fingerpainting

at 7:45 am? It's going to be a long day!

Dear Grandpa Jim,

Where are you THIS morning????

Noah's Big Ride

Here is what happens when Heidi leaves for the evening and I am in charge...things get done. GO DAD! GO DAD!

Adventureland

A great trip to Iowa

We left Alexandria on Tuesday morning and celebrated Noah's birthday at Grandma's in the evening.

He LOVES his new bike from Grandma and Don!

Wednesday: movie with Grandma and Aunt Linda and swimming

Thursday: a whole day spent at Adventureland

Friday: riding bikes to the park, visiting friends, and swimming

Saturday: Farmer's Market, movie date for Mom and Dad, Eli and Grandma catching lightning bugs, Mexican train dominoes, and swimming.

lake latoka

We had 2 PERFECT days at the lake!

Eli trying to water ski for the first time

cousin party

The kids had a scavenger hunt, ate pizza, and did "rock band" concerts with their new paper jamz guitars.
Zach (July 10th), Noah (July 22nd), Austin (August 8th), and Drew (July 3rd)

Noah turns 5

We picked out doughnuts and had breakfast at the park.
Then, we were off to Alexandria (Drew and Noah sleeping on the way) for our "summer birthdays party" with the cousins and a few days at the lake with my extended family.

tourist in my home town

Today, we met my Dad and Drew in PR to drop Noah off for Cousin Camp.

The boys did minnow races,

saw the pelican,

had a snow cone, and did a little "downtown" shopping.

fun at the fair?

Yesterday was our highly anticipated afternoon at the fair; it lasted about 30 minutes. In that time: we heard way too much info about snake poop, the boys were followed out of a fun house by a boy who was screaming and dripping blood from his newly cut finger, Eli went on a ride and I had to ask the worker to put his lap belt down as it was starting (see picture below), and then we watched a kid puke in a trash can. Shortly thereafter, Eli decided he did not feel well and wanted to go home to take a nap. Luckily, we had met Craig, Jen and kids there, and they offered to keep Noah. He had a great time with his cousins. Thanks Craig and Jen!

Annual Fishing Derby

Lots of help from Grandma and Grandpa

Lots of fish caught

Lots of prizes won

Lots of fish eaten

Lots of swimming, jumping, and diving

Lots of fun

4th of July weekend

sun shining + sand digging + baseball playing + monkey bar skipping +

family & friends visiting + swimming + paddle boating + Zorbaz sweating+

fishing + boat parading + raft tipping + river floating + fireworks watching +

fish eating + dock jumping + hula hooping + rock collecting + sand castle building =

PERFECTION!

More Summer Fun

$18.19 spent at the grocery store = Homemade Rocky Road Ice Cream

FINALLY!

Father's Day Fishing

and a picnic with the Kinney's.

For Grandma and Don

Jeopardy

Category: School's Out For Summer

A: video games, Chess, Checkers, Hi-Ho Cherry- O, Rhino Rampage, Sorry, and King's Corner

Q: What are... things you can play on a cold, cloudy day...before noon

Eli

"I keep wishing for a fish and a Bulkhead transformer, but I never get them. I don't think I believe in wishes anymore."

7 Little Monkeys

Memorial Day Weekend

Everyone was excited to see Grandma Cathy and Don roll into town Friday afternoon! On Saturday morning we made our way to Bismarck to celebrate our nephew Tyler's high school graduation.

When we got home Sunday afternoon, our plan was to head to the lake. However, Eli wasn't feeling well, so he and Joel stayed home. Obviously, he was just exhausted because he was fine after a 2 hour nap! Noah and I had our first campfire and s'mores of the year, and Grandpa Steve took him fishing.