Amnicon Falls Adventures - 2 of 3

Day two of the pictures has us reliving another set of falls pictures!

Uncle Steph by the Upper Falls!

Hailey with the Snake Pit falls (gorge) behind her.  Be careful sweetie!  (we said that ALOT!!!)

Raise your hand if you like the falls!!!

Of all places to take a sleep...  Wake up Uncle Steph!

Now, this isn't what you think.  Recent research has indicated that foam on and around falls helps with hair growth!  Ok, so that's not the case, and you can see my ultimate displeasure at the wasted foam on my head!  :)

Day 3 of pictures will entail our adventures away from the falls.  I promise there are some more good ones coming!!

Amnicon Falls Adventures - 1 of 3

We officially survived our outing to Amnicon Falls this past weekend with us and Uncle Steph!  We knew it was going to be cooler, and there was some rain in the forecast...  But nothing really could have prepared us for the cold and rain that ensued.  The first two pictures are a good synopsis of life while we were not out hiking.  :)

The first attempt at drying the shoes around the fire was to attach them to a stick.  Well, when the fire got roaring, we had an issue where the stick caught fire and we nearly lost Hailey's shoes!

Talk about dual purpose marshmallow roasters! Uncle Steph had the great idea and this helped dry out the mud stompers a little bit :)

Now onto part 1 of the falls pictures.  Uncle Steph and Hailey near one of the three falls in the park.  This one is near Snake Pit Falls.

Happy Mister Bo with the Upper Falls in the background.

All of us looking out over the river from the covered bridge.

All of us going down for a look at the Upper Falls.  The mist was flowing and the noise was deafening.  I couldn't begin to imagine the amount of water going over the falls.

Now down below the lower falls here with covered bridge in the background.  The progression of the weekend was super interesting.  Friday night we made it to see the river for a bit and were amazed.  After 3 inches of rain on Saturday, the falls was roaring even more Sunday morning.  Then after another 2 inches Sunday, even MORE raging today before leaving!  We have more pictures, and I hope you stop back while we detail our adventures!

Water Wings

Hailey had her last week of swimming lessons today.  Her report card was marked "passed" on all but two items.  Floating on her front and floating on her back.  Everything else she was good!  They still recommended another Preschool 2 level class just to get more comfortable with what they were doing, but the moment she has been waiting for is below!  All the kids in the class got to ride 4 times today!

Garbage Day!

Wednesdays at our house begin with a regular occurrence...  It's been over a year now and I finally was up and about just a minute or two before the kids "alarm clock"!  Enjoy!!!

Happy Swimmer

She is so happy to be learning how to swim!  Every Thursday lately has been so enjoyable for us to take her to the pool as she is learning!  Mommy and Daddy are proud!!!  :)

What a Week(end)!

It all started off with a trip to Green Bay! I was there Wednesday evening through Friday night.  I got home in time for Grandma with the Fire to arrive!  Then Saturday morning our friends Henry and Addie joined us followed by Mr. Toby at about 2 p.m.  We were so thankful that the weather was gorgeous as we could not have imagined our day without being able to take these kids outside!  I hope you enjoy and thanks again to Grandma for  your help!  It was a ton of fun and very much appreciated!!

Grandma and Bo checking out some books.  Probably one of the cutest moments of the whole day!

I had stopped at Savers on the way home and got some new books.   Our two little book readers sat down and started reading their way through the new books!

I also got a project from JoAnn's as well!  Bird houses + Markers + Doo Dots for everyone! (except Bo who was still sleeping)  :)

All in all, we survived the onslaught of kiddos!  The silence of the night was met with welcoming ears after the last little sleeper left.  And that is why I say what a weekend it was :)

Last Day of Year 1

Today was the last day of the year for Hailey and Bo's classes at the co-op!!  We were invited to the end of year performance for their Art, Music & Motion class.  They had been working on songs, words and actions just about every Monday since last fall.  I wish you could have seen these guys!!  They were awfully cute.  :)

Bo appears to be doing stretches, however, he was really getting into the actions!!

Hailey did really well awesome with the actions.  It was funny to listen as she has her own pace for singing her songs and no matter how fast the other kids sang, she plodded along at her own pace no matter how many words she was behind.  :)

When it was all said and done with.  Both kids had a certificate of completion, a ring sucker, pinwheel and two very, very proud and happy parents!!  :-D

Look at Me!!!

Well, Bo is on the mend!  I'd also want to include Hailey as being on the mend too.  I think with her having a hard time with asthma on Tuesday, we didn't notice Bo getting worse as well.  So when Wednesday hit and Hailey was better, Bo was worse and wasn't able to catch up with the nebulizer treatments that normally help.

That being said, it resulted in a trip to Childrens Hospital where they got him feeling better but recommended that he stay overnight for more nebulizer treatments and observation.  He was more talkitive on Thursday morning and wanted to keep calling Hailey and me at home!  It was cute and we were happy to see both of them when they got out around 2 p.m.

Now both kids are getting better!  Well enough anyway for Darlene to make it out for her weekend with the girls up north!  Thanks to everyone for their prayers!!  They were MUCH appreciated.

Oh, and a small PS on this picture.  That look on Bo's face is him thinking he's pretty cool, but not really wanting you to know that he is thinking he's cool.  :)

(Awwwww)  :)

Ahhhhhhhhh

CHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  :)  Ok, I'm clean!

Pancake Ruler

One thing that will never cease to amaze me is how awesome they are at pounding pancakes.  Catch Hailey and Bo on the right day, and you will quickly realize you did not make enough pancakes!  Hailey is showing how much syrup and raspberries truly goes!!

One question...

I'll give you two guesses to see who you think is excited for the weekend!!!

Me!!!

And Me!!!!!!!!!!!

Wheeeee!

Guess who's ready for summer and parks and gardens and anything else that has to do with outsides?!  Yep, that's Bo!  (And the rest of us!!!)  :)

How do you spell...

Beautiful!!!  This has to be one of my favorite pictures in quite a while. :)  I hope you like it too!!!

Sorry!

We might have to migrate to a new blog site!  Ever since Blogger updated their publisher editor, it's been more often than not that I have troubles uploading new picture.

Oh well, I do have some good ones!  And again, I'm sorry.  Nothing worse than having technical difficulties.  I have them too!!  :-)

What a Week!

Sorry for the unusually quiet week! I've been to San Diego and back and then we had a busy weekend with company! On the flip side of things, it's nice to know Bo can amazingly fit (squeeze more like it) into these old jammies!

Talk about a rootin' tootin' cute little Irish guy! :)

Monkey Bars

It seems that if it's not one thing the kids are learning it's another.  Hailey has been working on getting better at the monkey bars and I've got video evidence to prove it!  Enjoy!!!

Teddy Bear Park

I heard about this park from a co-worker a few weeks ago and then was excited to take the kids! I showed the kids pictures knowing that it was still a week or so before the park opened on April 16th. We went there this morning and wow did we have fun! It's also super close to downtown Stillwater, so we were able to walk down there and check out a few of the shops before heading home! Check out these pictures!!! 

Ok, Hailey and the big teddy bear... No longer any need to explain why they call it Teddy Bear Park!!! :) 

One of the many things for kids to climb on, up, around and through.  They had a boat, a train and a tree house!

B for Bo!!!  I love this picture!

Little Swimmer

Well, no pictures today, but there was a breakthrough in Hailey's swimming class today!  She FINALLY dunked her head under water!!  Not once.  Not twice...  But thrice!!!  I was smiling from ear to ear when I saw her do it.  We had talked about it on the way there that it was an important thing to learn and now is a great time to be trying while the teachers are there.  And what do you know!?  That's my girl!!!  :)

Mmmmmmm

Talk about exciting??  Bo's licking the chocolate banana muffin mixing spoon!  I think at one point, I wouldn't have expected him to try anything like that!  Atta-boy!!  Oh, and if you want to try a muffin, please let us know and we can maybe mix some up for you the next time you visit :)

Dude!!!

I hope your Monday was almost as COOL as me!!  I said... ALMOST  :)

End of a Great Weekend!

What a great ending to a wonderful weekend! Hailey had been saving up her month for months in the hopes of buying a tabby cat from Build-A-Bear.  When we called today to see if they were still selling the tabby cats, all of the shops in town did not have them anymore.  They only had calico kittys.  We talked to Hailey about it and we decided to go have a look see.  It was another Daddy and Hailey date day!!!

First top Build-A-Bear!  Calico cat was a go!  So Hailey also bought her a dress and a bed and she even had some money left over (speaking of which, I should put back in her piggy bank)  :)

Since we had a late lunch, I thought it would be a great idea to try out a ride on one of the rides at MOA.  We tried Hailey's first roller coaster.  If you saw on Facebook, beforehand, she thought she might be a little scared but would probably like it...  After the ride, I think she pretty much had the same opinion!

Then it was off to the Rainforest Cafe. I've talked to Hailey about this place many times as a destination for a Daddy/Hailey date.  However, she had been stuck on Applebees or IHOP.  Both of which have their good qualities (namely being right around the corner from our house) but I think she had a blast!!  I love this picture of her on the zebra stool while we waited for our table.

Oh, and our table was right next to one of the many aquariums in there!  It was nice having some added company and entertainment during our dinner!

Now, after all of the hubbub from the weekend, how am I going to make it through Monday!?  I may have to check back in on here to remember what the weekends are for!!  :)

Dance Night!

It was my first ever Daddy/Daughter dance at the Maplewood Community Center tonight!  Wow did we have fun!  And needless to say, we both have no idea how to dance so I know we have a lot to learn, but I don't think we could have had much more fun!  We got a free picture taken, Hailey got a beautiful pink rose, ate snacks, fruit punch and dancing, dancing, dancing!!!

Bunny Ears

No words needed...  I think cuter than cute.  What do you thinker than think?

Park Night

It was made known to me that both kids contained an unusual amount of energy at the end of the day.  So after dinner tonight, I took both kiddos to the park by us!  They played and played and had a high old time.  Although it was cooler today, the temps weren't too bad when we were in the sun!  Quite pleasant for this time of the year if you take out the fact that it was in the 80's a few weeks ago!  We must have just been spoiled then!  But I love this picture of Bo in the Rhino-rocker :)  Happy as a clam!!

Pineapple Phone

Hellooooo!  Can...  Anyone...  Hear... Me?????  :)

Happy Feet

A new found habit after the trip to Illinois has left both kids wanting to sleep in tents during naptime!  This pretty much shows the cuteness of the moment.  Half in-half out of the tent and his feet "holding" Weasy!  Talk about C-U-T-E!!  :)

Easter 2012

Hailey and Bo want to wish you all a happy Easter.  We had a great day and we were able to spend part of it at Pioneer Park in Stillwater!

Zoo Saturday

We had a great day to go to the zoo!  There were a few things we were thinking about doing, and thankfully we landed on an inside outing!  By the time we got to the zoo, it was raining and probably wouldn't have been much fun to hang out at the park or anything like that.

We met up with Joe, Meghan and Toby too!  Look at how cute Toby and Hailey are on the giant tortoise!!

Here's a great shot of Bo giving me the evil eye.  Mr. Toby had been attempting to swipe some of his lunch and he wasn't taking anything from anyone at this point.  And he means business!!  :)

Hailey's Keva Tower

Hailey took to the Keva planks during her relax time today and this is what she came out with!

 It's kind neat that it looks like she fashioned it a little bit off the one that I had made.  It's also cool to see her creativity as well and you have to admit...  It's a pretty sweet horse tower!

Swimming Lessons!

Today was Hailey's first day of swimming lessons at the Maplewood Community Center.  We had been looking at which class to get here in as there were two options we were considering.  One for kids who are uncomfortable in the water and who are not able to put their face in the water or one for kids who are comfortable in the water and who can put their face in the water.

Well, Hailey is very comfortable in the water but we've never really pushed the issue of having her put her face down in the water.  But we figured for how comfortable she was that this would be ok.  The buildup to her first class was filled with a lot of excitement and her being scared about not being able to put her face down.  I talked with her and helped her understand that they wouldn't make her do it, but that they would help her learn how to do it as well.  Just like reading a book, we didn't expect her to be able to read her level 2 book right away, so we helped her learn with the beginner books.

The class came and went and I didn't get any pictures because I didn't want to distract her on her first day.  I'm hoping to get one next week while she's learning though!  I sat off to the side and could see her from across the way.  I didn't want her to want to come by me and not learn anything.  But I didn't have to worry about that.  About half way through class, she spotted me and smiled and waved and then kept on with the class.  My girls is getting so big!!

We already can't wait until next week!  Hopefully pictures will follow!!

KEVA Planks!!

 

 Thanks to Grandma with the Fire for getting the kids a supplemental supply of KEVA Planks!  They arrived while the kids were out of town last weekend so before they got home on Sunday, I made this super duper awesome train!  I was discussing with Joe and Meghan how long it would stand once the kids got home.  The over under was 42 minutes...  Well.  They barely made it 9!  Bo was poking at it for some reason.

No matter what the reason, we rebuilt it and had some more fun!

This is the next structure I built last night!  These things are addicting, amazing and did I mention addicting??  They fit together really well.  The measurements (Length, Width and Thickness) are all proportional so it makes it very nice to stack.  And it's getting the kids interest and creativity flowing!

There was a cool igloo type structure tonight and Hailey is making a barn for her ponies.  I'm hoping the barn is done by tomorrow night so we can show you what that looks like as well!

Thanks again Grandma!!!

BOOOOOOOOO!

Well, I hate to say it...  Blogger has been up to no good and are updating the post editing interface.  After a while, you just have to give up!  And I had some cool things to show :)  I guess we'll just have to try again tomorrow.

Happy Tuesday everybody!

Weekend with the Bing-Bong Clock

Well, the kids and Darlene finally got back from Illinois today! They stayed at Grandma with the Bing-Bong Clock's house and just had a great time!  It was such a wonderful sight to see these guys come marching right in the room! Although they seemed happy to be home, they also had TONS of stories to tell! 

Here is Hailey on a super fun pony ride! Thank you Aunt Deb for letting Hailey ride. She was sooooo excited and totally wants to move closer to you guys! :) 

Although Bo said he was going to be brave and ride a pony... He definitely had fun on the swing set and slides! Isn't he looking dapper? Also, needless to say we've been hoodwinked by this warm spring into thinking we didn't need to send coats and hats and warm clothes. Thankfully their are enough cousins and extra hats and coats to borrow!! We are already thinking about another trip sometime soon!!