Pics from Grandpa's Party

Mmm.... cake. Can we always eat in the garage???

Watching the big people play beanbags.

Cole could have spent the whole day looking for bugs and moving rocks out of the landscaping and into the grass. The lawn care guys will love him.

Cole liked playing with the balloons.

Oooh!!!! A balloon!!

Look at my balloon!

Having fun trying to bite the balloon.... until.....

POP!!! Ouch!

Congratulations Grandpa!

Cole's Grandpa Iverson retired on June 1 after 35 years of ministry. Our family went down to Forest Lake to celebrate with them. They had a party at their house, and we think about 90 guests came! Thankfully we were blessed with perfect weather, so people could be outdoors. Congratulations Grandpa!!!! BTW, we ate this pig. And we will be for a looonnggg time. 241 pounds. Kinda sick, huh? Yummm.....

Daddy's Lawnmowing Buddy

Cole and Mommy were outside playing while Daddy was mowing the lawn. All Cole wanted to do was chase Daddy around the yard, yelling and pointing, so we decided to let him take a turn at the wheel. He has been bitten by the lawnmowing bug. Apparently he is all boy (insert manly grunt here).

Randoms

Our little Monkey

Cole is 15 months old now. He has been learning animal sounds, and he has mastered the monkey (sort of). Ooh, ooh, ooh! He pants like a puppy and gives kisses with a "mmm-muh" sound. He also enjoys watching Daddy mow the lawn through the patio door....sooo cool. Someday, Cole, someday. He is enjoying playing outside finally, and loves lining up all of the animals from his Noah's Ark toy -- Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa! Grandma and Grandpa Iverson came up last Saturday so Mommy and Daddy could work in the yard and till the garden to prepare it for growing some yummy vegetables. Cole loves tomatoes, peas, and broccoli, so we will have to plant lots of those. Spring has finally sprung in Duluth, and Mommy is counting down the last few weeks of school until she can be home with Cole all summer long, exploring the great outdoors! We are looking forward to a great summer full of adventure. Bring on the summer weather!

Hay Ride? Dog Sled? Lawnmower trailer!

Does hauling your family around in a trailer pulled by your riding lawnmower make you trailer trash? What it comes down to is that Ryan likes to play with his toys. He got a new trailer this week (which conveniently can be pulled by the Jeep or by the lawnmower) because it will help him "when we reroof the house in June. We won't have to haul all of the shingles from the front of the house to the backyard." I am pretty sure roofs have been redone without the purchase of a trailer, but whatever. He is doing it with his buddies and their own physical labor, so I guess I can agree to the trailer if it saves us several thousands in labor costs! He thought Cole would enjoy a tour of our property, and gave us a very thorough (and very chilly) spin around the yard.

If you are free the first weekend in June and would like to help with the roofing project, we pay in pizza and beer.

P.S. That's TWO posts in one day, so I guess I'm trying to make up for neglecting it for so long!

LONG Overdue ..... sorry about the delay....

Okay, okay, we are bad parents. I promise, we have been doing fun things and taking fun pictures, but we have been SOOO busy, we have not had a chance to post them. So here is a collage of pictures from the past month or so...

In March we went to the Edge Waterpark again, and had a blast. We went to the zoo again, and have been very confused by this spring/winter on again/off again thing. We have packed away our winter things and pulled out our summer things several different times this spring.

Cole is a walking, running, full-blown toddler these days. He often makes requests (demands) for apples (appo) and bananas (nananana). Everyday he blows us away with something new. Today we found a long-lost pig that had been missing from Cole's farm truck. Ryan threw it in by the farm toy (you know, the barn we all had as kids; a totally separate toy collection), and Cole picked up the pig and brought it into the other room and put it on the truck where it belongs. We thought it was incredible that he was able to decipher pig from pig and remember where it went. His current vocabulary includes: up, please (up PEES!!); all done; eat (et); uh-oh; and apple juice. There may be more, as we seem to add to it everyday!

We are heading outside now where Daddy is going to pull Mommy and Cole around in the trailer behind the riding lawnmower. Fun, fun, fun!!! Maybe we'll even take some pictures and put them on the blog within a reasonable period of time!