Owen Turns ONE!!!

On June 29, 2008, Owen was born! Here are pictures of us celebrating his FIRST birthday.

And I know that he just recently celebrated his SECOND birthday, so I am a whole year behind. I have tried my darnedest to play catch up with the blog, but I just can't seem to get to the present tense. It is too much of a daunting task, and I find myself avoiding the blog so I don't have to catch up. So here is my last "catch up" entry. After this, I am starting with Owen's second birthday and concentrating on the present instead of concentrating on catching up. I may try to occasionally place a catch up entry in here or there, so keep your eyes open. However, I make no promises. :)

Enjoy the pictures of my little monkey at one!

Owen wasn't all that into opening up the presents. Aiden and Kiera were happy to help out.

Owen and cousin Amy

Look at that sweet little grin!

Of course, the monkey got a Curious George birthday cake!

He enjoyed everyone serenading him with "Happy Birthday."

Everyone loves balloons!

Walking up to his new presents

Ooooo, FUN!

He's cruising now!

Yes, the tongue does help!

Exploring

Waiting for cake!

He wants his hand clean. Not much into messy eating.

He finally got into it a little bit. None was put in his mouth. He just demolished.

Owen was done!

Rochesterfest

We always have a grand time the week of Rochesterfest. A couple of the festivities that we never miss: The very long parade on Friday night, and Breakfast on the Farm Sat. morning. Here are some fun pictures from those fun days back in June! Kiera is super excited about getting candy!

Ready and waiting with her bag.


Our friend James, a classic look.

Holding the kitties at Breakfast on the Farm.

Kiera doesn't look quite sure about the donkey.

Owen really didn't want to be on the donkey, but Josh thought it would be a fun picture.

This year Aiden was brave enough to touch the cow.

Kiera in the tractor

Climbing on the very big tires.

Father's Day 2009

The kids and I had a great time coming up with this Father's Day surprise! We bought Josh a fishing pole and tackle kit. Along with that the kids each picked out their own fishing pole. The plan had been that on Father's Day we would take Josh out for a secret outing to the nature center to fish in the pond. The plan suddenly changed from secret to open as a book when the kids let the cat out of the bag that his Father's Day surprise was a fishing pole. :)



We had a picnic in the van (it was raining when we got there), and then headed out to fish for a short while before the rain started up again. It was okay though. Within the first 10 minutes Aiden and Kiera each caught a fish! They were so excited! Unfortunately, Josh didn't catch a thing. He did enjoy watching the kids catch their fish and seeing the excitement on their faces.



One thing Josh didn't count on was taking the fish off the hook. I laughed when he was so hesitant to touch the fish, and I quickly stopped him when he thought it was a good idea to hold the fish down with his foot while he tried to take the hook out to throw the fish back. He didn't think about the fact that the fish would be smooshed to death.

The kids are looking forward to fishing again this Spring and Summer with their "best Daddy ever!"

On the dock

Getting the poles ready

So excited!

Hooking that worm

Casting off

Ready to catch some fish!

Daddy's ready to fish!

I was actually afraid a fish would pull on her line and the pole would be yanked out of her hands and lost forever!

Aiden's first fish!!! Along with some algae.

Kiera's first fish!

Swimming

Aiden and Kiera enjoyed swimming lessons with Mr. Ballard this year. For Aiden, it was his third year, and for Kiera her first. I am always amazed at the progress they acheive through one week of lessons. It is amazing. They can't wait to go back next summer!

Finally, a nice weekend!

Finally, the weekend Aiden had his tubes put in, we have a nice weekend! We had been waiting for one of those weekends where shorts and t-shirts are what you need and swimming is a fun adventure, not a chilly endeavor! Aiden had no problems recovering from his tubes so we spent the weekend playing at the park and swimming in our pools at home. We even got to head over to our neighbors house. They have a beautiful in ground pool that the kids love to swim in! No pictures of that though.