Happy 3rd Birthday!

Our sweet Silas turned 3 years old on the 3rd. We can't believe that this little guy is already 3! We had such a fun time celebrating his life. Grandma and Grandpa were down for the week to help us celebrate. On Sunday, I asked Sy what he would like on his cake. His response in a whispered voice was "sprinkles." I asked him if he wanted anything else on his cake. He thought for quite some time and again in a whispered voice said, "more sprinkles." We made sure there were sprinkles on his cake! We first celebrated his birthday on Tuesday night. Since I worked on Tuesday, Grandma and the boys worked together to make Silas a zoo cake. Apparently, when Silas first saw the cake after waking up from his nap, he exclaimed "Wow! That's COOL!" 

Of course, Silas' favorite part of the cake was the monkeys in the jungle.

Most of Silas' birthday gifts from grandparents and us were pieces for the Toy Story 3 Imaginext set 

Wednesday (his actual birthday) we went to the Omaha zoo and left fairly early in the morning to make the most of our day. But, we started the morning with Silas' favorite applesauce cake donuts from the Wahoo Bakery.

Here's a little about our new 3-year-old:

- He LOVES his big brother. He and Jonah are truly best friends. 

- He LOVES his little sister. No one can make Lydia smile and laugh like Silas can. 

- His goal in life right now is to be happy and to make other people happy. He frequently asks or comments about people being happy or not being happy. 

- He loves his monkeys. There is Monkey, Cap-Cap, and his newest monkey, Henry, 

from the Omaha Zoo.

- Monkey's tail seems to be a comfort to him. When he is tired or upset, he likes to hold Monkey's tail to his nose.

- Silas is all BOY. He still loves balls, trucks, and tractors.

- He loves to wrestle and roughhouse. And, he is usually the one who initiates it.

- Recently, he has been singing Go Fish's Kickin It Old School as well as That's Why We Praise Him quite a bit. He also really likes the Doxology and Praise to the Lord, the Almighty sung to him before naps/bed. 

- Silas has a major sweet tooth.

- He also loves cheese. Not too long ago, it seemed like we were going through cheese slices really fast. I figured it out when I found 4 cheese wrappers in a pair of Silas' shorts while doing laundry.

- He still likes to be held and cuddled.

Silas, you are such a wonderful blessing to us! We LOVE you SOOO much!

Last Day of Vacation

On our last day of vacation (June 21st), we packed up at The Lodge and drove to Breezy Point to see everyone once more before our drive home. We went to a beach on Pelican Lake and played in the sand for a little while. Although the boys both tested out the water, it was too chilly to be in for long.

This was Lydia's first experience with sand...

Guess we need to put her in the sandbox at home!

Building Sandcastles

Jonah liked chasing the birds

Overlooking the "lake" that had formed behind the cabin on the golf course...that is one big water hazard!

We left Breezy Point after lunch and arrived home around 11:30pm Friday night. 

We had a WONDERFUL vacation! The boys are already talking about next year! :)

Mini Golf Fun

Thursday afternoon everyone took good naps before heading out for more adventures. Our first stop was an urgent care clinic to have Lydia checked out. We wanted to make sure her ears or throat weren't the cause of her high fevers and other symptoms. The nurse practitioner couldn't find anything indicating something other than a viral infection. So, we made our way to Pirate's Cove Mini Golf.

Lydia golfed with me in the moby wrap. She got really excited when she saw me putting it on. I think she was in need of some cuddle time!

This was the boys' first time mini-golfing (unless you count Jonah when he was 7 months old!). We tried to teach them the basics about holding the golf club and hitting the ball. But then let them be 4- and 2-year old boys as we made our way through the course.

When we were through mini golfing we grabbed some Subway for supper and had a picnic on our hotel room floor. Fun memories were made this day!

And More Swimming

Thursday morning my parents and my sister's family came to the waterpark at our hotel for a morning of swimming. 

Lydia was still running high fevers. So, she and Grandma took a little snooze by the pool.

After swimming we enjoyed lunch together at the restaurant at our hotel. 

Silas got this massive grilled cheese sandwich. When the server set it down in front of him, his eyes got huge and a grin stretched across his face! He was so proud of his sandwich (and he ate most of it, too!).

Here is Grandpa with all of his grandkids in the shirts he brought back from his recent mission trip to Serbia. All of the girls are wearing red shirts from Serbia. The boys' orange shirts are from Grandpa's layover in Amsterdam. 

Racing Turtles

The Wednesday afternoon of our vacation was spent in the touristy town of Nisswa so the boys could try their luck at the turtle races. This year was the 50th anniversary of the turtle races. Mike and I both raced turtles when we were young and now get to let the boys do the same! 

When it was time for their heat, the boys each picked out a turtle in a bucket. 

Here we are lining up for the race. Jonah was a little timid with the turtles last year and wouldn't hold one himself. This year, he just reached his hand in and grabbed the turtle. Silas wasn't so sure he wanted to hold the turtles.

Neither of the boys' turtles did well during the first race. In fact, Jonah's turtle kept turning around and going the opposite direction. The boys also got to participate in a race for kids from out of state and in a race for kids there with their grandparents. (Grandma came with us while Grandpa stayed back at the cabin with sleeping Lydia).  

By the last race, Jonah knew just what to do. He got his turtle ready to go...

Set him on the starting line...

And encouraged him on by tossing a bit of water behind him. 

After the races, we visited an ice cream shop where the boys shared a dish of chocolate ice cream before heading back to Breezy Point for more swimming.

More Swimming

On the Wednesday of our vacation we spent time with my parents and my sister's family where they were staying at Breezy Point Resort. We went swimming in the morning and in the afternoon with Nisswa's Turtle Races in between our time in the water. 

Lydia first tried out her floaty in the kiddie pool with Silas' help. 

This was her first time in the pool.

Never mind my arm in this picture. I just love how happy Lydia is in the water at this point.

The boys love the waterslide at this pool because they are able to go down it by themselves. One of us would catch Silas as he came into the pool.

Jonah did a great job of swimming to the ladder on his own while wearing his puddle jumper. 

Yesterday, Silas saw this picture on the computer and exclaimed, "Grandpa caught me! And he saved me! And he's a superhero!" From then on when he has seen a picture of my dad he usually says, "There's the superhero!"

This is the only picture of Lydia smiling during our afternoon swim. She definitely was not a fan in the afternoon. You maybe wouldn't guess it from these pictures, but Lydia had been running a 102-103 temp for a day and a half at this point. Out of the water and wrapped up in a towel was what made this girl happy. 

After swimming, we enjoyed supper with our family before heading back to our hotel. We hit the arcade again as an end to our night. We were given 50 arcade tokens a day!

I LOVED how quickly and easily everyone went to bed and fell asleep on our vacation. We were tired out from all our fun!

On to The Lodge

Tuesday morning we packed up our suitcases and drove north to The Lodge at Brainerd Lakes. We spent a few days there last summer and had such a fun time that we decided to go back again this year. 

Not long after we got to our hotel room we got ready to head down to the water park to swim. The waterpark has two large slides that are 4 stories high. One of them is an inner tube slide that we are able to put the boys on our laps to ride down on. Silas was too small to ride with us last year, but both boys got to enjoy it this year. Mommy and Daddy got lots of exercise walking up those stairs carrying inner tubes! The boys also enjoyed the 0 depth - 18 inches play area that had a few slides and play areas. 

Sadly, Tuesday morning Lydia developed a fever along with being extra sleepy, fussy, and not eating well. She slept quite a bit of the 4 hour drive to The Lodge. Then, she slept in her stroller while we were in the water. Even though we were sad for Lydia, we enjoyed our time with the boys. I ended up mentioning this to our pediatrician on Wednesday when I took Lydia in and was describing how sleepy she has been (yes, she is battling this virus - most likely the same one - again this week!). After telling about Lydia sleeping while we enjoyed ourselves in the pool, the pediatrician chuckled and said, "What you just said tells me that Lydia is definitely not your first baby. If she was your first, there is no way you would have been having fun swimming while your baby was sick." He was absolutely right! It's funny how your perspective changes as more babies come along.  

We spent about an hour and a half in the pool before deciding it was time for supper. We enjoyed some Pizza Ranch buffet then spent time in the arcade at our hotel using the tokens we got for the hotel special we were on during our stay.

Last year at the Lodge (June 2012)

I just loved this sweet picture from our time at The Lodge last summer. So, I brought with our Good Night Minnesota book - a board book that all of our kids have loved - so we could take a similar picture this year. 

Amazed and blessed to see our family growing!