You just have to read my fishing magazine.

I am not very savvy in the fishing department so often tell Owen that "we'll have to ask daddy that question." Owen told me all I needed to do was start reading his fishing magazine so I can start answering all his questions.

We had another full day in Stevens Point yesterday. We started the day painting some pottery at a local art gallery. Owen enjoyed mixing his colors and made me a nice dinosaur on a plate. It disappeared as he kept painting around it, however. After, we met Jer for lunch, which was a real treat, but the real treat of the day came once Jer came home.

We all got to go roller skating last night. Jer's work was having a party so we joined in on the fun. Owen was so excited to roller skate. (He's been asking me for those shoes with wheels in them for quite a while.) He was very determined and didn't want much help from Jer or me. At one point he told me he could skate and eat ice cream at the same time. I'm not sure who had more fun, however. Jer took part in a race against his colleagues and told me this morning he would have won if he'd had the right skates.

Daddy, I found a kid's iron board in my room!

Owen thinks his room here in Stevens Point is so cool..the bed is enormous, there is a TV in it and it even came with a kid-size ironing board. He was eager to iron his clothes with Daddy this morning.We are enjoying our time in Stevens Point. It was nice to have dinner together as a family last night. Jer said he had never sat at the dining room table in his apartment here.

This morning the boys & I walked downtown to get a picnic lunch and then Walter & I walked as Owen biked over to a nearby park. It was a wonderful park, perfect for Walter as it was all rubber on the ground - no sand, rocks or wood chips for him to attempt to eat. We had lunch and played and played some more. On our walk home we found the Green Circle, a path along the river great for biking and strolling on. On the path we found a sculpture that reminded me of my dad (maybe a little inspiration?) and all sorts of ducks and geese. Owen was quacking and honking to them, Walter was also talking to them although his noises were more like coo's. We sat and watched a mother and her new babies for a while. I felt a bit connected to the mother, as strange as that may sound. It was interesting to see how apprehensive she was of us. This mothering instinct is in all of us moms - humans and ducks alike.

We are going fishing tonight. It goes without saying that Owen is pumped.

There's another Babe!

I had a great time with my girlfriends this weekend. Lindsay (my freshman roommate), Tracy (my college traveling pal) and I were up in the Brainard area on a small lake with our own quaint cabin and plenty of blue ox's all around us. It was a lovely getaway. We laughed about memories, especially of Augsburg, and had time to finally catch up with one another. It was very relaxing and a nice break for me. A few highlights include watching Back to the Future at the drive-in, canoeing, shopping and lots of good food. Yes, I did enjoy a few margaritas, too.

We woke up early this morning and joined Jer on his weekly trip to Steven's Point. Owen is really excited to be here. It will be nice to be together all week.

Jer is planning on giving you all a weekend update from his perspective tonight. I will tell you I came home to a clean house and three happy boys, a great welcome for sure.

Once upon a time, there was a green bean.

Kindi came over for dinner tonight. Owen decided we should all take turns telling goofy stories. His were primarily about food walking around doing things.

Jer's on his way home. He got a late start as the boys and I are going to Stevens Point with him next week, so he had to go back to his corporate apartment and clean for us! For some reason, I just knew that was going to happen. Owen is really excited to go check out where his daddy works and fish the river by his apartment.

I'm actually taking off for the weekend - leaving in the morning to go to a cabin with my girlfriends! I'm a bit hesitant to leave Walter particularly, but he will be in good hands. I don't know what I'll do with two free hands all weekend...well, one free hand, as there may be a margarita in the other at all times! ha, ha.

The boys and I have been enjoying some summer days lately - we have been blowing lots of bubbles, drawing with sidewalk chalk, playing in the backyard, etc. Owen received a new bubble blower from Emma & William on Wednesday and it has been quite the hit.

I tried to get the boys pictures taken professionally today. The session failed miserably. The photographer was so patient with us, but it didn't matter, Walter wanted nothing to do with being still. We'll be going back again next Friday hopefully.

Walter is starting to let you know when he wants something. He screams when he doesn't get it. Tonight he climbed all the way upstairs with a bat in one hand and a ball in the other. Didn't I say he was going to be my artist???

Can we make a house for my snake, Mommy?

Owen found a snake in his toy room tonight. He won it in a coloring contest in WI Dells. Tomorrow we will be building it a nice cozy home. If he happens to get into real snakes someday, I don't care how hard he begs, we will never ever have a live snake living in our house. It gives me the creeps thinking about it.

The boys went over to Summer's this morning and I had a lovely time in my house with Griffin. I did the regular cleaning/upkeep I normally do during nap so when they boys both napped after I picked them back up, I got more done! I even sat down with a Coke and watch the Jeopardy Teen Tournament. I could almost keep up with the teenie-boppers.

The boys & I had a great afternoon playing outside with chalk and in the sand box. After dinner, Owen declared it was time for water soccer in the tub. Walter loved playing the referee. (more toys found from when Owen demolished the toy room)

After Walter went to bed Owen and I had a really nice night together. He's getting so big. I tend to keep him up past bedtime when Jer's gone. He's really good company to have around. We played some games, read some books and as I told him it was time to get ready for bed, he told me he was hungry. That bought him another 20 minutes on the couch with me!

Is it November tomorrow, Mommy?

Owen really wants it to be his birthday. He asks me when November is daily. Unfortunately for him, my answer has been about 4 months for a while.

We had a nice Monday. I had a chiropractor appointment this morning and I'm so happy to report that I have now had 3 days without a headache. Wow. The clinic is always full of compliments on my boys. They make me proud. After the appointment we stocked up on some fresh fruits and vegetables and a few other necessities at SuperTarget.

After some quiet time at our house, we went over to a wading pool and swam with some friends. Walter walked along the edge of the pool and found a little water jet that had him laughing. Owen swam around with his homemade snorkel mouth piece.

Owen had his last t-ball game tonight. He told me at dinner tonight that Joe Tadros told him he should slide into home base, so he did tonight. This was the first thing he told Jer tonight. My camera battery died so I didn't catch the big slide. However, I did get his professional t-ball photos back tonight. Is this the cutest forced smile, or what?!

Happy Birthday to Andrew! You are a great uncle & brother (in-law)!

Should we get Uncle Moogs water balloons for his birthday?

Owen woke up with Uncle Moogs' birthday party on his mind. He was wondering if his mom and dad were ready for it. He also recommended that we get Uncle Moogs some water balloons for his birthday.

Yesterday, we decided to get out of the house early and go for a family breakfast. In keeping green, we put the boys in the Burley for a breakfast destination of the Egg and I. We headed east from our house on 28th to Minnehaha then north on the West River Parkway. From the parkway, we caught the Minneapolis Greenway, which is a fantastic bike path created in an abandon rail line that cuts across the city.

We tried out the new bike bridge that crosses over Hwy 55 for our first break of the day. We then found the Egg and I, which is conveniently located right off the Greenway about 10 miles in.

The breakfast was as good as always, but it was especially good for Owen who ordered chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream smothered over the top. Tricia and I got a good laugh during breakfast as we looked around at all of the people reading the Star Tribune paper that had her friend Sarah Reinbold's picture on the back of it. Sarah's picture was all over the restaurant (link to article about Sarah and Ete handbags).

After breakfast, with our legs feeling like Jell-o, we headed back onto the Greenway to Lake Calhoun. At lake Calhoun, Owen and I talked about the Muskies in the lake while we biked south to Lake Harriet. At Lake Harriet, we talked about the number of sunfish that people were catching off of the dock. Around this time, Walter grew tired of being the Burley so we stopped at a park and played around for 15 minutes. Owen and I played tennis, while Walter and Tricia crawled around in the grass.

After the short break we biked the remaining 4 miles home. Tricia and I were exhausted, and the kids were full of energy. Here is the link to our 18 mile route.

The rest of the day, Tricia and I tried to recuperate while the boys had fun playing together. Owen and I made home-made chicken fingers for dinner while Tricia gave Walter a bath. Owen and I ended the night by watching the original Star Wars over some cookies and milk. Tricia couldn't resist the big Nordstrom's sale, so she headed out for some late night shopping. I guess her legs are never too tired for a big clothes sale...

Is this called the calm before the storm, Mommy?

We walked out of Target yesterday to a big grey cloud. It wasn't raining yet, so this is what Owen asked me.

We decided to get out of the house and the heat yesterday and went to Wild Rumpus. Its a great independent children's book store in Linden Hills with many fun idiosyncrasies. There is a rat in the floor, a stormy cracked ceiling, chinchillas, birds, a tarantula, cats and, the biggest hit, chickens. Walter followed the chickens all over the store. After much exploration, reading and pulling books off the shelves like only a one year old can do, we used Walter's gift card from Great Grandma Donna and headed home with a new library. (Thank you, Donna!)

Jer and the boys went and bought water balloons this morning while I was out. When I came home I found them over at the Cagle's having fun with the balloons. When the balloons ran out, Jer turned into a fireman, putting out the little fires running around with the hose.

I spent the afternoon perusing the Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale with Summer. After we both gathered a few findings we headed to the dressing rooms to try them on. The woman helping us decided to bring us a few more items when we were finished with our original finds. For some reason, she decided that we needed to have matching items. Nice! We opted not to buy any matching outfits as we didn't want to scare the neighbors.

Hey...duck, buck

Owen loves to rhyme. He generally starts out the rhyme with "hey" to ensure he has my attention and then goes on to rhyme. Sometimes he will go 'car, gar, far, mar...' and sometimes he'll just do 'car, far' followed by another 'sit, bit.' Yesterday in the van he said "burley, whirley," which made me laugh.

So, I'm trying hard to get Walter down to one nap. On Monday morning I set him in his johnny-jump-up so I could go get ready for the day. I came down 15 minutes later to find him asleep. Unfortunately, I had an appt to get to so I couldn't just let him sleep. I woke him up and we all went to my appt. I figured it would all work out and by the afternoon he'd be sleepy again. Well, he didn't nap again and pretty much cried for 2 hours straight while I tried to get him down. I didn't think Walter had it in him. This just proves anyone can have a hard day. When Owen woke up we got out of the house as fast as we could...before I completely lost it. We walked down to the Cagle's and played in their pool. I had told Owen t-ball just wasn't in the cards for that night. However, as we were eating dinner, Summer called to see if they could bring Owen to t-ball and be his cheering section. Pretty amazing neighbors, huh?!

Yesterday we started the day with a bike ride. Owen is getting more and more confident on his bike. I walked briskly and even ran a couple times to keep up with him. On the way back from the lake we came across a sprinkler hitting the sidewalk - Owen really enjoyed biking back & forth through and trying to get a drink from it.

After our ride, we headed over to the new pool and played with some friends. We actually just returned from another outing there, so you know its a great place! This time is was for playgroup, something we haven't been doing much lately, so it was nice to see our friends again.

The boys are BOTH asleep - so I'm going to go get some stuff done!

This is what the Tour from France do's.

We woke the Tsakistos up this morning at 10 a.m. to see if they wanted to go for a walk around the lake with us. (I have to tease, really I'm just jealous.) They rolled out of bed and we had a nice leisurely walk to the coffee shop and around the lake. Lindsay said it was by far the longest amount of time it had taken her to get around the lake. Owen was continually showing us how bikers on the Tour ride, hence the quote. Walter ended up falling asleep near the end - resting his PB&J on his belly for later. We had lunch together at home and really enjoyed some spontaneous time with friends. Its such a rarity with all our busy lives.

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, downloading music off iTunes, and doing a few projects around the house. Owen & Jer cleaned out the garage a bit. Owen loves playing in the boat and talking Jer's ear off while he cleans. They found his pitching machine and more sand box toys which he then played with in the yard. The two took a bath later and the water was nearly black.

Should we do a project?

Owen is getting into art these days. I had our art room all organized and then when we got our new furniture in the basement it got out of control. I'm finally getting it back into a workable space and Owen is loving it. After lunch he's been having 'art time' while I get Walter down for his nap and clean up the kitchen. He's made countless drawings with a variety of media, made a safari hat, paper airplanes and egg carton caterpillars. Any other project suggestions?

We had a lovely summer day today. Jer & Owen got up early and went to help a friend move while Walter and I ran an errand and enjoyed some time alone at home. This afternoon we took a bike ride over to a pool/playground where Owen tested out his new goggles. We all played on the playground after and had a picnic dinner. We took the long route home and somehow were going against the wind the entire time. I'm sure glad Jer pulls the boys now. We (well, Jer) follow the Tour de France, which is happening now. Tomorrow they have their first mountain day, I don't know how they do it.

Jer gave the boys a bath tonight, complete with water balloons. Owen got to throw his outside after (it took about 5 tosses before it broke).

Mmm, doesn't the big earth just smell wonderful?

This is what Owen said as he stepped outside this morning. So sweet.

We started the day playing soccer in the triangle park across the street. Walter loves watching Owen run around. It gave me an opportunity to get a couple nice photos of him. He had no interest in looking at me as I made countless noises and called his name in all sorts of tones - his eyes were fixed on his brother. Someday he is going to just get up and start running after him. Owen loves when he chases him crawling already, so that will be a very exciting day for both boys.

Stormy weather kept us out of water today. Owen got to get a new pair of goggles though and is excited to use them with Daddy in the lake tomorrow. I'm just excited to have Jer home with us. We've had such full weekends for the past month, we are hoping for a nice laid back one this weekend.

Hug & Hot

Walter crawls around saying "hug, hug, hug" (unintentionally) and will say "hot" on command. 'Hot' is very heavy on the 'ha' sound and kind of in a whisper. He makes many other noises and sings often, too. I think he'll be a chatter box before long.

We had a busy, fun day today. We met a childhood friend, Jen Betters-Bubon, her sister Amy and her family at the Science Museum for lunch. It was wonderful to see all of them and catch up a bit. They (Jen & Amy) went to see George Michael last night. We had a huge crush on him in middle school, but who didn't, right? After lunch the boys & I walked around the lobby, through the DNR area and up and down the musical stairs for some cheap entertainment.

After we left, we called up our neighbors to see if they were up for a little beach time. They were, so we packed the kids, towels and sand toys up in the burley and headed over to the small beach. (Summer's ingenious idea...less ground to cover with 4 kids and no playground equipment to distract the kids!) We enjoyed swimming, building castles and relaxing on the beach. Summer & I even got to have a few short conversations. What a luxury. I'm sorry I'm missing a picture of Ella. All my shots of her failed miserably. She's one fast cookie!

But when am I going to be on the Twins team?

Owen wants to be on the Twins, not the Periwinkle Blue team. Jer & I answered in unison "when you are 18."

We had t-ball tonight (getting him ready for the Twins in 15 years). We were joined by Grandma Joanne, Jer's cousin Anne, Grandma Donna & Grandpa Bruce. Owen generally has a good amount of energy, but on t-ball nights he's pretty much bouncing off the walls. He ended the night making sand angels on the field.

We've been enjoying the hot weather and taking advantage of being so close to Lake Nokomis. On Saturday the boys & I biked to the smaller beach for a swim. Then again on Sunday, all of us biked to the big beach for some fun. I think I may need to bring a bucket of sand from our sand box back to the beach each time we go to replace the sand we bring home with us. Its everywhere and I just don't understand why...

Walter's walking!

This was the comment that got me out of bed in a hurry this morning. Although I was pretty certain he really wasn't, I wasn't going to miss out if he was. When I came down, Jer explained that he was walking with some help, but really getting the hang of it. I think we have a good two months before any solo walking happens. Walter is just starting to let go of things and balance while standing for a few seconds - and that's generous! That is just fine with me. I've decided a baby doesn't become a toddler until they walk, so I'll keep my baby for as long as I can.

Walter got his first haircut on Wednesday in his bath. His bangs were getting a little out of control, so I gave them a trim. I tried to take a bit off the back, but was reserved as he is such a squirm worm. He's awfully handsome and his signature wrinkled nose smile gets me every time. (of course I don't have a photo of that today...)

I have to share this final attempt at a photo with my parents before they left Wednesday. This was the best one we got.

We had a fun day with the Hipps family yesterday for the 4th. There were plenty of games to be played, with bocce ball, ladder toss, and even a water balloon toss. The food was yummy and there was too much of it, of course. The best part was all of the family together. There were people from Singapore, Seattle, Florida, Tennessee, and good old Minnesota! Auntie Rachel brought the fixings for Owen to make his now famous dessert pizza for everyone. Owen was very proud to serve any takers. The afternoon ended with a mini firework display and some sparkler name spelling. Thanks for the great party, Donna & Bruce!

Bapa & Rarah

This is how Owen says Grandpa and Grandma. He's been saying it quite a bit lately.

We took advantage of our location and the nice weather today. Owen & my dad went fishing, Walter and my mom took a walk around the lake, we set up the new Hipps pool, and after Owen's nap, we all rode our bikes over to Minnehaha Falls. We checked out the new addition to the park - a new pool complete with water falls and geysers and a new playground. After that we were joined by Kindi, went to Sea Salt for dinner and listened to the Fridley City Band while we ate. We capped off the night with a DQ. Yum.

On Sunday, Jer, Walter and I walked around the lake while Owen rode his bike. We stopped twice, but I was impressed with O's biking abilities. He was a little slow at first, however as he got the hang of it we started to have to work to keep up with him.

My parents are leaving tomorrow. It has been nice to have a good chunk of time together with them. I will miss them and all their help they gave me. I know the boys will miss them too. I'm sure there will be an adjustment period for all of us...especially for the boys in the entertainment department.