Farm boy??

Am I going to end up with a farm boy? One of Walker's favorite places to go is to the hog buildings my dad and mom run. He especially loves going when it's time to get the new babies in and his favorite driver, Brian, is coming. The kids and I spent Monday afternoon at the barns, moving, sorting, counting, feeding. I love that my kids get the hands on experience, but I would have never imagined they would love it quite so much. I took my camera on Monday and captured Walker's happiness!!

Girly Girl

Rylie is a girly girl. I've had to learn to play barbies, style hair, think pink, etc!! I wouldn't trade her for a second! For her birthday last month, Mom, Andrea and I all got her things to help make her bedroom girly. We rearranged bedrooms about 6 months ago and since she's not sharing with Walker anymore, we can go pink instead of neutral! Mom had asked Rylie what she would want in her room and the one thing she wanted was lots of pink. Well, I think between the three of us, we were able to accomplish that. Mom got her all the her bedding, Andrea picked up the fuzzy throw and pillow as well as the wall stickers and the great phone! Matt and I had gotten her a new lamp, curtains and tiebacks, which aren't in the pics. Then, she had a gift card to use and got he new fuzzy chair. She loves her room. The pink curtains give her room quite an interesting glow in the morning. She says she loves waking up to pink!!

Oh, the colors of summer

I love when all the greenness of spring brings on the colors of flower in summer. Here are just a few of the things blooming at our house right now!

Tiger Lillies

Mint

Basil

Hostas

Straw Flowers

Tomatoes

We Love a Parade

The kids and I hit the Gifford parade while Matt slept on the 4th. He had to work the night before and wanted to be able to go to Clear Lake with us, so he missed out on the parade this year. It was a rainy, cool morning, but the kids didn't seem to mind. They played tag while they waited and all stood so nicely and quiet while the flags passed by. We even got a picture of all five of the kids in their 4th of July ware from Grandma Tamma!!

Minnesota

Two weekends ago, Matt and I took a small weekend trip away. Just the two of us. We went to one of our favorite places of all time, Ottertail County Minnesota. Beautiful land that we both fell in love with and continue to greatly enjoy going back when we can. On Friday night we ate at one of our favorite resaurants, Zorbaz, home to the Macho Nachoz. That restaurant alone is worth the 7 hour drive! We then camped in the van which was an adventure in itself. Saturday we got up, went and saw his Uncle Randy and Aunt Lynn's new property they bought and will eventually build on, rented a jet ski and skiied for the first time in probably 7 years. That night we stayed at a resort and enjoyed an evening of swimming, great food and SLEEP!! Then on Sunday we found a new favorite bakery and headed home to the kids. It was great to be away and boy did we sleep well when we got home!! Thanks Mom for keeping the kids for us! They had a GREAT time!!

I didn't take many pics, but here are the few I did!

Swimmers

So the week we got back from Michigan, the kids had swimming lessons all week. They both love the water, so it's not hard to get them in. They both did really well and both passed onto the next level for next summer! Way to go!!

Rylie






Walker

Michigan

The morning after Rylie's birthday the kids and I loaded into the van with my mom and headed to Michigan for my cousin's graduation reception and Air Force send off! We had a great time! The kids greatly enjoyed Todd and Grace's house, especially the pool table. The pictures are ones that Walker or Rylie took while we were there. It's always fun to get a different perspective!

Birthday Parties Galore

Well, after a couple of busy weeks, I'm back at the blog! Rylie had three birthday parties this year. She LOVED every minute of each one!!

The first was the night before her actual birthday. We had family and close friends over to help her celebrate!






The day of her birthday, we celebrated at home as a family. We went to lunch at Applebee's and let Rylie use some of her birthday money and gift cards at Toys R Us.






Lastly, on the Tuesday after her birthday, she had a party with four of her friends. They are a great group of girls. We took them miniature golfing and then to a park for brownie suckers and playing! We got to drive home in one of the worst storms of the season, but we all made it home safely and without incident!