A couple weeks ago was our town festival.  Like any good small town festival, there was a kids tractor pull, a parade, lots of kids activities and beer (for the adult kids :-)

My faithful blog readers know that Kade's shyness holds him back from trying lots of things that he wants to do.  He's getting much better but he still requires time to process, pep talks and the assurance that someone else he knows is doing it too.  

We forgot about the tractor pull until about 10 minutes before registration so Kade had the 5 minute drive from our house into town to build himself up for the "competition".  He did it though and he ended up getting 3rd!!

And for that he got this sweet trophy :-)

In true small town fashion, the kids trophy is sponsored by the liquor store and "liquor" was spelled incorrectly as "liquar".

I can't get the video to download but Kade basically pedaled to his friends and then promptly got off, he didn't pedal as far as he could have, he wasn't even struggling to keep going.  Good thing his friends were standing near the end!  Next year we'll have his friends stand behind the "Full Pull" line!

He also did the obstacle course this year!!  Last year he stood on the sidelines watching his friends, wishing he could do it but…again…too shy.  This year I didn't give him a choice.  I signed him up a month in advance and talked about it all the time.  By the time the day came around, he was pumped!

I caught a picture with Kade and a few of his buddies that did the course with him.

Trey, Kade, Paityn, Tucker

His usual shy pose…hands up by his face.  

At least they aren't in his mouth anymore!!

I love this series of pictures.  He did 2 rounds of the course, the first time he skipped the mud hole because Trey did.  The second time we bribed him with Gatorade to get into the mud.

You can literally see the debate going on in his head…

Is Gatorade worth the mud???

Apparently it is!

Ahh Mase!  Can't forget about this little man!!  

There wasn't a lot of activities he could participate in (not that he cared) but he could enjoy his own popcorn while watching his big brother!

Well, what do you know…Mason found his favorite spot...the driver's seat!

Let's keep his ambulance rides like this--pretending to drive it.  That I can handle!

Mason and his little buddy Nyle going for a bike ride!

Love these little cuties.

Kade hates haircuts.  He's hated haircuts since his very first one when he was under 1 year old.  He screams like we are tearing out his nails.  Every.Single.Time.  This past one was no exception.  I was shaving his head and he was crying like a little school girl.  I was trying to shave his neck but he wouldn't look down far enough so I finally said, "Look down at your penis!".  His response: "I CAN'T FIND MY PENIS!!  I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE IT IS!!!"  Ohhhh Kado…..

The little, red, electric four wheeler has been out of commission for quite sometime.  Mason is finally big enough to reach the pedal so every time he'd go in the shed he would sit on it to see if it worked.  It was tearing at the Tall Guy's heartstrings so he got help from the man who knows everything, Neighbor Jerry.  He had it running in no time. 

Lessons from big brother Kade...

…and they're off!

Nothing like a little "follow the leader" to learn how to ride!

Ahh, summer sled rides.  

Welcome back little red 4-wheeler!!

*I should make a note of Kade's outfit in the above picture.  No, it's not -20 and no we did not under dress Mason.  Remember a long time ago how I said Kade dresses the part for every activity he plays?  Yeah, he still does.  So, the jeans, boots, winter coat with the hood up….he was hunting in Alaska at the time.  Yes, it was about 90 degrees out that day.  Yes, I tried to talk him out of it.  Obviously I lost.   And yes, he still changes his clothes, on average, 5 times a day.  

Ohhhhh Kado :-)

Mason helping Aunt Jenna and Uncle Jay move into their new house!

My little snuggle buddy with his favorite blanket and his favorite shirt.  

Life is good!

For the past couple weeks Mason has been trying out a new word.  He says it, oh I don't know, maybe 8 billion times a day?  One night while the boys were having their usual conversation before bed (they still share a room), Mason sounded like he was stuck on repeat saying it--to the point that Kade got so annoyed he slept on the floor in our room.  The more you tell him to stop saying it, the more funny he thinks he is so he just says it louder and more often.  And he says it anywhere, at anytime, without any regard as to who is around.  

The word?  Butt hole.  Yep, that's right.  Erik says, "hey, at least he isn't saying "*ss hole", right?!"  My BF Megan says it's the cutest sounding use of the word she's ever heard and she just laughs every time he says it (you'd think a mother of 4 would know better!).  I've been trying to get him to say "button" instead, but he's smart.  He knows that's not as cool of a word.  So, until this stage passes we must continue to listen to the cutest little use of the word "butt hole" there ever was.

Here's a bunch of pictures from our 4th of July weekend.  

We hijacked the pool while Papa Rich and Grandma Holiday (Sharon) were away at Megan's house!  They missed quite a party!

L to R:  Mason, Trey, Kade, Charolotte, Charlie, Tucker, Harper, Paityn

Love this picture!

Tucker and Kade--the look-a-likes

Another picture to add to Harper and Mason's wedding album :-)

Just a bunch of studs, I mean Dads, chillin' in the water.

Mason, Charlotte and Harper

The boys made 4th of July hats at daycare.  My plan was to get them both wearing them at the same time and get their picture under my one 4th decoration.  Nothing goes as planned with a 2 and 5 year old though.

I bribed Kade and told him he couldn't go swimming if he didn't wear it.  

Look at that beautiful smile!

Mason, on the other hand, is too young to understand bribes.  And, of course, he wanted nothing to do with his hat.  

I had Kade help me out in trying to get a split second picture.  It didn't go so well….

Instead we settled on this beauty...

Still pretty darn cute!!

Parades and Parties

Having to work Thursday's again has really put a damper on my summer.  I missed Gopher Count because I had to work.  Luckily Erik took the day off so he could take the boys to the parade…by the way, parades on Thursday mornings?  Not at all convenient for the working crowd!

A bunch of the boy's friends happened to be at the parade too!

I love this picture.  It's a zoomed in picture from the original.  Guess what's coming up in the parade…a tractor!!  This kid LOVES tractors!

After the parade it's play time!!!

Erik said the boys couldn't get enough of the slide.  

Apparently Mason was shoving kids out of the way because he couldn't get up there fast enough.  I call Mason "My Little Playground Thug".  He's got 2 year old attitude with the size and strength of a 4 year old.

After play time it's fair food time!!!

Mini donuts!!  

Can you believe they actually saved a couple for me?!?!  I'm not sure if I would've done the same (or maybe I should say "could've")  :-)

They ran into our old neighbors, Michael and Taylor!!

What do you do when you run into old friends?  Share a step and a frozen treat, of course!!

The following weekend was Erik's sister, Erin and her husband, Kurt's, wedding celebration at the farm.  

We kind of clean up pretty well!!

Kade and cousin Carter.  Carter looks super cute, Kade looks super freaky.

That was the day Kade lost his tooth so instead of smiling like a normal human being, he thought he had to show everyone what was missing.

The day after the wedding picnic, we had a birthday party to attend!

Harper and Mason

No pressure, but if these 2 get married, we are more than set with super cute pictures of the super cute couple!

Kade's buddies from school!  

Nolan, Tucker, Kade and Charlie

It was Tucker's birthday party and his friends were more than willing to help him celebrate!

Celebrations, celebrations and celebrations!

We love summer.