Biggest weekend EVER

Well, the weekend started with Aunt KT in town. She gave Keiko the day off and spent the whole day with the boys...and then we hit the road up to Minneapolis! Here are the boys at Castle Rock, a wayside rest stop for a picnic supper and to stretch out legs.The boys had a lot of fun climbing up..but needed some assistance coming down. The boys were fascinated with the trees especially the roots. The best climbing gym ever.Then Saturday morning we went to Como Zoo and met up with other twin families.

There were even twin giraffes...ok not really but it let to a wonderful photo opportunity (except for the people that were unfortunately centered between the boys. oh well)

Then we had a surprise lunch date. I would not tell the boys who were we meeting...and they were WAY excited when they heard Lily shout....Jamison and Peter!!!!!
Then off to Baby Grayson's (ok, not so much a baby anymore) birthday party. He is 2!Yes..baby Grayson is in there...he just had 4 other "helpers" for opening is presents. Poor kid..I dont think he actually opened one.
Wait! maybe he did!Happy Birthday Grayson!
And this is what a little boy looks like after a day like that. The boys fell asleep before we made it to St.Paul and slept all the way home. WOW what a big day!
And then on Sunday....apple picking! the boys picked some beautiful apples and now we are busy making applesauce, apple pie, apple bread, apple apple apple. They are tasty!And unfortunately for dad....some of the beautiful ones are up top...so face in to the tree!
WOW...huge weekend. Now we need a little rest!

Van Family Weekend....and the last butterflies

The Van Family rented a cabin in the middle of the state for a Family Fun Weekend. Unfortunately it rained most of the weekend but we still managed to have loads of fun.

The wood was a little wet for a camp fire so Matt resorted to the only way he knew how....

Lighter fluid. It worked and we all made some smores!

We celebrated Nikolas' birthday, ate cake and opened presents.

Good thing he was given the game Perfection...it entertained the adults for hours. I think the record was 17 seconds but that was by cheating.

And we were able to get outside, inbetween the rain, and swing a little.

We got some pretty good air.... I was trying to get that really fun action photo....the photo below was take miliseconds before the camera was kicked. My fault, I should have known. Sadly my new camera gave me a "lense error" and would not work the rest of the weekend. So...i had hoped to have a cute all van cousin photo...but now I have to wait for someone in my family to send it my way.

And the butterflies all came out of their chrysalis.

The boys were very excited to watch them come out and were able to hold them.

Keiko liked the new jewelry....it did not try to fly away!

Jamison had to give it a try also.

Well...off to Mexico and we are done with the caterpillers for a whole year!.

THANKS HEIKE

The boys were SO excited to read their names on a package we received in the mail. It was from Heike and they could not wait to open it up!
This is them saying "THANK YOU HEIKE!" and yes...they have been set out to be worn to our next day of school.
And in this picture....I know you cant see them but there were about 30 monarch butterflies in this tree. I think they are waiting for the 4 that are still in the chrysalis stage at our house to come out and play! Hurry up guys! (and yes I said 4, the one that decided to make the long journey out of the cage and over to the table did not survive. I think it used all of its energy for the journey and saved none for the butterfly process.)

GOPACKGO

Its Packer time...and finally we made it to the Packer Viking game! (those darn gold ticket holders). We knew it was going to be interesting...with all the changes around town. But the Green and Gold came through with a victory! 24-19! Go Pack GO!

And for a little feeling of what it is like to be in Lambeau when your special teams (#27) run the ball back for a touchdown.....

and Thanks Gma Van for the cool cars!

PRESCHOOL!

We loved our first day of preschool! Here are the boys on the way out the door. Peter was very quiet while we walked to the school...Jamison was also, oddly, a little quiet also. But when we arrived we found our cubbies, took off our jackets, got big hugs from mom and walked right in!. Did not even stop to look back! Way to go boys! AND they want to go back, but Peter said that he will only go 5 times, so we will see what happens on the 6th day of school.
Here is a pic of Keiko and the boys. Our dryer broke and she came to the rescue with her hair dryer to help dry Jamison's red Bucky shirt. He had to wear the Bucky shirt.
By this picture you probably would not think Peter was all too excited to go in...but he was brave!. The teacher said that Peter acclimated well and participated...which makes me think there was an issue...but the teachers did not say more. Doesnt matter...he wants to go back and this is all I could ask for!

Sunday before preschool

Well, today was the meet and greet at preschool. Jamison was SOO excited. Peter, a bit apprehensive. We met our teacher, Miss Jenelle and Miss Melissa, saw our cubby and our classroom. We are in the Red Class, which Jamison is very excited about. Peter wont say anything good or bad but I think he will do ok.In this picture Jamison looks like he is 10! Man, I am sure he will be in no time! Tomorrow is the big day. It was also the Ironman Race. 2mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 run. These people are amazing! The bike portion of the race went past our house. We had a good time looking at the beautiful bikes and the boys love the crazy jerseys and helmuts.

GO GO GO Go GO GO GO!!!!

Peter said when he is older he is going to do it....good luck kid!

We also stopped to get one more troll checked off of our list. This is the fairy troll by one of the many dentist offices in the town.

It rained, there was mud..

I cant say much more than that! Boys like mud.

Labor Day Weekend

Labor day means a trip up to the cabin for the long weekend. We got some great fishing in...the boys caught mako sharks and great whites. Who knew you could find those in the lake!

We brought our bikes up for the weekend also. Jamison has finally embraced riding his bike and has become the fastest bike rider in the west!

Uncle Tim had the best idea....add a tow rope on the bike to "help" out when needed. It sure saves the back.Peter still really likes his old bike better, the european style Kettler with no pedals. Not sure why, maybe he can go faster on that one. But..when you go faster you have a better chance of causing more damage when you crash. Just ask his knee and elbow!After the bike ride...we needed to take a relax in Gma/Gpa hot tub. We are sure happy they got that! Who says you have to labor on Labor Day.
This weekend was also all about FROGS! momma's favorite animal!. Peter caught a couple toadies..but learned the hard way that they do not like jars for an extended period of time. While the boys were napping momma caught a bucket of mink frogs and a leopard frog. AND to top that off, Gpa has a friend hanging out on the LPtank...a Grey Tree Frog! WOW that is a lot of frogs.
GGma Ruth and GAunt Marcie and Sue sent the boys some Smoky the Bear hats. Jamison liked his....and lets just pretend that Peter is saying "only you can stop forest fires". With the boys past history I would think Peter would have LOVED this hat..not so much.
The hat worked well when riding our favorite horse, Bridgestone! WHOA Horsie!