Al's Visit To The Deep South!

The kiddos and I have been in Mississippi without Andy from the end of May till the end of June while he finished up graduate school in Madison.  FINALLY he was done and his awesome dad met up with Andy in Wisconsin and drove down with him.  Drew and Claire were happy to see daddy, however ecstatic to see silly Grandpa!!!

Al was here for just a long weekend before he had to fly back.  However we put him quick to work with a few house projects and assembly from the move!

The first task  Al and I concurred together was to assemble the hammock... I think Al sat on the hammock  ten times testing his weight....

At last the hammock is safe!!!

Al booked his flight out of New Orleans, which means VacAtIon for us!!!  So we booked a hotel room and saw ALL of the sights in the 100 degree weather!!  We did it Vegas style with drinks in our hands out on the streets!  (Claire's cup had water....)

Thank you Al for helping out and making the road trip with Andy!!  We loved having you and sneaking you into our hotel!!

May Madness!

May has been one of our busiest months on the books!  We celebrated Drew and Claire's Birthday, moved out of our house, bought a new car, moved in with friends, ran a mud run, went to MN, drove to Mississippi,   Andy flew to California, and the kiddos and I moved into a new house!

Drew celebrated his 6th Birthday

Said good-bye to our house in Madison.

Drew and Claire ran a half mile mud run race in Madison!

Since all of our house hold goods were packed we stayed at our good friends house in Madison!  The kiddos had a blast!

Claire celebrated her 4th Birthday and Grandma and Grandpa's house in MN.

Two days later we jumped in the car for the twenty-two hour drive to Gulfport.  The kiddos did AMAZING in the car!

Back to the beach life we missed.

Exhausted from the crazy May month in the hotel.

And this past Wednesday the movers came with all of our stuff!

Whew, how I hope June will be a calmer month

Grandpa and Grandma Olsen Visit!

 Last weekend Andy's parents came for a weekend visit.  We had a great time touring around with them and enjoying the kiddos birthday party with them!

On Friday everyone had school (including Andy) so I tool them up to the local winery!

They also had brandy tasting.  Mary Lou and I acted like we were really interested and  gave it all to Al!

Claire just loved her grandpa  and he loves to act as silly as she does!  (Claire covering him up with all of the blankets in the house and he would jump out and scare her!)

Al still owns the first ever cell phone invented!!  The kiddos were amazed with it when we were out to dinner!!

Saturday was beautiful here so we hit up the opening of the farmers market at the capital.

Claire spotted Bucky the Badger from a mile away!!

Just chilling in front of the capital..

Al was such a sport and climbed into the third row and would just roll out...

On Sunday we had a bowling Birthday party for the kiddos.

Drew and his best buddy Rowe.

Claire tearing up the bowling.

Time for cake!!

And to sum up there trip here this last photo is of Claire feeling their poor dog Kai one. bite. at. a . time!!  Kai truly is the most patient and well behaved dog I've every met!

Birthday and Easter Weekend

This past weekend my mom came to Madison!  In the car was my nephew Cade and niece Lucy to celebrate Easter and a few Birthdays this past weekend with us.  Drew and Claire were in heaven!

Cade's Birthday was last week and my mom's is this week.  A cake and candles were in order:)

We also tied in a few Easter activities.  The kiddos are at SUCH fun ages for holidays and their excitement!  We planted a few jelly beans outside to see what would happen...

After watering them, the craziest thing happened and they grew into suckers!

Drew and his cousin Cade

Based on everyone's eyes, the sun must have been hitting just right...

After going on a walk we came home to a trail of carrots..

And the Easter Bunny had arrived!!

Happy Easter

Spring Break In Minneapolis

Drew, Claire, and Andy all had the same spring break so we hit the road for Minneapolis for a few days.  The weather was great and it was nice to spend time with family.

Claire is in LOVE with uncle Matt!

The spring festival was going on at Como Park.  The park was full of activities for children and it actually felt like spring with the flowers in bloom.

Drew and Claire loved looking at this little guy!  It was so crazy he was so content in the pool and would just stare at the kiddos!!

Drew is doing amazing with his reading and has moved up several levels!!  To reward him we told him we would take him rock climbing!!  We were in good hands with uncle Aric who is a pro!

Drew and Claire blew us away with their skills!!!  

Drew had NO fear at all and went straight to the top!!

Above he is repelling down with uncle Aric.

We were at the gym for over FIVE hours!!  The kiddos could have stayed longer, however the adults were done!  A fun new hobby the entire family can enjoy!

After School Fun

After school this is our standard activity snow boarding and sledding!!  The sledding hill is right on the school playground!  Not only do the kiddos love it, the adults love it as we get an opportunity to visit.  Standard daily there are thirty kiddos having a ball!

Claire making a train with her friends (she is in the pink coat)

Drew has blown Andy and I away with his snow boarding skills!  He wanted a snow board sooooo bad and had never tried one before.  Luckily they were on sale and we bought one for him.  Drew strapped in his feet and he was a PRO!!!