Basketball

 

Lately, we've noticed that Henry is showing more interest in sports.  He's been out on the driveway (and in the house) practicing dibbling and shooting...and Walter's usually right behind him.

 

You may want to hit "mute" so you don't have to listen to me.  I think Walter and Henry would like to be able to do that sometimes. 

Cousins' Birthday Party

We headed back home so we could celebrate birthdays with all the cousins.

 

First Pic:

Charlotte's elbow ended up in the cake and Walter was making a move on the frosting in front of him.

 

Third try - much better...

 

Back to swimming.

Picnic, Parade, License Plates, & Knots

Since Nate was still having fun fishing, we headed to visit the Mimis and Grandma and Grandpa.  There just happened to be a city parade that was going to go right past Mimi Erin's house, so Grandma packed a lunch for us and we had a picnic on Mimi's driveway while we watched the pre-parade activity.  Henry and Walter were more than satisfied with the treats they collected and were impressed with the jugglers, unicyclists, stagecoach, and lively bands.

 

 

 The boys thought this float was the best!  This picture doesn't include the 10 adults dressed as storm troopers, a few sand people, another Darth, and 3 or more Jedi's.  Erin and I found it...interesting.



Mimi Erin came with us while the boys had haircuts.  When we got back to Grandma and Grandpa's house, Walter helped put new license plates on Mimi's car.

 

Meanwhile, Henry designed this system of knots with ropes and extension cords.  He takes any chance he gets to make webs and knots!

And then it was off to meet the W Family for dinner.  I think we even squeezed in a stop at Sebastian Joe's and Great Harvest Bread Co. with Mimi Erin.

Annual Fishing Trip

While Nate spent a few days fishing with his brothers and friend, as they do each year, the boys and I enjoyed a visit from Mimi Megan for a few days (along with Gus and Kenda).  It was a relaxing few days and it was sad when she packed up to go.  Thankfully, we were invited to spend an afternoon with our friends, the S family.  The kids loved every second - swimming, playing in the sand, running around, playing pickle-in-the-middle and laughing.  Here they are together, just as cute as ever.  What would we do without such amazing friends?

Car Wash

He just can't get enough of this:

 It's soooo much fun to get drenched while washing the car.

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.