Swimming and T-ball

Gabe is taking swimming lessons and he LOVES it. His buddy Jackson is in the same class and here they are practicing kicking.

Here they are getting the diving sticks. Looks like fun!

Gabe taking a swing at his 2nd t-ball game.

He is enjoying his summertime activities!

Happy 2nd Birthday Andrew!

Andrew turned 2 on June 21st! We had special visitors for his birthday week. Grandma & Grandpa Schaefer, Auntie Kristi and cousin Sydney came all the way from North Dakota to help us celebrate!

I'm not sure who was more excited about opening presents.

Posing with his special birthday banner that Grandma made.

Family photo. We couldn't manage to look at the same camera at the same time...

Naughty Boys

This is what happens when our boys find a marker....

Something tells me Andrew had some "help".

Biking!

A few weeks ago Gabe decided he wanted his training wheels off his bike. But then he didn't really want to learn to ride it... until Sunday (the 12th of June). We were just sitting there talking and I told him to go put jeans and a long sleeved shirt on and we would show him how to ride his bike. He got dressed and then told me he was scared. So we talked about only riding on the grass and wearing a helmet, etc..... and he was ready to ride!

It only took about 3 tries before he was able to ride a little ways by himself.

He was so funny when he was actually doing it himself. He would just laugh and laugh and forget to keep pedaling and then fall over. Or he would turn around to look at one of us to be sure we weren't holding on anymore.

He had 2 crashes that made him cry but he would want to get right back on (while still crying). Needless to say I was a pleased mommy!

Oh and don't forget Andrew. He was in on all the action!

Brothers

Getting ready to camp outside. Note how pleased Andrew is with himself in spite of having his headlamp on backwards.

Such a nice picture of brothers hugging.

But OF COURSE this is what came next....

Cool Drew

A close up of the tough guy's stitches.

Sunglasses....

....and more sunglasses

Hamming it up for the camera!

Gabe's first sleepover...

Last Friday (the 10th of June), Hudsen came over and stayed overnight.

These 2 managed to talk Aaron into putting up the tent (not too much convincing was needed) for sleeping.

Bonfire time (note Rowdy, it looks like he is walking into the fire)!

Sleepy boys in the morning.

What a fun time the boys had! Hudsen's mom had a terrible time leaving her boy overnight but hopefully it'll be easier next time for her!

Nearball

For little kids the city of Humboldt has what they call "Nearball". It is basically t-ball without many rules. The kids get to hit, run the bases, and try to field the ball. Gabe's first game was Wed. the 8th of June. They have only 3 games left and don't have any practices.

Gabe and his friend Braden in the dugout, getting ready to play.

Before the game.

Braden & Gabe

Here I had just put his t-shirt on him... He was being really quiet and not wanting to do much, come to find out he was "scared". So we had a little talk and then we found Braden.

After he found his friend things were just fine!

Since Gabe was worn out after the game Andrew pulled him to the car in the wagon. What a good brother!

Official Tumbling Pictures...

Key Photography out of Ft. Dodge did pictures for his tumbling class and they turned out SOOOO good!

Truly, truly a big boy!

Andrew is testing his mettle as a BIG boy. So far he has gotten stitches.... and tried out the big boy bed. Here he and Gabe have big smiles after Andrew got home from having 4 stitches put in his forehead.

Could care less that he got a big owie...

He fell in the garage at daycare and hit his head on something, likely the motorcycle but we're not sure. It was a nice, neat split in the skin, not too deep so it only needed 4 stitches on the surface layer of skin.

He screamed the whole time they put in the stitches. They had strapped to a "papoose board" so that he couldn't wiggle and a nurse had to hold his head tightly. I suspect that is the main reason he was screaming. I tried to talk over his crying and tell him stories about the farm and when he went fishing with uncle Mikey and auntie Laura. That helped him calm down some during the procedure, but not much.

As soon as they unstrapped him and I picked him up he shook his head and pointed to the door like "let's go mom!" He was not thrilled that we had to wait around a few minutes to get our discharge orders.

Now we have to keep it clean and keep antibiotic ointment on it at all times. Kinda hard when he is always rubbing it off but he is getting used to me putting the ointment on. Stitches should come out on Wed. or Thurs.

In other news he tried out the big boy bed a week ago or so. He only slept there one night but did well!

I guess we have a ways to go before he is officially a big boy.... getting rid of the bottle and potty training.... ugh... we'll see how that goes!

Tumbling Recital

This past year Gabe has been working on his "tricks" at tumbling class. They had their big recital last week. Gabe had fun! Here he is showing off his costume on the night of dress rehearsal.

Lining up before they went out on stage. Gabe is standing between some crazy twins, Graham and Adley. Shortly after this the tears started and a nice lady came and let Gabe move OUT from being between those two.

Here they were lining up for the finale and he was all smiles to be next to Corey and near his friend from daycare, Macy.

Giving Corey a funny look!

This was before their performance, after he was moved out from between Graham and Adley. The other boy with glasses, Henry, was much nicer to stand by and wait...

The girls from his tumbling class.

Coming out after the finale where they have a balloon drop..

After the recital at home with his balloons. My lovely friend April brought Gabe some candy and balloons for his first recital!

Of note is that we never actually saw the performance from the audience. Aaron had church and I stayed back with Gabe in case he was upset (like he was the night of dress rehearsal). BUT pretty much all Gabe's group did for their performance was cartwheels.... which Gabe can't do yet. He does this cute, sad, deliberate attempt and concentrates so hard... from what I hear the audience loved him and thought it was adorable! Since I didn't see it I ordered a video of the night (for $40), can't wait to watch it!