Marisa's New Sunglasses

Today Lola came home with a new swimsuit for Marisa. It was a bikini set with sunglasses and a robe. She loved wearing the sunglasses! For some reason she wouldn't shut her mouth! LOL!

Father's Day 2009

This year for Father's Day we set up a morning with the Daddies and the sons to go out and do some golfing. There is a place close to our house called Country Air Golf where they have a driving range and a pitch and putt. We thought this would be a perfect place for them to go to especially for the younger boys. Everyone met up at our house at 10am. Before everyone got here Marisa gave Daddy his Father's Day presents (the boys had spent the night in Buffalo so it was just Marisa). The kids made him a "Best Dad Hands Down!" T-shirt that turned out really good, and I bought him a new chain.

When everyone got here they went off to the golf. While they were gone the ladies and the girls prepared lunch. I BBQ'd chicken and No Name Steak for the adults and than we had hot dogs for the kids. When they all came back they were all hungry so we had lunch and they rested for a little bit. After awhile they wanted to hit in the batting cage.

It was a great day of hanging out with family! I unfortunately did not get the pictures that I wanted. I didn't get any pictures of the Dads and their kids. Not even Mike and our kids :-( But Missy did manage to get a few pictures of Noah playing with Marisa outside with sidewalk chalk! Plus I got one of Lolo and Marisa.


Playing outside with Noah


Cheese!


Noah is such a good big cousin to all the little ones!


We ended up making a Best Lolo Hands down T-shirt for Lolo with all 10 grand kid's hands! It turned out great!

Valley Fair 2009

Yesterday we went to Valley Fair! Auntie Marie was taking TJ and some of his friends for his birthday so she invited Jon, Nicholas and myself to go. Mostly because she needed my truck to bring all the boys in! LOL! We had SO much fun! Lolo and Lola stayed home to watch Marisa for me so we met all of them at their house around 11:30am. When we got there TJ and his friends decided to ride in my truck and the little boys rode with Auntie Marie. We had to pick up one of TJ's friends at his house and than we were off to Valley Fair! Ounce we got there Marie bought some of the boys lunch. Of course my boys, once they saw the games wanted to play games. I told them at the end of the day after dinner we would play games. We have the whole afternoon here to ride the rides and than play games. After about the 5th time asking, I think Nicholas finally realized that we were not playing games until later on.

The first ride they went on was the Scrambler! Thank goodness the older boys didn't go off on their own yet because Nicholas needed an older person to ride with him so TJ did. Of course since it was Marie, Anthony, Jon, Nicholas, and myself we went to the smaller rides. They had a lot of fun in that area. They went on the Mild Thing a bunch of times! The airplane ride and than they wanted to go on the hot air balloon ride. This ride I had to go on with Nicholas because he was too short and he couldn't go with just Anthony and Jon. I didn't do very well. The rides that go in circles I just can't do anymore! Roller Coasters I can do, but circles I can't! After this ride Marie saw that there was a comedy/magician show so we went there for a half hour to watch the show. That helped me out a lot plus I had a Mountain Dew. After that we went on a few more rides. They liked the tilt a whirl. This was a ride that Nicholas could go on with just Anthony and Jon! I was SO excited I didn't have to ride with him! I know I wouldn't have done well on this ride! After a while we went to the Ball Factory. We stayed there for about an hour! The boys were having so much fun! Some Fathers were in there so they were throwing the balls at each other. Jon got hit right in the melon from one of the Dad's and it was hilarious!

We than decided to go to Mad Mouse. I kept on telling Jon that he needed to try one of the bigger roller coasters so we started out with Mad Mouse. He first went with Anthony, Marie and Nicholas. He LOVED it! Than it was my turn to go with the boys. I told him that if he liked this roller coaster he would LOVE the High Roller! I showed him which one it was and he wasn't quite sure yet. So I told him we could wait. I didn't want to force him. We than met up with the bigger boys and had dinner. After dinner we decided to go on more rides before heading to the game area. The bigger boys wanted to ride on the High Roller so Jon decided he would give it a try. He wanted me to go with him so headed toward the ride. He was SO scared! I told him he would be fine and that he could hold my hand the whole time if he wanted. When we waited for the roller coaster to get back for our turn I told him we would sit in the middle because it wouldn't be that bad in the middle. He wanted to turn around and leave but I told him he could do it and he stayed. We got on and he was just holding onto my hand. Going up the big hill was probably the worst part for him, but I talked him through it. Told him that there was one more big hill and the rest were smaller ones. At the end I asked him if it was bad and he said no. He actually enjoyed it! Poor kid...It was the end of the day so we headed towards the game area. They boys did really well. They both came home with 3 prizes each. Boy are some of the games expensive!

Any way, they now want to go back. I told them probably next Summer. Here are some pics! Enjoy!


Eating lunch before heading out to the rides. L to R : Alex, Davis, TJ, Jon, Nicholas, Peg, Anthony, & Lee. TJ's friends Joey was meeting us later.


Waiting in line for the Scrambler.


Jon and Anthony rode together.




Ride has begun! Look at Nicholas trying to hold on!


Can't see Anthony and Jon anymore!


On the Tilt A Whirl.


They LOVED this ride!


PEACE!


Not feeling too hot anymore, huh boys?!


The Mild Thing. Nicholas and Anthony were able to get on this one. Jon had to wait.


Nicholas looking good!


He is such a ham!


Anthony in the back!


They got to go around 3 times for each ride. They would give the controller a thumbs up to go around again!


Jon and Anthony sat in the front the second time on the ride.


Jon looks a little nervous....


No hands!


3rd time in the back. Can you tell Nicholas is excited!


My two boys.


Love this shot!


Waiting in line for Mad Mouse.


Going up!


Are they having fun?


On the Wheel of Fortune ride. Again, good thing the older boys were with us. Nick got to ride with Joey on this one.


Jon and TJ


TJ is ready!




Anthony rode with Alex




Peg and Davis


At the end of the day in front of the fountain. Thanks Auntie Marie for inviting us!

Nick's Friday Night T-Ball

Tonight was Nicholas' night for T-ball. He wanted to make sure that I brought the video camera so Daddy can edit a video of him to put out on the internet....Here it is....



Good Game Nicholas!

Jon's Last Day Of Being A 1st Grader!

This morning Nicholas, myself and Marisa walked Jon to the bus stop. I wanted to take a group picture of all the kids on their last day. They were all SO excited for it to be their last day! You could tell that they are ready for summer! A lot of them just had smiles on their faces! A lot of them had field trips planned too for their last day. Yesterday the 1st graders went to Como Zoo. I couldn't volunteer because I had no one to watch Nick and Marisa, but maybe next year! Any way I can't believe in just 3 short months I will have a 2nd grader AND a Kindergartner! Nicholas is SO excited to go to Lake Elmo. I am hoping to sign Marisa and I up for some ECFE classes since it will be just her and myself. I didn't get the boys into ECFE until they were 2 so this will be new for me. Hopefully it will be a fun filled Summer and I won't be saying in a week, " When is school going to start?!" Enjoy the pics!


Most of the kids that get picked up in our neighborhood.


Of course they wanted to do a funny face picture.


Than the bus came!


Nicholas all by himself on the big rock after the kids left.

A Few Videos from Jon's Baseball Game

Mike put this video when we got home last night.




Marisa taking a walk with Lolo.




Sitting in a big chair!

Marisa's 1 Year Stats

This morning Marisa had her 1 year doctor's appointment. She did really well! She had to get her finger poked to check her hemoglobin and iron levels and had one shot. She was all happy until Dr. Siefferman laid her down on the table for her shot. She did fine with the finger poke...LOVED the band aid on her finger! Tried to get it off a bunch of times but than started to suck on it! Any way she cried for a little bit after her shot and was happy to see Dr. Siefferman leave the room. She even waved good bye to him!

So here are her stats!

Height: 30 1/2 in - 77th Percentile

Weight: 23# 9oz. - 77th Percentile

Head 18 3/4 in - 96th Percentile (Another kid with a big head! Dr. Sieferman said she needs it to become a Doctor! LOL!)

Only thing that concerned him was that her Hemoglobin was at a 10.xx something and it is suppose to be 12 or higher. I told him that she doesn't eat any meat. She is a VERY picky eater and I can't stand it! So I have to give her half of a Flinestone Complete Vitamins in the morning and at night. He also advised me to try to give her some shredded chicken in her Mac N Cheese until she starts getting used to eating meat. One of the things she loves to eat besides fruit! So we will give that a try. He will check her Hemoglobin again at her 18 month check up.

So there it is...She is still a giant among the girls! LOL!

Sneak Peak of Marisa's 1 Year Photo Shoot With Olivia

Here is a link to Olivia's Blog! The pictures turned out SO cute!

http://oliviawagnerphoto.blogspot.com/

Update On The Kiddos

This morning we visited Auntie Olivia to have Marisa's 1 year pictures taken! It is about an hour away to her studio so I was hoping that she would take a nap on they way, but of course she didn't. Even though we didn't get home until 9-ish from Daddy's softball game, and she still woke up at 7:30am. Surprisingly she was in a pretty good mood. I had brought a bunch of outfits for Olivia to choose from and she picked out two. We took a few shots inside and than we went outside around Lonsdale. I am excited to see how the pictures turned out! She always does such a great job and I am never disappointed!

On Monday she finally goes in for her 1 year exam! It will be interesting to see where her stats are. I am sure Dr. Siefferman will say that she is a giant among the girls again! LOL! She is a walking pro now. So far not any major bumps on the forehead like Nicholas always had! So of course now that she is walking I am chasing her around like crazy! Well worth it though! So stay tuned for her 1 year stats!

Nicholas has been done with Preschool for awhile now. He just finished up with Safety Camp. It is offered to all kids going into Kindergarten this Fall by the school district. He was actually in the same class as one of our neighbors so it was nice that he knew someone. It was a two week camp and the second week my neighbor was SO nice that she drove him and dropped him off all week! It was great because than I didn't have to wake up Marisa for her nap. He now asks if we can go to Lake Elmo Beach every day! I keep on telling him he will have to wait until Jon is out of school which is not until the 10! Maybe next week I will take him and Marisa to the MN Zoo. I can't believe in 3 short months he will be a Kindergartner!

Jonathan has 3 more days of school! I can't wait until he is done! AND I can't believe he will be a second grader! I'm sure in a week or so I will be thinking to myself, I can't wait until school starts! LOL! He has done SO well this year, it is amazing how much they learn. He is reading like a champ and LOVES to read chapter books! Papa and Grandma keep buying him books from garage sales and he just loves it! Now we just have to clean out his book shelf and get rid of the baby books!

So, this summer it will be lots of baseball for the boys, softball for Daddy, and sand Volleyball for Mommy. As well as a lot of Lake Elmo Beach and MN Zoo. No big trips are planned for this summer. We are hoping our relatives in Oklahoma come up for a visit and I just have my Saint Mary's reunion in Chicago in July.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Summer!

Tangletown Gardens Flower

Mike's High School friend, Dean, owns a garden store in South Minneapolis called Tangletown Gardens and this year we bought our flowers from him. His production facility is actually his old family farm in Plato, MN and that is where we met Dean to buy some flowers. Mike hasn't been out there since High School and he was amazed on how different things were on the farm since Dean's dad used to raise cattle on it (I think it was cattle). It was SO cool to see and the boys enjoyed seeing the flowers and especially the chickens! Since we were in Plato we also had stopped in Glencoe to place flowers and Veteran Flags by Mike's Grandfather, Louis Ortloff, and Great Grandfather, Edgar Norton. Bev and Ed usually do it but since we were heading out that way before Memorial Day Mike said we would do it. I actually want to make this a yearly tradition going to the cemetary and buyng flowers from Dean. Hoepfully we will stick with it!

Anyway, I told Dean that Mike had bought me two pots about this size (showing him with my arms) and he had asked me what I had planted in them before. I told him wave petunias. You should have seen the look of disappoinment on his face! LOL! I told him I liked color and off he went to all of his green houses! I started to follow him but than just realized to stay back and he would bring the flowers back to the main area. It was amazing watching him just pick things out! When he kept on grabbing plants I was thinking to myself I will never get all of these in one pot! But he told me to not be afraid to squeeze them all in. He grabbed a crate and placed the plants in it to show me how I should plant them in my pots. It was very cool looking! Well it has been a few weeks now and here is one of my pots! I have two of them that are on our front porch! I just LOVE how they turned out!

Thanks Dean!

Testing Out The Batting Cage

So this afternoon the UPS Man came and delivered the 2 precious items Mike and the boys have been waiting for! Of course Mike had text me earlier in the day to see if they had arrived yet and of course it hadn't. I text him back and told him that I would let him know as soon as they came. Once the UPS guy was coming down the street I was grabbing for the phone. Of course when I called it went to his voice mail. Iwent back into the house and than I remembered that the pitching machine had to be charged so I went back into the garage to open it and plug it in. Good thing I remembered because everyone came over after school and work to check it out!

Mike left work early to set up the cage and Jack, our neighbor had come to help too. He is 13 and is Anna's brother. Anna is out neighbor who is 11 and likes to play with the kids in the cul de sac. Anyway we finally got it up (it would have been easier if Jack and I were 6 feet tall but we got it up!). Here are a few pics from this afternoon.


The cage is up and ready!


It even came with the pitching net.


View from where the pitching machine is going to be.


The pitching machine


Anna and Marisa


Jack taking a few swings!


Had to put these up so we can show the boys how Jack keeps his chin down.


Max our neighbor's new puppy


Jon taking some swings. He was getting good at it towards the end.


Nicholas' turn. He was swinging with his eyes closed. I told him to keep his eyes open!


Next one he hit the ball good! I love his expression in this one!


Our neighbor Elsie. She will be 2 in November!