Since we had yet another beautiful day, we decided to explore a regional park we had not been to before: Hidden Falls Park, in St Paul. We packed a picnic lunch and set off. One of the kids' favorite things to do is to "explore". They found shells and exoskeletons and cool rocks. Tom taught Luke and Nicholas how to skip rocks. Nicholas got it right away. Luke missed the river and hit Nicholas in the side of the head right away. Opps.





A very friendly woman came up to us and said that we looked like such a cute and adventurous family and she offered to take a picture of all of us. She told us that all of the pictures she has of her family consisted of her son and husband because she was always behind the camera.

Charlie took a break to write "T"s in the sand.

What a crew!

To make the weekend even better, it was our 12th anniversary! Can't believe it has been 12 years. Tom personally delivered these flowers to my office, unfortunately, I was at a conference all day... It was definitely sweet that he did that! No romantic dinner out, but we had the best day. We fell asleep watching a movie, wild and crazy!

Our Memorial Day weekend was fantastic. The weather was beautiful and the kids were able to play outside all day long. We planned a last minute neighborhood picnic. Charlie LOVED our neighbor's hammock...

Ahhh, this picture sums up my wonderful, relaxing weekend alone. Tom and the kids went to Kansas City to meet his family, and I decided that I deserved a few days to myself. Oh, it was nice! I took nice walks, ate out at my favorite places and knitted till my hands ached. Good weekend. And the kids had a fun time with their cousins in KC. Hmmm, when will my next free weekend be?

You know it is busy here when I don't get a post up in a week. Oh, it has been busy! I just got home from a very long meeting at church (I told Tom that I could have had the info covered in 1/2 hour.) I realized tonight that Lutherans pause for long periods of time, feel the need for everyone to share and are too polite to ask the really chatty ones to button it. Anyway, I don't have new pics, but I have a cute Luke story!

On Mother's Day, Emma made me breakfast in bed, then they all joined me and helped me eat the food. They were all so cute. They all made very interesting gifts at school and I got a baking stone to make bread on and an I phone (which I haven't actually gotten yet, but Tom promised...) Anyway, Luke was just giddy about it being a special day. He came up to me and said, "I just love Mother's Day! I even told Dad, 'Thanks for marrying Mom!'" Can't get much cuter than that!

Nicholas is sick, and will probably stay home tomorrow. Just a head cold, but oh, my, is he a pitiful sick kid. He moans and groans... Emma would be running and climbing a tree if she felt the same.

This weekend Tom is planning on taking the kids to Kansas City and I will have the whole weekend free. I can't wait! I will be a bit cranky if I have to stay with sick kids instead...

All for now!

Okay, I uploaded a lot of pictures, but it describes what a great spring it has been so far. Charlie is REALLY into planting this year, thanks to Cyndi, his day care lady! They did in the dirt, plant seeds and watch them grow all day long.

Luke loves this tree, and this spring is watching the crab apples start to bud and bloom. It is the best tree. In a week it will be white with flowers.

Charlie is into playing games, usually with his own set of unique rules (where he always seems to win). This UNO game was fun, but trying to figure out how it shoots out the cards is even MORE cool!

Tom made Nicholas' day by cleaning out the garage enough so that he and Luke could play hockey. Amazing the little things that make a ten year old happy! He also is learning to ride a skate board. He is determined to figure it out, I am sure he will be cruising around the neighborhood in no time.

Tomorrow is the kids' genetic testing at Children's Hospital. Four kids getting blood drawn, should be wonderful. Maybe none of them will have the thing I have, but if they do, we will know before it causes a "problem". The best part of tomorrow is that we don't have to be there till 9:00, so we get to sleep in! Oh, and 5 more weeks till school is out. I love working, but we definitely could use a break. I initiated a "healthy choices" challenge at work, and lots of the women are joining me in eating healthy and losing some pounds. I could really use that! And when I have someone to compete with, I do much better, so before you know it, I will be back in the pants from last summer. GRRR. We weigh in on Thursday. It should be interesting!