I want to see a rhinoceros.

We are going to the zoo tomorrow and this is Walter's goal...too bad there aren't any rhino's at the MN zoo, though...at least not that I remember.

Our sweet Walter is officially 3. We celebrated with some friends on Tuesday and his requested Lighting McQueen birthday cake. For the past 4 months every time we'd pass the bakery at a grocery store, he'd ask to order his birthday cake, so it was long awaited and he was quite proud of that cake.

My mom came down yesterday and Jer left for his fishing trip. She is here to help celebrate my sister's birthday, which was yesterday, and bid my aunt farewell, as she is moving to New Mexico to work with my uncle Kurt. It is always nice to have her around to help with the kids. They love getting goofy with Grandma, that's for sure!

Popsicle course.

We were playing at a park recently with some friends and the older kids started making up an obstacle course. Walter quickly joined in with his own version...a popsicle course!

We had a wonderful summer time week this week. It really felt like summer break with trips to parks, pools and even the arboretum with friends. My personal highlight was an entire day with Lydia and Lindsay - it was great to spend a day with my freshman year roomie and her sweet little girl!

The Walter celebrations started yesterday as Jer graciously shared his special day with Walter and a family birthday party. He was showered with monster trucks, including a create your own monster truck kit, which the boys enjoyed doing while I cleaned up. Tomorrow is the real big day when Mr. 2 1/2 becomes Mr. 3!

I need a band-aid!

Walter loves band-aids. Any scrape or bump (which happens often to a nearly 3 year old in summer) and he comes running to me and declares this, often with an excited smile.

We kicked off summer with a trip to my parents house. It was a wonderful, relaxing time for me and wonderful, exciting time for the boys. I did a lot of sleeping and got two massages. The boys biked, built sail boats, fished, played games, did play dough, and pretty much anything they could think of doing, Grandma & Grandpa did with them.

Another bonus of being gone was taking a break from the construction. We are now without a kitchen sink and trying to patiently wait for the new one. The floor is now in and the cabinets are nearly all installed. Tomorrow the new appliances are coming and Tuesday they are coming to measure for the countertops!

We got back from my mom & dad's on Thursday and on Friday I went away for the weekend with my college girlfriends. We rented a cabin in Lake City and had a lovely weekend laughing and enjoying one another's company.

It's official...

Owen is now a kindergartner. How did that happen?

And, Walter is a preschooler.

Thankfully we have the whole summer to enjoy and get prepped for it.

Justin Beaver

Don't let my husband's Wilco shirts fool you, he is a teenie-bopper at heart. He loves KDWB and all the pop stars and music. Thanks to his father, Owen can sing along to many of the songs on KDWB and the other day he told me he knew who sang Eenie Meenie. When I asked who, he said "Justin Beaver." He said he and a friend at school were discussing the song and his friend told him who the artist was. (In case you aren't pop savvy, the 16 year old heart throb artist is Justin Bieber.)

We had a fabulous Memorial weekend together. If you ask Owen his highlight, it was tubing at his buddy's cabin without any adults! Here are a few photos from the day.

As I was cleaning up I found this drawing and couldn't just toss it. Too cute. Owen is quite fond of dragon's these days.