Pedaling

Some how, some way, Grandma Paula convinced Kale that pedaling his trike isway cooler than using his feet to push himself around.  We, and Jane, tried everything we could to get him to pedal, but he only listened to Grandma.  He is one proud little boy now that he can sort of keep up with his big brother!

Foodies

I stopped at McDonald's with the boys as a special treat tonight, on the way up to St. Cloud.  Nolan ordered a cheeseburger happy meal and Kale ordered the chicken mcnuggets happy meal.  I was a bit surprised when Nolan ate everything except 1/2 of the bun and Kale ate everything except 1/4 of his fries.  They both drank 3/4 of the chocolate milk and finished it off with a chocolate chip cookie.  I shudder to think what our food bill is going to be in a few years!

4 wheelin' at the farm

Memorial weekend 2013 was windy and chilly.  That didn't stop us from enjoying a weekend at the farm.  The boys once again rode the 4 wheelers in to the ground with Adam, Greg and Ellen. They went out to the hunting land, ran around, checked out the creek (it was full and flowing fast), ran around some more, played baseball and hide and seek, ran around some more, and visited Kyle and Maria's farm - and then ran around some more. Toby the donkey was a huge hit, as were the farm cats. 

Kale even got to ride with Kyle in the tractor - and experienced what it's like to get stuck in the mud!  Those 4 wheelers sure came in handy!  I think the best thing about being at the farm is that all the fresh air makes for great naps - including me!  The boys were up super early Saturday morning, and after realizing we didn't bring any cereal I took the kids in to town to pick it up.  We were back by 8:15, and Adam wasn't even up yet! The boys wanted to go fishing, but the weather didn't quite cooperate. Adam and Greg got out for a little bit Saturday afternoon, but the wind and cool weather kept the fish at bay.

 

Kale was pretty funny.  Dana, Adam's 2nd cousin, was teasing Kale and calling him Kal, which is how both Kale and Nolan pronounce his name.  Kale got frustrated and told Dana "It's Kal, not Kal!" - meaning Kale, not Kal.  Who knew he was such an assertive little guy?  Later outside he was busy counting a few of standing around, talking.  He counted up to 4, but there were only 3 of us standing there.  Kyle asked him who the 4th one was and he said "me!", and ran away. 

One of Nolan's highlights was helping dismantle a tree stump in front of the house.  The stump was rotting so it was easy for him to pull off pieces of bark.  There were lots of bugs in the trees, so he and Kale enjoyed picking them out and putting them in a frisbee.

Redneck

We spent a fun filled weekend in Mankato, celebrating Lola's 4th birthday. It just so happened to be Lalayna and Lola's dance recital, too.  It was my first recital, and it was awesome.  We were all so proud of them, and of course thought they were the cutest girls in the place. 



Lola, Kale, and Aubrey



After the recital we came home and the kids wanted to play in Lola's new beach ball sprinkler and with the water squirters.  The only minor problem was I didn't pack swimming trunks for the boys.  That didn't stop them from having fun, though. They just dropped their drawers and enjoyed an afternoon running around in their underpants.  It's one of the most redneck things I've ever done, but there isn't much time left for them to do it, so why not! 

Nolan, taking his turn chasing the kids.  The picture makes him look super fast!

Kale came running to us almost right away to report that "the kids squirted me!" We had to explain that was the whole point of it.  He eventually figured it out and had a great time.

Red Rock

The boys spent a fun weekend with Grandma Ellen and Grandpa Greg while we enjoyed a weekend getaway to Denver. We met up with Teeayr and Danny to enjoy the Zac Brown Band at the Red Rock Ampitheater.  It was AMAZING.  I really don't think there is a better venue for a concert - the acoustics were incredible.  It's the first concert I've ever been to where I could understand every word that was sung.  The company was fun, too! We took time to tour the Coor's brewery. It was fun even though I couldn't enjoy the 3 free beers at the end.  We hit up a great steak place for dinner, then followed up with the most memorable trip ever at Applebee's for me and Teeayr's fave dessert (blonde brownie with ice cream).  Did you know that after 9 pm on a Saturday night they bust out family karaoke?  We quickly ate our dessert and the boys drank their beer and we bolted over to a sports bar down the street. We flew home Sunday afternoon. 

Nolan and Kale couldn't stop talking about how much fun they had with Grandma and Grandpa - especially on their 24 hour visit to the farm.  It was freezing cold, but that didn't slow them down. They rode the 4 wheelers, visited Toby the donkey, and ran off all their energy.  They took a 3 hour nap on Saturday and even slept in until after 7!   Our flight was delayed on the way home from Denver so we didn't see them until Monday morning.  Nolan came in around 6 and talked to us for 15 minutes about all the fun they had at the farm.  It makes leaving them a lot easier when they have nothing but fun things to report!

The pool

We were in Rochester this weekend for my cousin Kyle's wedding.  Other than the wedding Nolan was in last year, we haven't taken the kids to a wedding.  They did pretty good, but started crashing right at the start of the dance.  We ended up leaving a little after 8.  It's the first time since Adam and I have been together that we haven't stayed to dance up a storm.  My how life changes with kids.  We stayed at a hotel with a pool, which the kids LOVED.  It was a nice and quiet ride home - both kids slept the whole way because they were so tired from swimming!

I want a hug

Adam was out of town all week for work.  I was woken up by Kale yelling my name at 3:33 am.  I ran in to his room and asked what was wrong.  All he said was "I want a hug".  He hugged for a minute or so, then rolled over and went back to sleep.  I hate being woken up in the middle of the night, but it was hard to be mad!