumpkin patch
Stopped for a few photo opsOn that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. - Zechariah 14:6

Cheese

We have had some feedback from our last blog post, and that feedback is that my writing is a lot better when accompanied by photos.

So, with this post, I am going to merely caption photos...it will probably be our most popular one yet.

Kai really wanted his picture taken on the evening that this was taken. He kept asking for more and saying "cheese" at the camera. Taking pictures like this is much easier.

We bought Kai a tricycle. His legs aren't quite long enough to pedal it yet but he loves it anyway.

Here is Kai and daddy making monkey noises.
When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments. - Exodus 33:4