May/June

The transition from end-of-school-year to summer was good to us and my only complaint is that the days went by too quickly.

These kiddos are ready for summer!

Lucy perfected her various poses in May and was quick to ask me to snap a photo, regardless of location or attire.

Showing me that she can wear all of her jewelry at once, despite my advice against doing so.

Casually hugging a tree during Charlie's soccer match.

Hard to pull off a thug look when your cowboy boots are pink glitter and you are wearing cupcake pajamas.

As a rookie parent of a school-aged child, the end-of-the-year activities sort of kicked my tail.  I completely underestimated the number of end-of-year picnics, field trips, etc. when I signed up to attend all of them.  And by the 4th event within a two week period, Charlie barely made eye contact when I arrived.  I made such a rookie mistake.

May was also the beginning of baseball for Charlie which was really fun because he was on a team with most of his friends from kindergarten.

I laughed out loud when I saw Charlie's picture of another grown-up that he could trust...Emma in the bottom right corner.  His circle of trust is small so she should feel special.

We celebrated my dad's birthday at the end of May with a get together with all of our Gehl cousins. Thanks to my  brother for hosting - it was great to see everyone and enjoy some fun outside together.

 And no end-of-year would be complete without some Field Day activities!

Kindergarten was great to us and Charlie's excited to be a "firstie" next year...apparently all the cool kids are saying that these days.

 June brought more baseball and while the skill sets may not have changed much over the season, the boys became much better and louder at cheering for their teammates from the bench.

The kids are attending the same summer program so it's great to have a single drop-off/pick-up and so far, the kids are enjoying being together during the day.

 More fun was had in Cascade - there is something about playing with a farm set from the comfort of a backyard that was simple fun!

Having failed to check the frequency of baseball games, I signed the kids up for swimming lessons in June.  We found ourselves with a 2-3 week period of some activity almost every night during the week.  Not my cup of tea.  For you families with many children in many different activities, bless you.

We had a Supple family fun weekend in June that started with an overnight stay in Galena.  The kids started the adventure with some face painting at the hot air balloon festival.

Charlie's smudged Mario brothers face - the eyebrows still crack me up!

Absent the face paint, we realized that BJ and Charlie were pretty well matched for the day.

Lucy's "butterfly" pose to show me her face painting.

We had some Father's Day fun before heading to the pool for the day.  These kiddos love their daddy and rightfully so, they got a good one...

 who can only resist tickling them for so long!

 We were pleasantly surprised to find Ariel and Flounder at our local Chick-Fil-A.  Nothing like being serenaded by Under the Sea while enjoying some chicken and french fries!

We also had a Gehl family fun weekend back in Cascade in late June.  It was a great day of spending time at the Sportsmen's Park and going through a scavenger hunt through town.

Lucy enjoyed a slide that is very unlikely to be "up to code".  It's hard to tell from the photo but the top of the slide was at least a story-and-a-half off of the ground that left little room for error.

 We finished the day with a movie in my parent's backyard and a campout that lasted until storms came through in the middle of the night.  It was a great that hopefully created some lasting memories for everyone.

Ready for the show to begin!

 Finally, Charlie and Lucy ended the month by showing me their box costumes.  Creative?  Debatable.  Funny?  I think so.

We're looking forward to a fun-filled July!

April

We started April by celebrating Easter with my side of the family.

The obligatory "squint with the sun in your eyes" photo before the egg hunt began!

Hot pursuit.

Egg hunts are great but having the ability to trade your finds with a lot of cousins?  Priceless!

Lucy and I spent 25 minutes in deep negotiations when I told her that she couldn't wear her tutu/cowgirl vest combination to the Science Center one weekend.  Her determination will serve her well some day.

We saw an Imax show about the national park system and Charlie and I have big plans for future family vacations - RVs...here we come!

We spent a weekend in Minneapolis for a quick family getaway - the bunk beds and water park at our hotel were big hits!

We visited the Mall of America for a few hours and I told the kids that they could pick out one thing from a store of their choosing.  Lucy's choice at The American Girl store?  A $12 headband.  I'm guessing it might go down as our cheapest visit to The American Girl store ever.

Rest assured, we made up for it at The Lego store, which is good because I think our collection of what seems to be a million pieces was surely lacking something.

Lucy wanted to ride as many rides as possible - the taller, the better.  The scarier, the better.  Her short stature kept her off of many rides, and she was only mildly frustrated that her daily multi-vitamins haven't made her bigger yet, but we enjoyed as many rides as possible.

This picture is a little distant but e the complete joy in their faces as they twirled around and around pretty much summed up our weekend away.

Charlie started baseball and soccer in late April so we're all anxious for warmer temps as we spend more and more time outside.

May looks to be a fun month with some end-of-school year (what?!) activities and the unofficial beginning of summer!

March

March was pretty low-key and we tried to make the most out of some spring-like days.

I confirmed Lucy's status as a hoarder when I opened her jewelry box to find it full of items (many that she wasn't supposed to have in her room - I'm looking at you marker and glue stick).  Finding BJ's high school football picture button still makes me smile.  We don't know where or how she got it but she loves it.

Soccer and a super hero birthday party in the same day?  I'm still exhausted about remembering that particular day.

Lucy caught a quick stomach flu bug but it's pretty amazing how fast little kids can start feeling better.  She was lying on the couch watching a show and the next hour she came down the steps with her doctor's coat on, Joanie Joanie in the stroller, declaring "Doctor Mommy Lucy is feeling better and ready for the day."

The Easter Bunny found our house and brought the kids some candy, stickers and a little toy.  The Easter Bunny also found herself in a moment of weakness and, bought a Kindle Fire for the kids. The kids get 45 minutes of electronics each day during their summer program so I think that the Easter Bunny was wise, but we'll see.  So far they think that it only works when we're on a long car ride and I'm 100% OK with that.  

We delayed celebrating Easter with my side of the family until early April but we went back to Cascade over Easter weekend and enjoyed our time with that side of the family.

Coloring eggs with Nana and Papa.

A picture of some over-excited, sweaty kids before the indoor Easter egg hunt.

The best  photo we could get of the kids with Nana and Papa - the sugar was in full effect at this point.

Charlie and Lucy love their little cousin "Baby Deliliah" and whether she likes it or not, they want equal time holding her.  I'm fairly certain that Lucy was trying to convince Nana that she didn't need help as she slowly fell to the side.

My boys on Easter morning after church.

The "best" family photo from that morning - BJ and I didn't plan our checkered shirts, we're just that in tune with one another :).

My two crazies

A final Easter photo with Nana and Papa.  It was a quick trip back to Cascade but always fun to have some cousin and grandparent time!