Tumbling class

On Monday evenings, both boys have tumbling classes. Chris gets to spend some one-on-one time with Nathan and it is so cute watching them together. Xander's class is right after and that one is not so cute. It is a boys tumbling class and so it is bunch of 4 and 5 year old boys, all trying to sit still and follow directions. Not pretty to watch! Their instructor, Cassie, is a brave girl for taking them on!

Nathan and his daddy stretching those muscles

Practicing head stands

pretending to slither on the floor like snakes

After many attempt to get them line up and sit still, most of them finally get it. One boy in the class goes into his Zen meditation pose while waiting for the others to get it together.

Cassie helping Xander into a head stand.

Cooling off

If we have enough stuff in the yard to play with on a hot sunny day, we can get some stuff done. I spent hours weeding the gardens and Chris did a bunch stuff that he never seems to have time to do. The boys got wet, dried off, got wet...and on and on.... We were all exhausted by the end of the day from so many hours of working and playing in the yard.

Filling up the pool is just as fun as playing in it

We keep telling Xander that if he is going to dish it out, he has to be able to take it.

Nate figures out that if he sticks his finger inside the hose, he can get Xander really good!

Chris brushing Rosie in a shady spot

The boys enjoying a Dilly bar. Xander is no doubt a) thinking that Nate's chocolate one suddenly looks better than his cherry and b) is hoping that Nate will not be able to finish it and hand it over before it melts and before all the chocolate is gone. I know my son well (probably because it is what I would be thinking if it were me!)

Chris filling in the rock garden

He has the biggest eyes!

"Hey, let me smear ice cream all over the camera!"

Nathan being so good at sharing, offers up his dilly bar (with all chocolate eaten off) to his daddy. Sweet boy must have known Chris needed to take a break from all that hard work.

Nathan says "swim, swim, SWIM!"

I think Chris is ready to be done! The boys think it is so funny when he sits on top of the garage. I do not.

Hot days

Sometimes a boy just has to be free from the constraints of clothing and cloth diapers. Is there anything better than Naked Pizza Night? I will stress that Nathan was the only one naked. It just isn't cute when the rest of us are. He really is the only one that can pull it off anymore.

We went to the wading pool at the school Xander will go to Kindergarten at. A very nice park and pool and even nicer that it is so close to our house.

One of the hottest days of the year and Nathan refused to get in the pool. He did have fun going around the pool and throwing everyone's pool toys in so I would have to fish them out. Fun.

Sometimes we have to come in from the heat and enjoy the a/c. Xander is creating squishy aliens with his martian set. Fun stuff!

Nathan having fun with playdoh

Father's Day 2009

Today was not only Father's Day, but also our 7th anniversary AND Grandpa Ernie's birthday. We killed a couple of birds with one stone and made the trip to Claremont to celebrate with all the 3 generations of dads and Ernie's birthday. Chris and I celebrated our anniversary a night earlier by going out for a lovely dinner and just hanging out sans kiddies!

Chris got breakfast in bed. Nothing fancy, but a meal alone in our bedroom without children hovering around saying "can I have a bite?"

A trip to the farm usually means the boys get to ride on great grandpa's tractors. This time they were both "scared" of them and didn't want to go. Not an option! Within seconds of being on them they had big smiles on their faces. But Nathan says "Nathan scared a combine" after seeing how big it is. Can't say I blame him.

Grandpa Jimmy and Winston, cruising around on the Gator

Nathan and Daddy on the Oliver

Xander finding it hard to turn the steering wheel

I get a wink and a thumbs up!

Now over their fear of the tractors, they run around pretending to be tractors

Xander's reading material for the ride home - "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

and Nathan wonders why everything seems to be going on during his naptimes. He is looking very tired and was asleep in no time.

Elm Creek Park

We went to Elm Creek for the first time this season and picked up our family passes. Such a great deal and everyone gets what they want. The beach like setting for the boys, but chlorinated water and no fish for me!

Chocolate covered donuts before digging in the sand
And Nate is a big fan of the sand, the water...not so much

Xander likes the water, but seems to have forgotten every bit of what he learned in swim lessons. I am hoping it comes back to him!

Both boys digging in the sand

More sand time for Nathan as we get everything packed up to go home

Yoga

On Friday mornings, me and the boys head to yoga for an hour. Chris had the day off and got to join us for the fun!

Doing some stretching to warm up
Xander relaxing

Nathan does a little, but mostly he wanders around the room with the other small kids. He found daddy in the perfect position for a smooch. Sorry Chris, the pose you are in makes you look like you have HUGE boobs!

Mighty Mites

I signed Xander up for a ton of activities through Minneapolis rec centers. This was the first one of the summer. Mighty Mites in NE Mpls at a rec center we have spent a lot of time at. It was four days and a hodge podge of sports. So much fun for him, but hard to keep Nate off of the field. He joined in when he could.

Day 1 was t-ball, a big hit with Xander

He did pretty well and had so much fun!

I think running the bases was his least favorite part, but he never has been much of a runner. He'll get used to it.

Day 2 was soccer. Here he is playing goalie and blocking Chase's ball.

Straight into the net!

Day 3 was kickball. The kids had lots of fun, but after all the rain we had the night before, they spent a lot of time digging in the ball field. I spent so much time chasing Nate around that I didn't get too many pics.

Summer stuff

Nate tried so hard to wear his teddy bear's shirt but couldn't get it over his head. No matter how I tried to tell him he was too big, he was determined.

But when he found out that he looked silly, he was happy and content to wear it on his head.

The boys have weekly chores and sometimes don't even need to be asked to do them. I asked Nathan to dust and while doing that, he spied one of our many vacuums and decided to do that as well.

Here he is dusting and vacuuming at the same time. Great at multi-tasking, this one!

After decided to strip down, he gives Xander a hand with washing the windows. Yay, inside and out!

The boys loaded up their water squirters and went after each other (and us!)

Photographer getting sprayed. Having a camera didn't stop him, he just aims low!

The boys (and Rosie) picking strawberries

They wanted to save them to put on their cereal the next day. Yummy!

Nathan - hanging out and enjoying a snack in the sun

Digging at the park

Playing Capt. of the pirate ship no doubt. Arrrrrg!

fun times!