Hugo Good Neighbor Days 2010

Hugo Good Neighbor Days. The kids had so much fun. We watched the firemen cut up a car, went to the petting zoo and of course did lots and lots of rides. Collin thought it was so cool to be a big kid with some of his friends from school. They thought they were so cool trying to go off by themselves (little did they know that mom was always close behind). Collin saw Christian, Jaiden, Tyler, Megan, and Lauren. Ella of course tried to keep up with all those boys and Madelyn had a blast going on the helicopters, the trucks, and the big slide with grandma. They literally rode rides until the fair closed down!

Grandma treated Ella to a pony ride!

Collin's Last Week of Kindergarten

Collin has absolutely LOVED kindergarten - I think especially because he loved his teacher, Mrs. St. Martin. The last week of school, Collin got to go on his first field trip. He went to the Como Zoo. He was SO excited to go on this trip. I think especially to ride the bus. He of course got to go with his great friend Connor - I'm not sure what these two are going to do without each other if they are not in the same class next year!

On Collin and Connor's last day of school we decided to have a little "summer is here" party. Cole and Ella worked very hard all afternoon baking cupcakes and decorating the house. Mommy and Kelly took it up a notch and even put ballons on the car and wrote on the windows! Collin and Connor thought they were pretty cool when we picked them up at school. I'm so glad that they will still let us do this ridiculous stuff without being embarrassed....sometimes I really hope that he never changes!

Like I said, Collin has absolutely loved kindergarten. He has come so far...counting to 100, doing math, making friends, reading, becoming so independent. We REALLY are so proud of all that he has learned and accomplished. Mrs. St. Martin only had great things to say to about him. She said he was a great student, a good listener, a hard worker and a considerate friend. He continues to give us so many reasons to be proud of what a great kid he is becoming. When I asked him what he was most excited about for 1st grade he said, "harder math". This is funny because his friend Connor said he was most scared about harder math - so somebody must have tipped them off to what 1st grade is all about. When I asked Collin what he was most scared about he said, "not having Mrs. St. Martin", but he made sure to add in - but only for a few days.

Memorial Day at the Cabin 2010

Memorial Weekend at the cabin. We really lucked out this year. The weather was unbelievable - 90 degrees a couple of the days. Grandma and Grandpa surprised the kids with this battery operated "gator". Collin and Ella helped grandpa" build it". They had so much fun "working" all weekend. They hauled brush, firewood, drinks, toys, chairs...you name it they hauled it! They ran the battery dead every day! When the kids were not riding on the gator, they swam, jumped off the dock, fished, had a fire...it was a really fun weekend (except that Madelyn had 104 fever and wasn't feeling too great - that's why she is sleeping at the beach).

MADELYN EVEN HAD HER BOTTLE BEFORE BED "ON THE GO". ELLA GAVE HER A RIDE TO HER BED AND DROPPED HER OFF.

THESE TWO CONTINUE TO PLAY SO WELL TOGETHER. THEY ARE ALWAYS OFF COMING UP WITH SOME KIND OF IMAGINATIVE PLAY...USUALLY THEY ARE OFF ON SOME SORT OF MISSION.

GRANDPA'S NEW "TOY" AND THE KID'S NEW "TOY"!

MADELYN TAKING A LITTLE SNOOZE ON THE BEACH. SHE DID NOT FEEL VERY GOOD, AND MOMMY GOT A LOT OF SNUGGLE TIME THIS WEEKEND.

COLLIN AND ELLA LETTING THE FISH GO....IF YOU LOOK CLOSE YOU CAN SEE THE FISH LOOKING UP AT COLLIN.

Early Summer Fun

We've had a pretty warm spring this year. Ella begged and begged and finally convinced me to blow up our pool. The kids had so much fun splashing, and having squirter gun fights. "This is the hugest pool ever"!!

Our Rule Follower

Just a little side note to the whole dance recital. I had brought a few little snacks for Collin in case the show was getting long and he was bored. Part way through the first half I offered him a little box of raisins. He was so excited "Yeah, I'm so hungry". He started ripping into them, so I whispered, "just be careful not to spill any, because you're not really suppose to have food in here." He got a sad look on his face, slowly and carefully closed the box back up and handed it to me, "maybe I will save them for half time". No matter how much convincing I did he would not eat those darn raisins in there.....I guess rules are rules!!

Flowers from Grandma

Ella has been very into helping mommy with the flowers this year. She wants to help plant them, water them....Grandma Mary took advantage of this and instead of getting her cut flowers for her dance recital she had the great idea to get her flowers that Ella could plant and take care of. As you can see from the picture, she was very excited. The next morning Ella helped mommy pick a special spot in the front yard (where everyone would see them) and she helped plant her flowers. She has taken very good care of her special flower!

After the "Big Show"

We really are so proud of Ella! Ella did both her dances in the first half of the show. Our plan was to leave at intermission. When we picked Ella up she wanted to watch some of the show, so we told her we would stay for a couple dances. We could not get either Ella or Collin to leave - we ended up staying for the whole thing! She LOVED every minute of her special day!!

Both Daddy & Collin and Grandma & Grandpa got Ella flowers after her performance. She thought that was really special. She carried her flowers around for hours, until she realized that they would "get dead" if we didn't put them in water.

When we got home she ran around the entire neighborhood in her costume. She wouldn't stop doing her dances, it was really cute. She was literally dancing in the streets! It took all my will power and went against all my rules, but I even let Ella wear her "beautiful costume" to Dairy Queen for ice cream to celebrate.

What a fun day!!