That's his grandpa, right?

Last night Owen had a hard time falling asleep. I got home just after Obama was starting his speech. After a few failed attempts of getting him to bed, we let him sit on the couch so we could finish listening. When Barack was done, he was joined by his family and then Biden. When Biden came on stage, this is what Owen said.

Owen had a good day three at Sunny Hollow. He told me he sang "I've been working on the Railroad," did the pink tower and read a book about dogs. After naps, Jer & the boys went to a friend's house to play followed by a trip to Broadway Pizza.

I spent the afternoon looking at paint colors for our house. I think I was in Hirshfield's for a good 1.5 hours. I would've stayed longer but I had plans with my GNO friends. We met at the Walker for some mini-golf (the highlight hole was a stationary bike that launched your ball into pinball machine and then to the green), a stroll through the Sculpture Garden and dinner on the rooftop at Joe's Garage. It was great to see everyone. Our dear friend Rachel is back in action now that she has taken the bar exam. It was wonderful to see her and see her relaxed.

I'm just too tired.

I never thought I'd hear this out of Owen's mouth. He's said it a few times lately. I think school is wearing him out.

Day 2 was another great day for Owen. So far, so good. Today he told me he had bread with butter that he spread on it. He also learned about work mats; how to get them, lay them out and walk around them, not on them. I learned more Montessori theory and how to apply it to the home in my parent education. Tomorrow Jer will go and I will stay home with Walter.

If someone ever told me my house would one day be as full of life as it is at 7:30 a.m., I would never have believed them. Here is a little glimpse of what I mean: (please note, most of this is typical, just not the naked boy eating yogurt with his hands...normally he is in his pj's, in his highchair and attempting to use a spoon!)

When is it going to be school again?

From the sounds of that quote, you can guess today was a great day! Owen was really excited to go to school and really proud to tell us about it after. When I asked what he did, he told me he "Did the screw driver thing, poured his water in his cup and that was about it." He also told me "you know my locker when you see the red iron." He was pretty excited to have his own locker. Later, I saw his locker has a picture of a red iron on it.

Tonight we were back at school for a classroom preview and an ice cream social. Owen was really excited to show all of us the things he learned and how to do a few of the materials already. He showed us the screw driver that he screws screws into a board with and then unscrews them and puts them all away "so someone else can use it." Walter enjoyed playing on the playground. We are all excited to see what day 2 brings.

My confession.

Jer's off all week! About a month ago, I had a great idea of starting the week off with a family trip to the dentist. So we all headed to the dentist this morning. I went first and got the first bit of bad news...a cavity! Oh well, my fault. Then Owen and Jer had their appointments. I sat in the room with Owen while he first got x-rays taken and then got his teeth cleaned. He did such a good job. Unfortunately, I haven't been doing as good of a job. My sweet guy has a cavity. I feel so badly. I feel like a loser of a mom. Dr. Jordan told me not to be so hard on myself, that its in a space where his teeth are really tight and hard to clean, but seriously, who let's their 3.5 year old get a cavity? (Jer was quick to remind me of Brittany Spears' kids.) Argh. Oh well, it could be much worse. I am now the flossing queen of our family. Jer ended up with a cavity, too. What's up with the dental hygiene in this family???

On a much brighter note, Owen starts Sunny Hollow tomorrow. I'm not sure how I'll get to sleep tonight!

He's a wild kid.

Owen talking about Walter as they were playing together. Walter loves rolling into people and giggling if they lay down on the floor. He was doing this to Owen when Owen said this.

We've had some eventful days lately. Yesterday my parents took the boys to the Great Minnesota Get Together while Jer and I enjoyed some time alone. It sounds like they enjoyed lots of time looking at and petting the animals, eating all sorts of good food (Walter especially enjoyed the walleye) and even going on a few rides. Jer & I were loving the peace and quiet of our house, followed by a few drinks with some friends and dinner alone. We also grabbed the last few items needed for Owen's school - slippers and an espresso cup. He'll be drinking water from it, however!

Today we had Jer's summer outing for work at Valley Fair. We went last year and had a blast, so were anticipating the day for a while. It was a great day, but very tiring. Last year Walter was only a few months old when we went, so he spent the day in the Bjorn. This year wasn't as easy, so Jer and I were ready to go after a late lunch picnic. We still managed to go on plenty of rides, the highlight being the Flume that Jer & Owen rode together.

After, we headed over to my aunt & uncle's house for the 2nd annual Armstrong family talent show. Unfortunately our camera battery was dead so I didn't get any good photos, but the big winners of the night were our boys. Owen's talent was showcasing all of his winnings from Valley Fair - dribbling a ball, flying a blow-up butterfly, and a few other truly amazing skills. Walter's talent was standing up on his own followed by a few sweet wobbly steps. So the boys took home the gold medal (literally...some medal my cousin donated as a prize) and Owen is so pumped. I looked back and saw him kiss it on the ride home tonight and he is now asleep with it. I don't think it is a coincidence that they took home the gold and were the only kids in the talent show...they are just that good.

It's hard having two kids, huh, Mommy?

Walter was squirming out of his high chair this evening at dinner and this is what Owen said to me.

Here's a fun photo that my cousin, Charlie, took this weekend of Owen and Super Griffin. He loves jumping off the dock and chasing sticks. He generally bites the sticks in half once he retrieves them. He's a good dog...even if he wreaks havoc on our house and yard!

I'm too tired to brush my teeth, go potty and walk to bed.

We are back home and are all worn out from the fun. Its time to get back into a routine around here and get ready for school next week! Luckily it's a slow transition with 3 half days next week, followed by a four day week and then a full week. Exciting stuff!

We had every intent of hitting up the Go Karts with Jer this weekend but never made it. On our way to dinner last night we drove by them and Owen was quick to remind us of our promise. After dinner we made good on it and had fun racing around the tracks. It was fun to see O's excitement and hear his giggles as he & Grandpa passed me on the track.

The boys did a great job in the van today - it could be that my mom was along for the ride this time! I was especially impressed by Walter. He slept for a little while, but mainly was up playing with toys and snacking. He bopped his head along to the music at times...his favorite song Jer discovered and we rediscovered today seems to be Hella Good by No Doubt. He's such a cutie. Here he is having fun playing in Griffin's water bowl at my parents' house:

Can we go tubing now?

This was the first thing out of Owen's mouth after he woke up from his nap this afternoon. He had his first tubing experience this weekend and couldn't get enough. He first went with auntie Kindi and then with his daddy. I was supposed to go with him this afternoon, but its turned chilly so I'll have to wait until next time. Kindi said he liked laying his head on the tube because he could 'feel the bumps better.' Jer got brave with him and was trying to make the tube jump and was sitting up with him. I was in the boat watching nervously, ready to jump out and get him if I needed (remember, I was once a lifegaurd!).

We had an enjoyable family weekend with the majority of the Armstrong's here. We were just missing three cousins. We had a luau on Saturday with my grandpa's scrumptious porkchops and homemade ice cream sandwiches that Owen, my mom & I made. They were just as I remembered. Unfortunately my mom didn't limit me on them this time around and I don't want to know how many I consumed. Everyone had fun between swimming, the sauna, skiing, tubing, yard games, board games, the Wii, motorbike rides, telling stories, and eating too much. We ended the weekend with a nice dinner at El Capitan, yum! It sure was great to be together.

I'm in to these.

Owen telling me about his new hot bait. Jer says this line often.


We made it to my parents' house - barely. Usually, I make sure I am all packed and ready the night before. Unfortunately, I didn't have the energy Monday night so it took us a while to get on the road Tuesday. Once we got on the road the rain started coming down hard and followed us to Chippewa Falls. I think we made 3 (of 4 total) stops in the first 1.5 hours, including a stop for a new portable dvd player. (pure desperation) Once the rain stopped, we finally got into a groove and made it in time for dinner.

Today my mom and the boys had a picnic at City Park and paid a visit to the albino fawn...I met them there after my massage! (I should come here every other week!) Owen went fishing once we got back and then again after his nap. He didn't catch anything with me (thankfully), but caught two bass with my dad. Walter splashed around in the water and crawled up and down the stairs to the dock. We all took a boat ride this evening. After, the Ski-ters picked up Owen and my dad and brought them down to watch the second half of the water-skiing show.

Tomorrow Jer comes already!

Open gate.

We were riding in the van yesterday and Owen was playing with a toy. Whenever he said "Open gate" Walter would start belly giggling. Jer and I both tried saying it with no luck, it only worked when Owen said it.

We've been enjoying our weekend. Friday, Owen & I went to a play with Kindi. It was part of the Fringe Festival and was about a squirrel going through an identity crisis. After, we went out for a treat and Owen wanted to climb the tree like a squirrel.

We spent Saturday and today getting stuff done around here that I've been wanting done for too long. It felt good to clean our carpets and go through the last mystery boxes that mysteriously appear in the storage room every so often. How lame of me to write about this, but really it feels so good to get it done! Its hard to get anything done with two little ones so I'm very impressed with our accomplishments.

Owen got away this afternoon with Jer's parents and brother and went to an international festival in Eden Prairie. He came back with a mask he made, a new soccer jersey, some green tomatoes and a Twins baseball painted on his cheek. He seemed to have had a ton of fun!

Walter has hit some huge milestones over the past couple days. Yesterday he figured out how to go down stairs on his belly. He now loves going up and then down again. My legs and back are getting a workout. And the really exciting news is that today he took his first steps! We were all downstairs playing in the new basement and he walked from me to Jer! It was so fun!!! I grabbed the camera later and got the third set of steps on camera! Of course I was too excited to remember that I was supposed to hold the camera horizontally, so tilt your head to the left and hit play...



So then I remembered that I was supposed to hold the thing horizontally and we tried again, but this is what happened.



Jer's off tomorrow! Yippee!

Uff da!

Owen's Norwegian roots are coming through. I guess I didn't realize I said 'uff da' until Owen started saying it.

We had another fun summer day today. We headed over to Lake Harriet for swimming and a picnic. I like to get my boys in lakes as much as possible. Although pools are nice, there's nothing like swimming with the fish. I asked Owen to go pack up some toys before we left and he came in with almost the entire sandbox. So we went with everything and had fun playing in the sand.

This evening we went to the Lake Hiawatha Carnival. (We were there last year and heard of the 35W bridge collapsing on our way there.) Walter loved getting a balloon and Owen enjoyed playing games, jumping in the Jump House, getting his face painted and getting to ride Snickers, again! He rode him last year and we still talk about it. Walter was content strolling along, people watching. He's so laid back. It'll be an adjustment when they both want to do different things.

I'm on fire, huh?

We were looking at a Where's Waldo book and Owen found Waldo twice in a row, so this is what he said.
We had a lovely day today. First of all, I got to sleep until 7:45 (heaven!). Then, once we had breakfast, the boys played while I got ready for the pool. An hour & a half later, we made it to the pool fully sunscreened with a well balanced picnic packed. (Talk about a process.) It was all worth while as we fully enjoyed our time with the Cagle ladies. The kids swam, ate and played their hearts out on the playground. (The only way we could get them to all sit still together was to have a funny face contest...)After nap we ran a couple errands and Owen talked me into having dinner at Chipotle. Generally, its not that hard, but I had planned out dinner already and somehow he managed to convince me. On the way home we happened to be driving by DQ and I couldn't help myself. So we enjoyed a nice evening with a couple dipped cones. While we were eating Owen told me that bringing him there was a 'very nice thing to do.' He's a keeper.

When are we going to ride in a space ship?

I'm not sure how to explain that quote. Just Owen ready for an adventure I guess.

Sorry about the gap in posts, its been a combo of being busy and being lazy. Going on over night adventures takes a lot out of me - between getting everything ready to go and then putting everything back together once we get back. In about a week we'll be doing it all over again, this time going to my parent's house for a family reunion.
The big thing going through my mind these days is Owen starting preschool. We received an information packet in the mail from Sunny Hollow Montessori this weekend and I've been reading it over and over again since. Jer and I also went and got him a few new school clothes this weekend. I just can't believe he's starting school. I'm so excited to see what this brings. We have a ton of confidence in this school, so I imagine big things are in store. Today at dinner he said "Soup and milk are liquids, right? I learned that in Little Scientist class." That was a class he did once a week for about 8 weeks this winter. If he remembers that from then, I just have to think he's going to be soaking up a bunch more going 5 days a week. My little sweetie.

Walter can be summed up in two words these days: climber and babbler. He loves to try and talk. We decided his first official word is ball. He loves to say it. I think he tries to say dog and banana, too, although they all kind of sound like ball. Our dining room chairs now get put on top of the table after being used. If I didn't do that, I'd be spending all day in the dining room chasing Walter around the table. He climbs onto the fireplace, couches and chairs all day. He doesn't try to get down, he just starts babbling really loudly (o.k., yelling) when he's ready to get down. He also is getting into pointing at things. I keep trying to get him to point at Mommy, Daddy, etc., but so far no luck.

Owen requested a game of tennis today so we all went over to the park by Lake Nokomis and played. The playground eventually lured us over, too. We also spent some time in the triangle playing baseball this afternoon. It was a nice laid back Monday, the way we like them around here.