Gone Fishing.

Ryan and I took the kids fishing yesterday.  We had heard that there was a small lake right in Barnesville (about 20 miles from Fargo) where you fish right off the shoreline and can catch a ton of sunnies.  We had to stop at Walmart in Moorhead on our way out of town (since nothing opens in Fargo until noon on Sunday) to get our fishing licenses and a few supplies.  This was mine and Ryan's conversation once we were on our way:

Me:  "Ryan, Do you know how to fish?"

Ryan: "Ummmm, no not really."

Me:  "Should I Google it?"

Ryan: "yeah maybe."

We are definitely novices when it comes to fishing.  We did do some googling and laughing at ourselves but we managed.  It was a perfect fishing experience for a couple of novices and young kids. They caught a lot of little fish and were very excited about it!

Landon actually fished on his own and was able to do everything once the line was cast.  He was having so much fun.

Kadence was happy to help with her pink Barbie net.

This little lady didn't care much for fishing but was outside and happy about that!

Landon and Kadence liked to hold the fish!  I think they liked it more than me!

Kenzie thought she was hot stuff wearing her swim diaper on her head!  We fished for over 3 hours with some breaks at the park nearby.  I was so surprised the kids kept interest for as long as they did.  Ryan and I probably had the most fun even though we don't really know what we are doing!

Apparently fishing is some pretty hard work!  The kids were tuckered out and ready for supper and bed when we got home!  What a great little day with our little family!

Northland Flood.

My hometown area was devastated last week with a horrific flood.  The torrential rainfall of up to 10 inches in some areas nearly destroyed the city of Duluth and many surrounding towns and areas.  Officials are estimating over 100 million in flood damage in just public domains alone.  I have been just sick hearing of all the damage and following the news coverage via Facebook, news stations, and news papers.  I can not even imagine what people are going through that have lost their homes, their everything.  None of my family's homes have been affected by the mass amount of rain (aside from a little wetness in the basements) thank God!  Thankfully, there have been no documented human deaths related to the flooding, which is a Godsend.  I have gathered a collection of photos from others to post on my blog to have for the future.  God bless the northland and good luck with rebuilding your cities!

 The above 3 photos are of Jay Cooke State Park.  This is a park that is about 5 minutes away from my mom and dad's house near Carlton, MN.  Growing up, I spent an abundance of time walking, hiking, rollerblading, running, and just enjoying the trails and park.  The road is completely destroyed and the park is closed for now.  The first picture is of the swinging bridge which was completely taken out.  This is also where Ryan and I were married.  It is so difficult to see the mass destruction of this beautiful rustic luxury so close to my mom and dad's and such a big part of my life.

The above 2 photos are some streets in the city of Duluth.  There were several sinkholes (scary) and you can see how the roads are just completely destroyed.  On a lighter note, Kadence thought maybe Lightning McQueen could fix their roads!

This aerial view of the mall area shows Target, Grandma's Restaurant, and several other stores submerged in water.

 The Lake Superior Zoo suffered a great deal of destruction and lost several of their animals due to drowning.  The above picture is a picture of a seal that was washed out of the zoo and found on a major city street.  He was rescued and survived!  He now has a twitter account.  Silly.

This is a great photo of the lift bridge area showing the brown color of the water from all the mud, soil, and debris that had been dumped in to Lake Superior.  It is typically the prettiest color blue.

And...at a time like this it never hurts to have a little sense of humor.  This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it.
*These are just a few of the pictures of the damage.  There was no way I could possibly post all of them.  I am not saying any parts of the damage is worse than another.  It is all devastating.

My little girl in the middle...

Miss Kadence.  This little girl gets kind of a bad rap around our house sometimes.  She most definitely keeps me on my toes and I love her so much...but, she is so dramatic.  She truly can go from the sweetest little girl to the naughtiest little girl in no time at all.  I like to think that it really isn't her fault.  Is it her fault that she was the second born? Is it her fault that she is now stuck right in the middle?  Her big brother is the only boy and the oldest.  He happens to be a people pleaser and melts a lot of hearts.  That's not her fault.  Her little sister is not only the baby, but a child who has been busy as ever and demanded an abundance of attention since the day she was born.  That's not her fault either.

So, really it is our fault, not hers.  In my opinion, birth order plays an integral part in the way a person grows up and molds into their own person.  I can see that some of her behaviors that frustrate me the most are worse when one of her siblings is getting a lot of attention.  I have been trying to really give this little girl some more attention.  I don't want her to feel like "the middle child" and always  be trying to stand out.  I want her to just be Kadence.

She has the most beautiful blue eyes with perfectly accompanying blonde hair.  She is so smart and never forgets anything.  She loves all things girl.  She wants to wear a dress every day and dances around the house for hours.  She loves shoes but has the hardest time finding pretty shoes to fit her adorable, petite little feet.  She is equally afraid of loud train horns and thunder.  She can be such a good little sister and an even better big sister...when she wants to.  She knows the words to songs better than I do and absolutely loves cranking the music in the car and singing.  She is always so thoughtful in her night prayers and I always smile when I am listening to what she is praying about.  She is just perfect to me.

Although she can be a handful, I am not taking this one for granted.  I love her to pieces.  All of her.

Dad's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the two best dad's EVER!  Ryan and I are so lucky to call these guys our dad's.  They have taught us so much throughout our lives.  We are so blessed and our children are even more blessed to have them in their lives as well.  Grandpas are just so much fun!  Thanks Dad's, for EVERYTHING!

And Happy Father's Day to my guy!  I could go on and on and on about how great of a dad and husband he is so I am just going to say this, it does not get any better.  What a guy.  The best of the best in so many ways.  I am so lucky this guy picked me so our kiddos could have such a great dad! Love you Ry!

Landon's T-Ball.

Landon started t-ball last week and seems to be enjoying it very much.  They have just had practices so far so they have been working on the basics.  Most of the dad's are out on the field helping out which is very nice for the kids.  I have seen improvements with Landon since last summer just with fundamentals probably mostly relating to him being a year older.  He is really excited about t-ball and likes to have Ryan's help...to an extent.  At the end of practice on Monday he told Ryan he could do it himself.  I chuckled a little.  I snapped a few pictures that weren't all that great due to a windy day and 2 tired and busy girls.  But they are cute nonetheless.  His first actual game is next Tuesday and he has been thrilled to see a couple of kids from his school on the other teams!

Sweet Little Voice.

It has been so nice to have summer here and to be able to spend the majority of our time outdoors.  We have been loving all the sunshine and heat as well as the family time.  As of right now we have 4 weekends in a row where we will be staying at home and getting things done around here as well as enjoying our little family.  This is almost unheard of for us and I know that means we will just make up for it in July and August.  I am not complaining (okay, maybe a little) but traveling with 3 little ones is quite exhausting really.  Anyway, we have been keeping busy with soccer Monday and Wednesday evenings and T-Ball Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  The kids just finished up there last class of their swimming lessons so they have a break from that until the Fall.

Little miss Kenzie has been a trooper tagging along to all the events.  She loves being outside so much that she has been happy the whole time.  I put her and Kadence to bed the other night and this is what I heard outside their door for about 30 minutes...

This was all instigated my Kenzie and you can't always hear but Kadence keeps saying, "shush it!"  I let this go on for about a half hour then decided that Kenzie wasn't quite ready for bed and let big sister fall asleep before putting Kenzie back in her crib.  I was cracking up.

And...this is what she was doing at 9pm instead of sleeping. Notice she doesn't stop moving, EVER.  I love love love her little voice and all her new words she is learning.  I don't love her temperament the entire next day when she doesn't go to bed until after 9...Just saying.

Summer Soccer.

Summer Soccer started yesterday for both Landon and Kadence.  They both played last year and seemed to enjoy it so we signed them up again this year.  I think it's good for them to get outside and have fun with other kids.  Kadence is on a four-year old team with just 3 girls on her team they are the Rapids this year.

And that was 30 seconds in.  This was as far as Kadence made it.  She then preceded to sit on the sidelines and cry the remainder of the practice.  This was very frustrating and disappointing to us if you can imagine.  They only meet from 5-5:35 and it is not an intense, high stress program.  At their age it truly is just for fun so it is hard to know why she is so afraid.  I hope she warms up and I guess we'll just keep bringing her there.  Thank goodness we didn't sign her up for t-ball I don't think I could handle this 4 days in a row each week for 2 months.

Landon is playing with the Eagles team this year in the 5 year old/Kindergarten program.  They meet Mondays and Wednesdays also from 6-6:45.  He had a lot of fun playing and was pretty excited about it afterwards.

This little munchkin had a blast watching and playing.  She just loves to be outside so she was happy despite being there for almost 2 hours over supper time.  It was a hot day and her cheeks were so red they were purple!  What a little love bug.

 Just so you all know what I've been dealing with for a few weeks now.  She pouted the entire time after her soccer was done.  She was clingy, whiney, pouty, crabby, and not fun!  I hope this is a phase that ends soon.  I love the little lady but she definitely needs some work on her attitude!

Cloquet.

Since Ryan was on call, the kids and I decided to take a trip to Cloquet for the weekend.  There is really nothing better than a northern Minnesota summer.  The sun is hot, the air is dry, the beautiful abundant trees are full and gorgeous against the blue sky, the air smells fresh, and it cools off just enough at night to enjoy a fire in the back yard.  We were blessed with great weather the whole weekend and were able to do a lot of fun things and catch up with friends and family.

On Friday we headed out to Jay Cooke to check out the St. Louis River.  With all the rain they have had over the past couple weeks the river was the highest it has been in 4 years and rushing over the dam like mad.  It's fun to look at and so loud!  The kids had a great time just watching the water, even Kenzie was excited and kept pointing to the water and yelling, "WA!"

 After awhile climbing around and under the bridge and throwing rocks in, we headed to the Munger bike trail for a walk.  Growing up, I spent a lot of time on this trail rollerblading, running, and walking.  I had meant to bring my rollerblades but forgot them, so a nice walk had to do this time.

On Saturday morning, we met Kym, Jennie, Morgan, Henry, Casey, and the Skowlund's at the Black Bear Hotel for some fun in the pool.  Kym and her family had rented a room there and it was fun to hang out and let the kids swim.

 Kadence, Annabelle, and Aunty Casey in the hot tub.

 AJ with his princess life jacket.  So pretty.

 Landon Gary taking a break.

 Aunty Casey and Henry swimming.

 Henry posing for a picture.

 Pretty Annabelle.

 AJ having a snack.

 Jackie, Piper, and Rocco joined us at the pool, too.  It was fun to see them and great to catch up.  Landon and Kadence swam for a good couple hours and had a blast.  Kenzie was napping and hanging out at my mom and dad's so I felt like I was in heaven with just the 2 older kids.  It is amazing how much more difficult it is when you add a busy 18 month old to a 4 and 5 year old.  She had a blast at Grandma and Grandpa's house and I had a blast with a little break!

As it turns out, I quit taking pictures after the first day and a half!  At least I captured the ones I did and did not forget!  Saturday we went to my cousin Arletta's graduation party and then had a fun fire at my mom and dad's house.  Sunday we hung out, the kids played outside a lot and I was able to spend a few hours with Grandma June, without kids.  I had a lovely visit with her and Casey was there awhile, too which was nice.  The weekend went by fast as usual and it never seems as though I get everything done and everyone seen that I wanted to when I go back home.  Thanks everyone for a wonderful weekend and a great way to kick off June!