Sugar Beet Days

One of the first weekends in June, our town celebrates "Sugar Beet Days."  We were also excited to have our friend, Charlie, come stay with us for the weekend.

 

Henry and Walter went to their first VBS program during the week - they both loved it.  In the end, Walter decided he wasn't quite ready to spend the whole week there, but Henry kept going.  They had a program on Friday night to share what they had learned during the week.  Nate went to the program while Walter and I hung out with Charlie at the park.

 

That Saturday, there were all sorts of activities planned.  The three boys and I went to go check it out.

 

Charlie had to try out the tractors.

I'm hoping these guys aren't ever in the backseat of a police car for anything serious.  They were slightly disappointed that they couldn't see the lights from the backseat.

 On to the old fire truck.

 

They patiently waited to get a chance to ride the ponies.

 

 Then  it was home for lunch - just in time, too, because the rain started pouring down.  It didn't stop them from getting ready for the parade.  They decided they'd rather collect candy than throw candy.  Honestly, this is the first parade I've been to in our town and it goes by our house every year.  So we finally took advantage of our good seats.

There were A LOT of sirens going and it was loud.  Amazingly, Charlie slept through it all.

Dad's work "float" with the cousins in the back throwing candy.

 

It was a good thing we had extra help picking up candy from Aunt Jodi's sister, brother-in-law and parents because the amount of candy being thrown was over-the-top.  There was a point, when candy was thrown to Henry and he just turned to look at it and then walked away - he was sick of picking up candy.  As you can see he filled a gallon-sized bucket!

Random May Pictures



Henry wanted to soak his feet after spending the day running around at the lake.

Walter is always asking us to take pictures of him doing this and that...here he is with Dad.

A favorite pastime - making "potions."  This one had water, ice cubes, raspberry yogurt and the main ingredient?  Tree leaves. 

Henry and Walter were so excited to hear that Gramps' and Grandma's neighbors were kindly passing on their swing set to our family.  It took some heavy lifting and a big trailer but the "playground" is now getting lots of use in our backyard.

The boys and I went to Target with Mimi Erin while we were in town to celebrate Grandpa's birthday.  As we walked in the door, Henry said quite loudly, "Come on Mom, let's go the underwear aisle!"  I guess looking for Super-Hero underwear was more exciting than I realized.

Memorial Day 2013

Memorial Day was very cool, damp, and overcast - lovely.  Nate and his brothers finished getting docks in while the kids played baseball and "Sorry."  They loved making 'Smores later in the day after pizza and fishing.

 

Cousin Sandwich

Believe it or not, the boys even took a dip (the older kids did it so they were pretty sure it would be fun).  I tried to warn them about the cold water temps, but they didn't believe me...until they got in and quickly hurried out after a 5 minute swim.

No problem - they just switched gears and moved on to fishing.

Success!

Jimmy John's

We spent a day in May putting in docks, mowing and raking at the lake.  The boys found a garter snake and kept busy climbing on the rocks and helping with the yard work.  By the time we left, they were hungry!  So hungry, in fact, that both Henry and Walter ate their own Jimmy John's subs.

Puppy Love

Oh, these two love their puppy...except when he nips at them or tries to steal their toys.

We're pretty sure Otto has seen more than his fair share of loving squeezes, kisses, fingers poking his mouth, ears, and paws...and lots of fights over who gets to carry/hold Otto next!

As of today (July 24), Otto fills this entire chair - no room to share it with the kiddos.

Last Day of School

It was hard to say goodbye to the (wonderful) teacher Henry's had for the last two years.  Thankfully, we won't have to miss her too long, because Walter will have her starting in September.  

Introducing Otto

The boys have been begging us for a "hunting dog that we can train" for a long time.  We weren't sure that we were ready for a dog yet.  Actually, I thought we were going to get a couple of pet rats...turns out we took the plunge and added a puppy to family.  It's been two months since he joined us and we're having fun (and taking too many pictures).  Here's Otto...

 

Henry and Walter were over the moon and couldn't wait to play with Otto each morning.  We've been impressed with how well they've handled all the puppy stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gus and Otto taking a rest

 

Otto claimed the boys' favorite soft chair as his own.  He sleeps with his head hanging over the edge of the chair and then falls off.

 

 

 Another comfy spot