The boys and I at the Hudson City park celebrating my 27th birthday. After being good for lunch we let them play for a little while. It is a very nice park for such as small town. It was terribly hot out there but the kids don't seem to mind. For lunch we ate at the Wheatland Cafe. It's a very small little cafe in the middle of town. They serve fresh pan fried chicken breaded with Hudson floor! It is amazing they even have real mashed potatoes! I was very happy that my parents finally got to go there with us! It has been a great birthday after lunch we came back to town and had a Chocolate Texas Sheet cake and opened my presents. I got a new wind chime for outdoors from my parents that is shaped like a lighthouse and sounds like one also. Then after they left and everyone got naps in we went and spent some of my birthday money on a few new pairs of shoes and a dress for work. Now it's time to relax and find some dinners and get ready for work tomorrow! It's the first day of school for my students!

Bee, up close!

Bee, up close!

Sunflower

I have been saying for years I was going to take pictures of a Sunflower field in the summer but it has taken me years to figure out the perfect day to do it! I got a new camera today and decided I would go and check it out. I had no idea if I would find anything or not but I lucked out! The perfect time for this field would have been about a week ago but I did ok cause there were still a few pretty ones out there! It was terribly hot outside today to be taking these pictures but 106* won't stop me! I loved the color in this picture and the fact that it has a bee in the middle!

Erin and I at Stephanie and Ralphs Wedding July 16th, 2011.

Stephanie and Ralph are one set of our neighbors. They are wonderful and we couldn't be luckier to have them next door!

That's my "look I got him to kick his feet and enjoy it" face! ;)
Maks was a hard cookie to crack during swim leassons this year.

He enjoyed it once he got in the water but getting him in was always the trick. Then once he was in you had a short window of time before he got tired of being held! We had a great time though and are glad we got the boys in.

Kale's new goggles!

Kale has been doing very well in swim lessons this session so I decided to get him a pair of goggles today. He loved them so much!

He wanted to wear them in swim lessons today and they seemed to make him love going underwater. He had a great time going underwater wearing them although he didn't quite understand that they would help him look around under the water. So he would just go under water and continue to look straight ahead instead of down or around the pool! Guess we will have to work on that next!

Summer is here!

Well summer is here and man it is hot! We have been staying very busy this summer with Kale's sports, both boys swim lessons and also working!

Kale finished up soccer and started up T-Ball he is really enjoying it and we are as well. The games are quite entertaining as the kids all chase the ball no matter if they are the outfield team or not! Kale got his picture back this week. We missed the group shot (oops) but our individual turned out great! Maks loves supporting his brother and yelling from the side lines. He is going to have it all figured out by the time it is his turn to play sports!

The boys are both enrolled in swim lessons. We went ahead and bumped Kale up to the Preschool group (supposed to be ages 4 and 5) because we didn't feel like Kale would get much out of a parent and me class at his age. We were a little unsure at first but he is doing great in his class. They are learning to go underwater and open their eyes, swim on their stomachs and backs, push off the wall and start swimming along with many other techniques!

Maks is still too little to put in anything other than the parent assisted class. He hasn't been a big fan of the class but he is starting to come around the more we take him. The class requires the parent to hold the child the entire time since they are in the deep end. He would rather get down and run and play in the water by himself. He is also very leery of other people that he doesn't know. This is not new to us he has always been this way no matter who he is around. I have a few pictures that I will get uploaded soon but I don't currently have the adapter beside me! ;)

It's hard to believe that it is already July 2nd! This year has just flown by so far! This weekend is Hutch Fest. The town has many events and fun activities for the kids and then of course on the 4th is the parade and the fireworks! We plan to attend a few different events but it is so hot out we will probably spend more time close to the water than to downtown Hutchinson!

I have been working fewer and fewer hours as the summer gets near. I have about 3 more weeks of no work now until I am back to work full time. I am enjoying my time this summer but it is quite a change for me to have so much time off work. The boys daycare was closed this week for her vacation so we have all three been home during the days while Erin goes to work. Maks birthday is coming up very quickly. Of course I have put off planning it but I think it will come together just fine. We are going to have a Mickey Mouse cake and a sports theme! Those are his favorite things! Well better go and get ready for the day! Watch for more pictures to come!