Birthday week in review

 

 Happy Birthday Jamison and Peter! I cant believe you are 9! How the time flies!

Instead of a birthday party or sleepover each kid could pick an activity and a friend to join them. The boys could not agree so they each had an outing. Jamison said that he wanted to go to a Brewer game, but only if they were playing the Miami Marlins (he is a fan of everything Miami, not sure why). Well, sure enough, Brewer we playing the Marlins ON his birthday. Jamison invited a friend (Peter did not want to go) and we headed out to Miller Stadium for a game.

Gma and Gpa Van gave Jamison a Marlin's t-shirt that he wore with pride. He was the only person we saw with Marlins anything on. He also made a poster to cheer them on!

He wanted to sit right above home plate, a pretty nice view from up here! After 12 innings and NO SCORE, we chose to leave. Wouldn't you know it...the Brewers hit a home run in the bottom of the 13th. Too bad we missed it but the boys still had fun anyway!

They worked hard to get on the jumbo tron...even taking off their shirts! And they made it on! I was so proud!

For Peter's special activity he invited one family to join us on a trip to Cave of the Mound and some gemstone mining.

 It was a really hot day! so it was nice to head down to a cave and cool off, we even needed to wear our sweatshirts!

 I think Peter was working his way to a smile, I think the flash was his problem.

 All the boys scored some cool gems!

At home, Gma and Gpa Van joined us for some birthday steaks and presents. Gma Jill sent speedometers for their bikes! It is really fun to see how fast they can go.

 And Pat and I broke down and got the boys an android to play games, music and apps!

Now this is what I see a lot!

Heike sent soccer shirts from her home town! It was a great birthday. And the best part is that the boys can now dive off the diving board with out having the take the treading water test! Happy Birthday boys!

 Also during this week, the boys had their first customer for their car washing business! Thanks Mrs. Johnson for trusting them to wash your car! They worked hard and did a great job!

 And finally, we finished our first 4H year and presented at the Dane County Fair. Jamison earned two blue ribbons!!! Not sure if we will do this again....but it was a great experience for all!

4th of July fun with cousins

July 4th fun begins!!! Cabin fun begins with frog and turtle catching!

Some of the frogs were changing from tadpoles and still had their tails

Everybody loves catching critters! Finn really liked this little baby turtle...except the turtle bites. Wasn't expecting the little guy to bite.

Uncle Tim gave the boys lassos for their birthday. Rule #1-no lasso-ing people or animals, especially your mom or brother. Chairs are good, and they don't run away.

Pontoon and tubing fun! Most of the boys tried it out! Even Finn and Aiden. Great job guys!

The older boys wanted to roll off the tube while we were moving. Adrenaline junkies!

Hammock Fun! The boys had a great system, one off, rotate, one on and the others push! I was getting dizzy just watching them.

And we cant miss the cousin couch photo. I think we are hitting the maximum load on this couch!

And the boy hot tub photo! They really liked the cold water raining down on them.

3rd Annual Fisheree! This group of kids caught over 600 fish. Sadly, the Cullens only brought 3 to the party. Better luck next year!

The food was good though!

Gma and Gpa with all the grandkids! A good looking group!

I never thought the pug could be modified to look even better....but wait! it can! Yes, those are church pews, two rows with bungee cord seat belts. Now everyone can ride in style!

Great Aunts Sue and Marcie also came for the day. They brought treasures for all of the kids...years worth of HappyMeal toys. They were a hit! Thanks Sue and Marcie! It was great seeing you!

If you see this car going down the road, watch out! They drive like a Cullen. The crazy thing is we all needed to look up the reference, We are not up on our Twilight references.

Summer time!

 We are finally getting into the groove of summer. We enjoyed our first camping trip of the season with the women's weekend families.

We were short one family, so the boys had strong representation. It did feel a little weird, we usually do this trip at the end of summer, right before school starts. I felt like I should be sending the kids back to school already. They quickly reminded me that there was a lot more summer to have before that happens. 

Jamison has been crafting many weapons from the branches in our yard. This is his ninja staff, which looks to me like a baton. I taught him some twirling moves...oh, I mean ninja moves. I think he will be a good majorette...oh, I mean ninja.

The boys are looking to make some extra money this summer. They offered to wash the car. I took them up on that offer.

Business cards were then made and distributed to the neighbors. We will see how much business they can drum up.

Who wouldn't want to hire this young man!

We lost three tamarack trees in the drought last year. Inspired buy the book the boys are reading, Swiss Family Robinson, they thought it would be fun to chop one down with an axe. Pat realized that it was way more work and they should invent the chain saw on the island. Jamison just wanted to see if he could balance on it.

 With any real estate, it is all about location, location, location. Now our fearless protector no long is with us, a robin felt that it was time to move in.

It is fun watching him/her build the nest, but they are terribly messy.