Sprinkler Fun

Summer is here!!!

The boys had a blast playing in the sprinkler this morning.

Matthew on the News

Last week, Matthew was on KARE 11 Extras. They did a follow up story on his Eosinophilic Colitis.  The piece was really fun and did an excellent job capturing Matthew's personality and the struggles we have as a family due to his condition.

Como Zoo

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon. Let's go to the Zoo. 

First stop was the flamingos.

Next was the chipmunk munching on some dropped popcorn.

Then the Polar Bear, he was huge.

Just to get an idea of how big his paws are here are three boy hands on one polar bear paw.

Of course, we have to see the lions. Although this one thought the boys looked like a good snack.

Hillside Elementary Playground

Being homeschooled has a disadvantage according to my boys, they don't get to play on these big playgrounds everyday. So as apart of our summer playground adventures we are going to visit different elementary schools so the boys get to play on school playgrounds. The first one is Hillside Elementary, we drive by this playground often and the boys frequently ask to stop and this time the answer was YES.  They had fun exploring but it was more fun when another family came to play.

Treasure Island Playground

On Monday, we went on our second playground adventure. Treasure Island Community playground was built in 1992 accross the field from Cretin-Derham Hall. I remember thinking it was a cool looking playground as a senior in high school. It is even neater seeing this playground through the eyes of my boys. They had a great time and we will have to visit again.

Camping Father's Day Weekend

Hidden Bluffs Campgound was a fun place to visit for Father's Day weekend. We normally go to state parks so a private campground was a fun and different camping trip.  The boys loved swimming, playing mini golf and all of the planned activities.

I think the highlight was the father son relays. It was fun to watch Derek do wheel barrel, piggy back, and horsy races with all the boys. The boys all wanted to run and the dads were all laughing but willingly participate in all the races.

We also really enjoyed using our camper for the second time. Derek and I think one of the best features is the air conditioner. This allowed us to be able to relax and sleep in comfortable temps. I enjoyed taking pictures of the boys sleeping. I don't get to see them sleep often so I took full advatage while I had the opportunity.

Bryce and Matthew had fun eating lunch in Lucy's portable kennel.

The boys heading out for a hike on Father's Day. It was a gorgeous day out.

We managed to get a family picture at the overlook.

Matthew enjoyed the oppurtunity to walk Lucy. She really is his dog, they love each other.







Playground Challenge - First Stop - Hearthside Park

This summer and fall the boys are going to see how many different playgrounds we can visit.  To start our adventure we visited Hearthside Park. Not far from the house, not a long visit. The boys had a blast. They were excited to be out and running around.

I had a good time capturing thier antics on film.  I also managed to capture some fun pictures of thier beautiful faces.

Let's see how many of Cottage Grove and Woodbury parks we can visit this summer.

Sandwich Bread

Matthew is currently trialing recipes for pretzel sticks and bread sticks. I made the breadsticks today, but I made them big enough to slice in half and use for bread. The bread turned out great and was easy to cut. I was even more shocked that it held up to him eating it as a sandwich. This will be a huge thing for him, he now gets to eat sandwiches just like his brothers. Everytime we are able to make or purchase something for Matthew that is like the rest of us, there is great excitement in our house. Bryce and Micah are excited that Matthew is eating more things and Matthew is excited that he gets to have things like his big brothers.

I am so proud of Matthew for being willing to try so many new foods. This is a slow process but he is usually willing to try the foods we give him.

Cabin Weekend

We spent the weekend at my parents cabin. It was a laid back weekend with nothing on the agenda.  The boys went fishing. Bryce caught his first fish all by himself. Micah put bait on his hook. Matthew was excited to just be fishing.

Grandpa did have plans for the weekend.

The tree that is growing through the porch of Cabin Wee needed to be wrapped again.

Bryce was his proud helper.

Lucy had a great time on our walk. She found a baby mole to play with. The mole was not so happy to play and Lucy was not so happy to have to leave. 

You have to look closely at her nose to see the mole's feet.



103 Degrees in June

I think everyone will agree, yesterday was hot.  To beat the heat and boredom of being stuck inside all day, the boys and I headed to Lake Elmo for the morning. Spending 3 hours in the sand and the water was wonderful. We would have stayed longer if I had thought far enough ahead to bring a lunch. The boys had a blast making a sand castle and playing in the water.

Everyone started out with hats on, but as the water called the hats were set to the side.

Matthew being cute and continually changing activities.

The boys played so well together. I pray that they will become more than brothers and will become life long best friends.

Crazy hippo games and the few times I was able to capture the underwater duo.

I don't wish for hundred degree days I do hope that it will be warm enough to spend more days at the beach this summer. We all had fun.

Cub Scout Graduations

This weekend, Bryce and Micah participated in thier packs graduations. 

Micah had a great first year as a Lion Cub Scout. He is very excited to be a Tiger, wear a blue uniform, start earning belt loops and of course, go to Kwinas Scout Camp this summer.

Bryce had a great year as a Wolf. His den is a great group of boys. They are all looking forward to working toward earning their Bear rank.

Camping at Minneopa State Park

Memorial Day Weekend = the start of the camping season. The Faust's, Bernard's and Bernard's are already planning and booking our trip for next year!

This year, we enjoyed camping with a new to us pop-up camper. The forecast was not in our favor, rain most of the day for Sat and Sun. Well, God had other plans. Yes, there was rain but it was short showers for the most part. We did set up in the rain, not fun, but much easier when you are setting up a camper than a tent. There were mud puddles and Lucy seemed to find all of them. As the rain stopped and we let Lucy out of the van, she quickly dropped to the ground and rolled in the mud. Any thought of her sleeping in the camper was quickly changed to her sleeping in the van. Amazingly, she was white again very quickly.  She is a self cleaning dog and for that I am thankful.

The weather was cool but wonderful to hike in. We visited the falls on Saturday. They were beautiful. God certainly knows how to create fun places to visit.

Bryce enjoyed playing with Caleb, creating masks, hiking along the river, and of course eating s'mores.



Micah was harder to catch with the camera, but didn't avoid it completely. He enjoyed roasting marshmallows, playing with Riley, and hiking along the river.

Matthew was a little ham all weekend. He played with Caroline and they had a ton of fun. The rocks were at the end of our camp site and provided a great play place and a place for Matthew to enjoy some milk.

Of course, there needs to be some group pictures :)

A few firsts happened this weekend. Riley learned to ride a two wheeled bike. I don't have a picture of her riding but I do have a cute picture of her hiking.

This was also Caleb's first weekend camping. I am so thankful that the Faust's start their kids young. We enjoy camping with them so much and our boys love having the Faust kids around to play with.