From MN to AK...Welcome Alex!

Thomas meets Grandpa Richard for the first time! Mom, Dad & Alex arrived last week and we're having a great time together! We hiked some at Hather's Pass and went to the Wild Animal Park. The crew is on the boat this weekend, so soon I'll post their adventures there...

boatings back!

Well, it's been a week and I'm just now adding words to my last post! Those pics were from our first family boating adventure of the season. It felt so good to get back on the Christina Jo! Thomas enjoyed his first boating excursion as well! We did some hiking and found quite a bit of snow, caught some shrimp, and explored our favorite beaches. Ella also shot her 22 for the first time! (Her gift from Daddy when she was born) The girls' highlite of the weekend was catching 3 crab to bring home for their empty aquarium. A friend and a neighbor got quite a laugh over Ella exclaiming, "We got crabs!" when she first saw them after the weekend:) Those little guys only survived for 3 days, but boy were they entertainment while they lasted (PETA would appreciate this!) They were especially fun to watch attack the tuna I fed them!

Tom brought the girls out this weekend so I wonder how they're doing. What a great daddy...on an adventure with his girls for Father's Day! Thomas and I stayed home due to Thomas' nasty cold. A crying baby on a boat = no sleep for anyone, so we decided to stay put.

up to?

what have we been up to? you may be wondering....Here's a brief re-cap of the last few weeks... Claire wiped out running on the pavement at a friend's house and got a rock embedded in her forehead. After some tugging, peroxide, & a prayer we finally got it out. She brought the rock to her last day of preschool for show & tell!

Tom put up a buoy swing for the kids and the girls have been loving it to say the least. It definitely attracts the neighbor kids! To really get the full affect, they need me (or Tom) to push them. A down side to it...or welcome distraction to the many things on my to-do list! Our patch of grass has gotten even smaller after the buoy swing addition. The path the kids run on is just a strip of dirt. Part of me thinks I should move the swing, the other part tells me the joy it brings outweighs the dirt!

All of us are enjoying lots of time outside. The girls planted their own garden and are awaiting the sprouts to pop up. One sunny day, Claire came running over and exclaimed, "Mom! I spilt the sunburn all over my pants!" Actually, she had spilled some sunscreen on her clothes :)

Thomas sits up completely on his own now and has just started scooting across the floor...backwards. He continues to love laughing & anyone's attention! The drools are plentiful these days as are the rolls on his thighs! The girls seem to never tire of him. Today, when Claire got home from being with a friend all day she said, "I didn't miss you even a little mom. I just missed Thomas!"

goodbye preschool

Claire "graduated" from preschool in May. Ella picked her a dandelion bouquet and she insisted on having them in every picture!