The Saturday after we got back from Lady A's my coworker had a Pre-Oktoberfest party, complete with a couple kegs and a polka band!  Erik and Kade were dragging their feet all day about going but it turns out Erik loves kegs and Kade loves to polka!!  At the end they were dragging their feet about leaving!

Trying to teach Kade the Chicken Dance without throwing my back out holding Mason.  Turns out Mase is a big fan of kegs too, he likes to pump them up.  So he had to be held the entire time or there would have been some very pressurized beer!

The next day we had Kade's birthday party at our house.  Cake, ice cream and a water fight.  Doesn't get any better than that!!

I can't believe how old he looks in these pictures!!  

I feel like I should mention that he picked out his own clothes that day :-)

All guns aimed at the birthday boy!!

Jay and Issac stayed dry in the "safe zone", nobody is allowed to spray water on babies or on anyone sitting near babies.  I spend all of my time in this zone :-)

These 2 are going to be trouble real soon.  

Presents and cake makes for one happy 5 year old!

Mason doesn't seem to mind the food either.

All I can say is thank goodness it's a suction cup at the end of that arrow!

And, just some cute picture of the Mason Man...

Next up, vacation pictures!!

I feel like I'm about 3 weeks behind in posts!  Probably because we packed about a whole summer's worth of activities within the last 3 weeks.

The first week in August we made our annual trek to Lady A's home turf to celebrate Kade's birthday and to visit the monster farm show nearby.  The boys had a blast because all of the machinery is open and just waiting for the little farm/construction men to climb inside and dream to their hearts content.

Kade literally ran from one implement to the next and put up a fight every time we tried to get him to move on to the next exhibit.  He couldn't grasp the concept that there was even more tractors, skid steers, etc. waiting for him just down the lane.  It was all we could do to get him to take a break, sit down and enjoy a root beer float!

Mason loved climbing in and out of everything as well but he was more concerned that there wasn't any keys in the ignitions.  He's got a MAJOR obsession with keys right now.  He whines and cries until we give him the keys.  And he knows exactly which key goes to which ignition so if you give him the wrong one he throws it and whines until you give him the correct one.  He'll dig in each of Erik's pockets until he finds the keys, which can sometimes take awhile if Erik is wearing cargo shorts and if Erik refuses to squat down so Mason can reach his little paws into the pockets.  So, although Mason enjoyed all of the implements he was more than a little annoyed that no one would give him the keys!

Building a blue bird house at the DNR exhibit.  

The final product!  

He painted it white and Erik and Kade are hanging it up as I type.

My handsome little firemen.

The annual fish painting.

Mason got to do it this year too!

The boys being good listeners.  Probably because it's someone other than me giving them the instructions!

What a surprise, Kade's favorite implement was, yet again, the excavator!  He'd spend the entire day in that thing if we'd let him.

Kade has said multiple times that he's going to be a farmer when he grows up and him and Mason are going to be farming partners.  Maybe we'll have a picture just like this one in 30 years?

I love this picture of Mason.  His little feet crossed, hands on his lap, smile on his face.  I could eat that kid!

I could eat this tractor driver too but he's too fast and strong for me to catch him :-(

When I first saw this I thought it was the backside of the little buffalo and I felt kinda bad for putting Mason's face in it.  But then I realized the tail belonged to the big one.  Whew :-)

Pretend farming and constructing, and root bear float consuming, wears a little guy out!

Round 1 of Kade's birthday celebrations are complete!

Happy 5th Birthday Kade William!!

Kade. Kado. Kade Will. Kade Man. Kado the Tornado. Kade William,

My BIG big boy, I can't believe you are already 5 years old!!  Seems like just yesterday we were sitting in the hospital room anxiously waiting to meet you.  I look back at pictures and I can't believe how young and rested Dad and I look.  You are one BUSY boy and you have been since the day you were born!!  Like I tell you everyday, "You wear me out"!!!!

I love that you don't watch t.v. unless it's a show about Alaska or American Ninja Warrior.  You love to watch people hunting, building things or doing obstacle courses and then you re-create it in your imaginative play.  I'm sure there aren't too many 4 year old's that asked for snow shoes for their birthday like you did.  Because that's what Tom, from Mountain Men, uses when he goes hunting in the winter so you thought you needed a pair too.  Your favorite "action heroes" are 60+ year old men who homestead or farm for a living.  You can name about a dozen area farmers and what kind of tractor they drive, even though you haven't met half of them!

And sports.  Oh boy do you like sports.  Every single one of them.  I don't think you have a favorite sport because all of them are your favorite at any given time.  Your favorite team changes depending on who you've recently spent time with.  If it's Kurt (Erin's fiancee) your favorite team is Michigan.  If it's Michael or Taylor, your favorite team is the Packers (or if you're being a goofball and trying to get Dad riled up).  If it's Owen, it's the Badgers.  But most of the time your favorite team is the Gophers or the Dover-Eyota Eagles.  When you play you are usually one of those 2 teams and of course you ALWAYS, always win.  I still can't get over how good you are at sports!  I don't know how this is possible but you are just like Dad, naturally athletic and everything comes easy to you.  You will be starting pre-school soon and your main concern is that the bus is going to drop you off at practices and games.  You think school is about getting together with teammates and playing sports.  You may be a bit disappointed when you realize what school is really about but you are smart.  Extremely smart.  And I can't wait to watch you excel academically as well!

You are still extremely shy in new situations.  So much so that it hinders you from trying new things.  Whenever we go somewhere unfamiliar I have to give you the usual pep talk, "It's ok to be shy but don't let it stop you from trying new things".  So far my pep talk isn't working.  You cling to our sides and cry if we try to make you do something you don't want to do.  Hopefully you get over that soon because I don't want you to miss out on anything!  I always ask you if you are going to regret not trying it.  Are you going to go to bed that night and be sad that you didn't try it?  Your answer is usually, "yes, you will be sad" but it's still not enough to get you out there.  I'm not going to give up though!!

You may be shy in new surroundings but you are definitely a straight up goofball at home!  You dance, sing, run around naked, shake your butt at us and ask us, "Are you paying for this Bun Show?!".  And you wrestle!  Oh how you LOVE to wrestle!!  Most of the time it's with dad and Mason, you try to wrestle me but you are too strong and I usually end up getting hurt!

You are an amazing big brother.  You always have one eye on Mason to make sure he is safe.  You hold his hand, you let us know if he's about to do something that could hurt him, you help him down the stairs, you sing to him, you console him if he's crying.  The other day Mason was walking down the driveway towards Dad, who was mowing with the tractor, and you came running into the house sobbing because you couldn't get Mason to come back and you thought he was going to get hurt.  But sometimes you are the one that makes him cry.  Because you can't be an amazing big brother all the time.  Sometimes you have to be the annoying big brother and that's ok because even that's not that bad.

Happy Birthday to our favorite Biggest big boy!  I can't believe how lucky I am that I get to be your mom!!  Your very tired mama :-)  We love you so, so much!!!

The night of your birth.  

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

1 year old.  

September 2011

2 years old.  

September 2012

3 years old.  

August 2013

4 years old.  

August 2014

5 YEARS OLD!!!  

(or are you 10?  Hard to tell in this picture!!)

August 10, 2015

Last week we went to the county fair for the annual rib tickler, mini donuts and other greasy food deliciousness.  Normally we just stay near the animal barns but Kade is now old enough to realize there's a whole 'nother side to the fair…the rides.  We couldn't keep him away any longer--the big boy just keeps on getting bigger no matter how much we want him to slow down!!  Violet also joined big cousin Kade on the rides and Mason was able to enjoy one as well.  Looks like Erik's fair tradition of hanging out near the milk stand and cow barn is over.  The boys have taken over :-)

They got stickers after "milking" the cow.  Violet gave hers to her mom to wear and Kade was shocked.  He said, "No Vi!  Don't give that to your mom!  We EARNED those stickers all by ourselves!  You wear it!"

My Boys of Summer

Parade watching...

Summer construction jobs...

Wrestling on the couch (ok, maybe that's a year round thing)...

Sweet corn...

Sweet corn...

SWEET CORN!!!!

Sleeping in on mom and dad's bed...

Is there anything cuter than snuggling siblings??

Look at all of those delicious cheeks!!!

Summer hair cuts...

Riding bikes...

Someone is trying pretty hard to be just like his big brother.

And a visit to the park with cousins, Violet and Isaac.