What a Fourth!

Leave it to me, my big mouth once again created more work for myself. I was invited to the neighborhood association monthly meeting after voicing my concerns about the loss of our fourth of July celebrations. Yep, I left the meeting with myself in charge of the event! I was the luckiest big mouth mama since I had my friend Kristi and another neighborhood mom Devon, that thought of all the things I would have forgotten and made it an awesome Fourth of July! The above poster was made by a neighbor for our event. Couldn't believe how perfect it was. Thanks to Jinger at http://www.mangogirldesign.com for donating her artwork for the parade and picnic.



We didn't know what or how many to expect and as we peered down Monroe Street to find the sidewalks lined with families making their way to Michaels I think we all had perma-grins! The guesstimate was about 80 kids and their families that turned out for the festivities that included decorating of bikes, strollers and wagons, parade down Monroe St. and then lawn games and picnic with TONS of food donated by Trader Joes. To top it off Kristi helped secure Fire Truck #4 and an ambulance that the kids got a tour of.

Getting ready to roll.

The speedsters that came flying! No, Henry and Bryn were not in this pack.

The crowd. Whenever I wondered where Bryn was I was sure to see her doing laps around the Trader Joes table. Like mother, like daughter.

Although I never caught Bryn red handed with all the snacks, Henry wasn't so lucky with Miss Kristi's shooting ability.




Henry told Jay that he found a little boy that looked just like him from the back. Sure enough, he was right!

The kids babysitter Miss Anna, came over since she lives in the nieghborhood too.

Fire Truck #4!

Camping with the Piks

Last weekend we took the kids camping with our good friends and Pete's parents. As soon as we slipped out of the fully packed car, the kids were immediately running around, collecting leaves, jumping in the tents and having fun with their friends. Next morning we did a long hike that eventually led us to a cave that we got to explore, then it was lunch and swimming in the lake.

Eliot and Henry roasting away.

Hiding out in the cave.




Henry, Maya, Jocie and Bryn

Jocie and Maya burying Sandra's feet.

Although our trip was cut short due ot impending storms, we had a blast and the kids already want to plan our next trip with the tent!

A Little Summer Fun

The schedule got a little tight on Tuesday, and with me at work and Jay in class most of the day, Grandpa came to the rescue! Jay ran the kiddos up to the cabin Monday night, and with Grandma Affeldt visiting Mia and Allison this week, Grandpa Affeldt had the day full of summer fun, lake style. They swam for hours, went for boat rides, had lunch at the lodge, and when we got back up there Tuesday night, we got to join in on roasting marshmallows. Needless to say, they slept well. We took advantage of the hot sun this morning before we headed home, and the kiddos got their first ever tube rides behind the boat. Thank god for the long sleeve swim tops I bought them.... if only I would have splurged for two more, Jay and I would not be sporting our bright red arms and back.

Oh yeah, and Bryn suddenly mastered the backstroke while we were swimming around too.

Grandpa and B girl tubin' it up.

Here I am with little man H.

Jay on the slalom ski.

Thanks Grandpa! Hopefully we'll have a chance for a few more summer cabin get-aways.

Canoeing with daddy

It is so easy to take for granted what surrounds us in Madison, including Lake Wingra, within walking distance from our front yard. Jay wanted to take the kids out on the lake for Father's day and it felt as if we were upnorth at some secluded lake, not in city limits. Helps that there are no speed boats allowed, just lightly scattered with kayakers, canoers and fisherman.



Thanks to our neighbor, Miss Elspeth, who lent us some paddles for H and B which they have been practicing with all winter. Although they weren't powering us around the lake (boy are my arms going to be sore tomorrow), they did figure out which way to pull the oar through the water and nobody fell in!

If you can't find us at home this summer, bets are we are paddlin around the lake!!

Why we love him...

and the busy week continued.....

Shortly after Liz , Leon and kids jumped in their car and headed towards home, Shannon, Bruce and Liam arrived for the weekend. Our cousin Krista graduated from high school and we caravanned up to Merrill on Saturday for the party. We first had to make a stop at the Farmers Market on our way out of town.

Aunt Shannon bought the kids cookies, Bryn made out well with her "monster cookie" full of everything good. Henry managed to snag some daisies from a market seller and carried them around the square.

The highlight of the weekend was the horses. Krista's graduation party was at the ranch where she boards her horse so the kids had an endless supply of horse rides all afternoon. Liam was the first brave kid to get hoisted on to the horse and was soon followed by H and B. They even got a lesson in throwing a lasso.

Bryn and Henry with the new grad. Congratulations Krista!

Montana buds

Last week we had our friends Liz and Leon with their kids Ethan and Emi visiting on their LONG trip back to Montana from Florida. Ethan and Emi (although being 4 and 2 years older than H and B) were instantly adored by our kids once again, and the 4 of them were non-stop silly fun.



So good to see our dear friends from Missoula and hanging out with them brings back so many Montana memories......






As you can see from the above pic, Ethan showed his skills as the chicken whisperer. The second we opened the door to the fenced-in chicken run, Ethan was intent on holding one of the chickens. Determined he was, and sure enough he caught Lady Marmalade and carried her around the yard for a good five minutes or so. The other chickens gave him a run for his money and Lady Marm was the only hen that obliged.

Emi and Bryn spent a good part of their time seeing who could swing the highest and touch the leaves of our tree.







Henry taking a pucker to Leon's horn.

Liz with kids on the way home from a park.

Last minute snuggles with Ethan.



I think a road trip heading west in in our future...

Preschool party!

Hard to believe that Henry and Bryn are done with their first year at preschool. To say the time flew by would be an understatement. Spending their Tuesdays and Thursdays with Miss Sally, Miss April and Miss Rachel, and the rest of their class proved to be quite an experience and we couldn't have asked for anything more.

The last week of school they had an end of the year party for all the parents and kids. They had a scavenger hunt through the school grounds that ended with a special treat of popsicles and other goodies. We also competed in the three legged race without falling flat on our faces!

Henry decided the night before that he wanted to bring his clown outfit so he could be the "mascot" for the party.

Running to their next clue at Mr. Rich's science school bus.

Who would you vote for?

Lately they have been playing with a pile of wood scraps leftover from the chicken coop. They have washed them, stacked them, hauled them around the yard until Jay asked them if they should build something with them. I left home for a bit and came back to find that they built a podium, specifically asked for by Henry. They quickly remembered the speech that the mayor gave in "Curious George makes Pancakes" and have been giving our neighborhood speeches all weekend. Never a dull moment at our house.

As you will notice Bryn is MUCH more serious about this task then her brother.

And now the comic's version....... is he headed for class clown status already? How can you not laugh?

Last Friday H and B left early with Grandma to start Grandpa's birthday celebration at the cabin. As protocol, Henry and his one track mind needed something new to obsess about. This time around it was water skiing. He begged each of us to brave the chilly water and show him some tricks but he didn't get any takers, so then he talked endlessly about how badly he wanted a ski. Grandma knew what he needed and found him a wetsuit to wear. If you could have seen him waddling around, it was hilarious. Below he was taking markers and some cardboard to make his own ski.



Richgels joined us for the weekend and managed to teach them a new game with water buckets.

Grandpa doing his thing with the bean bags, and he's a pretty good shot!

Since the water was WAY too cold, grandma started a land - water ski school. They got down in a crouch, practiced their form and she would "lift" them out of the water with a tug. They didn't care how many times they were yanked out of the "water" nor the number of times they landed on their bottoms. Poor Grandma, she got the workout with this one.

Dancing to the tunes. Thanks to grandpa for a great birthday weekend and to grandma for all the lakeside fun.

Our surprise when we got home!! My friend Ann, left us a cooler full of the largest morel mushrooms I have ever seen. They were fantastic and of course we needed a picture to prove it.