Vacation

This past weekend we went up to Alexandria, MN with Ken and Cheri. The kids traveled well, slept well, played well and fished well. It was a nice trip and we stayed at a rental home on Lake Carlos. Despite some rain and cold, the kids had a lot of fun playing with Grammy and Papa and playing games and other activities that Mom and Dad don't usually do with them. Sam turned out to  be the best fisherman as he caught 8 or 10 fish, including 2 small large mouth bass (I think they're bass, see the picture at the end) from the dock. Matthew caught a few small fish and when asked how big his fish were he holds his hands a few inches apart. Apparently he hasn't learned to exaggerate with regard to his fishing accomplishments. Abby did not fish but did overcome her fear of the dock and kept us busy when she started running back and forth on it. She also slept well which we were a bit apprehensive about as she hasn't slept away from home very often and has used the "cave apparatus" at Longville and Grandpa Don and Grandma Sue's house when she's slept there. But she was completely fine. Ahh. I think road trips may be sooner in our future that we had thought before the trip. The cousins and Uncle Brian and Aunt Stephanie came up for a bit and the kids greatly enjoyed playing with them, as they always do. It was a beautiful trip, a beautiful time of year to be at the lake and we look forward to another trip up north next year. 

This past

Trip to the zoo

Today we spent a whopping 4 hours at the Minnesota Zoo. I was anticipating a trip of maybe 2 hours, but the kids were real troopers and really enjoyed themselves so we spent a lot of time there. Sam walked almost the entire time except for a short stint in the double stroller (with Matthew) when Abby was rebelling against sitting in the stroller. And by rebelling I mean screaming and thrashing about and making a general scene. She sure has a mind of her own these days and lets you know about it.

I haven't been the to zoo since I was 11 and it is a pretty amazing place. When I asked the kids what their favorite animals were they really couldn't say what they liked best. They were in awe of almost everything. Abby probably didn't like the monkey that jumped at her, hitting the window right next to where she was standing, as she cried a lot when that happened. Sam liked the Komodo Dragon which he told Jason was not the fire-breathing kind. Matthew seemed to like the goats and the farm part of the zoo best. He and Sam had loads of fun holding out their hands to the goats, pretending they had food, and watching the goats come over to them and stick their heads through the fence. They would erupt in laughter as they teased the goats.

Both Abby and Matthew meowed at the cougar and the lynx in the Minnesota exhibit. Sam howled at the wolves and coyotes and hooted at the owls. None of them animals meowed, or howled or hooted back. Maybe next time. My favorite were the grizzlies. They are just huge...and scary looking...but cool nonetheless. Abby frequently told the animals "Don't take my snack!" when we'd stop for a look and I'd reassure her that her snack was safe. She also said, as she grabbed my leg, "My mommy!" whenever another small child would walk close to me, which was often. Here are some pictures of our trip. The boys took a lot of the pictures as they really enjoy trying out the camera these days.

Left to their own devices...

The boys discovered that balloons will float above a fan pointing upward. I had given them balloons last week and a stick made out of rolled up paper bags and they got to hit them around a bit inside the house. We kept the balloons around for a few days and just let them play with them whenever they wanted. One afternoon when they were having some time in their rooms (some afternoons I have them go to their rooms for about a half hour for some time to themselves while Abby's napping), they excitedly called me up to see what they had discovered. They were both in Matthew's room and after spending some time with the fan on, blowing around their balloons while they kicked them and batted at them, they came up with the idea to lay the fan down on the floor, pointing up, and they discovered that the balloons would hover up above the fan on the column of air. They were having great fun and afterward they brought their fans downstairs so they could have more fun with the balloons and show Jason when he got home. After her nap, Abby didn't get into the action much, but she did pause long enough for a quick picture.

Sam is bigger

Sam woke up on his birthday (very early, I might add) and thought he was taller than he was the day before. It's really quite cute as he really thinks he gets bigger overnight before his birthday. He showed me how he could look on top of some shelves that he apparently couldn't see over before and walked around his room and the house looking on top of things and being very proud of his new age and height. 

Sam was all about the Planes movies for this birthday. It's his first birthday party since he was one which didn't involve Disney's Cars. He had a Planes picture on his cake (he requested an ice cream cake  with chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, hot fudge sauce, Oreos and whip cream...yum, good choices, Sam!), a Planes banner above the window and some Planes presents among plenty of other presents. He also enjoyed playing outside with the cousins and Jason and after lunch and playing, laid down in the basement and said, "I'm exhausted!" His exhaustion was quickly overcome when it was time to open presents and he received many nice presents which have been thoroughly enjoyed this weekend (and even shared with Matthew). 

Matthew was in good form and didn't shed a tear during present opening which was traumatic for him last year when Sam turned 4. We had a discussion the day prior about how Sam was going to be getting a lot of presents and he wasn't going to get any and he "took it like a man" and really was a good sport at the party (although he did get one gift which has also been thoroughly enjoyed). Abby enjoyed lunch with us, then went down for her nap, only to awake when Grandpa Don and Grandma Sue and Grandma Marge left. The last picture is the kids watching them drive away. 

 Happy 5th Birthday, Sam!

Personalities

On Saturday Abby and I went to Iowa for my second cousin's wedding. The boys stayed with Jason to have some fun together. When I was getting ready to leave I was saying goodbye to Sam and he asked me to tell him if I meet any pretty girls. I asked him if he meant girls his age or girls my age and he said, "Well, just tell me if you meet any girls in pretty dresses." Hmmm. Isn't he too young to be saying things like this?

And on Friday night after I put the boys to bed I was trying on dresses to figure out what to wear to the wedding. Matthew came in after a few minutes and looked at me in a dress and said, "You look beautiful!" Now, I don't think he's learned this phrase from Jason...I thanked him and told him he needed to go back to bed. He left, then returned a minute or so later. I told him he was supposed to stay in bed, to which he replied, "I just wanted to see you again in your pretty dress." Awwww, Matthew. Where does he get this from? He is going to be trouble too.

And not to leave Abby out of the post, one morning last week, Abby took a bunch of stuff out of one of the drawers in the bathroom as I was getting ready. She does this often and generally just leaves. But she's old enough now to help pick up her messes so I told her that she  needed to put everything back in the drawer. She made a little high pitched noise of frustration, walked over to one of the objects, picked it up, and threw it. Wow. That kid has a temper and a mind of her own. She still put everything away, (after a stern instruction to put things back in the drawer) and she had made her view of the situation known to me.

Recent events

Two nights ago when Jason and I went up to bed, this is what I saw in Sam's room. On occasion we find that Matthew has sneaked into Sam's room and they were having a sleepover. So peaceful.

The other day I got out the paints for the kids to have some painting time. We've been doing a lot of painting lately and generally I just let Abby use markers, but this time I gave her some paint and a brush and let her paint. This is what she did.

Sam has become more intentional in his painting lately. I don't know whether he has in mind what he wants to paint from the beginning or if he comes up with a story after he starts putting paint on paper, but either way, each mark on his paper represents something. For example, one of the marks on his paper is a triceratops. He work is rather abstract at this point.

On Labor Day, we had the extended Kirchhoff family over for some fun and all the cousins had a great time. Here's Abby enjoying herself with Josh. It's a nice change to have Abby enjoying herself around our extended family rather than crying and screaming and clinging to Mommy as she used to do when she was just a bit younger. She's come a long way...

Time outside

We haven't been spending too much time outside lately. It's been extremely hot these days and this afternoon when I went to get the mail I noticed it didn't feel quite as bad as it has been. So I looked on the computer and saw that it was only 91 outside, and the humidity must have dropped some as it just felt better, so I told the kids it was time to play outside. We tried going outside to the sandbox yesterday. I got an extension cord and hooked up a large box fan on the edge of the sandbox so were able to tolerate about 30 minutes outside. But then the fan wasn't quite strong enough to overcome the extreme heat and humidity so we went back inside for some more time in the cool basement.

But this afternoon it really felt nice. Nice in a way that only can be experienced after having a few days of a heat index around 100 degrees. It was cloudy so we were able to play in the driveway as it generally is quite hot with the asphalt on a sunny day, but the cloudiness made it bearable. And it was a lot of fun. The kids raced (on foot or various self-powered wheeled vehicles) from the garage to the edge of the driveway and went back and forth and around and around. Oh, how nice it was to be outside and not be dripping with sweat even when sitting still. The kids still got sweaty, but we had a grand time outside for about an hour.

Here's Matthew upset that he can't play with the jump rope (Sam was playing with it). The boys don't really jump with the rope, they use it to hook things to their bikes or as a rescue rope when one of them needs rescuing and the other comes over and attaches the rope to their vehicle and tows them to safety. It's quite a tough game, but they have a lot of fun with it.

Sam is posing for a picture after some serious racing. His fastest time from the garage to the end of the driveway is 7 seconds and he is fastest on foot. Hmmmm.

And this is the face Abby makes when she is asked to smile for a picture. You're better off just taking a picture rather than saying, "Smile, Abby!" because this is what you will get.

And here's a senior-photo like picture of Matthew when we were resting on the steps after some hard playing. The boys were putting on shows on the sidewalk in front of the house and the other kids and I were watching from the steps.