Just Had to Share

Perhaps the strangest picture that I have ever taken of my children:


For the record, they climbed up there of their own accord.

He's Three

Today, my little right hand man turned three years old. He is still young enough to not really understand the cultural idea that his birthday is supposed to be all about him. When I whispered a last "happy birthday" as I tucked him in to bed, he whispered back, "happy birthday, mama." He also kept checking in with his sister throughout the day to see if she was enjoying herself. Even in the midst of opening his presents, he asked, "Corrie, are you really excited?" I love his sweet little self, and can still feel his babyhood when he positions himself on my lap and lays his fuzzy head on my shoulder. But, I can also see him becoming a little boy as he seems to master new things and gain more independence daily. Just in the past couple of weeks he mastered dressing himself, reciting entire Frog and Toad stories, and learning to store water from the hose in his mouth in order to run over and spit it out on the sidewalk. A mother can't help but be proud.

We also spent today wrapping up a fantastic visit from my parents, who helped us celebrate by taking us out to a great breakfast and to the nearby Minnesota Zoo. The kids had a great time. Jack was most excited by the prairie dogs, and mastered a stellar impersonation of the little critters. It was a good third birthday. And, yes, Jack, we *all* had a happy one.

Starting the day with pancakes.

Fun at the zoo.

Prairie Dogs are awesome.What's a birthday without the hose?

A happy, chocolate cake end to the day.

It's Good to Have Time

To play with the watering can:

To kick the ball:

To advertise mom's blog:

To say, "Hey, mom, come see this interesting bug . . ."

"Do you think it's a caterpillar?"

"We'll wait right here until it turns into a butterfly."

Oregon

We had a great trip to Oregon, seeing Joel's family and attending the wedding of his cousin. The children handled the loooong trip better than I expected. We flew into Seattle (a 3-4 hour flight), and then were chauffeured from Seattle to Bend by Joel's parents. With the need for frequent potty stops to accommodate Jack, it took a good 7ish hours to make our way through that leg of the trip. And then we turned around and did it all over again on the way home. The most difficult part of the whole experience for Corrie came just as we were landing in Minnesota, as there was quite a bit of turbulence. She does *not* like "bumps" on the airplane, and was crying with her head tucked onto my lap. Jack, on the other hand, enjoyed the added excitement thoroughly, and laughed his little head off as we bounced up and down.

The kids had a blast playing with all of their cousins, and getting a lot of love from their grandparents, aunts, uncles, second cousins, etc. Corrie loved the wedding, and couldn't get enough of the dance floor. Joel and I had a great time, as well, getting to spend some grown-up time with siblings and cousins after the kids were down for the night.

Here are some pictures of the excitement:

Wes decided to grow four teeth and start crawling on the trip.

Corrie and Cousin Peter were inseparable.

Wes (3rd youngest of the 9(!) great grandchildren present) gets some attention from Great-Grandma and cousins Laura and Rachel.

Corrie and cousin Lelia pose for a Goldfish Crackers advertisement.

Jack

We celebrated Jack's upcoming third birthday with the fam. I think he liked the cake.