A Lot of Catching Up

This weekend, my cousin Shannon came to visit from Texas. It has been a LONG time since we have had a chance to spend time together and we had a lot of catching up to do. We drove up to Mall of America and shopped for the day, spent a morning at the zoo, hung out at our house a lot and topped the trip off with paddle boating at Gray's Lake. I even got a chance to have her to my self one evening. It was great. The boys LOVED having Shannon here and spent all their time competing for who could hold her hand. It was so nice to see that they feel a connection with her, even though we live so far apart.

Notice anything missing?

Look close... no training wheels & very proud smiles on those 2 faces! We decided that today we would see how the kids did with no training wheels. Nolan cried and cried that we threw his training wheels away (they were actually broken) but once he got over that he gave it a good try and discovered that he could ride with no training wheels!! Below is the proof. They are very proud of themselves and should be. They did great!

Happy 4th of July

Despite the cool and rainy weather we had a great 4th! We went to Jim's parents acreage, ate hot dogs, watermelon, super yummy partriotic cupcake (made by chef Quinn) and lit small fireworks. As you can see from the pictures, Quinn made us all celebratory hats to wear, some with fireworks launching out the top and others with a flag with birthday candles on top. Very chic. :) There is a picture of Jim's mom holding a sparkler. She told me it was the 1st one she had ever held and she turned 75 this week. We love living close to family so we can experience little moments like this all the time. Happy 4th everyone!!!

Dinos in the Garden

Today we took a little field trip with Grammy to a botanical garden that was featuring life sized replicas of many dinosaurs. This particular garden also has a butterfly habitat. Surprisingly, I think we all may have liked the "mariposas" the most but it was such a fun morning all the way around. Thanks to Grammy we have some great pics to share. I dropped and completely shattered our camera yesterday while getting pics of swim lessons and not only did my mom run to her house to save the day returning promptly with her camera, she spent the rest of the afternoon shopping for a new one for us. It was a precious gift and I get to share it with all of you.

Look, Mom! I Can Swim!

The boys finished their 2 weeks of swimming today and here are pictures and video to mark the event. Quinn somehow taught himself to swim over the winter and when I took him to the pool the day before swim lessons were to start to get him "used to the water again" he just took off and has not looked back. He is now learning the "finesse" of swimming. Nolan on the other hand has always been comfortable with the water but never with floating or actually paddling. As you can see, things have changed. I love summer!

Happy Father's Day!

I have to split my time in this post dedicated to 2 of my favorite men. ps- this background is for you Jim.

Dad- I love you for so many reasons. I love that you lead by example, you don't talk about what's right... you just do it. I love that you try to live your life with integrity. This has been a great example for me and I often think of how glad I am that I have someone like you to follow. I love that you offer advice only when asked and it is always honest advice. I love that we like to listen to the same music. I love that you are a great Poppa and are teaching my boys to fish. I love that you think it is cool that your daughter loves football. I just love you for all that you are to me... the only dad I have. Wish I could give you a hug today.

Jim- You are the best father I know. You are always thinking of ways that you can be a better dad. You are always doing things to build a relationship with our boys which is so important now and will be even more important later. You are the laid back side of our parenting equation, and frankly, the boys need that! You are constantly accepting the boys for what they are while lovingly encouraging them to always do their best. Thank you for all that you do for our beautiful children. I am so happy that you are their dad.
Here is a Father's Day message from them to you in NY....

The Clone Rangers... a story by Quinn & review by Nolan

Quinn wrote his own version of the Lone Ranger story we told him this weekend. To hear the whole book + the review start with the top video and work your way down.