Jacob Turns 11

Jacob turned 11 on Friday the 13th this year, just like the Friday the 13th he was born on. I brought him lunch to school and he got to have cookies with his class. Then Auntie Drea brought him a delicious dessert after school. Then it was Smashburger once he was finally hungry again. It was a kind of mellow birthday.

Jacob opening his presents. He got a book, socks, and a repurposed iPod Shuffle (Fred bought him a new one, but he opted to use our old one and take the $50.)

On Saturday we headed to South Dakota for the night. Gavin & Wyatt had late soccer games, so we didn't get going until about 1. We drove out towards Watertown, making a stop at our CRP land. We had to drive through a loose herd of cattle, so that was exciting. Then we walked around the land and found Uncle Joe's deer stand before heading into town to swim at the hotel pool. We hung out in the room that night and watched the "Blind Side" with the boys. We zipped back on Sunday morning to get back in time for flag football at noon. It was a fun, quick trip.

A Walk to Remember

On the 2nd anniversary of my dad, Grandpa Ron's passing, we took a walk down by the Minnesota River that runs through downtown Chaska. We had a good time exploring a path we'd never been down before and even found a geocache. Afterwards we treated ourselves to DQ.

Duluth

We made a trip up to Duluth the weekend after our anniversary. Sometimes we fly off, just the two of us, sometimes we take the whole clan plus Grandma on a road trip. We like to mix it up. 

We stayed at the Water's Edge Hotel & Waterpark. The boys had a great time on the slides and in the water. Jacob was in the basketball pool most of the time.

Fred, Wyatt & Gavin at the bottom of the slide.

Jacob shooting hoops.

Wyatt completing the ropes course.

The view of Lake Superior from our hotel room.

On Saturday we headed up towards Split Rock Lighthouse. It wasn't open yet, but the visitors' center was and we got to watch a movie about how they built the lighthouse.

Mom & I on the shores down below Split Rock Lighthouse.

Then we went to Gooseberry Falls and an unplanned hike ensued after we checked out lower, middle, and upper falls and decided to continue onto Fifth's falls. It was a snowy, mucky winding path about a mile up the river.

Here we are at a rest point near Fifth's falls. We were so concerned about our hike back that I didn't even get any pictures of the falls we hiked so far to see. Jacob's boots were bugging him and Fred and I were afraid mom or Wyatt were going to go over the cliff we were hiking along at the start of our journey back. Once we finally got onto a path farther from the river (and away from the sharp drop-off), Jacob and I switched footwear. His feet are almost as big as mine, almost.

We rewarded ourselves with pasties and pies from Betty Pies.

On Sunday we ate at the Duluth Grill and then explored around Canal Park.

Spring Staycation with the Silvestains

The Silvestains were in town for a family wedding and their spring break corresponded to our spring break, so they stayed the week and we had a ton of fun. We started their stay with some chilling out at our house - boys and girl in the backyard playing football. We had the Jacobi-Smigelski boys join in the fun that night. 

Then on Monday we headed to Smashburger for lunch, a park stop and then Conquer Ninja Warrior. My boys were prepared for the challenges - since they'd been humbled during a previous visit, but the Silvestains still thought they were going to rule the gym. They soon learned it looks way easier on TV than it is in reality. They all worked up a good sweat and had fun no matter how severe the defeat.

Jacob did make progress on the steps, almost reached the top.

The Ninjas.

Ninjas on the mini-warped wall.

Backyard fun before heading to Cuzzy's for a meet and greet.

On Tuesday, we headed to the Mall of America for rides. We joined up with the Davids - Kim, Tyler, and Brooke. The kids had a great time getting in as many of the rides as they could - multiple times. The longest lines were for the Avatar Ride (boys' favorite) and the log chute (Wyatt's favorite), but sometimes a line is a good thing as it allows the mom to recover from the last ride ;)

Group photo by Pichu the cat? Tyler, Kyle, Wyatt, Brooke, Avery, Gavin, & Jacob

Gavin & Avery on Swiper's Sweeper, I am sure somewhere there are pictures of them at 3 doing this same ride.

Tyler, Kyle, & Jacob ready for the Splatosphere.

Gavin & Avery on Brain Surge.

Brooke, Avery, & Wyatt on the mini-Roller Coaster.

Wyatt, Jacob, & Gavin on the last ride of the day - the Splatosphere.

On Wednesday, we just did lunch at the Crooked Pint before the Silvestains went to visit other friends.

On Thursday, we went to the Waterpark of America. The Jacobi-Smigelskis, Davids and Crafts also joined in for this fun.

Tyler, Kyle, Bobby, and Jacob, Kai in back.

Wyatt on the lilypads.

It was so fun to have them here and do all that fun stuff with them. So it made it hard to see them leave again, not knowing when we'd see them next. I hold out hope that Procter and Gamble will send them back here to work with Target in a few years.

Easter 2016

We headed south for the start of spring break. Ok, just to Springfield for a night. Egg dying and pool time with the Jeske cousins, pizza and catching up with the Friesen clan, and a game of Scrabble on Saturday. Sunday was eat (pancakes in church basement), egg hunt (in the church sanctuary), church, egg hunt (at Grandma's apartment hosted by Alyssa), eat (buffet at Tommy's). Easter festivities all wrapped up by 12:30 and we were on our way home.

Wyatt

Muscle Men - Jacob, Gavin & Isaac

Isaac, Jacob, Maddie, Wyatt & Gavin with Grandma Lyd

Gigs, Grams, same thing...

Still chuckling at Gavin's relay of info to Wyatt this morning. "See Wyatt, this snack bar has 10 Gigs of whole grains in it, this one only has 9 Gigs". Gigs, grams, same thing :)

Sad Good-Bye to Hannah

Fred and I made the decision to put Hannah down this week. It is a terrible thing to have to decide for your dog, but it came time to say good-bye. We told the boys before so they could say their good-byes. I hope we haven't scarred Jacob with his ever soft heart. Coming home to a dog-free home is very quiet and strange after 14 years with dogs. We'll take our time grieving and try to enjoy the new freedom. Maybe we'll look for some dog sitting opportunities.

Found this photo of Hannah and a 2 year old Wyatt, so cute.