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Going through old photo files from Ryan's visit this summer. Backyard fun, St. Louis Park, MN community parade and Father's Day celebration in Clear Lake with the Laabs and Sayres.

Happy Times

I think it's appropriate that Adele is wearing a helmet. One of the perks of living in the Midwest. Our children wouldn't get to enjoy pile jumping if we had stayed in California.

Homework

Veda has a daily assignment. Her homework for this day was to line up everyone in her family from tallest to shortest.

Power Tools

Nothing like a little drill action to get everyone's attention.

Iowa Football

Chris drove down to Iowa City from Madison so we could enjoy our Hawkeye/Badger rivalry at Kinnick. We are thinking of making it an annual event. Luckily Kimmy was going and had a couple extra tickets so we got to sit with her and her belly;)

Eating it Up

Adele's special treat these days is hot chocolate from Starbucks. I think she just likes going there because all the customers tell her how cute she is;)

Pretty Big Deal

Veda was the student of the month for October for her classroom. This is not a designation that all children get. She earned it and got to go onstage to receive her award in front of everyone at the all school assembly.

Girls Night

A few weeks ago Todd was out of town for our weekly Tuesday night date. I kept the babysitter and we made it into a girls night at George and The Dragon. They have a library of books for the kids so its always a crowd favorite. Ava and Veda were thrilled that we let them go to the bathroom all by themselves even though the bathrooms were all the way on the other side of the restaurant and out of our view. I was feeling pretty good about it until Ava came running around the corner of the packed restaurant by herself yelling (did I mention she was YELLING) that Veda needed me to wipe her because she had diarrhea. The other customers were thoroughly entertained by this exchange. I went to check on her and of course the bathrooms are unisex so there sits Veda in an unlocked restroom in a crowded restaurant waiting for me. Good thing I found her first. She did not have diarrhea by the way and we had to have a talk about the importance of locking the door behind her.

Street Games

We went for ice cream in downtown Linden Hills days before it turned cold in Minneapolis. Creative Kids Stuff is a popular toy store down the street. They know how to rein in their customers...

Garage Baseball

Gotta get creative to entertain all the kids on Thanksgiving day.  Some garage baseball.  Grandpa Gary as the pitcher and Adele as the Cleanup hitter.

Ry's Birthday Dinner - In September

Smack Shack Happy Hour. Can't beat it.

Oh Well!

Bull came to visit this summer and Adele was so excited that she peed on his lap. 'Sorry bout that'

New Friends

End of summer party with our new neighborhood friends. Veda starting Kindergarten has opened us up to new social circles and plenty of fun.

Lessons Learned

Do NOT touch hot lightbulbs

Race Support

The Twin Cities Marathon (Oct 6th) route is just a few blocks from our house so we hung out at the 8 mile mark to give our support (and high fives)!

Running Just As Fast As I Can

 October 5th - Medronic 10k - Twin Cities Marathon weekend. With Nicole and Anne.

October 26th (freezing!). Monster Dash Half Marathon with Nicole. 2 Hours 7Minutes and 30 Seconds.

Didi times 2?

I was organizing photos on my computer and Adele was watching over my shoulder. When I got to this one she asked me why there were TWO Didis!? A little Cyclone/Hawkeye love with Didi and her sister Darlene.

Road Trip to Madison

The cousins had a great time last weekend in Madison.  The 4 hour road trip wasn't too bad (and definitely worth it once we got there).  Veda loved reading books to the 'little kids' and Winston and little Hud had a great time sharing toys and wreaking havoc (with a little down time checking out the neighbors mowing lawn - a shared passion).  Good times had by all.

1/2 Way to Madison - Buying Cheese at a Rest Stop 

Story time with Veda...Hop on Pop

Lawnmower Enthusiasts

Just helpin a brother out.... 

What if...Chubs was a girl... :)

Team Work - Raking Leaves

Too bad that it's winter already and the snow is starting to fall, because Winston & Adele finally found something that they both love to do (and can somewhat cooperate).  Winston's the big time lover of all things yard work (which includes lawnmowers and leaf blowers) and Adele just loves to be a helper.  It takes them quite a long time to fill up a pale with leaves, but it's amazing how much patience they have (dumping 2-3 leaves at a time).  And Winston's a pretty good order taker.  A good trait for the men of this family.

Happy 70th Birthday Bull!

Happy 70th Birthday Grandpa Bull from Veda, Adele and Winston.

Veda's Note to Her Teacher

(translation)

Dear Mrs. Williams -

You are the best teacher ever and I have a poem for you.  Roses are red, violets are blue.  You are special, I am too.

Veda's Creation

Veda's been doing great lately occupying herself when at home (with art projects).  On Saturday, she spent about 2 hrs creating a witch, delivering a 4 layer carrot cake, on her magic broom.  Each piece individually created & then taped together (the hands, the feet, the witch hat - with a heart on top of it, the individual cake layers and even the 'action stream' behind her to show she was moving).  It's fun to see her get so involved in her little creations.

Living Room Obstacle Course

This is what our nights are like.  But at least we wear them down and they sleep well.  For whatever reason, the rocking chair is the center of attention and they can't get enough of it (jumping off of it that is).  Kathy holds her breath the whole time, waiting for them to get hurt and I film it.

Leaf Pile Jumping in November

The first big leaf pile of the year for the kids to enjoy (and Winston's first ever).  

Backyard Gymnastics

A video from one of the last days of the summer.  A little recreation of Jennifer Grey's famous dance move in Dirty Dancing (certainly much easier to showcase with Adele vs. Veda).

Pancake the Size of your Head

We've found a new favorite breakfast place in Minneapolis, the Original Pancake House in Edina. Their specialty, the apple pancake: a combo funnel cake, apple pie & state fair cinnamon roll, delicious...even better, one pancake fed all the kids + some extra to take home.

#BoysWillBeBoyz

I'm not sure Winston has ever rode in this contraption at Home Depot, but for some reason he ran through the door and took a straight line to the race car shopping cart.  He sat in here for a solid 30 min while I shopped and browsed around.  A nice departure from our usual experience.

Another Trip to the Zoo

I've been traveling a bit lately, so Kathy has been stuck at home with the kids by herself.  We decided to take the kids to the zoo this past Saturday to get them out of the house and have a little fun.  They absolutely love it every time we go.  Winston just runs from exhibit to exhibit and his sisters love to show him around.  Fun had by all.

Halloween 2013

An elephant, a dancing wolf and a hamster named Niblitz.

The Landing + The Playground

Veda and Adele disappeared for 20 min the other day and burst into the living room to have us come check out there latest creation.  This is a scale model of 'The Landing' + the playground across the street in Clear Lake (off in the distance here).  Both Veda and Adele shared several details about each section of their creation. Obviously a fond memory for each of them.

Who Loves Baths?

This guy!  Winston loves taking a bath so much, that we have to be careful to lock the door when we give the girls a bath.  If we forget or get distracted, guess who's going in (clothes and all)...