Todd's 5K

Todd has had a goal to run a 5K and last week (May 1st) he ran his first race. It was a chilly and very windy day, but that didn't stop him. He ran really well and it was fun to cheer for him and watch him come across the finish line. Nothing like a cup of water in the face!

There are Todd's legs crossing the finish line at just over 26 minutes!

Skiing

In March, Todd and I decided it was time to take the whole family skiing. Dustin is finally getting old enough that we can all go skiing and we don't have to get a babysitter or have one of us stay home. Whitney learned how to ski last year and has been a couple of times. Katelyn and Lauren went to ski school. Dustin was too young for ski school so we hooked him up to a harness and he dragged Todd down the hill. Dustin was a little disturbed that Todd wouldn't just let go of him. Everyone had a great time. Lauren and Kate wanted to stay longer and Dustin cried when we took off his skiis.

Skiing in Minnesota is a lot different from skiing where there are real mountains. Whitney, a beginner, went down the black diamond. Also, Todd timed it and it took us 40 seconds to go down the run and 4 minutes to ride the chair lift up. I guess we'll take what we can get.

Spring Break 2010

Mini golfing - Dustin swings a golf club like a baseball bat so watch out!

Our birds nest treats. Aren't they cute? They sure are yummy!

S'mores anyone?

The girls had Spring Break the last week of March and we got to do some really fun things. We spent Monday and Tuesday at a Resort in Northern Minnesota that had an indoor waterpark, mini golf, bikes, kids crafts, games and S'mores every night. It was nice because we parked the car and didn't use it for the 2 days we were there. They had everything that we needed. They also had a spa there and Whitney and I got to have pedicures and get pampered a little.

On Wednesday, the day we got back, we went to see How To Train Your Dragon in 3D. The kids loved it. Katelyn said it was one of her favorite movies. Dustin was startled a few times by flying objects, but that made it even more fun for him.

Thursday we went to the Minnesota Zoo. We don't go there very often because we have a smaller, less expensive zoo closer to our house. It was a beautiful day though, almost 80 degrees. You can't ask for much nicer in April. We walked and walked and walked and walked. The kids were tired that night which I always like. The highlight was watching the dolphin training and the shark tank.

Friday, it was rainy and cold so we decided to stay home and do a little Spring cleaning followed by some fun Easter treat making. The treats were the bribery for the cleaning. Then after Dustin and Lauren went to bed the rest of us watched New Moon. Katelyn had been waiting to see it since it came to theaters. We let her watch it,but had her cover her eyes and ears a few times to avoid bad dreams and sleep walking episodes.

Twins

So I have been a blog slacker lately. I have a ton of Spring Break pictures to post, but I will do that later. Tonight we took the whole family to a Twins game at the new Target Field. Outdoor baseball is back in Minnesota and it was pretty darn cool! The new stadium was amazing. It was a little chilly, but that's because it is April in Minnesota. Also, the Twins kicked some Kansas City rear end. The final score was 10 to 3. The best part of the night was watching Katelyn's school choir singing the national anthem. They were pretty far away, but they showed Katelyn on the big screen a couple of times. I love that the school choir gets to do that. What a cool experience.

Winter Fun

We have had an unusually cold winter this year. It's a little gloomy sometimes. Today we made it up to 30 degrees for the first time in a month and a half and the sun is shining. It is beautiful. We all got ice skates for Christmas so we decided to put them to good use. Lauren was awesome. It was only her 2nd time on skates and she made it around the rink without falling. Dustin is a pro, mostly because his skates have double blades and are a lot easier to balance. Whitney and Katelyn had fun playing hockey with Todd. Falling down got old for the little kids after a while, so they spent a lot of time "resting" on the ground. Then they ditched the ice skating altogether and headed for the playground.

December Birthdays

Both Katelyn and Lauren have birthdays in December. Katelyn's is the 5th and Lauren's is the 11th. Thank goodness Lauren was a little over due or we could have had two birthdays on the same day because Lauren was due on Katelyn's birthday. It makes December a busy month at our house, but we love it.

Katelyn turned 10 this year. She was excited to be in double digits and because she could get her ears pierced. She didn't get a "friend" party this year, but the night before her birthday I took her and a friend to a stage production of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and we went out for ice cream afterward (even though it was freezing outside). Her birthday fell on a Saturday this year which she considered a bonus because then she didn't have to wait until Todd got home from work to open her presents and she didn't have to go to school on her birthday. We were all very proud that she didn't pass out when she got her ears pierced.

Lauren turned 6 this year. It is hard to believe she is 6 already. Wasn't she just born yesterday? Anyway, she is a big kindergartener now and loves every minute that she gets to spend at school. She got to have "friend" party this year and invited a few friends from church and from school. Recently, she fell in love with the Fancy Nancy book series so we had a Fancy Nancy Tea Party. We made fancy purses with jewels, sequins and ribbons. We had a Fancy Nancy pinata and played Fancy Nancy bingo. The little girls loved using my fancy dishes for their cake and ice cream. It was a very "fancy" party in case you couldn't tell. After her friends had gone home she gave me a big hug and told me it was the best birthday party EVER!

Halloween 2009 (continued)

As soon as the Halloween Superstore next to Target opened Dustin started trying to pick what he wanted to be for Halloween. He went from Cowboy to superhero and ended up as a skeleton. Don't ask me how we got to that point, but he wanted to be something SCARY. After wearing hand me down costumes for her whole life Katelyn finally got to pick her own costume. She has wanted to be a hippie for as long as I can remember and this year she got her wish. Lauren was supposed to be a Go-G0 Dancer, but she refused to wear the Go-Go boots. Oh well. We didn't get any pictures of Whitney because she spent Halloween at a friends house, but she was a Hobo.