i got new undies

quinn is down to wearing one cloth diaper at night, so she got to pick out some new undies! she is so grown up:)

beach club

we have become proud members of the loch lohmond beach club, on red cedar lake. it's been so fun for the kids, and gives us one more activity to add to our list here in birchwood;)

ryder has learned another game, shuffle board!

another fav, "yahtzee" pool side.

quinn has found her comfort zone.

summer camps

we have found several camps around the area to enroll ryder in and get him back to hanging with his peers!

he just finished a week of VBS, and was definitely the "new" kid, and from california, wow! everyone was so interested in him and his long hair, it was really cute:) ryder played games, sang songs (lots and lots of songs), made some super cool crafts, and made lots of new friends. last friday was the big performance, where all the kids sang the songs they learned, and ryder knew every single one. when it was his turn to go up with the other kindergartners he jumped up and got right in the front. he sang nice and loud, looked right at us, and did all the little moves that he was suppose to do, with so much excitement! oh, it was dead cute, and of course, we didn't have a camera with us, booo! sorry:(

and then the last 2 weeks of being in birchwood ryder will be learning about nature at the "hunt hill audubon sanctuary". he has picked 5 day classes to attend (fishing, mad scientist, frogs/salamanders, bugs, water wonderland) and we can't wait to hear all about them! this place is just amazing!!!!

camping trip

our first camping trip of the season, yeah! we went to devils lake with some of our great midwestern pals, and all the kiddos in tow....so much fun;)

on saturday it poured from like 2pm-11pm. it was wild, but we were totally prepared (tarps over head, rain gear, fire, and a yummy warm dinner (thanks drew!!) now, if the rain would have continued onto sunday, we probably would have found ourselves in a nice hotel, but fortunately it stopped that night, and the rest of our trip was warm and beautiful.

steph was sweet enough to bring her sheers along, ryder and i got a hair cut. gotta say, that was the first for us both, but maybe not the last;)

the boys found slugs

the kiddos (reese, elliot, quinn, june, and ryder) they were so sweet all weekend long, and had a blast together!

midvale elementary

we stopped in madison to register ryder at his neighborhood elementary school, yes, his school is just a short walk from our house, yay!!! he was in awe as we walked the halls, peaking into the kindergarten classrooms (there are 2 general classes and 1 spanish-immersion class). we are all so excited for him to be back with a routine, and classmates:)

sweetness

memorial day in minneapolis

we spent memorial weekend with tiera and cohen. we played at the beach, grilled yummy dinners, had cotton candy/cake batter ice cream with sprinkles, ran down a slip and slid, went to up-town and got our "city" fix (oh, it was heaven to feel the city vibe and have a good coffee and see some great sculptures), and just had a blast! thanks tiera:)

i can do it

ryder has gotten more comfortable in the water since moving from the pacific ocean to calmer waters, splashing and actually getting his face wet, putting his entire face under the water, and now having the confidence to swim out to the raft.

yay!!!! i think we will have a little mango fish by the end of the summer:)

look what i have

daddy found a toad in the yard and that was entertainment for about 20 minutes, it was so funny! it took both of them quite a long time to finally want to hold it, lots of giggles and screams until they found the courage.

quinn was so proud. oh it was just precious!

innovative

"mommy look, i have a front pack"

a friendly game, yeah right

we went to the local hardware store to find some fun little things to play with, we found some plastic baby bottles (for quinn's dolls), a huge shovel for our sand toys, some score cards for yahtzee, and a bag of water balloons....man, i love hardware stores:) it was hot and muggy out, so made for a perfect day for a friendly game of "stay right there and i will try and get you wet with this balloon, okay okay". well, we all got wet, and it was hilarious! we even managed to get grandpapa soaked....ha ha!

pondering her strategy for the first fight of the season

"your going down town charlie brown"

what is a girl to do.....she LOVED this!!