The Zoecklers

Trick Or Treat

2007-11-02T11:10:00.000-05:00

This year Lily was Tinkerbell for Halloween. We didn't make many stops or get much candy, but it was sure fun to see her dressed up!

The Pumpkin Train

2007-10-17T15:13:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we went to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay to ride the Pumpkin Train. There's a train that gives about a 7 minute ride out to a field where there are hundreds of pumpkins. Each person on the train gets to pick out a pumpkin. We went with JL, Mel, and their girls, and all four girls loved looking at all the pumpkins. Afterward there were many activities for the kids and Jordan and Maya especially loved climbing in the trains.

Caves in Canada

2007-10-17T15:08:00.000-05:00

One of the days we drove to a little scenic cave tour. There was a very scary suspension bridge to walk across, some neat caves to look in (not many to go in, though), and a nature trail that Lily enjoyed immensely. At the end of it all there was a trout pond with about five tame really large trout in it. We bought some trout food and Lily fed the fish.

Oh Canada

2007-10-17T14:49:00.000-05:00

We went on vacation to Canada this month. We stayed at a resort right outside Barrie, Ontario which is about 1.5 hrs north of Toronto. Since there wasn't much to do in the area except snow ski (not in season) and golf (season ending), we decided to drive the almost 3 hours to Niagara Falls. It was really worth it. Here are some pictures of the falls and of us on the Maid of the Mist boat tour.

Air Lily/ KISS try outs

2007-07-28T18:14:00.000-05:00

So either Lily is trying out to be the new lead singer for KISS or she is planning on capitalizing on the success Michael Jordan had while sticking his tongue during a dunk. Also, check out those long eye lashes... what a flirt.

2007-07-09T12:08:00.000-05:00

Our budding artist has emerged! Look out Picaso, Lily's in her Red and Yellow Period.

Lily Pictures

2007-07-09T12:02:00.000-05:00

Lily's getting bigger and bigger everyday. She can practically run now, and as you can see she's learning to talk on the phone (she can say "hi"). She enjoys hanging out at the farmer's market downtown and wearing sunglasses like Mommy.

Recital

2007-07-09T11:58:00.000-05:00

We were surprised to receive a phone invitation to a recital so late in the afternoon, but we got out the camera and headed to the neighbors'. We were surprised to see two girls all decked out and ready to dance. After our private showing of their new moves, I helped them learn a few more :)

Another Business Trip

2007-05-25T14:45:00.000-05:00

On May 20th we drove down to Chicago because Geoff had a conference there. We were only there for two days
and one night, but we still had a lot of fun. While Geoff was at the conference, Lily and I made a two mile walk along the water. We stopped to play in the shade (it was 80+ degrees outside!), but eventually arrived at our destination: The Shedd Aquarium.

Geoff joined us at the aquarium, and after an afternoon of watching fish, finding lizards, and seeing a dolphin show, we ended at this cool fountain.

Then we took a ferry to Navy Pier, ate dinner, chatted with Bob Newhart, and played ring-around, the rosy with a bunch of kids. Needless to say, we were pretty tired by the time we fell into our beds back in De Pere.

Our only disappointment? We had completely forgotten that our friend, Smeeta, lives in Chicago now. Geoff ran into her at the conference, but Lily and I never got to see her. Sorry again, Smeeta! We miss you a lot!

2007-05-25T14:37:00.001-05:00

Geoff and I made our first trip without Lily this month. On May 15 we left Lily with my mom and drove up to Door County for two days. We stayed at Blacksmith Inn on the Shore in Baily's Harber (I highly recommend it!), and we had a great time. And I only called home two or three times each day!

While we were there we did wine tastings at two different wineries (and left with a total of 12 bottles of wine). We rode a tandem bike to a lighthouse and back to the Inn. Our friends, Kate and Jeff, have a baby store in Door County, so we stopped to check it out and buy a present for Lily. We ate out and took advantage of what little nightlife Door County has to offer in the off-season. It was an amazing trip, but we're glad to be back home with Lily.

Mother's Day

2007-05-18T08:10:00.000-05:00

For my very first Mother's Day, Geoff and Lily took me to have some family portraits taken. Go to https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0051100141JCP and type in the name Geoff Zoeckler to see the pictures.

They also took me to the New Zoo where Moms got in free. Lily loved the animals; she especially liked feeding the llamas, reindeer, and the giraffe!

2007-05-05T11:40:00.000-05:00

Bath time is so fun. We think Lily is the cutest naked baby ever.

Heritage Hill

2007-05-05T11:30:00.000-05:00

Kristen, Lily, and I went to Heritage Hill today (a 19th century outdoor historical park in Green Bay) for a $2 pancake breakfast, sheep shearing, and horse carrage rides. One little goat got Lily's attention by chewing on daddy's finger. Lily also found a horse to have a staring contest with. Overall it was a really fun morning despite the cool weather.

Lily Palmer

2007-05-03T08:23:00.000-05:00

Geoff says soccer, I think dance, but Lily has taken a shine to GOLF!

Easter Lily

2007-04-09T11:10:00.000-05:00

Lily is now standing on her own and has taken several steps by herself. Celebrating Easter with her was amazing. On Saturday Geoff and I took her to see the Easter Bunny (which she was terrified of), saw some of Geoff's friends from college, and saw some old friends from high school. On Sunday we visited my Mom and Grandparents and then Geoff's parents. We finished the evening with a nice meal and an early bedtime for Lily (she had lots of excitement and was pretty tired). There are lots of cute pictures, but these are some of our favorites.

Boston

2007-04-09T11:00:00.000-05:00

The day Geoff went back to work after Las Vegas, his boss said he should go to a seafood conference in Boston. Tickets were cheap, so Lily and I went along. Geoff worked most of the three days we were there, so Lily and I did some sightseeing on our own. We walked the Freedom Trail and did some shopping. Geoff joined us the morning of our departure and we flew out later that day. The biggest highlight? Seeing our friends Ben and Mary Hackel and their three-day-old daughter, Adyson.

Great Grammy Zoeckler and Las Vegas

2007-04-09T10:50:00.000-05:00

At the end of February we went to be with Geoff's Grammy right after his Grandpa Zeke passed away. It was the first time that Grammy got to meet Lily, and they were adorable together! Geoff's Grammy seems to be doing well, but we were sad to leave.

Right after seeing Grammy, we spent a week in Las Vegas. There was a surprising assortment of things to do with a baby. Some highlights: The Atomic Testing Museum, Shark Reef, and hiking a trail at Red Rock Canyon.

Lily's All Grown Up!

2007-02-05T12:43:00.000-06:00

Just some updates on the Zoeckler goings-on;

As you can see, Lily enjoyed New Year's Eve (even though she celebrated it at 7 pm; right before bedtime). She has been trying more and more foods and is loving solids. Her favorites right now cheerios (she just learned to feed these to herself) and bananas.

Not only is Lily getting bigger, she has mastered crawling and is now pulling herself up onto everything. She can stand while holding onto something, and she can walk with someone's help. In other words, our days at home just got a lot busier!

At the end of February Geoff, Lily and I will be traveling to Las Vegas for a week. We're really looking forward to a vacation. Geoff and I might even get married while we're there :)

The Holidays

2007-01-12T13:57:00.000-06:00

Sorry it's taken so long for another posting, but the holidays were crazy as always. This

year it was nice to not have to travel at all, and we even held both family Christmases at our house! Lily had a lot of fun at all three Thanksgiving dinners, and she had fun sleeping at her Gran

dma VanSchyndel's house while her parents camped out at Circuit City starting at 8:00 pm on Thanksgiving night.

Lily seems to be growing more every day. She is now almost seven months old, eating solid foods, drinking from a sippy cup (sometimes), and moving anywhere she wants to go. At her last checkup, the doctor said she is only in the 60th percentile for weight, but the 95th percentile for height. It's time to get a new carseat because she's almost too tall for the old one (she's not even close to too heavy yet)!

We were really excited to see some of you as you came and went during the holiday season, and for those of you we didn't see, we miss you lots. Hopefully our paths will cross soon.

Baptism Day

2006-11-21T21:34:00.000-06:00

Lily Ann was baptized on November 12th at Nativity of Our Lord parish in Green Bay. She was one of eight babies being baptised and we thought she was the cutest :)

Lily was great during mass and didn't cry once during the baptism. She was a little startled when some strange man poured water over her head, but she didn't shed a tear. We're so proud to bring our daughter into the church, and we're excited to raise her to know God.

Solid Foods?

2006-11-14T09:20:00.000-06:00

We started Lily on her very first solid food last Saturday: Rice Cereal. For those of you who are like my brother, let me clear up some confusion: rice cereal is not like Rice Krispies. It's a box of flakes made from rice. When those flakes are mixed with milk it becomes like a very runny oatmeal.

When we first put Lily in the highchair and put the bib on, she began to protest and we thought that we'd have to put the cereal away and try again in a week or two. But once we started feeding her, she couldn't seem to get enough! She's been eating cereal once a day ever since. Enjoy the cute pictures of her first try at solids.

Lily's First Halloween

2006-11-07T09:59:00.000-06:00

We didn't do much trick-or-treating this year, but Lily looked great! If you can't tell, Geoff and I are Black Eyed Peas. :)

Lily and Grandpa: Two Packer Fans! Bill's costume even scared me!

A Trip to MN

2006-11-07T09:44:00.000-06:00

I know I'm really behind, but our friends Nick and Karin got married over Halloween weekend. We left De Pere late Thursday night and got to Dave's around midnight, and on Friday we stopped at General Mills and Oak Grove Middle to see some old friends.

About an hour before we needed to leave for the wedding on Saturday, Geoff decided he wanted to buy a car. In typical Geoff style he waited until the last minute, but still got the best deal around. We drove our new Saturn Ion to the wedding and made it just in time.

After the ceremony we dropped Lily off with a babysitter: Deacon Darrel and his wife Chris. We partied it up at the wedding for a few hours, got to see all our old friends in one place, and danced a little before we picked Lily up around 11:00.

Sunday morning we got to go to our old church again. Deacon Murphy is doing much better and was even in church! We miss St. John's so much and we're still searching for that type of parish here in De Pere. After church we had brunch with the General Mills crowd and headed home. It was a great weekend, but I think we're still trying to catch up on sleep!

Mad-Town

2006-10-08T19:57:00.000-05:00

This weekend we took Lily on her first weekend away. On Friday night we drive to Madison and stayed in a hotel. We took Lily swimming for the first time and she seemed to love it! She was kicking and splashing and smiling a lot. On Satuday morning we got up and headed out to Lathrop Street (right across from the stadium) to hang out with Geoff's friends before the Badger game. Lily was great the whole time, not even a whimper! We didn't actually go to the game, but we got to see Weiss, Wyatt, and Paul and eat some really good hot dogs. Lily was also offered her first glass of beer :(

After meeting up with Geoff's friends we stopped by to see Brooke and then visited with Hank and Cindy. We left Madison late Saturday afternoon and got home just in time to put Lily to bed. All-in-all a great trip.

A New Packer Fan

2006-09-18T12:32:00.000-05:00

Casino Night

2006-09-11T13:02:00.000-05:00

Last Friday night Melodie and I set the guys to work setting up the projector in our basement while we hung signs, set out food, and laid out the cards. We had been planning for Casino Night at the "Lucky Lady Casino" for about three days, so it only took us about half an hour to get everything ready. Once we had JL and Mel's dining room looking like a real casino, we put on the casino uniforms we had designed ourselves and called the guys to "help us move a couch." They were completely surprised!

After the guys hit the buffet, bought their chips, and were seated at the table the drink cart came around. For the rest of the night we switched between Black Jack, Hold 'Em, Pai Gow, Seven Card Stud, Guts, and Screw Your Neighbor. The casino finally closed down around 12:30 am and both staff members went home with customers :)

2006-08-29T11:54:00.000-05:00

Lily got a new mobile recently and absolutely loves it. We caught this adorable picture of her watching it, so we decided to submit it to photo contest.

If you have time, vote for Lily to win.

http://photocontest.shutterfly.com/action/photocontest/vote?entry=148888

Thanks!Kristen and Geoff

Back To School...

2006-08-24T18:59:00.000-05:00

Life just seems stranger and stranger as everyone gets ready to go back to school...except me. It's feeling pretty weird not setting up a classroom or mentally preparing for a new group of students. Sometimes I feel really sad about it, but all it takes to cheer me up is thinking about my new job.

Speaking of my new job: Lily is now a little over 2 months old. At her 2 month checkup she weighed in at 11 lbs., 15 oz. Sometimes I think she gets bigger overnight. We think she might be intolerant to dairy and so I've had absolutely no diary products for over a week now. She seems to be doing much better which is great, but I am craving milk and cheese. Do you have any idea how tough it is to cut cheese out in Wisconsin?

Lily turned two months on Geoff's 25th birthday, and for Geoff's birthday I had a surprise party planned. It wasn't going to be big, but he had NO idea it was coming. Then, the day before the party, he called from work to say that he got free tickets to the Packer game. He also wanted to tell me that they were for the Birdseye Foods SKYBOX!! His final piece of news: the game was the next night (his surprise party). Of course I said I would go with him, but I had to tell him the plans for the party. All-in-all I don't think either of us were too disappointed. We got to watch the Packers CREAM the Falcons 38-10 from a skybox and we had a non-surprise party for Geoff the next day.

Last but not least: JL and Mel and all three girls are happily residing next door. We love having them as neighbors. My brother, Kevin, started school this week and we couldn't be more excited for him. Finally, my friend Christine started teaching in Columbia (the country) after only a minor passport mishap :)

Well, that's all for this posting. Hopefully I'll get the next one out a little sooner!

Finally Settled!

2006-07-26T12:32:00.000-05:00

Well, we survived the packers (no, not the football team), the movers, the drive to Green Bay with Lily strapped in for a five hour ride, and the movers again, and we are now settling in to our new house.

We were a little anxious to actually see the new place as we hadn't seen it in person until we moved in. J.L. and Melodie did the house hunting for us and they did an amazing job. We live in a duplex in East De Pere (the murder side as Geoff's dad says), and JL and Melodie and their three girls will be moving into the other side in September.

Lily is already a month old and is doing great! We just had her one month doctor visit and she weighed in at 10 lbs 5 oz. She is in the 90th percentile for weight! We may not always know what's wrong when she cries, but at least we know she's getting enough to eat!

The grandparents and great grandparents have all gotten to meet her now. Jordan, Maya, and Emily (JL and Mel's girls) have gotten to meet her too. Jordan wants to know when Lily can come out and play :)

Lily Ann Zoeckler is Born!

2006-06-23T13:18:00.000-05:00

Welcome the newest Zoeckler into the world!

Her name is Lily Ann Zoeckler and she was born in Minneapolis, MN on Tuesday, June 20th at 2:49pm. She weighed in at 8lbs 5oz and 20.5" long.

Everything has been going great so far. Kristen is feeling very well and I have been doing my part to change as many diapers as possible.

We truly feel blessed to have such a heathy, beautiful baby. Please keep Lily in your thoughts as we figure out this whole parenting thing.

Check it out!

2006-05-09T12:59:00.000-05:00

I created a Blog site for us to host info about our new baby to share with everyone. We can add pictures too!