Look who's 6!

6 years ago we were in the hospital on a VERY hot Memorial Day weekend & got to meet out cute little Butternut...

... & she forever changed our lives!

This Memorial Weekend, our birthday girl wanted to go camping for her birthday, so as soon as school let out on Friday, we headed out for a long camping weekend!

She's so old it takes 2 hands to show it!

Brandon made her a very nice card & got her a little diary she was wanting.

And from us, she got her American Girl doll... she was THRILLED!!!

For her birthday dinner, she had requested ribs, corn on the cob & a BIG birthday cookie!

The birthday girl had a great day... & was more than ready for bed with her new friend "Daisy"!  (in her sleeping bag she got when we were camping on her 3rd birthday)

The next morning was drizzly, so the kids worked on their Jr Ranger books in the tent for a while... & they weren't bickering!!

We had a nice campsite at Lake Shetek State Park!

Daisy seemed to like camping & Melanie was SUPER careful with her around camp.

Later we headed out for a little bike ride.  It was still a little drizzly but warm. The kids had fun riding through big puddles.  The next day was nice, so we went on a nice long ride that took us on a loop from the park to the town of Currie.

On our rainy day, we headed out driving to find one of our favorite microbrews (Brau Brothers) located in the teeny tiny town of Lucan, MN.

Melanie spent a lot of time at camp writing in her diary.  She was quick to lock it up & only Daisy has the key! 

Brandon LOVES to read, so he even brought along his light so he could do a little reading in the tent before bed.

To say Sunday was windy would be an understatement.  There was a strong wind all day & our tent pretty much was caving in on one side the whole time due to the wind... crazy wind!

Mike couldn't resist trying a little fishing after seeing a few people catching crappies...

They caught some small walleyes & 1 decent size crappy, but we didn't keep anything.

The lake was super high so the regular beach was underwater but we did find a small little one where the kids played... skipping rocks, wading & playing in the sand.

There were a few more gifts from family waiting at home when we got back on Monday.  Melanie had fun reading her own cards now that she is a great reader!

And Gram & Grandpa brought her a gift too... $$ for a little shopping spree for Daisy!

The next weekend we did her birthday party at the house.  It was a Pinkalicious party, so most everyone wore some sort of pink.  It was a gorgeous day, so they played outside while everyone arrived.

We were able to set up on the screen porch for the party activities...

... first up was painting their monogram & decorating it with little jewels.

Then it was time for PINKALICIOUS cupcakes made by our own local Mon Petit Cupcake (aka Jennifer Rogers) & homemade pink vanilla ice cream made by me.  They were a delcious hit... even Brandon said, "they might be pink but they are really good!"

Cupcakes...

& gifts...

The whole Pinkalicious group!

Happy 6th Birthday to our amazing & sweet girl!

May Days

We had an unusually early & warm spring... & it continued right into May.  Made for a nice Mother's Day weekend as we were able to head out biking in Lanesboro for the day!  The Root River Trail is a great biking trail & the kids always do well! We did about 10 miles this time out... normally 15-20 is more common, but our first time out for the season, 10 was plenty! Melanie loves all the bridges along the way.  The long railroad bridge (below) is her favorite! 

 We found a park to take a break at... lucky for Brandon they had basketballs to play with while Melanie zeroed in on the monkey bars!

My two favorite things about being a Mom... Thing 2 & Thing 1!

It was a great way to spend Mother's Day!!  We stopped in Lanesboro after biking for a fun meal on the patio of a local restaurant... yay for not having to cook & they were giving moms a free drink or a free dessert!  I chose a nice glass of vino! 

Every spring, the music teacher at school puts together a music presentation for grades 1-4.  She is a very talented teacher who introduces them to all types of music, rythm, instruments & such.  She put together a nice program this year of music from around the world.  Brandon is always humming & singing songs from school & he's not normally the one who goes around our house singing.

She gave them quite a few movements this year too.  (Brandon is in the blue/green striped shirt in the back row.)

It was an enjoyable program!  Brandon & all the kids did a great job!


The same weekend was the big dance recital for Melanie.  It is fun to see the girls get so excited about it!!

Hana, Melanie & Elena

Melanie loved this costume for her ballet for Somewhere Over the Rainbow (the Hawaiian version)...

Some of the girls waiting to go backstage

 

Melanie & some friends in the black box waiting around... fun abounds!

The girls loved their Shimmy costumes... it is amazing how a costume can transform a personality!  They sure pulled out their sass for this one & loved to ham it up!

Hana & Melanie

My little ballerina! (who is starting to look not quite so little anymore)

The ballerinas waiting for their turn to twirl!

It is fun to watch the dancers... from little to big... & fun to see the ones who have a passion for it!

We were so proud of our little dancer!!

Next up... Melanie's big 6th birthday!

The rest of the Random Recap...

This spring, Brandon opted to do the project fair at school & picked pyramids as his subject. He did a good job researching & even designing his poster board into the shape of a pyramid (totally his idea)! All the kids got to display their projects one evening for everyone to view. 

For Easter we headed up to the cities & stayed with Allison & Natalie.  The kids always love seeing their cousin Allison. They were pretty excited on "Easter Eve"!

 Easter morning was a bit interesting as apparently we forgot to let the Easter bunny know we'd be in the cities... Melanie was quick to conclude that the Easter bunny must have been confused when he didn't find the baskets at our house but left the stuff for there baskets back at our house anyway.  But luckily, the bunny had eggs of candy to hide for an egg hunt...

 It was a nice morning for an egg hunt...

 ... & Allison even needed some help from her little cousins to find a few of her eggs!

 Happy Easter!! 

The kids were anxious to get home to see if the bunny had left their stuff...

... that silly bunny had left it in their chairs at the table!

Trout fishing opened in April... Mike is always eager to get out & the kids enjoy taking turns going with him.

 Brandon & Mike had a good opening day (above)
& he & Melanie did well the next outing too (below).

And this year with our crazy early spring meant the morel mushroom season was also early creating quite the dilemma for Mike... trout fishing or mushroom hunting... what to do?

 Today, morel hunting won out!

Melanie hit another milestone this month... she was super excited to lose her first tooth!!!  And not too long after, she lost the second one!

Our cute little Trout Fishing Girl!

And the up & coming morel hunter! 

 

We have been talking for years about getting an ATV... so we finally stopped talking about it... we are now the owners of a fun new toy!

So far it seems to be a hit with the whole family...

With the early spring, the morels seemed early.  But after some rainy weather, there seemed to be a second season... and some pretty big mushrooms as a result!  Mike had quite the banner mushroom year!