Fort Snelling

For the 4th of July we got some free tickets at the library to go and visit Old Fort Snelling - the historical site of the first outpost in Minnesota. It was a good 4th of July precursor as it reminded us of all that went into making what we take for granted now.

Here we are on top of the lookout tower. All though they never fought any battles there we had the kids lookout for "bad guys" that were coming.

Michael, Megan and Rachel all enlisted in the 1820 army using a quill pen and ink bottle.

Mommy standing by the vegetable garden outside the kitchen.

Outside the Colonels house.

What the kiddos would have looked like back in 1820.

I told Rachel to stand next to all the "highly explosive" barrels of gunpowder so I could take a picture.


Looking down the 4 story elevator in the supply shed.


Watching the blacksmith make door nails. We learned where the saying "dead as a door nail" came from.


We ended up getting enlisted in the soldiers drills and had to line up in formation.


Here we are marching into position so we can turn around and charge at the enemy.


We put the kids back in school for a little while. That was the scariest part for them.


This is what Mommy would have spent most of her time during - carrying water for laundry.

The Scary Scuba Man

I forgot to post this from our trip to Duluth, but this is the classic scary scuba suit that always shows up in kids shows and video games - most recently in the Spongebob Squarepants movie and Bioshock video game. It's always fun to see Megans face when she sees something and goes "is that for real Daddy?"

Duluth port of entry

After we checked out of the hotel we took a little walk along the Duluth port of entry out of Lake Superior and watched the car bridge go up and down a few times and walked out to the lighthouse. This is the port that the "Edmond Fitzgerald" sailed out of and sank about 18 miles out of the port - Dan Fogelberg I believe wrote a song about it. We went and toured the boat museum after wards and soaked in all of the history. Seeing the living quarters on the old boats was the most memorable thing for me, as they were so small and unlivable now.


Us at the car bridge that lifts up and down when boats go under it.


One of the three lighthouses at the port.


The kids outside the boat musuem.


Afterwards I tried to teach the kids how to skip rocks.

A Mini Vacation

Grandpa came up to visit this week for a couple of weeks so I took a week off leading up to the 4th of July. When I take vacation at home I end up doing more stuff around the house that I normally have time to do, so it ends up being harder than work actually, so I planned a 1 day trip up to Duluth for us to go to one of the hotels that has a nice waterpark inside it. The room also had 2 bunk beds (which is a dream come true for the kids). They all wanted to move and live there. Here are some of the shots of us at the pool.


Here we are standing under the "big bucket of water".


The kiddos had fun on the monkey bars over water.


Megan stayed close to the bucket so she could stand under it as many times as she could.


Megan waiting for the bucket to fall.


Michael trying to do the monkey bars without the bars.


Megan chilling on the lazy river.


Mommy and Megan on the lazy river.


Mommy became a hot tub hang out junkie also.


The kiddos taking their shower. I offered this up as a regular way to get them to take one. I would fill a big bucket of water up in the backyard, ring a bell, and they would come running to stand under it a take a shower.


Michael coming down the tube slide.


Rachel coming down the tube slide.


Even Mommy coming down the tube slide.


Daddy and Michael hitting the bottom. We had to take this one about 5 times since Michael's face was always covered by the splash.


You can barely see Rachel's face here.


Daddy and Rachel on the lazy river.


Michael coming down the tube slide.


Ever wonder what face you make right before you hit the water?


Kind of like this also.


Mommy chillin by the kid area. I love my beautiful wife!


The kiddos mid "shower". You can still kind of see Megan on the right.


This was one of Megan's favorites. It was like a tiny whirlpool that would spin you around in circles. I had to be a monster and try to eat her when I was in there with her.


Michael wore his goggles around most of the time and had some nice rings around his eyes when he was done.

Spring Soccer 2009

A little behind, but I finally made the kids spring soccer pictures. This was a really fun but busy spring with all 3 kids playing at different times and different parks, but it ended up being really fun. Now that it is over we keep thinking we are forgetting something on Saturdays though...

Last day of school

 

 

This is how Candice dressed the kids up for the last day of school. I thought it was a school thing, but she just thought it would be fun. Afterwards the kids were telling stories about how everyone was asking them "what happened to your hair" and I asked "didn't your whole class do this?" and got a "Daaaadddddyyyy, of course not"... It shows what a good year of schooling can do for you.

Cub scouts

 

 

Candice hosted cubscouts in our backyard, which is nice. Candice is the Cub master, and our next door neighbor Jenny (who isn't a member yet) is the Den leader. That works out nicely. They were learning how to make a campfire, and use candy to set it up.