First day of school

Here are some pictures of the kids on their first days of school. Nathan started 2nd grade last Thursday and Claire started her second year of pre-school on Friday. They were both excited. Natey really likes his teacher again this year. Claire not only likes her teacher, but she also likes that her new classroom is in the big school. Last year her pre-school was across the street from the school, so they would have to walk across the street to get to gym and music. This will be better for sure. In the first picture it kinda look like Claire's gone gangster, but she really hasn't. :)

Nathan has decided that he wants to wear his hair a little longer for a while. He likes to spike it up a bit (like Jeff from Big Brother) to give it some style.

So far - so good!

Trampoline = FUN!!!

When I was young, the people next door and across the street from us had a trampoline. My sister and I spent countless hours jumping and playing games with our friends day in and out.

As you know, Natey is a gamer. He doesn't want to go outside and ride his bike because 'it's too hot'. He doesn't want to go play catch outside because 'it's booooring'. He has a million excuses as to why he doesn't want to do anything other than be inside the house all day.

That got me thinking. I decided to price trampolines and found out they were kind of an expensive toy. Expensive, maybe, but great for exercise.

I found one on sale on Friday and went to Sioux Falls and bought it. On Saturday Tracy and Grandma Karen (Tracy's mom) came over to help me put it together. I read on the Internet that some guy put it together on his own so I thought the 3 of us for sure could handle it together.

At the end when you're putting on the springs, things get a bit tricky. Thankfully, right at that point, Ferber and Grandpa Randy walked in. Yes!

Finally it was time to jump, jump, jump!

I love this one!
Here is Tracy taking her turn. She even did a front flip.
I put on facebook that I was a back flippin' fool. That, of course, peaked your curiosity. Well wonder no longer. Justin informed me that it was only a half back flip, but until he shows me his back flip, I'm taking it. (Actually, today I landed on my feet....mostly because I ROCK!)

We had the tramp for less than 24 hours and Natey can do this.

We're having so much fun!!

Trip to Bemidji

The weekend of the 8th we went to Bemidji. Natey kept saying Burmidji and it was cracking me up. I forgot my camera, so all these pictures are from my phone.

It took us six and a half hours to get to my sisters house. The kids traveled very well. We were quite surprised. We left on a Saturday and came back on Monday. On Saturday, Justin, my brother-in-law, and one of his friends went fishing. I sent him a message and asked him if they were catching anything. He sent me back this picture.....

I started bawling. Apparently it was harder for me than it was for him. It was something I know he would have called his dad about. The conversation would have gone like this... "I caught a 6 pound bass todaay - what did you do?". I was so happy for Justin I bawled then beamed.

While the guys were out fishing, Shannon and I took the kids to a place called the Science Center. It was really cool. The kids had a great time.

Here are some pictures.....

Here is Claire "building something".

The kids were scared to death of this guy. He was walking around the center like he owned the place. You could tell where he was because not far from him/her you'd hear a shrieking Meyer.I found it interesting that they were scared to death of a turtle they could by far out run, but they enjoyed the rabbit and .... whatever that other thing was. YUCK!Remember the Spirograph? This is the same idea just a much grander scale. It was fun!

Here are the kids (minus Jack) in the astronaut cutout.

Nathan

Evie

Claire

Izzie

Before we went to the Science Center, Claire and Izzie had a picnic on this fun table at my sister's house.

Izzie was a huge Aunt Kerrie fan. She's so stinkin' cute!

When Izzie was a toddler, she was quite the spit fire. She went from one thing to the next getting herself into trouble. After we got home from Shannon's, Nathan said "Mom, Izzie isn't naughty any more". That may or may not be the case, but it wouldn't hurt her to say a quiet Thank You to Jack for taking any of the naughty attention off of her and putting it on himself. As you can see in this picture, he provided the entertainment for our family that weekend.Before we left Bemidji, we took some pictures with Paul Bunyan and Babe.The next time we make the trip, we'll have to stay longer. It's beautiful country up there, but not near warm enough for me. The next time we go, I'll for sure remember my camera, too. We had such a good time in spite of it.

The Twin Cities

Here are some things you've missed due to me not blogging. Jack has become a gamer. Yeah, he's 2 1/2 and addicted to the computer and anything else that he can get his hands on. If I can't find my cell phone the first place I look is Jack's hands.

We went to the Cities the weekend of August 1st. These wind farms creep me out. I'm not talkin' a little - I'm talking BIG TIME.Do they have to be so big and slow and.....creepy? Ack!

The motel we stayed in was beautiful. I've never stayed in a Hilton, but it was very nice - and inexpensive. Jack could have sat here all day.....

One guess at what was out there......

That's right. The airport. It's a very busy airport, so about every 30 seconds to a minute he'd clap and say "Come meeere! Dare's another one!!!" He was in heaven.

Justin took Natey to his first Angel's game. I wasn't sure if Nathan would watch the whole game or if he'd get bored. I sent his PSP with him just in case. Justin said he was content through the whole game. He loved every second of it. Justin was kind enough to take a few pictures for me. Mike Napoli is Nathan's favorite player - or one of them at least. He's the catcher. He signed Nathan's ball. Natey was beside himself with excitement because there were a couple of other kids standing next to him with their Twins garb on and Mike only signed Natey's ball. I would guess it was because Natey had his Angel's stuff on. He loved it!

While they were at the game the little kids and I went swimming. The pool was just the right temp and the kids had a ball.

The next day we went school clothes shopping and then to the Mall of America. My sister sent us passes for the rides so the kids could hardly wait to get there and ride, ride, ride.

At first Justin had the camera, but his shots were, um, interesting at best. Here are a couple of examples:
It's ok, you can laugh. I did. I decided to take the camera back so I'd know what I was getting. I got Justin and his mini-me's and a bunch of other fun stuff. We had a super duper great weekend!

Taylor Swift Pranks Keith Urban

Did you see this? I'm pretty sure I would have pee'd myself if I were Keith. They were kinda scary! Good one though. You've gotta love a girl that can run with the big dogs.