Twins Game

It's been a busy couple of weeks around here so I've been slow to update. Aiden came down with a cold and shared with me so we weren't feeling so good for a few days. Now it seems Wellyn is a little under the weather.

Wellyn traveled to South Dakota for an overnight trip last week for work. One of their vendors is out that way so he had the opportunity to tour their site and discuss the work they will be doing for St. Jude Medical.

The ducks are gathering in force as the weather continues to cool. Friday morning we had 22 to feed! Here is Aiden and our neighbor throwing them bread:



Friday was our 2nd annual girls' spa weekend so I hit the road with three other ladies and headed north to Brainerd, MN, for some rest and relaxation. We had a fun time shopping, eating out, going to the movie, shopping some more, watching TV, being pampered at the spa, and making up our own schedules with no concerns about working everything around naps or bedtimes. I'm already looking forward to next years trip.

While I was gone, Wellyn took the boys to a Twin's game. Very brave if you ask me - what a cool dad! The boys had an awesome time and got to buy some foam fingers, eat popcorn and hot dogs at the game. Here are some pictures from the game:

Ten Years!!

I'm not sure where the years have gone, but Wellyn and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary today! The years have been filled with numerous home projects, trips, movies, but the most fun has definitely been the past 5 1/2 with the boys.




The weather is going to be beautiful for the weekend so I think we'll be priming and painting the shed. Maybe go out to dinner at some point, but our big "celebration" will be next month when we take a trip to Las Vegas.

And, today is also our nephew Bryces' birthday - Happy Birthday Bryce!

Big Jump

Aiden had his second gym class last night and again loved it! It was his first time getting to jump in the pit "like Superman". Here is a short video of it:


It's been another busy week with school, swimming, gym class and today Aiden and I started an ECFE class. The weather has been warm and sunny this week so we've been outside when possible. But, the ducks know it won't last and are gathering up to head out. The boys feed them almost every day.


These are from earlier in the week, just being boys ;)

Our Little Fish

Brendan totally didn't want to go to swim lessons today...begged me not to make him. He did get changed and once in the pool area I told him he had to at least go sit on the edge - it was the "rule". Next thing you know, here he goes, after telling me repeatedly that he would sit there, but wasn't going to do anything.

Face in the water:


Next with the noodle:


And finally floating on his back:


By the end of the lesson, he was wanting to do everything by himself and wanted to stay longer ;) Hopefully he remembers how much fun it was next week! I have to say, the coaches there are very patient and so much fun...I think we'll be sticking with them.

We did practice last night in the tub with the goggles - if you don't have the book Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea, we totally recommend it! It's about a boy exploring in the sea and seeing lots of ocean life - at the end, it turns out he was just pretending in his tub with toys. Our boys love this book so we used it for inspiration. Wellyn would hide a toy under his hand in the tub and when Brendan put his face in the water he would uncover the toy and Brendan would be all excited about the surprise! It was like bringing the book to life...

Week 2 of Kindergarten

Well, it seems I'm slowing down on the blog; only because our lives have sped up! We are in the second week of kindergarten and Brendan is having some second thoughts about the whole deal. Yesterday there were lots of tears at the drop off - breaks my heart! Today, we worked out a deal where he got to ride with our neighbor and that was cool so off he went! The neighbor boy is in 5th grade so that makes him a virtual idol...works if it gets him off to school!

Brendan started swimming this past Monday and did good for his first time out. He was apprehensive about putting his face in the water, but stuck it out even though he wanted to go home. I think he'll be more comfortable next week. We're going to practice in the tub over the weekend! And, I forgot the camera - I wanted to take a couple videos of him swimming since he loves watching them.

Aiden started parent/tot gymnastics this week and loved it! He's been telling everyone that he is going to gym class so we figured we better sign him up and let him try it out. His favorite activity was jumping on the trampoline. He also liked walking down the balance beam and jumping into the pit of foam cubes. And again, I forgot my camera, so I'll have to try to remember it next week.

Here are a couple cute videos from our last trip to Michigan. Uncle Levi and Aunt Lindsey have some drums in the garage...very popular with the kids!





And, Sara, Brendan asked me this morning when he could have a playdate with you - Javi better watch out! ;)

Brendan's First Day of Kindergarten!

Well, I can't believe our little boy is now going to kindergarten... I'm not sure where the past few years have gone, but they have flown by. We were nervous about how the first day would go as he's had a little trouble in the past the first day of new activities. Usually, I'm able to stay with him for the first 10-20 minutes and can leave after he's comfortable - not so with kindergarten!

On Monday, we pretended it was the first day and ate, got dressed, and walked to the school. We played on the playground afterwards and the boys had tons of fun. Later in the day we bought a few school supplies to put in his backpack and by the end of the day he was very excited about going. He even said he wished he could go right then instead of waiting for the next day!

He was up and ready to go on Tuesday morning, taking care of everything he needed to do right away so he would have time to relax and play before we left. Wellyn was able to stay home for the morning of the big event which made it even more special.



Our neighbors' son is in the 5th grade and Brendan thinks he's super cool so we met them and walked to school together. Having someone else to talk and walk with helped with the nerves - for all of us!

It seemed like loosely organized chaos once we arrived at the school. The three kindergarten classes line up in front of the doors and the 1st-3rd graders are off to the sides...along with all the parents. Brendan met his teacher, stood in the line and then they left! Wellyn had to chase him down for a hug and to give him his backpack and lunch - wasn't much warning they were leaving. But it worked since all the kids just went in and there were no tears - from the kids at least, the parents were another story.


After dinner, we went to Chuck E. Cheese's to celebrate. We had one more surprise for Brendan - his best friend from preschool, Mason, was there too! The boys had so much fun and it was the perfect way to end the day.


There are a bunch of new games there now and this one took the kid's photos and put them on a card. Mason's mom called them "kindergarten licenses" which the boys thought was so cool!


This is that game where you are supposed to roll the ball up...yeah, Mason's parents are brave people to be standing there. I had to remind Brendan a couple times it wasn't baseball - not good to throw the ball...


Aiden and Wellyn on a snowmobile game - good thing I took the picture right away; Aiden has about a 10 second attention span for games like this...he just leaves to do something else.


Now this game he liked - anything you get to "hit" is awesome!


The boys picked out matching glasses with the tickets they won.



All in all it was a great day for everyone. We are so proud of Brendan and were happy to go out and celebrate with friends. I don't think we could have had a more perfect kindergarten day...