Wild Week, Wild Weather

We started last week with Brendan still not feeling well and a quick trip to the doctor to check for strep - thankfully negative!

That night we started digging out the hill for our shed. The kids had a grand time digging in the dirt, jumping over the hole, and finding "wormys". They carried the "wormies" all over to a new home where we weren't digging...hopefully the "wormies" survived all the travels...




Wednesday, Brendan came home early from daycare crying and saying his head hurt and he wanted to go to bed. After a nap, he was in a lot of pain, saying his back hurt. Due to him being sick and so tired lately we took him to the ER to be checked out. One technician, two nurses and both Wellyn and I were required to help him be still for the blood draw - as he's screaming, "I'M NOT SICK ANYMORE; I'M SERIOUS!!!" over and over... A day none of us will forget. They were able to rule out mono and still strep and felt it was part of the virus he'd had from the week before. We are relieved to report he is feeling much better and back to his usual antics ;)

We had a fairly quiet Memorial Day weekend, just doing some things around the house and taking it easy. Sunday afternoon Brendan went to a birthday party at a friend's house and just 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave to pick him up, the tornado sirens went off. So, off to the basement we went instead. There was a tornado spotted just 5 miles from here and it was on the ground off and on for at least an hour. As you may have heard, it tore through the town of Hugo, MN, killing one toddler, injuring several others and destroying over 50 homes... Hugo is just 16 miles due east of us and the tornado started 5 miles west of us. Here are some of the images of the aftermath in Hugo:



On a much lighter note, we had cool, but safe weather today allowing the boys to play outdoors. Aiden, well, maybe his time outdoors wasn't so safe; in a span of 10 minutes he managed to do a chin-dive into the concrete while sitting and scooting along on the skateboard to put it away - because I told him he couldn't ride it down the driveway, which is a steep hill. Then, he was trying to ride Brendan's old bike and I was helping him - he got off it in the middle of the driveway so I could help Brendan adjust his bike helmet, and decided to try to get back on it without mom helping...good old gravity helped him and the bike on down the driveway to the road, where they crashed...




Now, we're getting packed and ready to leave for MI tomorrow afternoon. Look - someone is ready to go!

Blaine Air Show

This weekend we went to the Blaine Air Show. It was a little colder than we expected, but was a lot of fun. The museum was free and the kids had a good time checking out the planes. We got to see planes taxi around the runway and take off as well as a helicopter land and take off up close. Aiden has been really into the toy helicopters ever since!

Here's me and the boys in front of a 1912(?) plane.

Brendan trying out a simulator that was used to train WWII pilots. This was one of his favorite parts of the whole trip.

Here are the boys peeking in an Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatross built in the mid 60s.


This is the front portion of a C-131A. It is a military transport version of Convair commercial aircraft airliners. Most were retired in the late 1970s. The boys were amazed by all the buttons and levers...and disappointed that we didn't know what they all did. (Maybe Uncle Ashley can explain...)


This was the other high point of the trip - getting to sit in the cockpit section of a Grumman OV-1B Mohawk. Various models of this aircraft were in service from the Vietnam War to Desert Storm. The boys loved wearing the helmets and it was cool they could both sit in it and "fly" together.


Aiden in front of another plane... I stopped keeping track of them at this point ;) AKA the camera battery died...


Okay, in my defense, my typos generally happen because I'm trying to hurry and do a post - with one or both kids "helping" me! Normally I'm a pretty good at speller... my favorite one from this time was "helpicopter" - Wellyn found it. Sometimes I think I could use a "helpicopter" during the day...

Preschool Graduation Day

Well, I can't believe he's done with preschool...where has the time gone?? It's been a wonderful year at Peace Luthern Preschool in Coon Rapids - I honestly can't say enough positive things about them. The communication has been great, they are very organized and the kids have done some really neat learning projects. Some of our favorites are all throughout the year they learned about Minnesota and put all the information in a book to take home; an ABC tactile book, where each week they focused on a letter and then covered the letter with something that started with it (like the letter "P" was covered with puzzle peices); and watching caterpillars change into butterflies and then releasing them.

Here are the boys awaiting the start of the program.


Brendan and a very proud mom.


Aiden keeping busy trying to squish daddy's nose. He provided the pre-program entertainment for everyone seated in our area!


None of the photos turned out from during the ceremony, but here is a newly graduated Brendan right afterwards.


Brendan and some of the boys from his class.



His buddies Mason and Lucas...


Some shots of the family...



His two teachers, Mrs. Pramman and Mrs. Tommerdahl - very patient and creative ladies!


Afterwards everyone went to a nearby park to play and have a picnic. Here is Brendan with Bailey - he's had the biggest thing for her all year, and she never wants to play with him. He was really excited about going on the tire swing with her and her little sister. He's got good taste - she's a cutie!


I'll try to add some video later. The kids sang some songs and then each were called to get their "diploma" and shake the teachers' hands. Brendan is fighting some type of nasty virus right now so by the end of the whole thing he was pretty tired. Hopefully he'll be back to his old self soon!

Toys for Boys...

On Tuesday, we had Brendan's best friend from preschool, Mason, come over for a playdate. He is a very nice boy and plays really well with both Brendan and Aiden. Playdates are always fun, but also a lot of planning to stay ahead of the kids with activities to do to keep then entertained. We ran the gamut on Tuesday, starting the morning with playing in the house, then to the playset, then to bubbles, then to lunch, a short video game break, then to moonsand, a floater toy and finally to chalk on the driveway... and it was only 3 hours! Sheesh - how do daycare providers do it?? Here are some photo highlights along with my opinion of them...

Bubbles - honestly one of the best activities out there. The kids have so much fun and there is minimal clean-up.



Moonsand - honestly, kids love it - they can recite the whole it "never dries out" verbatim from the commericial (good marketing!. But, those same marketing people should have to come clean it up when the kids are done! It is SAND, afterall! Garbage bags covering the table seem to be the most effective way to contain it...

Brendan got this cool floater toy for his birthday and it is pretty cool. It goes up high - has a little rubber thing on the top so it doesn't scratch the ceiling when they do it in the house and provides a lot of entertainment. They did an awesome job of taking turns pulling the string to launch the discs and trying to catch them.



And finally, sidewalk chalk - also a favorite, although everyone needs a change of clothes and a bath after using it! The only problem with it is "erasing" it; you know, if someone writes on your picture without asking, etc.

And, we have a new link to add - Levi and Lindsey have starting a blog to share all the news and photos of baby Max...yet to make his appearance. Not much longer though!

The Furries

It's been yet another busy week around here. Brendan has been a social butterfly with playdates galore...and more to come this week! He's finally excited about going to preschool - now that's only a week left!! He started t-ball this week and had a great time. He's very good at hitting the ball and swings the bat with a lot of "enthusiasm" aka "stand back". He has the same coach as he did for floor hockey so that's kind of nice.

Aiden is back to pull-ups for now...maybe not quite ready to make the leap to underwear, although he sure loves watching the video of him picking out underwear. He has become quite the little computer genius over the past few weeks. His favorite site is Playhouse Disney where he can click all over between shows.

Wellyn's been busy stirring up neighborhood controversy; well, not intentionally...the pond behind us has been getting worse every year with algae so he's trying to organize the neighbors to do something about it. Everyone is really excited but one household - afraid we're going to poison the pond which is obviously not our intention... Anyway, we're having the city stormwater manager and watershed guys come out next week to talk with everyone about options. Hopefully we'll get questions answered and come up with an agreeable solution.

And, I'm doing the usual, errands, cooking, cleaning, etc. although I started a fleece quilt - thought it might be fun to do something different. Not too complicated though - just tying it together! Here are some pictures of our other "boys"...wouldn't be me if I didn't post them!


Every now and then, Diego decides to take a nap in the sink...kind of cozy, don't you think? Brendan thinks it's really cute and Aiden will yell at him and try to get him to move.


They are endlessly curious and explore every nook and crany. Here they are in a dresser we had literally just moved downstairs.


Jag in his favorite napping place - drives Wellyn crazy. Can't get much closer to the computer...I hear a lot about cat hair and electronics...


If there is a box or bag, Jag is sure to be in it. I can't tell you how many times he's been shut in cabinets - of course he's stuck in there because of the childproof locks. He just waits for someone to go looking for him.

And, yes, Wellyn just rolled his eyes and left once he saw cat pictures! I'll keep trying to make a cat lover out of him...