Oatmeal Face

Dipes

I'm using old-school prefold diapers on Isaac now and I love it! The laundry is easier and the wool soakers to go over them are so cute that I can hardly stand it (Isaac is wearing one in the last post I made- last picture).

Umm, yeah. Still working on getting the fit tighter. Jess is helping me with it. :)
Here they are on the line. Look how easy! Don't mind the dirt pit and weeds. That's our next project.

Lake Nokomis Beach Day

We all met at Lake Nokomis yesterday for a very fun morning. All the kids seemed content most of the time and it was hot enough for the adults to wade in.

Beach Babe Hannah

Calvin and Sammy- I think they may have been getting into trouble here. Maybe throwing sand or something?
Lisa with Matthew, who loved the sand toys.
Jess, not wanting to get too close to her wet boy, Freddie. This tube was a huge hit among all. Isaac wanted to hog it.Isaac not looking too happy about sharing with the girls.Me, with Isaac, Mado and Hannah
The girls- Hannah, Emma and Sasha

Mado, trying to be happy with the spiderman tube rather than the big orange one. It didn't last too long, though.
This snorkle occupied Calvin for at least an hour. I told him that I would buy him one of his own and he said, "I would like a red and pink one. If you forget, I will remind you."

Post-nap the same day. Still wiped out.

More Park Pics

Sarah

Here's Sarah and her 2nd born, Dietrich. Sarah is my organized, thoughtful, particular, frugal, motherly, meticulous, caring, serving, talkative, prayerful, creative, artsy friend. She is a huge joy in my life.

I love you, Sarah!

Calvin

Me: Do you want more salami on your sandwich, Cal?
Cal: No, thanks. I have plenty.

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After eating much much food...
Cal: Are you so surprised that I could fit all that food into my tummy [smiling]?

More of Cal

Calvin has been starting to use the word, "kill." He says, "I'm gonna kill you!" while he pretend shoots me with his "shoot gun." I've told him that I don't want him to say that. At dinner the other night, I made Eric's favorite meal (which Cal wasn't too fond of), but didn't add enough chili powder. I asked, "It's not that good, huh?" Eric said, "Are you kidding? I killed it! I'm going back for more." Cal asked, "What did daddy kill?" I explained to him that "killing it" meant that he gulped it down so fast. Cal responded, "I'm eating mine very slowly so that I can enjoy it."



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Calvin usually does not play with toys the way they are supposed to be played with. He collects things into bags or boxes as "treasure," he makes me pretend I don't know where he is, he hides in a basket that is actually a "turtle egg," etc. Lincoln Logs have been juice boxes in the past. That is why I took a picture of the following. He took two days to build this!












He fell over leaning in for the picture! I was cracking up. He had to rebuild the top.















The finished product! He really did do this all by himself. It's a pig den. (The pigs are very big.)

Father's Day Extravaganza

To celebrate Father's Day, we rented a pontoon with two other families from our church- The Joslins (Laura, Isaac and Mado) and the Thompsons (Chris, Sara, Luke, Ella and Kate). It was great weather.




On the way...


Eric had to get some Caribou, so I let the kids hang out by the steering wheel. Isaac (especially) loves this.


I was cracking up during this photo shoot. Look at Isaac's evil grin!
Mado is sitting next to Cal, but refused to cooperate for the camera and instead was making a surly face. So, I zoomed in on Cal.
Later. That's me next to her, so maybe she just won't cooperate for me. Sigh.

We took the boat to an island and had it to ourselves almost the whole day where we grilled, played with bubbles, the frisbee, and water toys and layed around on blankets. It was great.
Here Eric is- racing Luke (Isaac is trying to play, too).

Sara Thompson
The next three are the Thompson kids:

Kate.
Ella.
Luke.

Isaac climbed up on a cooler to get the full affect of the wind.
Another great pose by Calvin.
Proof that I was, in fact, there.
Isaac and Kate getting into all the snacks.
Ike helping Eric grill the chicken brats and hot dogs.

Chris trying to convince Kate to jump in the icy icy water. Eric claims that it's colder than Lake Michigan (at W.H. beach).
Isaac and Ella.
Chris being a strong man and jumping in the icy icy water. Cal jumped in after him and started freaking out. By the end, all the men jumped in, the kids were set in (except for Luke- who's family convinced him to jump) and the women sissied out.Laura and Isaac
I know this is sort of inappropriate, but it's still funny.

Happy Father's Day!

Eric is an amazing dad. He is fun, physical and consistent. I am so grateful that the boys have Eric as an example of a man who is strong, kind, patient, selfless and giving- and who serves them and others with all he has.

We love you, Daddy!

Sillies

Cal was having a hard time eating with his friends, Hannah and Matthew, at our house. I reminded him a couple times to try to eat, to stop singing, to calm down... etc.

Then:
Me: Calvin, you had plenty of time to be silly and get your sillies out. Now it's time to eat.
Cal: I have a twisty turny knob on me to turn my sillies off and then back on.
Me: Ok. How do I turn your sillies off.
Cal: Like this. Eeee, ooooh (squeaky noise- turning his shoulder with his hand.)

Note to self: This worked!

Fun with the Sprouts

Joe, Tracy and their three young kiddos (Jaiden, Will and Haylee) came into town and spent four days at our house. It was insane and fun.




We went to Minnehaha Falls and the kids ran around.

Sunday night we went to the Global Market and had a shmorgasbord of delicious ethnic food.