Memorial Day!

What perfect weather for Memorial Day!  We spent the morning working on the yard/garden and then headed over to our friends' house for a BBQ.  Lot's of friends & lots of great food :) 

The kids got in a little pool time and a lot of sprinkler time ;)

 What a great day!  It's so nice to have such great friends :)

Peanut & Sunflower Planting

Yep, that's right - peanuts!  Matt wishes that he could grow all of his favorite things on our tiny plot of land in Suburbia but, since we only have 0.25 acres and coffee won't grow in Minnesota, we're settling for peanuts and sunflowers.  We LOVE roasted peanuts, peanut butter & sunflower seeds, so hopefully the seeds we planted today will help us grow/make these things on our own!

She was SOOOOO excited to be planting peanuts!

Once again Sam just observed - but loved being outside :)

 Quite an experiment, but it will be great if it turns out :)

Planting our garden!

What a great day to plant our garden!  The weather was spectacular so everyone enjoyed our morning outside planting and watering seeds :) 

We planted squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, peas, carrots, spinach, mint, thyme, cilanto & basil!

Madeline liked helping :)

Sam just enjoyed his time outside :)

And his time with Mommy's cousin, Greta - it was so great that she could stop by for a visit!

We hope the marigolds we planted around the outside of the garden keeps those bunnies away!  Can't wait for things to start growing :)

Chutes & Ladders

Today our Friday Field Trip with the Prior Lake Area Moms group was to the Chutes and Ladders play area at Hyland Park.  We haven't been here since last year so it was really fun to see Madeline climb higher and explore more of the park this year!

Sam had fun too, climbing and hiding :)

Maddie and her friend, Nissa, had a great time playing and pretending they were princesses in a castle :)

After lunch we went home for naps and then Aunt Melanie came to play.  Sammie got his first sprinkler experience with his Godmother...

Ready, Set, Go!

We eventually got a smile out of him :)

Maddie's Last Day of Preschool

Today was Madeline's last day of preschool.  She had a fun year with Mrs. Judd at the Shakopee Area Catholic Schools.  There were only 3 kids in her class, so they got to know each other well.  Here she is with her class:

Satchel, Maddie, Mrs. Judd & Spenser

  

She's learned a lot... coloring, cutting, drawing, letters, numbers, sounds and how to write her name!

She loved everything about school - we hope that lasts for a long time!

Sammie's First Hair Cut!

Probably a little overdue, but today Sammie got his first hair cut!  Here's the before shot:

He was so enamored with Dora on the TV that he barely noticed the first snip :)  

Hardly any fussing the whole time - 

Who knew this would be so easy?

He thought the blow dryer was a little strange, but he handled it well :)

Now we have one dapper little dude!

A Tuesday trip to the Zoo!

It's Tuesday, so that means time for our Tuesday Playdate!  Today we headed back to the MN Zoo - first trip there in a long time.  First we checked out the monkeys and fish inside.  Then we headed outside - 

of course the play area was a hit with all of the kids!

  

After prying the kids out of the play area we headed to our favorite spot - the grizzly bears!

We also saw wild boars, the tail of a leopard and the ear of a tiger...  Most of the animals were hiding in the shade trying to stay cool!

A Day with the Kapla Family

Warm weather has made it's way back to MN and we were so excited to have a chance to take advantage of it today...  
Forecast:  84 and Sunny - chance of rain 10%! 
A perfect day to participate in the Shakopee Wheelies Bike Ride/Expo.  We packed the kids and a picnic lunch in the Chariot (bike attachment for the kids) and left the house around 8:30.  We got to the park, where the ride was scheduled to start, a little before 9.  We met Holly, Drew, Addi and Zac and headed out for our 10 mile ride to Chaska (neighboring town).  It was cloudy, but perfect for riding. 

When we got back it was getting darker and darker and then the lightning and thunder started.  So much for 84 and Sunny!!!! We all huddled under the playground equipment to wait out the rain.  Unfortunately the rain didn't stop - it just rained harder!  We made our way to the covered pavilion and set out our blanket for a picnic there.  We were all wet and the wind was COLD!  As soon as it started to let up we packed all the kids in their carts and biked the 2 miles back home.  
Of course, as soon as we got home the rain stopped and the sun came out, but the kids were plain tuckered out from our adventures that morning...

Since we didn't get the picnic lunch and park play time we had planned with the Kapla family in the morning, we invited them over for burgers and hotdogs for dinner!  The kids had a great time playing outside. 

Maddie and Addi are two princess peas in a pod - I think they could talk about and dress up like princesses all day, every day!  Once dinner was done we started a bonfire and the girls put on their Tinkerbell jammies.  

 

We had marshmallows and the kids ran through the weeds in the empty lot next door with flashlights, picking flowers - they had a blast!  We can't wait to have the Kapla family over again :-)

Playdate at the Caldie Residence!

This morning we made our way to Elsa & Edwin's house for a playdate... 

No pictures of our kids today, but some fun ones of our friends! 

Edwin showed us his T-Ball skills...

 Michael and Kevin had a blast playing on the "roller coaster"...

And Elsa Picked flowers for everyone :)

Thank you Yaro for being such a great hostess!