Josie's Birthday

 I think I took a couple hundred pictures of Josie on her birthday and at the celebrations.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Birthday breakfast (with silly hat)

 Birthday cake on her actual B-day (a butterfly).

 Using 2 presents at once...magnifying Dora on her new leapster

to make  "Big Dora"

Waiting patiently for more cake for the cottage celbration of June B-day's

(Happy Birthday to Grandpa, Uncle Kraig and Aunt Katie!)

 such a sweet Face

Her new baby which she loves to take care of.

Officially Summer

 First beach trip of the year.

 They ran in a cirlce for about 20 minutes while I unloaded all of our stuff.

 Strawberry picking was about 20 degrees colder this year than last year, but we still came home with a bunch of red ones.  Caleb was really good at picking the good ones this year and even helped weed out the green ones Josie snuck into our bucket.

exercising her compulsive side

Photo shoot

Openning Day to cottage season

We told Caleb ahead of time that we would head to the cottage after church on Sunday.  He woke up Sunday morning, bright and early, and very excited to start summertime. 

 

The very moment he's been waiting so long for--playing trucks in the sand with his "best buddy", Nathaniel.

Josie's relaxing after a tough day

If only they could find a larger body of water that they could all play in without bumping into eachother.

Bria's Baptism

On May 22, we went to watch Bria (Caleb and Josie's newest cousin) be baptised. 

Here's Josie riding Caleb's new scooter (a favorite pastime for her, expecially since it bothers him) even though it was time to go. 

 Lemonade in the lawn.

 "cheese burber"

 Caleb was pretty excited that we gave him the go-ahead on getting in the lake.

They both went home in underwear/diaper only. 

Springtime popscicles

 You can also get a view of the patio table that Kyle made us this spring!

Most of this ended up on her (not in her).  That may be the last time she has a

popscicle with a shirt on for a while.

Caleb's 4th Birthday Party

 We tried for a picture of me with the kids for Mother's day.  This was the best of them all--it seems they aren't in the mood for this after church.  

Below are a couple of pictures from Caleb's party.  He had such a great time and got to play with his cousins, which is what he said he wanted for his birthday this year. 

Opening presents

Trying out the new bat and ball

 All 3 with a bat.

 All smiles (Until the singing started)

B-day cakes Archive

Here are some pics of past B-day cakes for Caleb.  I think the creativity will have to stop when the kids turn 5, because I'm just not sure how many ideas I can actually pull off.

B-day #4 (dinosaur)

 

 

B-day #3

 

B-day #2

Trampoline Fun

 Our neighbors have both a trampoline and a swing set and allow our kids to use it.  Both Caleb are Josie are much more confident on the trampoline this year and are loving jumping on it. 

 Somehow this turned into hide and seek.  See how good of a hider she is--you can barely even see her behind those hands.

Happy Easter

 Ready for church (dressed just like Dad today).  He looks so old to me!

 Josie was a bit bothered that Caleb interrupted her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse time before church. 

A little Easter Egg hunt in our basement before we could head to Grandpa and Grandma K's house. 

Our Chicago (not restful) Vacation

 

 We took the Amtrak train there.  The kids were very excited about this on the way there, it lost its allure on the way home.

The Ferris Wheel on Navy Pier

 Checking out the Millenium Park Jelly Bean

 Below are some pictures from Lincoln Park Zoo.  This was probably the best Zoo experience either Kyle or I can remember--not too hot, not crowded, and the animals were lively and entertaining. 

 The kids could have watched these otters swim for quite a while.  They pretended they were scratching the otters' tummies.

 Genos East Pizza (and milk through a bendy straw!)

 Friday was rainy, so we went to the Museum of Science and Industry.  The kids really liked this first "Idea Center" where they could actually play with the exhibit. 

 The Water Taxi Ride back to the train Station.

 

 Josie was such a trooper the whole time--skipping naps and late nights.  It finally caught up with her on the walk to the train station.  She didn't even wake up while we boarded the train.