Having fun with Jake and Chase

I had some more Iowa pictures on my other camera, so I'll share. We spent an afternoon playing with water at Jake and Chase's house. My "baby" Luke came over too. I can't believe these little boys who I started watching when they were 6 months old are now FIVE...and the babies are THREE.

The night before we left, Erica and I met at Hawkeye park so the boys could see each other one last time. They had fun feeding ducks, climbing trees, playing on the climbers, and watching Matt play in his tennis tournament. Next time we see these guys there will be another little blonde baby. Chase insists that he will not play with the baby if it's a boy.

The Cities

We left Iowa on Saturday and stayed at my Aunt Cindy's for a couple of days so we could meet up with Joel's Mom's family. We were able to catch up with some friends over the weekend before everyone arrived on Monday. All of the kids had a great time together! Joel and I are still nursing sore muscles from the family tennis tournament.

Iowa

Lemonade Stand

Adventureland

Eli's favorite rides were the Underground and Sawmill Splash. Noah's favorites were the Froghopper and Sawmill Splash (thank you cousin Tyler!!).

Noah had a Batman birthday party at Cathy's. We were glad that Jake and Chase were able to come (Chad and Erica too!)

Noah spent most of the week with the dogs. Cathy and Jennifer both have two.

Aunt Jennifer made the adorable Batman cake(s).

The boys had their first bowling experience at Matt's b-day party.

Birthday Girl

We got home at 11:30 last night from 10 days of parties and vacation (lots of pictures soon) Today, the boys and I got to spend the afternoon helping Little Miss Ella celebrate her 3rd b-day. We love you sweet girl! Thanks for the fun party.

oops

I took Eli on a big roller coaster tonight. It scared him a little bit. I told him we'd try again when he's a little bigger. He thought age 10 sounded good..or maybe twenty. He was a trooper anyway. BTW Grace loved it!

You know it's time for bed when...

"My butt is tired"

-stated by Noah as he was going to the bathroom before nap yesterday.

pre-party sleepover

Grace stayed with us Monday-Wednesday nights as Jen and Rich were busy buying their new house in BISMARCK!!! While she was here, Eli thought they all needed to sleep in the playroom. On Tuesday night, Zach and Drew got in on the slumber party. Unfortunately, Noah got kicked out both Monday and Tuesday. By Wednesday he realized that we were serious when he was threatened with having to go to his own room, and he made it the whole night with Eli and Grace.

Turning 3

We met at the park today for Noah's birthday. A Wednesday morning birthday party works well when most of your family and friends either work part time, stay at home with kids, or are teachers. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day, and we had lots of fun.
We....
* played for a little bit
*had a picnic

*ate cupcakes

*opened gifts

*played in the pool

*Katelynn organized gray duck and red light, green light.

During the games, Noah said, "I'm going home", and off he went. Joel took him home for a much needed birthday nap!

TONIGHT

Noah: Am I still 3?
Me: yes
Noah: hmm
Me: Why? How old do you want to be?
Noah: 4

North Dakota

We took my parents over to Joel's Dad's this weekend and spent Saturday in Medora. The guys went golfing while Mom and I took the boys through the town. They loved this big wooden playground!
They also enjoyed riding the little train through town.
After golf, Joel and Jim took the boys, and I got to spend the evening at the Medora Musical with my mom and dad. It was a fun little trip, but the boys (especially Noah) had a hard time adjusting to the time change and the car naps. I don't think he's been feeling the best, and he was a big grump most of the weekend. Hopefully he can get rested up for the big 3rd b-day...only three days away.

Grandma and Don

Cathy and Don were here for a short little visit over the weekend. They met us at my parents' on Sat. afternoon. In less than 48 hours we...
*had a pontoon ride & Iowa sweet corn at the lake
* ate ice cream cones in Sabin
*went bike riding and played at the park (Eli & Cathy)
*played board games
*played hide and go seek (Cathy & boys)
*went to Ice Age 3 (Cathy, Don & boys)
*ate Duane's House of Pizza
*replaced outside light bulbs (Don supervised Joel on the Little Giant)
*planted more flowers

Cathy gave each of the boys $10, so we HAD to go spend it as soon as they left. Eli picked out a bionicle. Noah got a Spiderman web shooter that has been attached to his arm for many of the past 27 hours.

Kid's Fishing Derby

This was the second year Eli, Noah, Drew, and Zach participated in the fishing derby on my parents' lake. Katelynn was a new addition, and she was so worried that she would miss it that she didn't sleep past 6:00 this morning. I said she is a mixture of her parents. She doesn't want to miss out on anything which comes from Craig's side of the family, and she gets SUPER excited about little things like her mom. She was so cute!!!
Katelynn was VERY happy with her 5 fish even if they weren't very big and her dad did the catching.
Noah didn't last very long. We took him back to G&G's after an hour.
Zach was the only one who actually fished most of the time.
Drew was content on Grandpa's lap!
Did I say this was a kids' fishing derby?
All of the kids who participate get prizes, and they are unreal! Noah and Eli both got fishing rods, life jackets, and a 12 pack of pop. Noah also got a tackle box and a pack of outdoor balls. Hopefully the kids will get better about actually fishing, and this will become an annual event for all of us!

Hard up for entertainment

We went to visit the Wienermobile yesterday. Noah decided to yell instead of smile.

More Landscape Pics

Landscape Pics

A week of family fun

We spent last week with my mom's side of the family (38 of us). They rented a big house on my parents' lake, so our family along with Krista's and Craig's were able to stay at my mom and dads which worked out quite well!

There was a boat parade on the lake July 3rd. Most of the kids got a little bored on the pontoon, so a few people got dropped off at my parents' during the parade (Eli was still on the boat).
We took the kids to the 4th of July parade in Erhard. They had a lot of fun meeting this nice lady and her dog, getting candy, and jumping. I, however, have decided that I am not a parade person.
The cousins (Brady and Austin had to go to bed) piled on a loveseat and watched a movie while we waited for fireworks. Grandma picked us up on the pontoon so we could watch them from the lake. There must have been close to 20 of us on the boat, and we saw a great show!
It was a fun week, but it is nice to get back to reality. I have had enough late nights, sun, chips, and drinks to last me for a while!! Well.... at least until next weekend!