A Special Visit from Great Grandpa and Grandma Hansen

On their way to Michigan, Great Grandpa and Grandma Hansen had a 2 day lay over in Minnesota! We were so excited to have them come stay with us and show them many of the reasons we love living here. They loved watching the great grandkids play and getting to know them and enjoy their unique personalities. I took them on a 4 hour driving tour of the cities and showed them many of the sites including: the St Paul Minnesota Temple, Downtown St. Paul (with the Capitol Building, Cathedral and Summit Avenue), Downtown Minneapolis (with the I-35 bridge, skyscrapers, metrodome, Target headquarters) and the scenic Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet. We also made a quick excursion to the Mall of America today and enjoyed a quick walk through view of Nickelodeon Universe. We loved having them here today and hope they have a wonderful vacation as they continue on to Michigan, Ohio and New York! We love our Grandpa!

Grandpa and Grandma with the DeLays.

Grandpa and Grandma with our family!

Biking along Minnehaha Creek

To continuing celebrating our 4th holiday, we took a bike ride on Saturday along the Minnehaha Creek with our cousins the DeLays. We started out at Lake Nokomis and finished at the Lake Harriet park and pavilion. Luckily there is a perfect park for picnicking, playing and splashing in the wading pool along the way. The kids were troopers, especially Blake who managed to finish the 7-8 miles we rode on his bike with training wheels. We finished off the excursion with huge ice creams! We had a great time!!!

4th of July

Enjoying the parade with the Herrons, Chipmans, Wagleys and Margetts.
We have had a tradition for several years now to spend the 4th with our dear friends the Herrons and the Chipmans. Julie and John provide a wonderful traditional 4th of July BBQ with hamburgers, hot dogs, watermelon, potato salad, chips and Paula's yummy desserts! The kids usually spend most of the day playing in the water, but this year was not too hot, so we instead opted for a fishing excursion. They had a great time and Brent and John were great troopers to bait hundreds of hooks and remove tons of fish from the hooks. (Paula, Julie and I especially enjoyed our view from up above, while lounging in our comfy chairs!) Riley caught an all time record of 32 fish...they were little sunnies, very small but enough to provide great recreational entertainment. Brent has now research the lake we were at has found out that it is stocked with brown trout....we will have to go back and fish a little further out to see if we can catch some!

Neverland

This is Sidney's latest creation, see if you can follow the classic Peter Pan tale through her drawings!
(I especially like that Peter and Wendy pass Saturn when flying through the night sky and her upside down perception of the mermaids swimming!)

American Girls

Jamie, Sidney and I rushed out on the first day the Kit Kittredge movie was playing in the area to see the long awaited movie. We even had Kit, Nicki and Emily along for the excursion. We all 6 loved the movie...it was the best one we have seen so far this summer!

Missing Tooth Update

Sidney came home on the last day of Kindergarten with a sticker that proudly stated:
First Grade Here I Come!
With 3 missing teeth now and one more about to come out, she definitely has the 1st grade smile perfected!

Baseball Season comes to an end

Riley playing 3rd base.
He says his favorite position would have been shortstop,
but they usually don't let lefties play this position,
so 1st base was his favorite position that he actually played

The wind up for a perfect hit right between the
2nd baseman and shortstop.

With the Rays for one last team cheer.
On tournament day, the team won consolation champions...
which was basically 5th out of 8 teams! It was a great season!

Softball Season Comes to an End

Jamie's favorite memory of the season was an inning
where she made 3 outs right in a row!Here comes the ball!

Jamie's hit right down the third base line!

Jamie's favorite part of softball, running the bases.

Jamie did not like playing catcher,
especially after she got hit by the ball.
Her favorite position was first base.

Jamie's Team:

The Sunshine Bananas

Trying to get a picture of all the Cousins!

Riley (11),

Hardy Lee (8 11/12),
Jamie (8 5/6),
Sidney (6 1/2),
James (6 1/2),
Blake (5 1/2) ,
Shawn (3 1/2 ),
Hanah (2),
&
Lydia (1)

The Shaws

The DeLays

The Preators

Lydia's First Birthday

While Grandma and Papa Jim were visiting we were able to celebrate Lydia's first birthday. We had a great time at Kelley Park in Apple Valley where the kids played in the water and at the playground. We love Lydia very much and wish her a very happy year ahead!!

Happy Father's Day!

I am so grateful for the wonderful Fathers in my life; Grandpa Hansen, Grandpa Shaw, Grandpa Wakefield, Grandpa Preator (whom we miss terribly), My Dad, Brent's Dad and Brent. They are all true examples of faith and family to me. This father's day we bought Brent a new backpacking tent just in time to attend the 11 yr old campout with Riley.

Riley's first 11 yr old Scout Campout

Catching Up!

Thanks to all you faithful Minnesota Preators' Blog readers. I am quite behind but finally catching up! My days are not quite my own since school got out...I have my 3 little companions with me every minute of the day now. Plus, the kids' computer finally quit for good and I am now sharing mine with them....thus, I get a lot less time to blog and email! Hope you enjoy the new posts and there is lots more to come!!

Dance Recital

Jamie danced to Kids of America and Fabulous.

Her favorite part of the dance recital was performing on stage,
playing with her friends backstage
and receiving her 6 year award.
Sidney danced to Stray Cat Strut and
Little Bitty Pretty One.
Her favorite part of the dance recital was dancing with her friends,
playing with her kitty tail
and being the first in her class on stage. We had a lot of family & friends join us at the dance recital this year.

Grandma and Papa,
Uncle Hardy and Aunt Ramona,
LeAnne and Emily.
Thanks for joining us on the girls special night!

Rehearsal Day

Jamie's friends Megan and Jenna.