Central MN

Spending time with our families is one of our favorite parts of summer. Our trip to the Midwest started with Gpa and Gma N this year.  We spent the first couple days in Aberdeen and got to spend some time with family there which was a great start to our trip.

We spent a lot of time at the lake enjoying the sun and time in the water.

We played lots of games with Tumbling Monkeys topping the list as the most-played game. Shut the Box was the most obsessed-over game with Brian finally beating it at the end of our visit. 

The boys also got to play a little “Corn Ninja” while the shed was being cleared.

Notice the intensity on the competitors' faces!

 

The boys baked cookies with Gma. They enjoyed watching the Disney channel each a.m. when they woke up and loved all the fun toys that they spread all over the floor at the farm. We loved having our first taste of midwest corn on the cob. And we also got in a little school shopping which the boys enjoyed more than Paul or me. :-)

We celebrated Gma N.’s birthday with her and got to take her out for dinner, make her a birthday sign and lunch, and spend the entire day with her at the farm. It was fun being able to hug her in person on her birthday instead of just chatting on the phone.

Thanks for a wonderful visit!

Storybook Land

One of my first memories with Paul’s extended family included a trip to Storybook Land and getting to experience one of Paul’s favorite childhood  experiences in Aberdeen. This summer we enjoyed taking the boys there with Great-Gma Walker and Gma N and seeing it through the boys’ eyes. 

We posed in the fairytale cut-out for a picture. [Click on the pictures to see them enlarged.]

Went through the maze, rode the slide, and posed with many fairy tale characters.

Walked the yellow brick road (and experienced a “tornado” in Dorothy’s house—NOT Caleb’s favorite part!).

  

Posed with the Wizard of Oz characters. 

Rode the carousel, balloon ride and train (where Paul ran into a classmate from high school).

Finished the day with a picnic and some giant frisbee in Wylie Park.

Vacation Faves

Here are our favorite memories from our 2012 summer vacation with family:

Caleb:

·      Playing games inside and outside

·      Playing with Batman

·      Applebees

·      Going on the slip-n-slide

·      Storybook Land

·      Fishing with Dad on the dock

·      Bowling

·      Riding in the “little jeep”

·      On the speedboat

·      Jumping off the boat

·      Playing ping pong

·      Scheels

·      Swimming in the pool

·      Seeing the ambulance and firefighters

·      Playing checkers

Isaac:

·      Going to the lake

·      Playing Last Word

·      Riding on the boat

·      Jumping in the lake

·      Playing the washer game

·      Going to the park

·      Going to the store and shopping for clothes

·      Corn on the cob

·      Chad and Dad fishing on the boat

·      The TRF parade

·      Jumping off the dock

·      Playing foosball

·      Having Leo lick him awake

·      Indoor picnic

·      “Fishing” in the game room gazebo (on the iPod)

Danae & Paul:

·      Family baseball game

·      Celebrating Gma N’s bday with her

·      DQ, Pizza Ranch, Taco Johns

·      Sitting on the beach and relaxing

·      Playing lots of games

·      Fishing

·      Girls movie night

·      Riding jet ski

·      Swimming off the pontoon

·      Dancing and singing shows

·      Shopping for Gma B’s dress for the wedding

·      Frying fish in the gazebo

·      Enjoying quality time with family

Lowlights:

·      Farts in the car (flashback to my childhood and traveling with Shela)

Cancer Research Walk

In May we joined with Jill and Mark and their family and friends to participate in a 5K walk to benefit the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation. We had a great time before, during and after the walk and are looking forward to participating in it again. 

Lost Tooth

After more than a month of wiggling his first loose tooth, Isaac finally lost it while swimming in the pool. He jumped into the pool and came flying out of the water with blood running down his face and holding the tooth triumphantly in his hand. He excitedly yelled that “it just fell out” without his doing anything. I think he was a bit shocked and thrilled at the same time and was not quite sure what to do with all the blood.

When Paul came home from school, Isaac just kept smiling at him trying to get him to notice while he walked across the street from our house to the pool. He was beside himself with trying to not spill the beans before Paul saw the hole in his smile.

That night before he went to bed, Isaac wrote a note to the tooth fairy, stuck his tooth in the envelope and slid it under his pillow. The note said, “Der tooth faIry, this is my First tooth. Love Isaac.”

He was beyond pumped to find a dollar instead of his tooth in the envelope the next morning!

Celebrating Parenthood

[Note to reader: This is a very overdue Mothers' and Fathers' Day post!]

We are blessed to have two beautiful boys who fill our lives with life and laughter. And there are days when we just shake our heads counting the minutes until bedtime.

Besides the Mothers’ Day Tea I enjoyed with Isaac, the boys made the actual day very special. They created and decorated a sign for me, picked out the perfect shirt for me (an Angry Birds shirt so that I would not be left out), and took me to the zoo for the afternoon.

Opening gifts during b-fast

Angry Bird shirt for Mom!

For Fathers’ Day we just spent the day relaxing. We intended to take Paul to Phil’s BBQ (his favorite restaurant) but switched to Red Robin when we saw how long the line was. The boys made a sign for him with me and Camille (though I forgot to get a picture of it) and helped him open his presents—so helpful that he did not even have to pull off any of the paper on his gifts (a wallet, new Padres shirt and his favorite snacks).

The boys with Dad

Opening presents

Reading Isaac's Fathers' Day book

It is a joy to be Mom and Dad to Isaac and Caleb. Some days are calm and normal while many others have moments where we cannot keep up with them thanks to the surprises that come with two boys and their own personalities. We thank our Heavenly Father for the gift he gave us in them!

Circle of Life in the Window Well

Right before we went to sleep last night we heard something jump into the window well and bump into the window. We were a bit nervous to shine a flashlight through the window to see what was in there (especially after the skunk in the window well episode a couple summers back...), but Paul did take a peek and discovered a garter snake slithering and a frog hopping in the well.

This morning Paul opened the blinds to show the boys as soon as they woke up and discovered that the snake had begun eating the frog--it had one of the frog's legs in its mouth. As the morning progressed, we watched the snake open its mouth wider and manage to squeeze the frog into itself until just the head was showing. It looked like a snake with a frog's head.

Oh, the joy of being on the farm and getting to watch nature at its finest less than a foot away!

When Paul picked up the snake to throw it into the field away from the house, the snake did let go of the frog and slithered away. Eventually, the frog hopped off. And Paul is proud to say that he saved the life of a frog before 9:00 in the morning.

Lifting the snake from the window well