Kate's Baby Shower

Mommy's cousin, Mike, and his wife, Kate, are expecting their first baby in July.  We went to Caroline's house for the baby shower... wearing the outfits Grandma Banana really likes :-)  (Grandma Candy bought them... our Grandma's have great taste!!)

While the shower activities were going on, we played with Caroline, in her room, helped open gifts, then headed outside.  

Guess what Kylie found in the yard???  A snake!!

She picked it up, showed it off... and made most of the women there crawl in their skin!!

When Papa Pizza picked up Grandma, he thought it was AWESOME!!!

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

Anniversary's are a bit crazier with kids - and we proved it today!

First, Danielle brought us to Mommy's office at lunch.  She did not tell us there was a mini "carnival" happening in the courtyard.  BUT, we went outside... and we found the Vikings' mascot (we took a picture, even if he was not a Steeler!), balloon art from the 3M Clowns, a putting green from Tartan Park, some candy, and the SNAKES from the Minnesota Zoo!  We walked all over, said "Hi" to Mommy's co-workers...

Then, went inside to have lunch with Mommy!  A few of Mommy's co-workers joked they did not know who would use the "little" furniture in the remodeled parts of the building - we showed them! 

The pizza was yummy, and according to Neela, the cafeteria was HUGE!

We wanted to see Mommy's office - did you know she has our pictures hanging up everywhere, our artwork on most walls, a cool purple bobblehead, and CANDY in her office?  AND, she let us have some candy!!  Then, we went to Danielle's Daddy's office - we took our picture behind his desk, and drew him a picture on his whiteboard :-)

We headed to camp - then to DeLeo's for pizza and video games.  The pizza was super yummy - we want to know when we get to try that again!  Afterwards, Mommy and Daddy split up - Mommy took the big girls to soccer, and Daddy took Brooke to tee ball.  We had an awesome game - and Kylie scored her first ever soccer goal!  She was so excited, and now LOVES the game!  Neela was very proud of her sister - and the fact that they won their first game!!

When we got home, Mommy found the flowers we picked out with Danielle's help with Daddy's credit card at Tara's flower shop... and the cards we made for both of them.  Happy Anniversary!

Congratulations Captain Scott!

One of the first firefighters we ever met was Captain Scott.  He worked at Daddy's "old" fire station with Hambone, Daddy, Dick and a lot of other people.  Scott helped us move into our new house, and helped us figure out our new swing set on one of the first days after the move.  Tonight, he retired from Woodbury Fire after 27 years of service to the city.  We made a quick stop on our way to gymnastics to give him a hug... and Neela asked if she could have a picture with him.  

We also enjoyed looking at his cake - but Daddy had to bring us a piece at the end :-)  They did not cut the cake before gymnastics!!

Congratulations, and thank you, Firefighter Scott!!

Teeth & Tee Ball!

We had a busy Monday!  This afternoon, we went to the dentist to have our teeth checked.  Guess what??  No cavities for Mommy, Kylie, Neela OR Brooke!  We all got a new toothbrush, toothpaste, floss -- and a toy if you are under 10 :-)  We love visiting Dr. Cunningham - she and her staff are AWESOME!

Then....  It has ARRIVED!  It's TEE BALL time for Brooke!

Mommy found her a new Hello Kitty glove - she loves anything AND everything Hello Kitty!!  

Then, Daddy took her out on the field!  She learned to throw and catch tonight (she liked throwing better), and will learn to hit on Wednesday!

Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day was pretty quiet at our house... until the afternoon!

We let Daddy sleep in as long as he wanted - and that meant he did not get up until noon!

We all gave Daddy his cards, his new Caribbean shirts, and his handprint photos we made for him.  Then, the next question... what to eat?

Brooke really wanted to take Daddy to the "Pirate BBQ" place for Father's Day - she really meant Smalley's in Stillwater.  Daddy did not feel like driving that far - so we headed to Famous Dave's in Woodbury.  Brooke got her wish to give Daddy BBQ for Father's Day :-)

After lunch, we headed to Brian and Nicole's to try out their new swimming pool.  We were the first people EVER to climb in the pool - the slide was not even done yet!  We enjoyed swimming all over the pool - with noodles and other cool floaties.  We also had a blast entertaining baby Bradley in his floatie :-)

It was a quiet, fun day for everyone :-)

Our First Twins Game!

When we wrote our summer bucket list, we included "Go to a baseball game."  We had played a little baseball at school and in our front yard, and watched a few innings of the Cubs with Uncle Chuckie.  Little did we know, Mom and Dad already had plans for us to go to our FIRST Twins' game with another set of twins!!

Daddy took us shopping on our way to the stadium - we got new Twins' T-shirts and hats :-)  We fit RIGHT in!

Then, we find the OTHER twins from South Dakota - Mikele and Parker Paluch!  They are friends' of Mommy's from when she was a little girl...  Bert Blyleven, the former pitcher, circles people in the stadium during the game.  The Paluch twins made a sign we could hold up during all breaks -- no one is sure if they saw us or not, but we definitely had a gave it our best shot!

We had a few family pictures (check out Kylie's big bruise on her chin from the monkey bars!):

Roger brought a bag full of goodies... even if Mommy said "No", we somehow managed to get every goody Roger brought in his backpack :-)

Do you think it's because we cuddled up to him???

The game got a little long, so we posed for a few pictures, found some tattoos, went to guest services and got a "First Twins' Game" certificate... and do you know if you cry enough about your wet shirt, they have a few spares for 3 year olds??

At the end of the game, Austin carried Brooke from the upper deck down.  Brooke thought it was VERY cool to have another "non-twin" to hang out with :-)  Check out those eyes!! AND Austin was a trooper for helping with her! What a great 17-year-old!

We cannot wait to see the Paluch's again!  Maybe another ball game next year??!?!?!?

Soccer Girl

After a few months of Amazing Athletes at New Horizons, and falling in love with sports...

Brooke had her first taste of soccer as part of Park & Rec PeeWee 3's.  She and Daddy were out on the field, practicing kicking and trapping, while her sisters waited for their class to start. 

Brooke was so excited to finally have HER turn on the field :-)

Go Kylie Go!

Mommy came home from her 5K this morning, and told Kylie she had a secret plan.  Her plan was to help Kylie figure out how to ride a two wheel bike.  Mommy had one errand to run, and then she and Kylie were going to work on biking until she figured it out.

We were in the street for 20 minutes, with a few minor falls, and Kylie took off.  She did ride Neela's bike, at first, because she was convinced the wheels were better... but she had switched to her own bike before the end of the day!  Way to go, Kylie :-)

The New Zoo Exhibits: Africa & Dinosaurs

For our next field trip, Mommy and Daddy took us to the Minnesota Zoo.  We got to see the Africa exhibit... and learned we did not even make it to the top of the giraffe's knees when standing next to it.

Then, the Dinosaur exhibit!  We have been waiting to see the dinosaurs again since they closed last fall... and they are finally here!  They still had the water dinosaurs to get us all wet... plus many others that worked through the various time periods of dinosaur lives.  Aunt Angie found us for a few minutes, and we built our own kind of dinosaurs with bones at the end :-)

It was not hot, but it really was not cold, so we decided we could play at the splash pad for a few minutes... 

We are so happy it's summer at the Zoo - and a few of our favorite exhibits and activities have returned.  Now, home to see Grandma, Aunt Renee and Uncle David... and what they found when they went shopping!

Children's Museum

Our visitors are still in town - so we planned a few more fun activities with them!

Today, we headed downtown to the Children's Museum.  We wanted to show them our favorite exhibits, and see the new ones.  The newest exhibit is all about exercise, force and motion.  Snow boarding, leg presses, bike rides.... we tried them, but we sometimes had to get a grown up to exercise with us to make things work!!

After our exercise, we moved on... to FACE PAINT!  Did we mention, we really, really, really like face paint at the museum... EVERY time???

Then, we took everyone into the art room... and made books and project with ribbons, paper and the paper punch.

Then, we went into the city... where Neela met a boy in the dog house, and they got married! (Yes, that's the story...) Then into the construction / water area, before we headed to the Roof Top Garden!  We made salt watercolor art, and did a "shape search"... then headed back to the car.

We had our fill of the day - and Mommy, Daddy, David and Renee were heading out for dinner for the night!

Last Day of Kindergarten!!!!

Our first year of school flew by incredibly fast - although in February, we might have thought it was going to last FOREVER!  Grandma Banana and Papa Pizza bought us new rain coats - and we got to wear them on our last day!  We were not sad to leave Mommy when we climbed on the bus, but were sad thinking about not seeing all of our friends every day!

After we got on the bus, Mommy and Brooke went to get bagels and coffee.  Brooke finally got her very own kiddie cocoa, but needed some milk to go with it.

Then, it was time for an outing... Brooke got her rain coat on, but thought we needed to use the crab umbrella, too.

Mommy, Aunt Renee, Uncle David, Grandma Candy and Brooke headed to Stillwater for the day.  First, they stopped to get a new rain coat for Aunt Renee... then headed into town.  Their first stop, Candyland!  Grandma checked out the selection - and prices - and decided her store was better :-)  Brooke enjoyed sharing Linus' candy outside!

After a few stops to look at dresses, tops, jeans, and jewelry... we ended up at Smalley's Jamaican BBQ - otherwise known as "the Pirate BBQ place".  Brooke was a bit intimidated by the pirates, but tried to get just close enough to take her picture.  She aso enjoyed her food - and keeps asking when she can go back! (It was featured on the Food Network!!)

After a quick stop at the cupcake shop (yes, we got cupcakes and cake pops) and the winery (Uncle David still prefers daycare wine!), we headed back to Woodbury.  At Middleton, we found a very teary Neela - sad to leave her friends, teachers and Kids' Club for the summer.  Tad told her crocodile tears don't mix with the ice cream snack... but she started crying the minute Mommy walked in, so Mommy started crying, too!

We stopped for a little more wine, then went home for a quick supper... Kylie and Neela had to get ready for their first BIG soccer game!  And... they had a cheering section for the "Yellow Cheetah's".

They did not win, but they learned a lot about the many positions on the soccer team.  Of course, Brooke and Aunt Renee had fun chasing each other around the baseball field next to the soccer field... including the trademark "Monkey Face".

First Grade, Watch Out!  Here we come!!