JUNE

We have officially almost survived the first month of Summer Vacation. So far, so good. It's been a busy one and rather than a bunch of separate posts, I thought I'd combine them into the month of June.

We started the month with a fun weekend with the Stevens family. Phil's parents and Natalie came down for our annual Lagoon trip, and we enjoyed a beautiful hike in the rain with them at Maple Lake. We ate our picnic in the car afterwards since it started to pour. Natalie looks cute in just about anything, but this poncho is especially cute!
We enjoyed our time at Lagoon, especially the water. It is a fun tradition that the boys really look forward to each year.

Jacob and I got to spend a day and Cub Camp, then Phil went up the next day. You're not a real boy mom until you've gone to cub camp! Phew, glad to have that out of the way. I'm happy to report it wasn't as bad as I expected!!

Phil and I also became proud grandparents this month. Robins. We found this nest in our backyard and were mesmerized as we watched nature take its course. From tiny blue eggs to hatching and then sadly we missed them leave their nest this weekend. I was very impressed with the effort mama and papa bird put in to taking care of those babies. Four hungry mouths to feed non-stop. I'm glad I did mine one at a time!

Phil and I were able to have a fun little trip to Chicago. He had to go for business and they invited the spouses to tag along. We got to go see Doc Severinsen (trumpet player) play in the park, went to the Art Institute, went on the architectural boat cruise and ran along the water front. He has some great people in his profession and it was good to meet them and their spouses. We even had a Photo Scavenger hunt in the Taste of Chicago (loved the stuffed crust pizza!) Very fun. And now I'm patiently waiting for my boys to come home. I'm ready to be a mom again (remind me I said this in a few hours!) It's been a fun June!

Boys Life

Benjamin: "I'm going to write a book about a four year old who was sometimes a pain in the neck."

Micah: "If you do that, I'm going to write a book about a Benji who got a punch in the eye."

Long live summer.

1.5 miles

When I was pregnant with Micah I was convinced he would be a runner someday. With my other pregnancies I stopped running immediately, but with Micah I continued to run until it felt REALLY weird. I thought that perhaps this would make him my running buddy for life!! And tonight is the beginning of that life. We went to a local park for Phil to run, the boys to bike and Micah and I to walk. With the motivation of lemonade at the end, Micah quickly picked up his pace to a run, and never looked back. The track is about 1/3 mile around. He did one lap, then another and then a third without much stopping. I was walking, so I just walked back and forth and after the third lap offered him a drink. He'd just run a mile by himself!! I thought he would be done and ready to go to the park, but again with lemonade dangling in front of him he proceeded to run two more laps. As I watched him I was amazed to see him even pick up the speed every so often - yep, doing intervals. What a stud! Good job Micah. He's convinced that my next race if I hold onto his hand he can help me win the race with his swift speed. Ahh to have the ego of a little boy!! Someday Micah, someday!

Spring Sports

We've had a great "spring" following the boys around town for soccer and baseball games. There were several games when we wondered if they would play because of lousy weather. There were several games when we played in lousy weather!!

We'll start with baseball because it's the most recent. Jacob had an excellent baseball experience this year. He had some great coaches that put a lot of effort into coaching these boys and helping them get better each game. I think they had more practices than games! It was so fun to see Jacob's progress over the season. They lost a nail-bitter on Monday that would have put them in the championship game. I have to admit, it's kind of fun to be on a winning team!! Way to go Angels!
Jacob only struck out 3 times this season. He had a great batting average and apparently I was so busy watching him bat, I forgot to take a picture. But here he's ready to run to third.
He played outfield, catcher and third base this season. It has been so fun to watch and I'm sad it's over! They ended up taking third place, which is awesome! From his coach, "Always remember you were an Angel and you were great. Most importantly remember you can do whatever you want if you work hard enough at it." Good advice for all of us!

Jake and Ben both played soccer. It's so fun to have boys that know where the ball is at all times (it was a long time coming!) They both did great! Again, I didn't get any great pictures, but here are a few action shots of Ben.
I love being a soccer/baseball mom. I love sitting on the sidelines and cheering with the other parents. I love seeing my kid make a great play. I love watching Jacob walk up to the plate with such confidence knowing he's going to smack it. It is SO fun! Thank heavens for spring sports. I'm very proud of my boys!

Yellowstone

In our continued efforts to show our boys the world around us, we headed up to Idaho a few weeks ago for a trip to Yellowstone. We stayed with Phil's parents, but were not sure if we should make the trip to Yellowstone or not. The beautiful "Spring" weather we had been waiting for included a forecast of snow. We decided to go anyway, and were rewarded with many animal sightings since the weather was cold. We saw elk, bison (not buffalo!) and a trumpeter swan. The boys loved Old Faithful, and geysers were thrilling to them. We were also able to experience all forms of weather: rain, snow, sun, hail, and wind, as we drove around the park - it was a crazy day! We enjoyed having Natalie and Grandpa Stevens (who had a wealth of information!) with us. It was a great trip!

Why did the bison cross the road?

The lighter colored ones are babies - cuters!

Old "Faithful" was a few minutes late!

Cold and Cute!