The Badgers

The one nice thing about a large school district is the opportunities available. Gerrit had the opportunity to play flag football as part of the after school program. Because there were not enough kids signed up at his school, he was able to combine with others from the district and play at a neutral site. So every Wednesday (for 4 weeks), we head off to practice. 

Saturdays are game days. This week was the first game - and yes, in the rain! As we sat there with umbrellas and rain coats, we decided we need to invest in another golf umbrella because this is what our lives will be like for the next 15 years! 

We didn't complain, nor did the kids. I was able to get a few pictures once we were settled under the umbrella. I missed getting pictures of Gerrit's touch down but here are some of him on defense.

He's wearing gloves b/c he has a blister from the monkey bars - we couldn't find his football gloves (which he got for Christmas last year) so he wore his BMX gloves! They worked and protected his hand.

 Emmit thought he was left out by not getting his picture taken....so here he is in the rain with his rain coat on but not the umbrella. He didn't mind the rain and was a trooper watching the game (and every practice!)

 The game was cut short due to the downpour. The boys didn't mind and not one complained. The coach said they were getting cold so he called it with 20 min. left. Gerrit wasn't mad but said he would've kept playing if he could. There's always next week... (and as of tonight, there is a good chance of rain!) He was not sure if he wanted to be a Badger (his team has red shirts and the other team has maroon - yep, gophers!)

Here's a video from last week's practice - it was taken with my phone, sorry if its a bit grainy. Gerrit is the quarter back (red shorts, black shirt)

New School, New Year

Before school started, Gerrit had open house. Oma and Aunt Cara were here (to babysit while I had to work and when we didn't have daycare for Gerrit).

They were able to join us and see Gerrit's new school and classroom. Here is his desk!

We stayed for a new family orientation and left with a great feeling about the school year. We are very happy we ended up in the district we did as well as at this school. His teacher is great and the leadership is top notch. We are excited to see what the school year brings!

The first day of school came awfully early for us! I didn't realize how tired (or not awake) Gerrit seemed in this picture!

He was ready to go to school and could hardly stand to get his picture taken he wanted to go! I wanted a picture with Emmit too but he was being a pain - he was still inside in his jammies eating breakfast! Luckily Adam dropped Gerrit off and I just had to deal with Emmit because I was almost late for school!

When Gerrit walked into school he said he was scared but didn't cling to Adam nor cry. (I'm glad I wasn't there because I think I would've cried hearing him say he was scared!) He did great and loves to go to school. He enjoys his before/after care which is also at school this year. So far so good!

Wowza!

I can't believe its been over a month since I last posted. Where has the time gone???? I guess I'll try and explain and show you with a few pictures...stay with me.

Sandy Pines - Part II:

I took the boys back to Sandy Pines after we moved because Adam was going to be gone and they love it there so much. We took Luke along again as my copilot - broken collar bone and all.

The boys can't get enough of the jeep - to think its over 12 years old already!

We were able to race BMX - well Gerrit did, they didn't have any Emmit's age to race. Small world - the guy in orange was Adam's freshman college roommate! He had a few little ones racing and were just getting into the sport. As nice as it was for the family to see Gerrit race, we are sure thankful for the great track we have in MN!

 This is how Emmit spent his time at the track - hanging out in an old tire that was filthy!

A trip to Sandy Pines is not complete without ice cream! The boys always tend to get the most unappealing flavor - pure sugar with cookie dough in it??? I was not going to help 'clean' the cone, Emmit was enjoying it too much and I didn't want to stomach the icky flavor...

I love that Gerrit is getting old enough to eat ice cream somewhat cleanly!

Yep, that is Emmit's hand...

We did a lot of playing at the beach

And yes, Emmit after ice cream (and cleaned up by Oma in the bathroom). Even though he didn't have his suit on, he still managed to get plenty wet!

 We went blueberry picking where I went as a little girl with my mom. Oma loves blueberries and would go daily if she could to pick fresh blueberries!

We were not quite as quick as Oma. I think all 4 of us together pick as many as Oma did by herself!

  Granted, some of ours was consumed by Emmit!

We spent a day at the cottage too. Emmit didn't like me for leaving him on the tube by himself. He did great though!

These 2 could play all day long together. They rarely fight and pick up where they left off each time they see each other.

They wanted to take the paddle boat out in the worst way and none of the adults wanted to go...so we let them do it themselves if they stayed near by and they did better than we thought! They have pretty strong legs to get that baby moving!

One day at Sandy Pines, we hung out with our friends at their beach. It was 2 doors down from where I spent many days hanging with my friend when I was little. Love that life has come full circle!

More August fun at the Farm.

We hadn't been to the farm all summer - the one we use to work at weekly when Deb was doing CSA boxes....So we squeezed in a visit before heading back to school.

Deb has new residents - 6 kittens that were only 2 weeks old when we were there. The boys surprisingly did well with them (they really are not animal kids). Gerrit held them and Emmit would pet them...we were able to wait out the rain and play with the kittens.

 Emmit  - a farmer at heart! 

When the rain stopped we took the dogs and headed to the river. It was a muggy night and a great time to cool off. Gerrit enjoyed finding rocks for Amber Jo to 'fetch'.

He also showed Deb his swimming skills:

Emmit was a bit timid by the cool water:

He finally was convinced to show Deb his 'swimming skills':

The boys took over our chairs and jumped in (yes, Emmit warmed up to the water). They were suppose to be jumping at the same time here....

I love the sun in this picture. We had to convince the boys it was time to get out of the water and head for dinner - they would've stayed in all night if we would let them!

We promised we would make it back this fall to visit and for sure next summer. We miss hanging out at the farm and the sense of peace we feel when we are there. Its so quiet and takes us out of the hustle and bustle of city life!

MN State Fair!

We have not been to the state fair in years.....but seeing we could get free tickets from the Corn Growers...we decided it was time to go back and bring the boys.

They enjoyed some of it: the Lego display...

My favorite was the little farm hands on exhibit:

Adam helped the boys 'plant' at the farm:

The one thing the boys didn't like was all the walking around. I think as they get older they will enjoy it. We visited many animals but missed seeing Mazy the Corn Grower's mascot by a few minutes (the boys were bummed about missing her).

No one argued with the chocolate chip cookies I bought!

We only were able to eat the top part of the bucket - enough to get it to close...luckily the milk barn was nearby so we could wash it down with a tall glass of milk!

This was the end of our August....let school begin!

Travis and Millie's Wedding Ceremony

Friday night we headed to Duluth for Travis' wedding. Following dinner downtown Duluth, we took a walk along the peer:

It was a beautiful night for a walk and very busy. We've never been to Duluth during summer tourist season so it was a bit of a shocker to deal with all the people and traffic!

The famous lift bridge, we saw go up and down while we were on the peer:

Watched a ship come in and blow its horn right in front of us - LOUD!!!

Saturday morning we headed further north to Beaver Bay. Travis and Millie decided to get married in the 'fish house' on the property of a resort they were going to stay at Sat. night.

There was a cute little water fall near the parking lot:

Nature calls - one of the blessings of having boys! (Emmit's little buns are peaking out)

 The happy groom. (I took this before Millie showed up and realized I didn't get a good picture of her!)

Brotherly love (for the moment)

Gerrit and Emmit loved the location of the wedding. The water and rocks made for a great playground. I didn't think so as this took place before pictures and I didn't bring spare clothes along!

A view of the fish house from a little walking path the boys and I found:

This was a little more tame way to pass the time, and a dryer option!

The view of the ceremony from my side: 

Jacee was Millie's attendant and Connor was Travis' (that's Connor's head).

A view from inside the fish house:

Following the wedding we had lunch near the resort. We headed back to Duluth and went swimming. We went to Fitger's for dinner - yummy food and better beer!

After dinner we went to Spirit Mountain, a local ski resort in Duluth to go on the Alpine Coaster. It was a highlight for all of us. The boys were not too apprehensive to go with us either. They both wanted to ride with Adam but Emmit won the coin toss and road with Adam first.

We had so much fun, we went again. This time switching partners. We controlled how fast we went with the break. If you didn't use the break, you were going about 26 mph. Adam and I both used the breaks a bit, but Connor (who hung out with us after the wedding) did not! Bob and Geri even went on it too. 

Emmit was mad he couldn't go again (thankfully it was closing as it was going to break the bank if we paid for more rides!). We promised the boys we would come back as the slide is open year round. They can not wait!