Minnesota Trip Sept 2011

Here are a few pictures (I got over 100....) from our visit to MN. It was such a blessing to be around so many people we love so much! 

Playing with toys at Great Grandma and Grandpa Revoir's

Fish hanging from the ceiling at the children's museum. 

Children's museum fun!

Oak on the swing at Great Grandma Gerrie's

With Great Grandma Gerrie

On the boat with Dave and Kay

On the boat with Tony and Cali

Happy 80th Birthday Jan!

Patty and Oak

Mike and Addie

Otto and the pirate clip on earring.

Pin the patch on the pirate

Great Grandma Revoir with Oak

Great Grandma Jan with Oak

Grandma Kay and Oak

Bugs galore at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Budding Naturalist

Cicada Save from capture box on Vimeo.

Otto's 3rd Birthday!

Otto is 3!!!

Otto decided he wanted a REALLY BIG sucker instead of a fancy balloon for a birthday treat.

I have to tell the story of these cars. I took Otto to a specialty toy store the day before his birthday and told him he could pick something out for his birthday. Well, he picked out two turquoise tiny cars and he said he didn't want anything else. I went ahead and grabbed the little bus to add to the birthday vehicles because the two cars only came to $3. So, what do you know... as soon as we got in the van he reached his hand in his bag and gave one of his new blue cars to Eli. My heart melted. He sure loves his big brother.

Grandma Debby and Grandpa Gary sent the boys scorpion suckers... and Otto actually ate his. um puke.

Levi spent some of the day with us!

Here they are making a network of bug pods for the insects.

Coffee shop!

Otto wanted a ladybug cake. yummy.

Happy Birthday to you Otto!!!

Inside Dreaming and Outside Fun!

washtub from capture box on Vimeo.

Oak is now holding his head up well, so I have been putting him in my baby carrier on my back these days. It really allows me to get a lot done and he loves it. 

 The boys have been enjoying their bug pods!

Otto Holding Oak

The boys ask to hold their little brother all the time. Here are a couple pictures of Otto doing just that. There is a video at the end. Oak gives Otto one of his big Oak kisses. So cute!!

Holding Oak from capture box on Vimeo.

Hanging Out

Playing with Baby Brother

Here are a couple videos from some love on Oak moments with Eli and Otto.

Dancing for Oak from capture box on Vimeo.

Party in Oak's Crib from capture box on Vimeo.

Arggggh!

This has been a common scene around here lately. 

Sword Fight from capture box on Vimeo.

lake retreat for a day...

After having the boat in the shop for the last month it now seems to run great. Here are some pictures and a video of one of our last trips out. We went out on a weekday and it was soooo quiet on the lake. We really enjoyed the family time together. We are looking forward to getting out on it more over the next couple months.

Roopie Beer from capture box on Vimeo.

I am actually by myself in this picture... I can hardly believe it. Glad Brian got this rare moment. Wouldn't you know though, half the time I was out there Eli kept asking when I was going to come back in the boat. 

Eli and Otto had a ton of fun turning over rocks looking for lake creatures and bugs.

Oak sucks his thumb. It is pretty cute. He also gets really hot. He seems to be more hot natured like Eli was as a baby. Poor little guy got a few mosquito bites on the car ride over.... uggh! I can't imagine getting bit by a mosquito and not knowing how to swat it.

Eli is swimming some now (with his life jacket on). He is loving the lake more and more. 

Two New Videos of Oak 4 1/2 months

Oak Discovering Toys from capture box on Vimeo.

Love that brother! from capture box on Vimeo.

Oak and Otto

Sometimes I think Oak has the best of both worlds with his two brothers. Otto likes to get down and snuggle and play with him and Eli likes to show him all his neat toys and how they work. It is so sweet to see them play nice together. (That isn't the case all the time....) Here are some pictures of Otto and Oak playing. I had Oak on the floor with me and Otto came over and joined us. 

Otto decided he would chew his fist too....

Showing Oak here his tiny boat. A choking hazard I am sure, but thankfully Otto won't part with it.

Scorpion Cake

Yes, as the title shares Eli wanted a scorpion cake. He wanted this last year too. I looked back at the pictures and they are a bit different. The scorpion this year has much bigger front claws like the one Eli got for his birthday. Here are some pictures from our family celebration. 

Isaac joined us for the cake decorating. Brian did the traditional icing in the mouth. 

Oak with his classic look. I really wish I knew what he was thinking. It looks rather "deer in the headlights" to me. Maybe that is just how it goes with the third boy - he is always thinking, "oh my, oh my!"

 Our friends Kenny and Kristyn joined us this year. They just moved into a house two blocks down the road. Their home reminds me soooo much of ours. They have the same kind of situation too -  an older lady lived there for the past who knows how many years. It needs a lot of fixing up. I can't wait to see it when it is done!

After dinner we let Eli and Otto stay up EXTRA late and catch fireflies!

Eli got this pirate dress-up costume from Grandma Debby and Grandpa Gary. He has worn it at some point almost everyday. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Eli showing us his video camera he got from Uncle Tony and Auntie Cali. He loves all the added editing features. He can add hair on a head etc. He also really likes all the games on it. Pretty faannncy. Thank you!

Eli's 5th Birthday Party

With it being so hot lately I decided to do a morning water themed party. It was fun. We had the slip-n-slide for the bigger kids and the slide with the baby pool for the little ones. 

 Papa arrived home with some monster arms!!!

Little Meadow. The only girl. Sooo cute!

 

We had lunch then birthday treats!!

 They all played in the baby pool at the end with some water grow bugs Eli got.

 Eli got this fancy scorpion sucker from him buddy Abel and his brothers. Eli wanted to eat it right after the party. Soooo I let him. Once he chomped off the first claw and head I said, "Eli, are you SURE you want to eat this. It IS a bug you know." He just looked at me for a second then said, "No, mama. It is chocolate." I said, "Nope, not chocolate!" Then he spit the head out and said he thought it tasted funny. 

Two New Videos

Otto loves to snuggle his brother and takes the chance whenever he can. I have to keep a close eye on the boy. This here happened when I was getting ready for the day. I put Oak in the crib upstairs, and then here comes Otto looking for an opportunity to have some time with his little bro. I just had to grab the camera and capture the moment.

snuggles from capture box on Vimeo.

feet play from capture box on Vimeo.