Summer time madness begins!
It started with the celebratory ice cream treat on the last day of school.
Then a day at Stewart Lake Beach! The weather was not super warm but the sand and sand toys were a lot of fun! 
There was some algae growth but there was a nice county worker doing his best to move it out of the way. The kids were able to get in the water and get nice and sandy! 
Some swing time fun that led to............
crazy tricks that scared me as well as Peter. Some rain was predicted so we met up with some class mate for some free bowling. 
Things got a little out of hand and even with the bumpers up Jamison managed to get a real gutterball....the ball rolled on top of the bumpers. 
Peter got his highest score ever! 107! including three spares and a strike! So if three strikes in a row you earn a turkey...would three spares earn you a chicken?? 
Peter signed up for basketball camp...we was happy to get some hoop time. 
Future Vikings Basketball team! 
Jamison signed up for tennis. I will get some more action shots...wed we had a rain day. 
We also signed up for the library's book club. We cant forget how to read over the summer.
Peter also signed up for coach pitch baseball. He has a good arm but we have to work on getting under some high balls and catching it. 
The floppy hair might be getting in the way but I think I thought of a way to get around that. headbands and hats! 
Concentration and force will get you that facial expression. Bummer that he just missed the ball.
Uncle Sam wants you! ok, Jamison wants me to stop taking pictures.
We took a hike through Natural Bridge State Park, not a big park but it has a cool natural feature.The boys and I have been here before but it was fun to do more exploring on the trails. Fun, until we saw how much poison ivy was along the trails, we were not dresses appropriately for that. So when we got home we scrubbed up and washed all of our clothes just in case.
They had to get up close to see how it worked. 
Happy Fathers Day!
This is Peter's class, Ms B. She was a great teacher and had a great sense of humor. Thanks Ms B. I did not get a picture of Jamison with his class but I will have another chance as he is in a looping class and will have Mrs. Seymour one more year! 
Give Peter a challenge and he will break the record! This is his number scroll. Last year the record was 3200, Peter smoked that with 3520! and he says that he is going to work on it more over the summer! That boy loves his numbers! 
Now that summer has begun the boys need to find things to do. 
They have this great idea of "brick crawling" Hopfully they will not get the idea to go up! Maybe after the zip line and tree house we need to build a rock climbing wall. Now, 83 days until school starts!
Peter SO did not want to go to the parade. I dont know why really...there are only a handful of clowns, tiny horses, large machinery, and you can see trucks and JohnDeere tractors modified to suit all your "needs." 
Pat was impressed with Grandpa's Little "dear" tractor. Looks very home made. 
It had two car seats (kid on the right of the picture is fast asleep and very sweaty) and a hay bayler type thing that dropped candy! Pat was like a kid at a parade! I think we have 10 pictures and 1 movie of that thing. 
After the frolic parade we prepared for the BBQ. We buried money and marbles in the sandbox (that is the only way i can get kids to play in the thing) and filled about 400 water balloons. The camera was put away for that....i think I was the one that got the most wet. 
I love getting to see the kids have fun and meet the parents! One teacher even showed up...but she stayed on the deck for the water balloon...she sent her daughter in as a decoy. 
Hopefully the kids can keep in touch over the summer with playdates and park/rec activities! They are a great group of kids! 
After a very needed shower, Jamison felt he had another tooth ready! and sure enough. Come on down tooth fairy! Peter still has all of his teeth BUT one is super loose and should be out soon. Only 4 more days of school left....boooo.
Peter picked poison dart frogs, yeah! He did a great job with the reseach and his best penmanship on his report and I was happy to help out with the hot glue gun. Look carefully, how many frogs can you find? 
Jamison picked the harpy eagle and wanted to make a statue....so out comes my paper mache skills! He wanted it life size! Those things can be up to 3ft tall! 
"Jake" was escorted to school on presentation day...didnt think it would have survived a bus ride with 50 students!. Harpy eagles eat sloths and monkeys....maybe he might gobble up a kindergartener! I was planning to go to school and bring him home after Jamison's presentation but as I watched the boys get off the bus....Jake was in Jamison's hands! Jamison assured me that it did not eat any kindergarteners.
The boys got ahold of the camera...there are some wonderful shots of Jamison! 
I chaperoned Jamison's class to Olbrich Garden and Aldo Leopold Nature center. At the gardens we had to find a word for every letter of the alphabet...it took us a while to find the Zinnias. 
For lunch they stopped at a park...had to make the kids sit for 15min before they overtook the playground! I didnt know you could fit 5 kids on a tire swing! 
At the nature center we went hunting for life under the water! Dragon fly nymphs and water scorpions! I am in my element. I think the leader was surprised by Jamison...he knew all the answers to her questions! 
A few days later I chaperoned Peters class to the Henry Vilas Zoo! First stop the herpatarium....thats my boy! 
Memorial Day we headed up north. We thought the boys were old enough to try real fishing...with hooks, bait and everything! They LOVED it! Peter caught his first fish and has a story about a 18" walleye that got away. I wonder if it was 18"...maybe 8", you know how fishing stories are. Jamison had some good bites but was not able to land the darn thing. 
So he posed with the one that Gpa caught. Better luck next time! 
Jamison was curious about the lake and wondered if he could jump in. We said go for it!....Unfortunately, right after this photo he freaked out, forgot how his life jacket worked and started screaming thinking he was going to drown. After we calmed him down we talked about how he was never in danger of drowning and he has to trust the life jacket. We convinced him to ease back in the water and feel how it makes him float. I dont think he is all that convinced....we will have to try it again. 
The boys tried to get Pat to tip over....no luck. We had a blast up at the cabin! Thanks Gma and Gpa.
German chocolates! A package from Heike. We love presents! Thanks Heike! the boys have enough sugar to last them a good long while. 
Jamison has been focused on extra jobs around the house to earn a couple bucks. He really wants to buy another beyblade so he offers to do extra jobs. Here he is trimming the grass that the lawmmower misses. 
This is what Peter does while Jamison is working. He is playing with his beyblade. He is going to be one sad boy the day that Jamison earns enough money and he didnt. 
This weekend we tackled another tree. We are hoping to thin out some of the pines behind the barn. There are a lot of dead branches back there...and it will free up some space for the boys to mess around in the "woods" with out getting lost in Stewart Park. 
Jamison is an awesome worker. He spent three hours hauling branches on the trailer and then off the trailer at the compost pile. He earned enough money for his toy and wanted to go to Target right away, mud and all! Peter did eventually start to work and did a great job cleaning out the garage. He unfortunately did not have enough money for the toy he wanted and had to borrow money from me.....now he is my slave!
As a kid we would ask my dad what he wanted as a gift and he ALWAYS replied "good kids". Rarely were we able to deliver. I was pleasantly surprised by the boys as they were fun, happy and all around great kids! and I didnt have to ask! It was awesome. They played well with each other and did not fight and were helpful around the house! It was the best present ever! I also loved their cards and presents made from school! Happy Mother's Day to my mom and all the moms out there!
The weather has been trying to turn around. It was nice enough on saturday to have a picnic dinner outside. We sat outside to enjoy the sun. I just wished the boys would finish eating before they laid down. 
The latest obsession.....beyblades. Basically tops that would "battle". Last one standing is the winner. They can battle for hours! and there is no trickery or manipulation....which means no fighting or complaining that someone is not being fair. Of all the crazy kid crap for collecting, I think this might be my favorite one.
On Sunday we went hiking at a state park that we have never been to before. 
It was Jamison's turn to take some photos with my camera. He stuck to more trees and plants. 
Peter did see some rocks that he needed to take pictures of. I am so glad we have a digital camera. We have A LOT of pictures of rocks. 
This one had a lake where the boys could get their feet wet...and eventually their bottoms. The water was pretty cold but that did not seem to bother the boys. 
Man, Peter's hair is getting long. it will be interesting how summer goes, it is getting to that length where it is in his eyes all the time. 