Apple Orchard

It's that time of year again...and we have so far every year gone to an apple orchard and this year was definitely my favorite trip because Andrew was VERY involved in the picking of the apples and enjoyed the entire visit! We had a wonderful trip as a family and Andrew was thrilled with his apple choices! We have had alot of fun making apple crisp, apple bars and just enjoying them fresh!

Pumpkin Fun!

This year Andrew is definitely more into the Fall themes including the fun of picking out pumpkins, which was a special treat for us this year because our friends who great amazing pumpkins in their garden allowed us to come pick some out...as you can see the kids had a blast and the pumpkins are HUGE! What fun they will be to carve and decorate the front of the house with!

John Deere Fun and a Parade!

We were blessed to be included in the fun of riding in the hay wagon behind a great John Deere tractor for the Rosemount Leprechaun Parade, it was a BLAST! We had so much fun going through the parade but even more exciting was Andrew was allowed to drive one of the John Deere's all by himself! It was a fun day with great friends - here are some pics!

Look out fish, here they come!

This summer is Andrew's first year of fishing even though he requested it last year. He and Daddy went and bought all the necessary gear including the Cars Lightning McQueen fishing pole, because who could starting fishing with anything else? So much to my surprise Andrew is quite the fishing pro already, he has yet to have an outing (except where there were no fish) where there not fish that were caught! He averages about 3 catches (and releases) per trip with Daddy. Andrew quite frequently request to go with Daddy and they seem to be really enjoying themselves. Daddy has not been quite as successful in catching fish, but in his defense he spends alot of time being the GREAT daddy that he is and helping Andrew (ie; baiting the hook, reminding Andrew to real in extra line, taking the fish off the hook, rebaiting the hook...and repeat!).

I was finally invited along this past week to check out the scene...and here are some pics from the evening...look closely you will see the fish! They blend in a bit with the background (oh and they aren't super huge but quite impressive I think!).

Allowance for a Camper?

So we decided that now that Monkey is 5 and is desperately wanting some new toy every time we come near a toy section of a store that is was time for him to start earning an allowance...and Mommy is ready for him to work more on some chores! So he has a set of chores that need to be done daily and once those become the norm then we will add to the list, so far so good! Monkey is realizing how far (or not far) a dollar goes in the lego section at Target...so far he has not been upset about it which I am so thankful for.

In line with thought, we were driving home from running errands one day and Andrew spotted a 5th wheel camper in the Sam's Club parking lot, and he quickly said "we need to get a camper!" (this is not a new conversation, ever since enjoying the Ottosen families motorhome, he has desired to own a camper - thankfully we have been able to just enjoy theirs to date. So my response to him was "well they are very expensive so I don't think we will be buying a camper", and his response was "grandpa lou could buy us a camper" (the humor here is Monkey has yet to figure out that Grandpa doesn't party with money that easily!) So I responded "well that's alot of money I don't think Grandpa could buy that for you" and Monkey said "well he will just have to do more chores and get more allowance!"

These are the moments that I don't know how I keep the van on the road due to internal laughter exploding in my body!

So I told him he would need to call grandpa about that...and so right then and there we dialed grandpa to let him know Andrew needed a new camper! No worries Grandpa we aren't expecting a camper...but thanks for sharing in the humor. Andrew did get a camper for his birthday from Uncle John and Aunt Michelle - it is the lego version and it is SO fun...so that will need to suffice for now!

Preschool Is Done...

Wow it's so strange to think that preschool is now over, didn't that just start? The picture above is of them receiving their memory books which a fabulous compilation of their projects they did throughout the year, Monkey loves and cherishes his and so do we.

Andrew is very ready for summer vacation but is still confused by our new "schedule" or better known as "where are we going in the morning mom?" We have been non-stop busy already so I think summer will whoosh by too quickly. Here are some pics from Monkey's final program at school he was his usual non-participatory self which is frustrating but we are praying he grows out of it! They sang some wonderful songs and recited the Ten Commandments (or at least most of the kids did - grrr!) Oh and also a pic of Andrew's "girlfriend" Peyton, he is terribly smitten by her and I can't get enough of his "over the moon" grin when he talks about her. She is such a wonderful sweet and smart little girl, and we are thrilled they will be in Kindergarten together next Fall - just hope my sweet boy can focus with her in the room!

The BIG 5!

Well it's official and sadly has been for over a month, Monkey is now 5! Unbelievable to me really however Monkey is very very clear about how old he is. He had a great party with his friends and here are a few pics of the fun!