Xander's last day of summer school

Today we said goodbye to Grace Nursery School. Xander had his last day of summer school and now has his sights on Kindergarten. He really enjoyed the three week session a lot had tons of fun stuff to share.

showing off his sun hat he decorated and the tote bag he made out of a pair of his old pants. Very cool!

getting ready to sing to the parents

collecting his art work

Sculpture Garden/Loring Park Picnic with my little one

Nathan and I took advantage of a beautiful day and Xander being in summer school by heading out for a picnic. We went to the Sculpture Garden and Loring Park. Nathan had never been without his brother being there and it was nice to share it with just him.

Nathan thinks that he can see our family living in a modern, enviro friendly house like this. He looked in all the windows and said "coooool!"

Ahhh, one of the reasons I love this place so much. Where else can you find things like this?

Silly mommy forgot the loaf of bread to feed the ducks. They were eyeballing Nathan, just waiting for him to give them something.

So nice to see the freshly cleaned and painted cherry back up where it belongs

admiring some pretty flowers

getting ready to eat some lunch

a photo of a rare moment: Nathan in a stroller and not yelling about it!

It still breaks my heart to see it. I cannot believe they tore down the Guthrie just to put in grass!

hanging out of one of the few sculptures he is allowed to climb on

I got so many cute photos of him that it was hard to choose, but this is one of my favorites

They put huge wind chimes in the trees by where most people picnic and it sounded heavenly to hear them chime in the breeze.

He was exhausted by the time we picked up Xander and got home

Random July fun!

Having a pj day and Xander is multi-tasking with his toys. Transformers, Planet Heroes and Little Einsteins.
Finally, a less cheesey smile from Xander!
A little more cheese, but still a very cute photo. So hard to get them both looking at the camera and still at the same time!
Cold treats and fun with water on a hot day. We could have used a lot more of these days this summer but weather didn't cooperate. :( Oh, and that is Rosie licking Nathan's leg. He must have dripped fruit juice on his leg.
Outside craft project. No idea what it is but I heard something about catching bugs...or something like that. All I know is I found the final project in my front flower bed.
Chris made his famous banana chocolate chip pancakes and they are always a huge hit!

Just when you think they have outgrown a toy....I thought I would be able to sell this one by now but he still bounces on it all the time.
Chris and Xande got some ice cream treats for the ice cream truck that comes around our block. Xander picked out an ice cream sandwich the size of his head!
Nathan woke up from his nap just in time to share my yummy treat. Still has his groggy sleep look that he has when he is done napping.
Chris' choice
Rosie is just waiting for him to drop or drip something
I guess he missed a spot when cleaning up
A short trip to Elm Creek during the week for me and the boys. Just enough time for them to play in the sand (since the water was too cold to go in). It took me twice as long to pack everything and get them ready to go as the time we spent there.
As usual, it took Xander only a few minutes to make a new friend to play with. Unfortunately he had to leave shortly after.

Five-Year-Old trouble...ugh!

funny how a 5 minute time-out can end up turning into a half hour. He still hasn't figured out that sassing, arguing and doing everything but sit there quietly only makes him spend more time in the place he doesn't want to be. Five year old logic!

resignation at last!

Sophia's birthday

Today we went to Sophia's 5th birthday party. They started out by going to see the movie Ice Age 3 and then back to her house for lots of food and fun!

Nate has his own Cozy Coupe but still went right for the one at their house.
Look at the size of this princess bouncer!

All three boys in the jumper

Sophia obviously is really into princess stuff!

Fourth of July weekend

Chris had a few extra days off over the holiday weekend and it was so nice to relax and have fun!

To kick off the mini vacation, Chris picked Famous Dave's for dinner. Yummy!

After dropping Xander off at his Tiny Tots class, we headed to Toys R Us for a little fun shopping with Nathan. Here he is going on a train ride with Barney.

A trip to Loring Park with grandma Linda. So much fun for the boys!

A view from the bridge on our walk home. Nathan was so excited!

Nathan getting a look for a better viewpoint

Xander and his grandma take FOREVER to walk anywhere! They were so far behind us the whole way home. Xander loves walking with her so much!

After all that fun, getting clean was manditory. Check out Nathan's hair when it is wet...it is so long!! Never fear, the sides are pretty long too. No mullets are allowed in our house!

Mmmm.....Ribs.....Mmmm!

Chris finally tackled ribs on the grill for the first time on. We had a pack of hot dogs as back up, just in case. No need, he did an awesome job!

In preparation for bbq ribs, it seemed a good idea to pin back Nathan's bangs. His wispy ends were reaching past his nose.

"En garde!"

Ribs! My top pick of things to be stranded on a deserted island with and also responsible for the demise of my vegetarianism! (is that even a word? Spell check says it is :-)

As with lots of things lately, add this to the list of things that Xander used to love, but now will just poke and give funny looks at. But he is good about eating a little and at least giving it a try. Verdict? The ribs are too chewy crusty and the beans? In his words, "baked beans are not my favorite." How diplomatic, especially since his grandma brought the beans. For the record, Xander has never liked any type of beans, even when he would eat everything else put in front of him.

Some days Nathan eats air, some days he is adventurous and surprises us with what he will scarf down. He did pretty good tonight. I had a photo on here with him gnawing on a rib bone but for some reason it got deleted.