Our last day at ECFE

Today was Ethan's last day of ECFE. Our class celebrated the end of the year with a picnic and play time at Tamarack Nature Center. Mary Kate joined in the festivities.

She loved crawling through the tunnels.

Ethan concentrated on blowing huge bubbles through the giant bubble wands.

Here we are getting ready to head out for a quick nature walk. As you can see, Ethan was not ecstatic about posing for a picture.

On the hike, our teacher/naturalist, Mary, explained a bit about plants and flowers and how seeds spread. She showed the kids the grass that was getting flowers/seeds ready to spread. Then we hunted for flowering grasses. Here's Ethan showing Mary the grass he found.

Then Mary found a caterpillar and all the kids were mesmerized (for about 14 seconds) watching it.

After our hike, we said goodbye to our teachers for the summer and made plans to get together with some of friends throughout the summer. It was a great day and a wonderful way to end the year.

Backyard BBQ

Today we enjoyed a lovely afternoon at our friends Sylvie and Ian's house. We celebrated Sylvie's birthday with lots of fun activities for the kids and a great backyard BBQ.

Here's Mary Kate pushing a scooter and showing off her 4 pearly whites.

The hot tub was turned down to a kid-friendly 90 degrees and Ethan hung out in there for a bit with some friends.

Mom and Dad had their hands full with tired, dirty kids after all the festivities and didn't manage to get a picture of any adults the whole day! Mom made a birthday cake for Sylvie and an ice cream cake for the kids (thanks for the great recipe, Jenni!). Then Sylvie opened gifts and we headed home. Ethan and Mary Kate were asleep after about 45 seconds of driving.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Ethan, Dad, Laura and her Dad, Mike went to a Twins game at the Metrodome and had a fabulous time. They rode the train from the Mall of America to the stadium.

The cotton candy was a big hit.

These baseball fans started getting pretty tired by the 8th inning and headed home, only to learn that the game ended up going 13 innings, with the Twins losing by one run.

Popsicles on the porch with Laura

Ethan's friend Laura came over to play today. Laura's grandma, Kathy, made some yummy popsicle treats for the kids.

Ethan's Flower Pot

At ECFE yesterday, the kids got to decorate flower pots and plant a flower in them. Ethan had a great time and is very proud of his artwork and plant.

Fun in the Sprinklers

After supper, Ethan enjoyed running through the sprinklers.

He's a fast runner, so we got lots of blurry pictures.

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Mary Kate's Sun Hat

Mary Kate's wonderful godmother, Michele, made her a new sunhat. Here she is trying it on, with her sunglasses (and cheeks full of graham cracker crumbs). We had lots of fun playing at the park today and the hat worked great!

A nap on the couch

We had a really busy day. Swim lessons, a drive to Brooklyn Center to purchase a Trail-A-Bike for Ethan (we'll post some pictures of it soon), a trip to Lowe's to get a new garbage disposal. So after Mary Kate went down for her nap, Mom and Ethan decided to take a rest on the couch and fell asleep. Photo courtesy of Dad (garbage disposal installer who unfortunately didn't get a nap today).

Mary Kate's New Baby Stroller

Mary Kate received a toddler-sized baby stroller as a birthday gift from the Lariviere/Heath family. She loves to push it all over the house. Sometimes she puts her baby doll in it, but mostly she just cruises around the house behind it.

Yogurt Face

Mary Kate absolutely loves to feed herself. Here she is accomplishing two important tasks:

1. Feeding herself yogurt

2. A new skin care regimen known as the yogurt facial

Ethan's New Watch

We had a busy morning running errands so we had lunch at Wendy's after we finished our trip to the post office, library, and Target.

Ethan got a watch in his Kid's Meal. He really loves it and wears it all the time. It's a chicken watch. Yes, that's right, a chicken.

Mother's Day

Dad, Ethan and Mary Kate let Mom sleep in late on Mother's Day and then treated her to a lovely brunch at home with cinnamon french toast and fruit.

The weather was pretty blustery in the morning, so Mom put her feet up, read the entire Sunday paper at her leisure, and then Mary Kate took her morning nap. Meanwhile, Mom continued to do mostly absolutely nothing. Except play with the new digital camera she got as a Mother's Day present. It's a Canon A550, and it's fabulous!

The afternoon brought sunshine, so we headed out to the nursery to do one of Mom's favorite things, shop for trees and plants!! We chose three new trees to add to the backyard. One is an oak tree that we planted to celebrate Mary Kate's birthday. The other two are scotch pines.

Can you believe that all three trees fit in the van? We couldn't.

Mary Kate hung out in the van and enjoyed some juice while the guys supervised the tree loading. Here she is, all juiced up!

In the afternoon, Ethan and Dad dug holes and planted trees. Mary Kate napped and Mom putzed in the yard and consulted on tree planting.

A beautiful day with my wonderful family. Life is so incredibly good.

Mary Kate's Birthday Party

Mary Kate's One Year Birthday Celebration was fantastic! Here are some of the highlights.

Opening presents...a cute bunny puzzle from the Wells family. Laura and Ethan helped her put it together.


A pretty baby doll from Kathy and Gerald Ridlehoover.


Kisses for the baby.


The butterfly cake Mom made.


The Happy Birthday song and blowing out the candle.




Enjoying some cake and ice cream.

Hanging out with Mom post-afternoon nap. What a great day.

Mary Kate is One!!!

Well, today was the big day. Mary Kate turned one today! She started her morning with her favorite breakfast...toast and juice.

Then we headed out to have her one year portraits taken. After pictures, we had lunch with Daddy. Then back home for a nice, long nap. After nap, Daddy took her outside for some pictures in the new chair he made for her, while Ethan and Mom frosted the birthday cupcakes and made supper.

Pretty girl...

Beau is a trusted friend and always close by.

One!

Enjoying her supper...pasta noodles, peaches, green beans and cheese.

Sooooo big!

Then it was time for the birthday cupcake. We sang Happy Birthday and Ethan helped her blow out her candle. She loved the cupcake.

Hooray!!

Happy May Day!

Today is May Day! Ethan discovered 2 baskets full of goodies at our front door this afternoon (compliments of our next door neighbor). Here's Mary Kate carefully examining the pretty (silk, don't worry Nana) flower in her basket.


Ethan didn't give the flower a second glance, because there was candy in his basket. The Dots were his favorite.

And here's Mary Kate showing off her standing skills. She stood all by herself for a good 15 seconds today, but this picture shows off her ultra-cute smile.