You're almost a square!

Walter's 4 year old well child exam was last week. He is a healthy little guy, weighing 42 lbs and measuring 42.5 inches, to which the nurse told him this. He is in the 87% for weight and 88% for height. We measure the boys on a piece of trim on both of their birthdays and I can attest to the fact that Walter is definitely taller than Owen was at 4, as Walter's line is a healthy inch above Owen's 4 year old measurement.

We just returned from a whirlwind of fun. On Wednesday at 10pm, we started our fun with a drive to Steven's Point. On Thursday the boys & I swam all day long while Jer worked. After work, Jer picked us up and we joined Jer's team on a boat cruise. The boys were in heaven being a part of all the games, which included Bingo, Hula Hoop contests and some trivia. They also loved getting completely spoiled with full size chocolate bars, gigantic coloring books and brand new crayons. The highlight of it all, though, was Owen winning a game of Bingo, with the prize being a Amex gift card. He is now ready to enter tournaments...seriously, he wants to. I see a VFW in our future.

After a couple nights in Steven's Point, we joined my parents in Wabasha, WI for some camping. We enjoyed lots of fishing, biking and s'mores. On Saturday we ferried to Madeline Island and rented bikes. We covered 9 miles, with Owen leading the way most frequently. It was lots of fun, particularly on the down hills, which we didn't catch many of. We certainly enjoyed splashing in the beautiful, clear water of Superior.

Yesterday, Jeremy and I returned to Minneapolis while the boys stay with my parents for the week. I am doing design work these days, so am taking advantage of the quiet to get a few things done. Additionally, as you may remember, I turned 35 this year...this means it is time for my girlfriends and I to get away together again. We are going to Mexico on Wednesday for a little R&R. It will be such fun, but I would be lying if I told you I don't miss my boys like crazy already! They are such wonderful people.

Chilly Willy

I have a ten year old cousin, William, who the boys adore...how could they not when he does crazy jumps like this? He is a bit of a legend in our house and even has his own song we sing about him, Chilly Willy. We got to spend some time with him and other wonderful family when we were up north for my Grandma's funeral. The silver lining is always having the time to be with family. Here are some more photos from our time celebrating Bea-Bea (as my Grandpa always called her).

She's not going to pick me, though, right?

My cousin, Katie, got married at the beginning of July. On the way to the wedding I was explaining weddings and marriage to Walter. When I told him they will now live together forever, Walter asked me this...thinking Katie was just going to randomly pick someone to marry and live with for the rest of her life! Thankfully she thought it over and found a wonderful man, Richard Daley (no, not Chicago's mayor) to marry. We had a fun night dancing and celebrating with family!

Grandma

My Grandma passed away two weeks ago. She passed away at home, overlooking Rainy Lake with some of my family close by caring for her. Last weekend we up north to remember her and celebrate the amazing life she led. I was lucky to share some thoughts about her during the service and will share that with you now:

"My Grandma was a mother of 6 children, 13 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren, along with countless other neighborhood children, and she made us all feel special.

Growing up, I was the youngest in the first handful of grandkids - my wild older cousins Frank, Bobby and Jason and my older sister, Kindi. We would go to Grandma's house weekend mornings to find her making her buttermilk pancakes and those wild 3 boys already sitting at the table 'calling' the next pancake from the griddle as theirs. Even though I was hungry, I wouldn't care about trying to get my name on one of the pancakes because Grandma always had something special just for me...in the lazy susan of her kitchen was a tin full of saltine crackers, just for me.

A few months ago, a friend of mine was describing my family to a woman at my sons' school. The woman asked "Oh, is that the family that smiles all the time?" My friend said "Yes! That is them!" Through my life I've often been called 'smiley' and asked why I smile so much. I never really thought much about it until recently as I watched my Grandma go through this terrible disease, ALS. I started to notice that through all the pain and discomfort, there was always a smile. Eventually, as she lost her ability to speak, there was still that smile. Sometimes, it overtook her and I could only see that beautiful smile.

Now that she is gone, I am so thankful for the smile she gave me and taught me to share with the world."

And, I will say Spiderman.

Walter and I were discussing what he will be like as an adult. I suggested kind, responsible, peaceful, strong and confident. He added this, concentrating heavily on the 'S'.

We had a very full weekend, busy with friends and summer fun. We started the weekend with a fun bbq with the Petit's...Colin is pretty much Jeremy's 3rd brother while Maggie is a fellow 'Babe' in my mom's group.

On Saturday we headed to Big Eagle Lake for a night at Owen's buddy's family cabin. We enjoyed swimming, boating and all sorts of fishing. The boys were catching fish left and right off the dock. They had a great time swapping fish stories and were so excited to all sleep in the loft together.

After heading home on Sunday, we went to a friend's house to gather and say good bye to an old Augsburg friend who was home visiting from Russia. It was great to spend some time with him and his family and is always so fun to see Jeremy with his college buddies and all the bantering and laughing that goes along with it.

Today we are home, recouping and prepping for the week to come.

I only want to go kayaking.

We spent a night with my mom's group and all the wee ones last week at our friend Sarah's cabin. She so graciously hosted 'Pine Lake Camp' for us all where there were crafts, child written, directed and acted plays, bike rides, marshmallow roasts, movies, swimming, fishing and boating. It was such a treat to be with all of the Babes and reminisce of the days when we all met nearly six years ago. Owen tried kayaking for the first time and realized he loved the freedom of exploring the lake in a boat. It took him a good 4 days to stop saying he wanted to go kayaking every five minutes or so.

At the very beginning of summer, we all met up at our friend Annie's farm near Stillwater. The kids loved feeding the sheep and exploring their beautiful garden and land. Its been a bit since we have all been together as most of our eldest children are now in school. We are really enjoying having these opportunities to reconnect with our first friends!

Because I always love to share the before photo...here is a photo from one of our first ever playgroup's together...when the majority of us only had one kid (and I had really dark hair)!

I feel normal now!

A few weeks ago, the boys and I met my parents in Eagle River, WI to break in their new retirement home, a RV! We had a great time biking, swimming, playing games and making fires. Owen was on his bike probably 50% of the time we were there, while Walter jumped into the pool a good 200 times. I ended up leaving the boys with my parents while I returned to Minneapolis to finish up some freelancing I've been doing and have some time alone with Jeremy. After a few days at home, I had an urge to get back with my boys and parents, so I drove the 300 miles again and got there just in time for a 1/2 hour of tubing behind the boat with my sweet peas! That night, Owen woke up with stomach pains which continued on and off the next day. When it came time for bed he was extremely uncomfortable and after lots of time trying and only a little time actually sleeping, we headed to the ER at 4 a.m. After many tests, x-rays and all sorts of waiting, Owen was diagnosed with mono. We went back to my parents, finally got a few zzz's, bought a car DVD player and headed home. We were able to sneak in to see O's doctor before she left for a month and get a lot of questions answered and much needed peace of mind! Last week, after playing with some friends Owen told me "I feel normal now!" and we both shared huge smiles! We are still cautious and taking it a little easy, but we are certainly still enjoying summer. Health is a precious thing.

I get three birthday parties!

It is good to be 4 and have so many people want to celebrate you! Walter turned 4 on June 22nd and had three parties to mark the event. He enjoyed all the cake and gifts, but especially loves being a big 4 year old now.

In the midst of celebrating Walter's birthday we celebrated my sister's birthday with a special dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, thanks to my parents. It was a ridiculously delicious meal and fun to cheers to my grandpa, who also loved and treated us to the restaurant many times.

There's a red one!

We built a garden this year and it has been so much fun! The boys run out there often checking on the fruits and veggies, particularly seeking strawberries. We have had a healthy handful of delicious red ones already, to which they always declare "There's a red one!" with excitement. Jer and I are more excited about the fresh spinach that we are now able to put in our morning smoothies, yum!

I love the joy in this photo of Walter and his buddy, Kai, and I just needed to share it! May it bring a smile to your face, too!

Don't just pack it, wear your jacket.

The boys finished up their swimming lessons session last night and got a report card from their instructors. Under the safety category is this saying "Don't just pack it, wear your jacket." The boys have had lots of fun with that saying today, being silly, singing songs about it and trying to bug one another with it. Whenever they say it to each other, they have been laughing and laughing. Silly bros.

We took the boat out last weekend and enjoyed some time fishing on Lake Minnetonka. Owen is quite the angler. Walter was more interested in having snacks and sitting with me this time around. Owen was the first to catch a fish and almost had the record for the day until Jer reeled in this 12.5" bass.

Movin' on up...

Friday was Owen & Walter's last day of school. We are happily enjoying our first week of summer vacation and the 90+ degree weather! Today we started the day with some slip and slide, followed by park time and a picnic with friends, a jump in the lake, a quick stop at the ice cream shop, some boat making and more slip and sliding. Tomorrow we have some friends coming over for all sorts of fun...I better get to bed!

Before I do, I need to share some photos of Owen's leadership recognition ceremony and the family all school picnic. Owen is officially a first grader and Sunny Hollow recognized this big step for him with a nice ceremony followed by a reception and then an all school picnic. I was lucky to help out on the last day of school, too, making banana 'ice cream' and spending some time on the playground with O's class. After all that was done, there was a family picnic where Owen joined the elementary kids for a friendly water balloon fight...boys against the girls!

We gathered again on Saturday for a celebratory bbq for Owen and the other leaders in his classroom at a friend's house. Even his wonderful teachers for the past three years, Gina and Katie, came to help celebrate them. We are all so excited for him and see his readiness more every day.