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.

Na Night and Neighs

Just a quick post this week about the most pressing matters in the lives of Mason and Kade.  

For Mason, these days his life is revolving around his "na night" blanket.  He's never been a thumb sucker and refused a pacifier from day 1 but very recently he's become permanently attached to a blanket.  We've used it since he was tiny because it's one of those loosely crocheted light blankets with holes so he could still breathe even if it covered his face.  It's big, it's itchy (if you ask me) and it's white.  All the makings of a not-so-perfect attachment blanket but attached Mason is!  He carries it all around the house, we have major negotiations when he tries to take it outside.  I sneak it to the washing machine, I hide it from him during the day and if he wasn't so darn cute loving on the thing I would get rid of it.  

The other day Erik was mowing the lawn (Mason's favorite past time) and he was holding the blanket.  I told him he couldn't go on the lawn mower with Na Night (it's not-so-original name).  You could literally see him weighing out the pros and cons in his head!  He looked back and forth from Na Night to the lawn mower trying to decide which one he loved more.  He finally walked away from Na Night and towards the lawn mower.  Then he stopped, looked back at Na Night just laying there and ran back to it, scooped it up, pushed his face into it and sat down and watched Erik as he mowed the lawn.  He loves Na Night more than the lawn mower.

Kade losing to Mase and Na Night

See what I'm saying about the cutie pie and his blanket?

The other week we went to the fair.  There was a pony ride that Kade was begging to go on.  I refused to spend money on that when he can ride for free at Grandma H's (although he never has).  I also felt bad for the horses being tied up and forced to walk in a circle in the hot summer.  I know, I can't believe I just said I felt bad for the horses but I do have a heart (even if I have no room in my heart for a horse :-)  Anyway, I was hoping he'd forget about it but through out the week he kept bringing up how much he wanted to ride Grandma's horses.  He finally asked grandma and she said he had to ask me (she knows how much I don't love horses) and I just said, "As long as I'm not there to see it".  Well, I wasn't there...

She texted these pictures to Erik and he responded, "Do you think these pictures will make the blog?" and she said, "No.  Kristi does the blog."  See Melody?  Miracles do happen!!  And, for the record, he does look pretty darn cute on the darn neigh :-)

Like I said, our mid week camping trip we took the week of the 4th deserves it's own post because of all the of pictures we took!  We'd never been to this campground before but we will definitely be going back.  It was awesome!  

There was a mini beach next to a little river so we could play in the sand and throw rocks in the water.  Is there anything more relaxing than tossing rocks in water and watching the splash?  Well, as relaxing as it can get with a 17 month old who has absolutely no fear and no concept of danger.  I might've used the phrase, "You boys wear me out!" a few times on this trip :-)

Mase wasn't so sure of the feeling of sand beneath his feet.  We might have to remedy that with a trip to the Gulf of Mexico this winter!

They had these cool go carts that you could rent for a couple bucks.  Kade begged and pleaded for a turn after seeing a couple other kids riding them.  I don't think he realized that he actually had to work to make them move :-)

He wasn't too happy to give up his spot to me so Mason and I could go for a ride too.

And they had this awesome jumping pad/pillow thingy.  It was filled by an air compressor and the thing was huge!  The kids absolutely LOVED it.  I had fun on it too, my favorite part was jumping next to the kids and launching them in the air (side note:  I didn't do that to Mason--although he's the kid who would've loved it the most!)

Big cousin Reed in the background is pretty handy to have around!  He does a great job watching out for Mason.

Take a look at Kade's shadow in this picture.  Doesn't it look a little like Michael Jordan's "Jump Man" logo?  Let's hope that this is a bit of "foreshadowing" as I'd love to retire in the Bahamas, living off of Kado the Tornado's NBA salary :-)