1st Trip to the Dentist

Jacob had his first dentist appointment this morning. He's not a champ at brushing his teeth, so I was a little nervous about this appointment. I needn't have been, he was a star patient. Laying still, opening wide and doing just what they told him. It made me proud to watch. Just like when I go to the dentist the only thing they said was to floss, he only has 4 spots to floss, so I should be able to handle that.

See Grandma Jeske, the dentist isn't so bad.

Pics from Zoo and Arboretum

Jacob swings with Isaac at the Arboretum.

Just a cute picture of Jacob while we were at the Arboretum.

Gavin and Grandma watch the fish.

Summer comes to a close

Summer is winding down. We went to the state fair last Thursday. Gavin was a trooper. He loved people watching and also enjoyed cookies from Sweet Martha's and anything else he got fed. Jacob was good too and got to go on a lot of rides, which was a real bonus after I had warned him that he'd only get to go on the Space Needle and the Sky Ride. I don't think our group did a very good job at eating a good variety of foods this year. We didn't find the Pig Lickers (chocolate covered bacon) and I didn't get a gyro. We did have enough cheese curds and we tried deep fried pickles, wouldn't recommend them. As we add more kids each year we see less and less of the fair and more and more of the rides. We never got to go on the midway rides at the state fair.

Jacob enjoys a ride on the ferris wheel.

Maddie gives Gavin some cookie.

We spent the last couple weekends in Melrose. We had a wedding on the 16th that Adrea was in. I think Fred might have had the best time, but the roughest next day. The we had the Jeske family reunion on the 17th, Fred did not make it to the reunion in Springfield. It's hard to enjoy a reunion in a park. Mostly Alyssa and I just chased kids.


This past weekend Fred spent working on the shed in his parents' backyard. Its seems to be a long slow process to get the shed sided. He'll be working on it again this weekend. Me and the kids spent most of our time with Alyssa and her kids and my parents. I did get to go out to Johnny Holms on Friday night. I went with my sisters, so that was a good time. On Sunday I had my girls fantasy football draft. I never know what I am doing, so we'll see how I do this year. I drug Alyssa into it this year too.

This week Alyssa and her kids and mom came down to go to the zoo on Monday and the Arboretum on Tuesday and then swimming at the community center. It gets a little wild with the kids together, but they did pretty good on our outtings.

Oh, Gavin also got his first tooth around the 18th. I think the next is coming in anyday now too.

Gavin Rolls at 7 months!

So on Friday at about noon Jacob and I took off for Lutheran Island Camp in Henning, MN. We went with my mom, Alyssa and Maddie. Anyway, about the time I got to Monticello Fred calls me and says "Guess what Gavin just did?". Gavin has been babbling "ma, ma, ma" for a while and so I thought maybe he'd gotten him to do "da, da, da", but no, he'd rolled over. I have been with that baby non-stop for how long and he waits for me to leave to do such a thing? Actually, I'd been working very hard to keep him immobile and it took him only an hour with dad to get moving:) It was his 7 month birthday, so it was about time. He's been rolling from his front to his back and back to front now. He can almost push himself up into a crawling position too. Before last Friday the only time he'd rolled over was in his crib - just the place I didn't want him rolling.

Gavin getting urged to roll.

Me, Jacob, Maddie & Alyssa at Lutheran Island Camp

Jacob and I spent the weekend at Lutheran Island Camp with mom, Alyssa, and Maddie. I think Jacob might have been a little young for those long days at camp (or I just wasn't ready, one of the two), but he had a great time swimming and singing songs there. We had some good food and some not so good food, but one night we had cheesecake and then s'mores, so I won't complain much. It was interesting to be back to camp, where I stayed about 20 years ago. Everything seemed so small and sleeping in a top bunk in something I don't miss. Jacob was good about sleeping there and using the toilet. I think we're getting potty trained - at least I am, he still isn't good about telling me he needs to go.

Maddie coming off the slide at camp. All smiles!

While I was away at camp Fred filled the house with his family. His mom, sister Jill, niece Samantha, nephew Jared, brother Corey, and nephews Riley and Logan all stayed here on Friday and Saturday night. We do have the spare bed in Gavin's room yet and the twins used Jacob's bed, but otherwise they just put air mattresses where ever there was room. Fred went golfing on Saturday with Pete, Jason and Pete's brother Pat. Then on Saturday night he had poker at the house, he got second.

Last night we finally got to watch some Olympics. The men's 4x100 medley race was really fun to watch. I'll be getting together with Adrea sometime this week to watch the gymnastics finals, I hope they do a little better than they did in qualifying.

Jacob started sports camp this morning. A gym full of 3 and 4 year olds playing soccer. Bless those teachers!

Vacation Week

We were on "vacation" in Melrose this last week. We started out the vacation with a birthday party for Fred's godson, Jesse. The next day we had Fred's mom's birthday party at his sister Jill's. I headed back to Melrose early so I could help Alyssa get ready for Mom and Dad's anniversary party. She was pretty much on top of everything and we got to go shopping in St Cloud instead of cleaning or whatever else needed to be done.

On Sunday the 27th we took pictures of our family with help from Lori Braegelmann. We got some good photos of the whole Jeske family and a couple sweet ones of our family. Then we had mom and dad's 40th wedding anniversary at Alyssa and Joe's. It was a little warm in the garage for a while, but there were lots of friends and family there along with awesome food and scrumptious cakes. Alyssa did an awesome job at organizing the party and I think it was very impressive and a lot of fun.

Then the "vacation" began. Well, actually Fred spent Monday with his brother Joel and some nephews starting work on a shed in Gene and Mary Ann's backyard. They got it all framed up and mostly "sheeted" (with plywood) by the end of day one. The next day we hit the lake. First Fred had to rake up a bunch of weeds that had blown in from the storm the night before and then we enjoyed a nice warm day in the water and in the shade. Fred and Jacob have so much fun in the water and Gavin is starting to enjoy it too. I got to go see Mama Mia with mom and Alyssa in Sauk on Tuesday night. It was a fun girly show.

On Wednesday Becky, Jake and Ben came to visit us at the cabin. Lori and Aubrey joined us when Lori was done with work. Jacob and Jake played so nicely all day long. Floating in their life jackets, pushing around and swimming with the trucks and working in the sand. After Jake left, Jacob declared him his best friend. Very fun to see the next generation of "best friends".

I got to go play Bingo on Thursday at the county fair. I won 3 times, I called Bingo another time, but ended up not having Bingo. Oops. That evening we went to the demolition derby. Jacob really sat nicely to watch the whole thing. We were back at the fair on Friday night so the kids could enjoy some rides. Gavin got his first ride on the Merry Go Round with Grandma Nancy.

We were going to get one more day of lake in yesterday, but the weather didn't cooperate. We did get out there to clean-up and Jacob played a little while. Then we headed back to Chaska to get back to "real life".

Gavin and Grandma Nancy on the Merry Go Round.

Jacob and Isaac on a ride.


Fred with his "cooler" haircut.

One of Gavin's 6 month pictures.