Tubby Buddies

The kids got so incredibly dirty playing outside at the park on Thursday that they needed baths before supper. Here they are showing off their shampoo hair styles.

Last Sunday at the Apple Orchard

Last Sunday, we spent the day at Pine Tree Apple Orchard with Ethan's friend Jack and his family. We had a great time playing around the grounds, climbing on big tractors, taking a hay ride, and walking through an 8 acre corn maze searching for all of the letters to spell the word "tractor."

Here are Jack, Ethan, MaryKate, and Jessie.


Ethan sitting on the big Kubota.

MaryKate loved the tractor.

Wow, this is one big tire.

Ethan also made his on stage singing debut with The Flyers. They asked for a volunteer to come sing a favorite song. Ethan raised his hand, got chosen, and went up and sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." He was a big hit!

More Birch Lack Vacation Photos

Here are some more highlights from our vacation at Birch Lake.

Mary Kate loved the "water" slide! She had a blast sitting at the bottom of the slide and splashing her feet in the water.

Ethan reeling in his catch.

Building a sandcastle. Clarification: Mary Kate does not build them. She only destroys them. We nicknamed her baby Godzilla sandcastle crusher.

Us girls relaxing on a sunset pontoon cruise.

Our last day of vacation. We can't wait to come back next year!

Our Birch Lake Vacation

Here are some highlights of our 10 day vacation to Birch Lake. It was our most relaxing family vacation ever, and mostly involved playing on the beach, boating, and fishing.

Ethan's favorite spot to sit in the fishing boat...

Sunset over the bay.

Mary Kate and Daddy fishing...

Mary Kate catching some z's on the pontoon. All that fishing wears a girl out.

Ethan accepting his prize (a new big guy fishing pole!) for catching the largest fish in his age group (0-5 yrs) in the Hackensack Kids Fishing Contest. He caught a 2.65 lb blue gill. We didn't get a picture of the fish...things were a little crazy with several dozen kids fishing off the city pier! Mom spent most of the contest making sure Mary Kate didn't end up in the lake.

Ethan's First Day of Preschool

Ethan started preschool today!! He was incredibly excited and had a fabulous time. He got some new tennis shoes so he can "run fast in the gym." I was amazed that his feet had grown a whole entire size since May when bought summer sandals. Check out those size 12 New Balance tennies!

The spruce tree that Ethan is standing in front of is the one we planted to celebrate his birth in 2004.

Here we are on June 13, 2004 planting the tree. The tree and Ethan were tiny. What a wonderful 3 1/2 years of growth it's been!

There are 10 boys ion Ethan's class, and the best part is that one of his buddies, Jack, from swimming lessons, is in the same class.

Here's Ethan before school this morning, with his special preschool backpack (that he got last October at DisneyWorld).

Our Day at the State Fair

Fresh from a 10 day vacation on Birch Lake in northern Minnesota, we spent our Labor Day at the Minnesota State Fair. Ethan has been talking about going to the fair for an entire year...I'm not kidding...since our trip last year, he periodically asks when it will be time to "ride the big white school bus to the state fair again."

Here he is in his Metro Transit glory...on the big white "school" bus.

One of our first stops was at the Home Depot kids project booth, where Ethan and Dad built a tool box/art caddy.

Mary Kate was too little for practically every ride, but she did take a trip with Dad down the slide and loved it.

We spent a lot of time in the KidWay this year. Ethan rode about a zillion rides while the rest of us baked in the hot sun.



Before heat exhaustion set in, we decided to leave the KidWay and cool off under a tree with snocones and ice cold RC (for Mom and Dad).

Next we visited the animals. This year, we got to see baby pigs and lambs being born. We didn't get pictures of them, but here is Ethan petting a cow.

A new food we tried this year (well, Mom and MK tried it, Dad and Ethan said "no way!") were deep fried dill pickles. Mom and MK give a thumbs up.

Ethan and Dad stuck with the tried and true Corn Dogs. Mom's favorite beverage (in the non-alcoholic category) was the Birch Beer. Ethan's favorite, the grape cotton candy on a stick.

We enjoyed watching some horse racing competitions, but didn't get any good photos...those horses run fast.

On an administrative note, we apologize for the scarcity of updates on our blog in the past several weeks. Dad took so many darn photos of our Montana vacation that Mom, resident blogger, has been overwhelmed every time she thinks about sitting down to update this thing. So, the new strategy is to start with current, add our Birch Lake vacation photos, and then finish up the Glacier ones. So look backwards for updates!!