Go Gophers!

A couple Saturday's ago we made our 3rd annual trip to a Gopher football game.  We tailgated for almost 4 hours before game time, stayed at the stadium until there was just a few minutes left in the game and then tailgated for an hour or two after.  It was a long day but time flew by and we all had a blast!  The Gophers won too!  

I asked Kade what his favorite part of the day was and he didn't hesitate when he said, "TAILGATING!!".  I think it's because the dad's play football with them and they get to play in a parking lot.  It's not very often that a kid gets to run free in a parking lot full of cars!

Unfortunately Mason didn't join us this year, I think he's still a little too young for that long of a day but he'll definitely be with us next year!  He had fun having grandpa and grandma all to himself.

And because this post didn't have any pictures of my little man, here's a couple of Mason showing off his new high tops (as he calls them).  Love this little cutie pie.

Back to School

First day of school was a little different this year.  Instead of starting the day after Labor Day, they had meet the teacher on that Tuesday and Wednesday, then school officially started on Thursday.  We had to sign up for time slots to meet the teacher one-on-one with our student and also fill out all of the necessary back to school paperwork.  

Of course us mom's planned our 5 boys on the same day, around the same time, so we could have the rest of the day off to play!  We took the kids out for lunch and then to a park.  What a great way to start off First Grade!!

Official First Day of School pictures:

Kade used his own birthday money to buy this backpack.  He was so proud he wanted me to take a picture of it :-)

Mason wanted absolutely nothing to do with picture taking.  

He's my sleeper, so early mornings are rough on this kid.  

First day of "no more school age kids at daycare" pictures for Mason and his daycare buddies!  

Erik and I have been discussing getting a "gator" for quite awhile.  After lots of research and phone calls, we finally decided on one.  We didn't tell the boys, so when Erik had the day after Labor Day off he took them with him to "test drive" one, knowing full well he was going to take that one home.

Look at these smiles!!

Last of the Vacation Pictures

Last week it was the water pictures, this week it's the land pictures.

This is just how we usually hang out.

The cabin was awesome!  We tried our hardest to get Erik's parents to buy it...no such luck.  There was a huge asphalt driveway that kids spent hours biking up and down.

Dinner on the back deck.  

There weren't too many evenings this was possible, but it was beautiful when the weather cooperated!

Baby Lillian and Grandma

Mike and Sara made homemade ice cream for everyone.  

The kids had fun taking turns cranking the handle.

From these pictures it appears that we sat on the couch a lot, that was not the case.  I can't really recall a time when any kid sat down for more than 5 minutes.  Kind of weird that I had the camera ready for the rare occurrences that they did all sit down at once!

The workout crew!  

Exercising is actually fun with a lake in the background and a fun group to sweat with!

Kade cannot get enough of his cousin, Eve.  

He holds her every chance he can get, whether she likes it or not!

I, on the other hand, cannot hold Kade for more than 30 seconds!  And even then I have to wrestle him down, hold his arms, and risk getting bitten (as seen below).

We spent a couple hours at a wildlife park one day.  It was pretty interesting to see all of the animals but I think everyone's favorite part of that trip was the stop at Dairy Queen afterwards.

Isaac and Mason...carrying a cooler.  

I'm thinking this won't be the last time these two walk around with a cooler in between them.

The crew!  

Sporting our All American hats thanks to Grandpa Bill!

As if a week of 16 people under one roof wasn't crazy enough for us, we decided to end our vacation with a 3 night stay at Yogi Bear campground in Warrens, WI with 25 friends from home!  Yep, we left the cabin on Friday afternoon, stopped for groceries along the way, and pulled into the campground on Friday evening!  Whew, I'm exhausted just reliving it through the pictures!!

The five boys who created the giant group below.

They all met and became friends in preschool, now we are looking at 5 handsome FIRST graders!