Father's Day -June 2017

After Father's Day, I overheard a conversation between Kira and Isak.  Isak said, "It's not Father's Day."  Kira replied, "I know, we can play Father's Day with our stuffed animals."  "OK!" And up the stairs they went to play Father's Day.  :)

I planned a local adventure to celebrate Nels the day before Father's day.  She started by going to the Farmer's Market in Morgan Hill.  We bought some peaches, strawberries and tomatoes.  

I liked the saying, "Donuts for Dad."  So I found a local donut shop...O'Henry's Donuts.

Each of us picked out our own donut.  The kids thought that part was pretty fun.  Nels picked an apple filled donut, I got a raspberry filled donut, Kira chose chocolate frosted donut and Isak picked a cinnamon roll as big as his head!!

We all sat down on pinkish colored chairs and ate our donuts.  Isak said, "I have an idea.  Let's share and take a bite of each of them." or something like that.  So we all tried each other's donuts.  It was SO fun.  The kids said loudly, "Happy Father's Day!" and the other customers looked at us funny, but smiled.  :)

We ate lunch at a yummy Mexican food place called Super Taqueria.  Then we went to the library.  Four times in and out of the car with four kids equals exhausted parents!  We all took a nap.

On Sunday - Father's day we went to church and then took naps.  Then we made delicious burgers.  Nels really wanted to take the kids to the park.  It had been 100 degrees all day.  So we waited until after 6 to go.  It cooled down to 87 degrees or so.  We went to Sunrise Park.  We brought our bat and ball.  Isak and Nels played a bit.  Nels and I competed to see who could the ball the farthest.  Once Nels got a good pitch, he hit it father than me.  The babies were all over the place.  Noah did not like the swing or wood chips.  We only stayed about a half hour.  Then home and to bed!

Here are the cards the kids made...Hooked on Far Far.  I think we made some for Grandpa too, but I didn't get a picture.

Isak drew an alien...Kira a castle. :)

I wrote this in my journal...June 16--two days before Father's day...Nels walked in the door from work and little Sofie was standing by her high chair in the dining room.  She saw her Daddy and walked all the way to him!  Oh the grin she had when Nels picker her up! :)  (that was a pretty far walk for her.)

He is an excellent father and just wants to be there for our kids.  We love our Nels Daddy!

May 2017 Wrap Up

May was the month we got out the most.  Wow!  We had a lot of outings.  The days we stayed home we mostly recovered from our adventures!  Here's the odds and ends of May 2017.

These babies...growing up.  Sofie's face cracks me up.

I like to try and capture the babies sleeping.  Finally got one of little Sofie.  So peaceful.

And here's Noah.

There's just a wall that separates them.

Recovering after Disneyland looked like this.  haha.

Great hat Nels.  :)

Nels's project.  I think it turned out great!

These two!  We rarely get to sit through Sunday School.  We spent it out in the halls.  Here's Noah and Sofie trying to make a break for it.

Noah and his adorable side head smile.

Sofie's smile.  Practicing her balance.

Sofie hanging out on the couch.

These two follow each other around and play together pretty well.

Sometimes they fight over the swing...but they learn to compromise and share when necessary.

Two seconds after Nels walks in the door and he has two visitors eager for his attention.

Kira's hair is getting longer...yay two ponytails.

After Disneyland, I came out to the playground and asked them what they were doing sitting there.  "We're on screaming California!!"  haha.

And Nels and Isak made it to the Father Son campout in Watsonville.  They just went to dinner.  Nels cooked them hot dogs and smore's.  Isak ate two hot dogs, two marshmallows and four cookies.  He was very proud of himself and was very excited to tell me a few times exactly what he ate.  He also enjoyed his new green camping chair.  He loved the time with just dad.  He wore his sunglasses because the fire hurt his eyes.  :)  I tried to do something special with Kira while they were gone.  So I walked to the park with Kira and the babies.  I went down the slide with Kira and played with her.  I even showed her how to do the monkey bars.  Sofie and Noah got a tour of the playground too and were very good.  It was fun and Kira chattered non stop on our walk.  When Isak and Kira got back together, Isak asked her "Tell me about what you did Kira."  So they both had fun things to share with each other.

And that wraps up May 2017!  A marvelous month with lots of pictures and memories.

Sunset State Beach

May 27, 2017 we had a Saturday outing.  We packed everyone up and drove to Sunset State Beach.  We got stuck in traffic so it took us an extra long time to get there.  It was a pretty beach, but it was SO windy and cold.  Everyone was bundled up in jackets.   Here's our set up...

The babies were so funny.  Noah snuggled with Nels for half the time.  Then we finally sat him in the sand.  He stayed in one spot and tried not to move or touch anything.

Such a cutie.

One pic with all four of them.  It was a tough pic to get!

Sofie was the complete opposite of Noah.  She crawled to the water!  She ate the sand, she played in the sand, she rubbed her sandy hands into her eyes (not fun).  Oh boy!  Nels and I took turns chasing after her.

It was not relaxing for me and Nels.  Isak and Kira made sand castles and filled buckets.

My little sand eater!

My favorite, although not fun to clean was Isak and Kira made sand angels.

I think everyone had a good time.  We only stayed about an hour and a half.  That Sofie girl wore us out!  Then we ate at a Mexican Restaurant in Gilroy.  We bathed all 4 kids and that was the end of the day!!

San Jose Rose Gardens

We walked through the San Jose Rose Gardens in May 2017 and took pictures of our beautiful kids.  Isak and Kira are now 4.5 years old and Sofie and Noah are 1 year olds.  I wanted to capture what they look like at this time. 

Isak is a sweet boy.  He loves to talk and learn and ask lots of questions.

He has a very tender heart.  If you're sad he will do something to cheer you up.

Kira loves to learn and draw and play, play, play.

She is sweet, but she definitely has a stubborn side to her.

I love that 85% of the time these two are good friends and play very well with each other.  It makes me happy.

Nels is a great dad and is always making the kids laugh.

Everyone loves time with dad.

I'm not the fun one...I thought I would be.  But there's too much work and I find that I have a hard time having fun when I'm cooking/cleaning etc.  It's something I want to try to do better at.

This picture makes me laugh.  Their faces!!

Nels and I try to connect in between taking care of the kids and working.  It's hard, but I'm always glad when we get a few minutes to ourselves.

The gardens were large and beautiful.  We enjoyed seeing the variety of roses.

Sofie gives some big old smiles!

We tried to get one with all four kids.  haha.  :)

Brothers.

Isak was sweet and wanted to help Sofie stand up.  She almost knocked him over!

Yay! Sofie is 1!

OH Noah!

You can see the progression....From sad to happy....

Yay!  Noah is 1!

And that was our outing.  I love these pics and I'm glad we did this!!