Silas and Gideon's 2nd Birthday Party

Silas and his cousin Gideon are less than 2 weeks apart. So we had a joint birthday party for them this year. Gideon had his birthday on June 22 but Silas still has a couple more days to go to get the July 2.

Seth working on the cake. The kids loved watching. I only helped a little and Seth did most of the decorating work. I'm enlisting him for every birthday cake from now on.

Silas loved his Mickey cake.

At the party enjoying lunch with cousins.

Each boy had their own cake. Our sister in law Susie made Gideon's fish cake. Very impressive.

Enjoying some cake.

Anyone who had some of the Mickey cake had black/purple looking mouths when they were done.

He loved his cake.

It was a beautiful day so the kids got to run in the sprinklers after cake.

The little guys liked the sand table a little more.

The girls loved Silas' new sprinkler from Anny Manny and Uncle Joe.

Opening presents.

Silas got a Thomas the Train track set and a bunch of extra cars from us for his birthday. We gave it to him early because we get to be out in CA over his birthday this year! Yeah!

Silas and Norah have been playing with the trains non stop. It's fun to see them enjoying the new toys. Silas especially likes the blue Thomas car or as he calls it "Tommy."

Razorback Retreat

We got to have our first little vacation of the summer. We were able to go up to the cabin, as Norah calls it, "The best place on earth." We have a nice long relaxing weekend.

We got to do a little fishing. Seth caught a bunch of fish. But no luck for Norah this time. Silas has fun sticking his pole in the water. (Don't worry, he didn't have a hook.)

We had fun looking at all the animals on boat rides. We saw loons, painted turtles, a snapping turtle laying eggs, a bald eagle, two different mama ducks with ducklings, an otter like animal, bull frogs, tadpoles and lots of little fish.

Silas' face whenever we were riding in the boat or on kayaks.

We had beautiful weather so we got to go to the beach two different times.

The kids enjoying their cotton candy ice cream at Norah's second favorite place on earth, the Corner Store.

The Johnson family joined us at the cabin for our last couple of days. So we had a campfire with s'mores. Silas' first experience was a good one.

Yeah for sticky marshmellows.

Riding back from the beach.

Rowan drove us almost the entire way back.

Of course, one more trip to the Corner Store.

Uncle Dusty bought some sparklers and fireworks and our kids got to join in on the fun. Silas liked the sparklers more than the fireworks, but Norah was just the opposite. We almost couldn't get her to hold a sparkler, but she couldn't get enough of the fireworks.

We are excited to go back in the end of July for more fun.

Walleye Weekend

This past weekend was Walleye Weekend in Fond du Lac. It's a big festival at Lakeside park right by Lake Winnebago. There were games and touraments going on all weekend. So on Friday night, we took the kids down to check out the family area. It was loads of fun. They kids got to go in a bouncy house, hear stories from princesses, get their faces painted, and see a magician. We also tried some very yummy food. It was a neat thing to check out and I'm sure we'll go again next year.

Our Little Farmers

This summer we decided to plant a vegetable garden in our yard. This kids had a blast helping Seth plant the seeds. Norah was even more excited that she got to use her gardening gloves she got as a birthday present from out neighbor.

This past week I took the kids to a berry farm to pick strawberries. They did really well and enjoyed it a lot. Norah worked really hard to find the red berries and called us farmers the whole time. Silas picked some here and there and only ate a couple. I was happy he enjoyed it and didn't take off down the long row. Their favorite part of the day was the truck ride out to the field and back. It's an adventure we'll have to do again.