And A Day of Recovery

Well apparently one lather of sun screen just isn't going to do the job and W, who is the only who to actually put his swim shirt on, is the only one not sunburned. The price you pay for a day of summer fun. So, aside from church, we spend the day sitting around the house, watching movies and playing games. Oh, and making a list of all of the fun things we can do this summer, especially the free things. It's a LONG list.

 Playing Garbage with E

 C got the super coolest Firefighter fan from Grandpa!

 J wanted pictures of his sunburn. But really the exciting thing about these pictures are what are on his little bottom! No, I don't think there will be diapers in our house much longer. :(

A Taste Of Summa Time

This Memorial Day weekend the boys and I are having a little practice run at summer. A has to work all weekend so we're on our own and determined to make our own fun. Here is a look at day one. I think it went well - though a little more sunscreen might have made the evening (and probably tomorrow!) better. Here is also a shout out to my absolutely wonderful, generous parents. They are the BEST. And they unloaded this pool at our house when they moved to their new home - with it's own REAL pool. THANK YOU! It's going to provide for hours of free fun.

The Gateway to the West!

A couple of weeks ago we got to visit Grandpa and Minka during the boys' spring break. We got to meet up with Uncle A and Aunt L there and had a super fun weekend of being spoiled and seeing lots of fun things.

Grandpa suggested Grant's Farm, which of course was lots of fun!

 All of the boys really tried to feed the goats but I guess they'd just been fed too much that day.

 That was no problem for J, though. He just put them in a headlock and tried for force-feed them.

 Wyatt was the only one who actually fed a goat. You can see by the large group with him that the poor goats were fairly accosted with milk.

 C HAD to ride the carousel, so of course Grandpa took him and E and (in front of E) even rode with J. Super fun (and very, very short). Minka even got the boys funnel cake and icies. Super spoiled!

By the third day there, C was still insisting that we go to the arch. We tried to distract him many times, but he was persistent. Of course, Grandpa said we could go (though there was no way Minka was going up - not that I blame her!)  Now, I haven't been in the arch in years and the last time I went up there I decided it was WAY to high for me. But he was insistent, no matter how many times we tried to distract him. Dad and I stood in line to get into the elevators and wondered what we were thinking. But the boys had a great time!

Starting to wonder what exactly they had signed up for...

E realized that this was a very small elevator.

They could chill up there all day.

 Here are a few pictures from outside of the arch. I think they look like a rock band or something. ;)

C likes to 'be' the arch.

Year In Rewind

Wow, it's been a year since I've posted on this site. So much has happened this year that it's been a little overwhelming to try to condense it all into a post and resume blogging. So I decided to give it a shot - literally, haha. Here is a bit of the last year in review.

So, where we left off last year was right before we decided to finally grow up and purchase our first home. Very exciting.

The best part of the house!

What could be better than a giant tree with a rope swing?! That was the deciding factor, for sure.

Shortly after we moved in spring was upon us and along with it all of the insanity that comes in April, May, and June. The boys finished out their school year and started baseball - with A coaching!

W warming up. That's right, number 1!

And E up to bat.

Then the boys and I set out on a massive trip to Chicago, Minnesota, Chicago (where we picked up A), Minnesota, Chicago, Fort Wayne, Home. Yes, that's how it went. But it was great to see everyone and we got to do a ton of fun things.

Wait! Are those the Vikings in your front yard, Grandma? Why, yes, they are!

Bowling with Aunt V and Uncle A is the bomb.

And there is nothing better than a nice visit with Grandma. 

Returning home unfortunately meant a return to school and not only sending W to 3rd grade and E to 1st, but C to kindergarten. I think it's always sad when another one goes off to school. Only one left! sniff sniff.

But we weren't bored for long. Aunt Sarah came to visit and that meant more fun and home-made personal pizzas for everyone. It truly doesn't get any better than that. You've got to visit again, Aunt Sarah et all!!

THEN, it was time for Grandparent's Day and Minka came for a visit, bringing with her Aunt T and Uncle P (the real reason the boys were excited - I mean, E even made P his own special Happy Grandparent's Day card!).

Minka helped E make a special project. A bat, of course!

I honestly am not even sure which one is cuter!

Kindergartners had a very special program.

And we even got to visit W's class.

Fall also mean Halloween, which was very fun. We visited the Zoo with good friends and then trick-or-treated around town.

A giraffe, a 'scary guy', Capt. Jack Sparrow, and the Great Old Owl.

A friend made this absolutely amazing costume and then lent it to us. Clearly he was a rock start in 

it!

Shortly after Halloween, the boys switched to a new and fabulous school that hosts very fun activities like dress up as your favorite storybook character.

A dragon in Where's the Dragon?

Firefighter, of course!

And can't go without a Narnia character. Meet High King Peter.

Insanely, I decided to try to make costumes for this event. Many crazy hours and a very messy house later we have a dragon and a king. I'm not sure I'll do that again.

Finally, Christmas arrived and for the first time since we'd been married, we celebrated it at home with just the boys. We missed our families, but it was still kind of nice to make our own traditions and memories. Ok, fine, most of the traditions are just copies of my family's.

Santa thought Christian might like to learn to defend himself, with two older brothers and all.

J wanted a dog of his own. So we got him Scout. :)

A got a giant morel. Who knew it could be so exciting?!

And W is rockin out with his gift from Uncle P.

Then we went to Minka and Grandpa's where we got super spoiled again!

Night vision glasses that even Grandpa thought were pretty cool. And an official fire fighter!

And one of the best things was E's official Saint Louis Chess Club chess set. And watching Uncle J teach him how to play!

And that was 2010 at our house. Winter was just one very cold dreary day after another. I can't think of much to report on there. And that brings us back to SPRING! Yay!!