Adaptable

When Noah moved out of the crib, it was kind of a big deal. He was being kicked out at one and a half, to be replaced by some new baby. The transition took a looong time. I'm learning that change isn't really Noah's thing. He resisted potty training for I'd rather not even try to recall how long. He didn't really want to leave the Duckling room last month to move up to the Bear Cub class. He refuses even to grow out of the shorts that he's unable to button.

Greta is a much more dynamic girl. No pacifier? Whatever. Never really liked it anyway. No bottle? Cool. Chocolate milk in a cup is awesome. No crib? Right on. I'd rather sleep in this wild tent bed.

The Slide is Just Over the Hill

William O'Brien State Park. Fun for only as long as I could convince the kids that we were hiking around looking for the playground. Eventually, they realized they'd been duped. It was a long hike back to the car.


Noah doing his Alex the Lion impression.
Greta

Lifetime Learners

The guys started at a new play school this summer after our daycare on the farm closed. So sad. No more huge-normous backyard / pasture. On the bright side, they now have modern toys, curriculum-based daily structure, fantastic teachers and bible stories. And no more Pop Tarts for breakfast! Plus, they get to take backpacks to school (and elsewhere) that are far too big for them.

Pontoon Magic

More from the yellow house in the woods.

Kids on pontoon. Greta, Noah, Elsa.

G can drive.

Girls. Mom, Aunt Shell, Nata.

Kev, Greta, Noah, Uncle Gary.


Hopped over.

Sibs.
I lied. We have had a family picture since Greta was a newborn. I forgot.

Peace Pipe Point

We spent some time at Grandma Honey's yellow house in Winchester in the middle of July with the fam. It was spectacular, as expected.

The lumberjack show. Greta doesn't saw.


But she does pose.

Safe only at exceedingly low speeds.
Noah and Nata. Both infamous for having their names preceded by "No! No!" when they were young. Is that assonance or alliteration? I forget. Poetic, anyway.


Pretty blondes.

Taking the Shortcut Back

A hike through Afton State Park that was longer than anyone was prepared for.

G loved the lake too much and did the return hike wearing only a diaper.

Why You Wish You Lived in River Falls

The River Falls Days parade some other day in July. I think Kevin put some of these pics in his slideshow. But he didn't mention the most awesome features of the parade. 1. The milk truck with cold chocolate milk pints for all, which is immediately followed by 2. the chocolate chip cookie truck.

Awesome.

Irregular

Dude, where have all the pictures gone?

I've no idea. I lost interest. I'll try to catch up.

This is some random day at our favorite River Falls park in July when the kids were looking particularly cute. As I type this, Greta is drinking the water that she was using for watercolor painting two minutes ago. Cute. It's non-toxic, I think.

Greta's new thing: she likes to hang. Her personal best is about 8 seconds unassisted. She also likes to fall.

Noah does not get how to swing on his own, but is an enormous fan of the underdog.

Why every playground does not have a bouncy bridge, I do not know.

Co-hanging.