Bike Tour

Kent led the bike tour/fundraiser up to International Falls this year (about 230 miles). This was a never-before-tried route, so I think they all enjoyed the change of scenery. I stayed for the reminder of camp with the boys and met them all on Saturday night about 50 miles away for their fun award/entertainment night. They left Friday morning on a day that felt like it just might be November. It was downright wet and chilly, but they all seemed in good spirits. Malia was rookie this year and Kent said she did great. No complaining and she pulled her weight. They did quite a bit of training together this year, and so they were pretty well prepared.

I love this picture of the girls!! Tana drove our van as one of the support vehicles and the other three rode.

And we stayed at camp, enjoying some time with grandparents. Levi really cracked me up here...he didn't realize the cone was meant to eat...as if it was some sort of bowl or dish.

Daddy's back!!!! Good tour. They raised about $10,000 for the camp.

Cold Camp

Singing time between classes each morning is one of my favorite times at camp. I'm especially thrilled to hear all the children singing. Here Levi is doing is best to chime in. Hat day...this was Kent's amazing creation for DJ to wear for the hat competition. Need I say he won (at least he got the loudest cheers).

Our only day on the beach. It was beautiful and we could have played for hours. We had no idea that the rest of the week..........
would look like this!!!

And that we would cherish each lonely sweatshirt we brought, especially if it was still dry. I actually did manage to throw in some winter hats. Don't ask me why. Oh yeah. We live in MN.

The Wedding

Our whole family rarely gets together for a picture but here we are! Here we are...happy to see everyone, sad to go so soon and tired. We drove until 4 am the next morning.

Kent's younger brother Kirk, his wife, Melissa, and their three children from Tennessee.

Kent's oldest brother Keith and his wife Gayle from Florida.

And here are the four brothers. Levi just perched right down in front of them and so I, of course, thought this was the best picture.

I don't have a single picture of the bride and groom but they were lovely. She is Kent's niece and we had the pleasure of having her stay with us three weeks last summer. Their wedding was in a beautiful old building that had been restored. Hopefully, we won't have to wait for another wedding to see the whole family again.

Grandpa and Grandma's Pond

I had lots of time sitting in a van to figure this out...Kent drove about 32 hours in 76 hours. Up to camp to get the girls...then down to Illinois for a family wedding, then back up to MN to family camp. The morning of the wedding, we had some time to enjoy the pond in Bud and Vineta's backyard. I'm proud that Malia can handle her own worm (even though I won't touch them!) And then there's Levi who had a blast just with the bait (who cares about fishing when you can play with the worms). He literally carried one around with him until he made it into the house.

DJ was thrilled and always is when he gets the chance to go fishing. Wish we could have stayed longer.

Thrilled and practically giddy!

This vehicle is a favorite of all the grandkids...called the Rhino.

Our July 4th

Triplet boys and their brother (our next door neighbors) invited DJ over to shoot off a few fireworks. There's just something about playing with the "fire" yourself that appealed to these guys. Later we went and watched the big ones from a distant spot by the freeway. You know, Levi hardly noticed the fireworks and rather kept exclaiming, "Look, white van!" "Look, big truck." I told Kent we could have come any old night and it would have been just as fun for him. :) So the background was holiday colors too. I didn't realize that until now!

This was the typical scenario!

Our dessert. I LOVE the way these berries look and taste. So glad they are in season.

Chunky

Just a quick update on Kade. I feel like I left a lot of people wondering. And for awhile I was wondering if I'd EVER get Kade to drink formula. We tried all the stuff... medicine syringe, dixie cups, tubes, straws, and even a bit of Nestle and chocolate rice milk to flavor the formula. Last week he gave in and now he's taking around 12 ounces a day. And I even think he's getting a bit chunkier! YEah!!! No Children's Hospital feeding clinic for us!

In the meantime, we're without internet (I'm at the library) and I'm finding that we can actually survive, except for Kent. He does, afterall, work for Bestbuy.com!

We're looking forward to a visit from Grandpa Wayne and Grandma Betty starting tonight! We want to cram it full with swimming in our little pool, walks in the woods, trips to the park, picnics, zoo trips, and lots of reading and games!!

Pictures later!

cuteness

swing time on a sunny day

The favorite little house up at camp.

Malia played in the honor band last month and spent an entire weekend of practice. It was intense, but I think she enjoyed it. We certainly enjoyed the concert!

Another great camp moment!

Levi loves to smell the flowers. And these lilacs are from our bushes in the backyard.

The trampoline is starting to get more use, and Levi's getting a little better at staying on his feet. Love his smile!

We've been trying to get to the park almost every day. This was early May so we still needed warm hats some days.

Gotta love the toothless grins! DJ is going through the awkward/irresistibly cute stage of losing his teeth...and getting his big ones!