That's my boy!

While we were at Seth's cousin's graduation party last week, Sam went to the bathroom by himself...which would be fine if he didn't need help wiping afterwards.

As there was no one there to help, he walked out among all the party guests with his pants around his ankles and proclaimed for all to hear, "Can somebody wipe me?!!"

Classic

Every once in awhile those great photo opportunities just fall right into your lap.

Look what Sammy can do!

Elena's still too scared to try riding a bike.  "Maybe when I'm 6," she says.  Today she bumped it up to 8.

I just came across this post, which I started and never finished.  I only started it last August though so I'm not even a year behind schedule....not too bad by my standards.

These pictures were taken the day before my cousin, Ben's wedding.  He was married at a state park which had waterfall and a creek right behind the wedding location.  Knowing the kids would be itching to get in the water, I decided to let them get their fill the day before the wedding.  It worked quite well - the kids swam (or rather, played in the mud) to their hearts content and did a very good job staying out of the water on the wedding day.

It was only after they finished playing in the water that I noticed this sign.  I probably would have missed it completely since it was above my eye level if Elena hadn't started climbing on the wall next to it.

If you can't read it, I'll just sum it up: wading is not recommended due to levels of fecal bacteria that exceed the standards recommended for body contact.  The only comforting words on the sign were "at times."  Let's hope we landed at a time when the bacteria was low.  Just to be safe, we took a very thorough bath afterwards :) 

Twins Game

We brought Natalie and the kids to a Twins game last month.  It rained a bit, but we high enough up that we were by the overhang of the stadium.  Elena still insisted on wearing her poncho, though.  I think the kids enjoyed getting out of our seats to get food more than thtey enjoyed the game, but we all had fun regardless (even though the Twins lost).

 One highlight of the evening was when Elena got to be on the big screen - although just barely.  The camera man was below us and he was trying to get a shot of Sam and Elena, but the people sitting in front of us were equally excited at a chance on the screen and kept standing up.  Since they were all teenagers, they completely blocked our kids.  The camera man kept telling them to sit down, but by the time they did his camera had been cut and the screen gone back to the game. Elena's arm got some nice screen time, though :)

I think the biggest highlight for the kids was the cotten candy - here's Sam showing off his skicky fingers.  Elena took her first bite and said, "Yum! Mom I had forgotten how much I like this stuff!!"

On a related note, we were also able to go to Natalie's first home softball game.  When she was up to bat, Sam and Elena were cheering for her.  Elena's shouted words of encouragement gave Natalie a pretty good laugh: "Go Natalie! Hit the ball, or they'll kick you off the team!!!"

I wasn't expecting these questions quite so soon...

Elena: Where did the first people come from if there were no other people to have them?

Me: Well...God made them - everything came from God.  A long, long time ago there was nothing.  But then God made the stars and then the Earth; and from the Earth grew plants and animals and eventually, the first people.  Before all of that, none of this was here.

Elena: Oh............I wish God didn't make pokies. (That's what the kids call the pine needles that hurt their bare feet when they walk through our back yard)

Five!

I'm posting this over a month late, but what's new? The day after we got back from Hawaii, we had Elena's first "friend" birthday party.  It certainly is hard to believe we have a 5-year old now (who will start kindergarten in the fall!)  She picked a Hawaiian theme for her cake.  It's been so long now so I don't remember any interesting details other than that we took the girls bowling and they all had a great time, but here are a few photos.

Elena also got a second cake, baked by Natalie and her friends - lucky girl!

That's it for now.  I'll try to post more month-old news on here in the upcoming weeks.  I know I've been slacking a bit :)