CUTE

Noah picked out his own clothes today.

Schwantz Bash

Joel was gone over the weekend, so the boys and I spent a couple of days with Krista & family. Saturday was the annual family get together at my Aunt and Uncle's which is always a good time.

Hay Ride

Yard Games

Followed by an evening campfire

Surprise

The big boys (and Brady) got to go to Como Zoo and Como Town on Tuesday. We met one of Krista's friends and her 6 year old boy there. Of course it had to be the hottest day of the summer so far, but we had a lot of fun (and the boys couldn't wait to tell the others all about it!).
Eli's favorite animal was the corn snake, and Zach liked the Zebra. They both loved all of the rides but were VERY disappointed to find out that they needed to be 7 to drive the bumper cars.

Camp Connie

I think we've been teasing my mom about "Camp Connie" since Krista was pregnant with Zach. Maybe we'll have to change the name to "Cousin Camp" so Dad can get a little credit. Since Grandma and Grandpa were pretty sure that they didn't want all of the grandkids at one time, we sent them in shifts. After Austin's party on Saturday, Eli and Zach went home with them. They went to the Prairie Wetlands Center in Fergus for a little while and weren't home 5 minutes before Zach fell and hit his head on the coffee table which required 4 stitches above his left eye.
Krista and I met at Mom and Dad's on Monday to deliver Noah, Drew, and Katelynn (Children must be potty trained prior to going to Cousin Camp, so Austin and Brady got left out). We spent the afternoon at the lake before taking Zach and Eli to Krista's with the promise of a big surprise in the morning. Craig and Jen spent Tuesday night at Camp, and the rest of us joined in for one more day of fabulous lake weather yesterday.

Highlights from Cousin Camp
- swimming under the pontoon at the swimming hole
-fishing
-eating fish
-making a "cherry pie" with Grandpa (playdough crust, berries from a tree, and napkins as whipped cream)
-campfires with smores
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!

Happy Birthday Austin!

Could he be any cuter?

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.