With Collin being in first grade it gave him the opportunity to join cub scouts. I told James he should take him to his meetings because it is more of a dad/son thing. Something they could do together. Well I was very surprised when James came home from the informational meeting and told me he signed up to be the Tiger Cub den leader. He is having a great time with it and is doing an amazing job! I'm so proud of Collin and James!

Kade also started 3year old preschool this year. He also loves school. He was very ready to go and was like bye mom see you later!! It is only two days a week and I have loved the break of 2 hours so I can do some workouts!

So it has been awhile since I have last blogged. We have been busy with the start of school and I have been using facebook more often. Here is Collin on his first day of first grade. He LOVES it and his teacher. It is the first year to go all day, eat lunch, and have specials like gym, music, and art. He leaves to school happy and comes home happy...what more could you ask for!

A Day at the Lake. My parents along with my brother and two sisters took the kids to the beach for the day. We went to Lake Arbutus and it was a fun day of swimming, picnicking and boat riding. James stayed home in Appleton for a guys weekend.

They had hands on things to do at the aquarium as well. Collin and Kade saw how they measured up against a big fish. Kade enjoyed playing at the water table. Collin had fun touching starfish and sea urchins.

Our trip to Chicago. After 6 Flags we headed down to Chicago to spend the day at Shedd Aquarium. It was so much fun! Collin was so interested in learning about different aquatic life (Monday at the library we checked out books on coral, starfish, and crabs). We had the chance to watch a dolphin training session and divers feeding some ocean animals.

Milwaukee Zoo. The boys loved checking out all the animals and had the chance to hand feed some birds. It was a great way to start our little vacation. The next day we spent at 6 flags. We got there when the park opened and stayed until 9:30. The boys rode there first roller coaster (Collin loved it Kade not so much!) No pictures though we were too busy playing!

Neighborhood 4th of July cookout! The boys used sparklers for the first time and watched the teenage boys light off fireworks.

Happy 4th!

Collin had his birthday party at WildAir. He invited his classmates from Kindergarten and some other friends. He had a blast and it was fun to watch the boys have fun with opening the gifts.

The two June birthdays celebrate together. On June 21st Aunt Laura turned 30 and on June 25th Collin turned 7. Aunt Laura went all out and bought Collin some cool birthday gear. She bought herself some as well!

The day at Kara's farm ended with a trip to the pond. The boys and James went on the paddle boat. It was a nice warm day so the kids went swimming. They thought it was pretty neat we let them go in their unders!! They boys had a blast and even caught some tadpoles.

We left for a little vacation to visit my parents to celebrate the end of Collin's school year. It may not feel like a vacation to some but we get awesome home cooked meals by my Dad. The kids LOVE Nana and Papa's house with all the land...and James and I get a little break because the awesome Aunts love to play with the kids. Th

is trip was extra special because we were able to spend a day with Kara on her farm. The boys love animals and here they got to hold baby chicks and rabbits, feed the horses, and play with the cats and dogs. Thanks for letting us spend the day Kara!!!

More fun on the farm. Collin fell in love with the kittens. I think at some point he held all nine of them. We also went for a hike around the farm where we found an old kiln the boys crawled into. On the way out we stopped in the wildlife house and found some baby chicks hatching out of eggs. The boys sat and watched for a good 20 min before we had to leave. It was a great day!

Over Memorial Day weekend we took a drive to a farm. The kids were so excited to feed baby goats with a bottle. Our kids sure are animal lovers and it was hard to get them to leave. Kade especially made friends with one little goat. There was a family nearby who kept telling their son in the stroller, "Kevin look at the goats...Kevin look over here" Well little Kade thought that meant his goats name was Kevin. Kevin followed Kade everywhere (mostly because I think the goat thought Kade had more food). Kade cried and cried when he left because he didn't want to leave Kevin.

Kade showing off his new teeth!

The school year is coming to an end. We are very sad about this! We loved Collin's teacher this year and now he is onto first grade and all day school. I have been spoiled having him around so much with the half day kindergarten it will be very weird to have him gone all day. This is the second to last field trip for the year. We went to the zoo and had a beautiful day! Siblings were invited along on the field trip so even Kade got to join the fun. The bunnies were the favorite of the day and I had to stop Kade 3 times from picking up the chickens. They had a blast!

Touch a truck. While Collin was in school Kade and I headed over to an area park where they had trucks set up that the kids could sit in and explore. Kade "drove" a crane, ambulance, firetruck, semi truck, and school bus. Talk about little boy heaven!

A night at the Museum. Last weekend was a busy weekend for us. Kade had oral surgery on Friday morning. Poor guy had two root infections that needed to be cleaned, four crowns put on, and

two cavities filled. Since he was so young he had it done in the hospital under anesthesia. Everything went well. Saturday morning was Collin's big track meet and Saturday night was the night at the museum. Our church and an area church rented out the museum overnight. At first Collin was not so sure about the idea but made a great friend and had a blast. Collin and his friend slept in the firetruck and Kade slept with Mom and Dad in the sports room. It was a really fun night filled with adventure!