Heritage Hill

We just happened to be at my parents when the annual Spring celebration at Heritage Hill was going on. Since the kids have acquired my love of Little House in the Prairie books, they were more than thrilled to go check out this park set back in the times of Laura, Mary and Carrie. We were able to watch them shear sheep with scissors, try our hand at milking goats and making butter and stepped back in time to a one room school house.

The quotes of the day as we headed back to my parents house from Henry: "Brynie, what did the goat's teat feel like?" and also "Hey guys where was Pa?". Bryn determined that he was most likely out in the fields working.








After the haircut, they let the sheep run into the pasture and Bryn ran over to watch.

Lessons with the teacher in the one room school house and trying to write on the slate boards.

For those Little House fans, remember this hoop game they would always play? I was so excited to join them but not sure anything more than beat upon the hoop with the stick as it careened down the hill.


And it wouldn't be a springtime party without a Maypole to dance around.

We were up at my parents so Jay could help my dad and friends re-canvas a canoe and here he is showing off his reupholstering skills.


While the boys were hard at work my mom and the the rest of us took off for garage sales. Henry found this truck and once we were home, convinced my mom into various racing games down the front driveway with Bowser in hot pursuit.

The below pics are a typical Tug-o-War between H and B on my parents front yard. She just reels him in......







You may remember this stick teepee that we built last summer. Not sure how, but the structure survived the winter and windy spring and is still standing. They decorated it with flowers and wood drawings with my mom.

Thanks for a fun weekend!

Shin guards.

Well, the kiddos kicked off their soccer careers two Sundays ago. As expected, when a tiny herd of four year-olds assemble on the field it isn't exactly pretty just yet, but it certainly is fun to watch. Check this out...



I especially like the skipping after the goal.

Here they are working on their cheering skills. They were so pumped about getting shin guards that they wore them to preschool for a day, and despite being offered multiple pairs of soccer shorts to choose from for her first game, B Bop of course opted for a skirt instead. Kids will be kids, or rather, it seems our kids will be exactly who they are at all times.

No training wheels!

After getting the kiddos bigger bikes with training wheels, just for fun we took the training wheels off their little bikes as an experiment. They saw their neighbor buddy Simon rolling without training wheels last week and it was obvious they wanted to do it too. After a couple hours of non-stop practice on the driveway (Henry in his cowboy boots dangling from either side and Bryn coasting from foot to foot), they both taught themselves how to do it. We never once had to run behind them holding the seat but rather sat on the stump and watched their determined little selves figure it out. The next day they had the Mallot pharmacy parking lot to themselves and since then they race each other to their bikes to do laps on the driveway. Mr. Sam even made them a course with chalk.

What made this even sweeter was the fact that for the first time in their lives, they learned something at exactly the same time! Bryn didn't beat him to the punch on this one. Maybe it was his lucky cowboy boots.

Anyone who gets within 50 feet of our driveway has heard.... "Hey Miss Kathy (insert Mr. Frank, Mr. Bob, Miss Bridget.......)guess what we can do ? " And without a pause.... "We can ride on two wheels!!"

April run down

As the days of April fly by I need to recap the last couple weeks. The kids did enjoy an Easter Egg hunt (all 56 eggs strategically placed by Grandma and Grandpa Affeldt) and then had fun hanging out with their cousins Alli and Mia. Bryn still wants to "mother" them as much as she can get away with and Henry enjoyed dunking the basketball with the future all stars.

Below is Mia trying out her soon to be new bike.

The kids had to goof around with Mr. Sam and the last dirty patch of snow from the infamous Snowwoman. A neighbor snuck over and planted a bunch of daffodils right where she had held court.

Henry and Bryn hard at work cleaning out the chicken coop! They are the perfect size for the job!!

Last week on Friday, Jay's parents took our two adventurers to Cave of the Mounds, where they learned about stalactites and stalagmites, followed with a lunch at the Grumpy Troll restaurant which was a repeat performance to a field trip with their grandparents 2 years ago!! I found this pics from their initial trip to the cave when they were a mere 2 1/2 years old!!!


Fast forward two years and look at them now...........

Oh, and I can't forget about the french toast breakfast Bryn made for us the other weekend. From cracking the eggs to dipping the bread and carefully placing it on the griddle, she did it ALL herself, while up on her little tip toes!

This past weekend will be posted soon since they have HUGE news to share. Well, most of you already know since they can't keep it to themselves.....

Chi Town

We took off for Chicago for the start of our Spring Break. Last year I was in Santa Fe with my mom while Jay and kids explored the Windy City so they were anxious to show off their favorite spots and finally get back in a cab for a ride without their car seats! We visited the Museum of Science and Industry and the Field Museum and spent the rest of the time eating out at some great restaurants, walking our way down Michigan Ave. and just hanging out as a family away from all the projects that surround us at home.

Henry got up close and personal with a mastadon relative at the Field Museum.

Enjoying a steamer at a cool little breakfast place not far from our hotel.

Pretending they are statues at Millennium Park.

Below they were checking out a mummy from above.

The Museum of Science and Industry was SO much fun. They stood in front of a screen and waited for butterflies to land on their heads.

It shouldn't surprise us that they would rather be snapping photos of us for a change of pace. They didn't bring their cameras along so they used ours and wanted to each do something silly with us. The below pic is my favorite since Henry focused on his sister rather than us and rightly so!

Bryn took this one of Henry with us in front of the "bean".

The lights of Chicago from our hotel room on Michigan Ave.

Feels like spring!

We have all been taking advantage of the fantastic weather lately and only go inside if absolutely necessary. The kids are back to tree climbing....

and parades in the driveway among other things. I was inside cleaning up and looked out to find them taking turns pulling each other in their wagon while the rider threw out gardening toys to the kids instead of candy. There were rakes and shovels and bowls flying all over the place. See the plastic chairs precariously sitting atop the container? Turns out they were sitting on them while being pulled by each other. Thank God no one fell off (maybe that's why they were wearing helmets) while I wasn't looking.

The Pickhardt kids had fun in our neighborhood "Rock Canyon" this past weekend. Henry and Eliot were showing their strength and throwing some branches around.

We then had to go check out the duck pond and found some grass snakes, ducks and plenty of rocks to jump on.

Maya found herself trapped on a stone and needed some rescuing from Peter.

And of course the loads of summer toys that were stashed up in the garage were taken out and re-discovered again. That meant rotating through playing baseball, shooting hoops, riding bikes, digging in the dirt and drawing on the sidewalk.

And what is better than a baseball player in a purple leotard and tights?

Green, Gold and Great Grandma Grace

Two weeks ago we headed to Green Bay to celebrate my grandma's 95th birthday. We (or should I say Jay) decided we also needed to squeeze in a trip to the Packer Hall of Fame before the birthday festivities began. Bryn, Henry and Liam loved the uniforms, throwing passes, running obstacle courses and walking out on the field. Before the huge door opened to let us through the Packer tunnel, they streamed crowd noise through the speakers and the three kids held hands and walked on....

It was so great to see my grandma, who looks amazing for 95! She even joined my dad in his truck for a lunch trip. (surprise to the rest of us!) She told stories about her days teaching knitting in Superior and how excited she was to make $1 an hour, which was increased to $1.80 when they thought she was going to quit!

Everyone joining in to help Great Grandma Grace blow out the candles!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

The World's Biggest Snow Woman

Only in our neighborhood.............. We woke up December 9th to find a couple giant snowballs across the street from us in Mr. Sam's front yard. He told us that he wanted to make a huge snowwoman for Bryn and Henry to enjoy and that he did!! He pulled late nighters hosing down the snow balls to turn them into solid ice, bought ice crampons for his boots (since he did most of his work on a sheet of ice), pushed the wheelbarrow around the neighborhood collecting only the whitest snow from surrounding lawns, went through a couple pairs of waterproof gloves and worked on the snow creation for months.

Henry and Bryn had a blast helping him with their tiny fist fulls of snow to add to the bottom ball.

He asked H and B if they would make her ( the snow woman) a flag and scarf. Jay found an old canvas tarp and the kids went to work painting a fire flag and polka dot scarf. Below is Jay tying the scarf around the headless neck.

Sam hanging the fire flag from one of her branch arms!

Last week while Henry was biking in the driveway Bryn was hanging out with Mr. Sam and helping him add some snow to the melting woman.

The coolest thing other than the final product was to see how many people came to our street from all over Madison to get a look at her. It was definitely a study in social science as people slowly drove up smiling, rolling down windows and yelling out encouragement and thanks to Mr. Sam and plenty of strangers getting out of their cars to make videos, take pictures and just chat about nearly anything.

This past week as we sadly watched the snow melt, Mr. Sam told us that he was told that there was a website called snowmen against global warming. Sam was happy with what he had accomplished but once the website was mentioned he wanted to finish a head so he could add his creation to the site.

I almost died when we drove home from work yesterday to find the snow woman DONE!!! It was a 50 plus degree day but he managed to add long hair (grapevines and evergreen boughs) and the biggest red lips I have ever seen. The candle eyes lit up for effect as well.

Someday Henry and Bryn will truly appreciate what an amazing neighbor they have in Mr. Sam who gave up hundred of hours to make them a winter/spring (summer?) memory they will have forever. Thanks Mr. Sam. We LOVE her!!!

Henry's turn

We can finally give Henry his much deserved "star" time now that we finally hooked up the new computer, even if we are a month late. He was not as obsessed with the whole idea of star status as Bryn had been, which was fine with the rest of us! I was the lucky parent to visit their classroom and read the book "Henry Works" as they sat in a circle in front of us. Then I sat back and watched with awe as my little guy grabbed the special pointer and discussed each of his pictures from his board with his entire class. Where did that poise come from? Who was this little man that spoke with such confidence and humor, as if he had been teaching for years? It was a thrill to watch him call on his friends who asked some cute questions about his pictures and then listen to his answers. Bryn was fine with Henry's star power until she realized I was serious about letting Henry sit on my lap instead of her and she had to compose herself from a mini tantrum to a somewhat supportive sister. It was tough but she survived. It's all life lessons, right?

Below he was talking about his plans for the week! Of course Bryn was his little assistant through the whole recording.