Highlights From Our Weekend 'Up Nort' -Week 11

Thursday through Sunday we had the pleasure of joining some friends at their family lake cottage 'up nort' (about an hour north of Minneapolis). Don't have time to write much as I have to go to work tomorrow (I know, isn't it unjust?)

Below are a few pics from the weekend. Here is Henry w/ a friend he hadn't seen in a while.

One of my favorite pictures of Henry.

My best wildlife shot of the weekend.

Henry caught his first (and second and third....) fish ever. It was of course a very small sunfish (as were the next 6 or 7) but he thought it was pretty great.

The last night we were there the kids played with glow-sticks and ate s'mores. It was pretty awesome for them. (couldn't get a decent picture of the s'mores)

Hans was of course part of the weekend but didn't get as involved in the outdoor adventures as Henry did. We did remember to take the 11-week picture though. Here it is.

Not his best picture. But hey, at least his outfit matched the chair.

10 Weeks

Well, it has been a great summer for us. We haven't 'done' much but we sure have grown as a family. Today Henry informed me that is was my last chance to read a book to him before his afternoon nap. I was going to correct him and then realized that if you ignore weekends he was correct. With school soon starting it was one of my last chances to read to him this fall and let's face it, he's going to stop taking the midday nap sooner or later.

Saturday (last) was the 10 week point for Hans and he is getting more and more interactive (thank goodness). It is a double-edged sword. He is requiring a more entertainment but that also means he is more fun to interact w/ AND he seems to be wearing himself out and sleeping harder. Here's the 10 week picture:

And here is what Hans is looking at:

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, Henry and Hans already have a unique bond (and way of interacting). They're also really fun to photograph together. One of these two is going to become a print for me to take to school.

One more week of summer.

It's rough for me to think about, and those of you (all 3 of you) who aren't school teachers will not feel pity for me here, but my summer is almost over. It's interesting, before kids I would look at the end of summer as the end of freedom and bemoan the fact that I would have to rewire my sleep-wake schedule. Now I mostly think about how much I'm going to miss the boys.

Henry is just growing up and is so much fun. Right now he's watching 'Super Y' on PBS (he gets 30 min of TV in the morning if he remembers to ask for it). Anyway, I can hear him him in there sounding out words and yelling out letters. I oscillate between welling up with pride and sitting in awe with how quickly he seems to be growing up. Then there's this:

Yeah, that's a skid there at the end. This video was shot the night he decided to try riding without training wheels.

Long story short. I really need to savor this last full week at home with the boys. Off to read cars and trucks and things that go!

9 weeks

So Hans turned 9 weeks today. Crazy. 1/4th of a school year's worth and I think he's learned more than some of my students will learn all this next year (I know that's not fair, he started with nothing). Anyway, we seem to have recovered from our journeys east and west and enjoyed a week just here at home again. 

Below is a little photo montage (a mere sampling) of some of the pictures I took this week trying to capture the 'true Hans.' Really I was just trying to get a good smile. 

Ready? Here we go.

There's crooked grin Hans:

 

 Cute but aloof Hans:

 Bored with this whole thing Hans:

Possibly filling his pants Hans:

Totally freaked out Hans:

Now we'll move on to my attempts for the weekly picture. This may be the 'official' 9 week shot. It's a decent smile but he was moving a little quicker than my shutter speed could handle.

But wait, there's more! Though he was nearly falling over, I found this a pretty cute picture. At least it isn't as blurry.

But, the one person who can really get Hans to smile is his big brother. Get a load of these two! It's like they already have some joke that only the two of them are in on. In about 12 years we're going to be in trouble.

Oh and while we're at it let's do that thing that kids never want their parents to do and let's compare these two boys at the same age. 

Henry at 9 weeks: 

Hans at 9 weeks:

Fun in Ohio

The boys and I were busy in Ohio with Grandma Janet and Grandpa Delmar. Here is just a sampling of our fun in no particular order.

Gathering with Beyelers. Henry and Hans with all their 2nd cousins (in order of age).

Gathering with Nussbaums. Henry played with his 2nd cousins Grant and Jordan.

Henry requested a lot of lego vehicles. I was quite busy building cars, boats, planes, etc.

Riding with Grandpa in his old car--a very special time for Henry.

Henry showing Hans how a forklift works.

The three of us at the new school playground that we visited multiple times.

The happy grandparents and grandchildren.

Busy climber.

Grandma Janet giving Henry a mower ride (no blades were moving--don't worry). Henry got to drive which was hilarious. At one point, they were doing very small circles.

Weeks 7 & 8

The past week was a bit crazy for us. Derek took a school group to California for the week and the boys and I flew to Ohio so I could get some help from Grandma Janet and Grandpa Delmar. Both week 7 and week 8 pictures were taken at their house. For now I will just post the weekly photos and then I'll post again with all the things we did there. I can't thank my parents enough for all they did for me, Henry and Hans!! Thank you again. I'm sure they will get more sleep this week.

Week 7: Almost smiling.

Week 8: Finally caught his little crooked grin. There were better smiles but I didn't get a good clear picture of them. Maybe next week.

Week 6

This week we took no pictures. I guess when we don't have guests we don't feel we're doing anything photo-worthy. It was a nice week. Hans is growing quickly, mostly in width not length as far as I can tell. We also had a ton of rain this week so not as many bike rides or trips to the playground. Thankfully today the rain has moved on.

These early weeks it's so hard to get a picture of him without is held being tilted and he is rarely looking at the camera. This is the best we could get.

Some dear friends are moving away next week. We are sad to see them go but very happy that we could hang out for a bit this morning and hope to tomorrow morning as well. Above is Silas and Henry hanging out in Silas' pool.

Silas was helping Henry understand what he has to look forward to when Hans starts pulling up on things (and people). I guess Henry looked like a sturdy structure to hold onto. Henry was not so sure about this.

Ah, success for Silas and Henry eventually thought it was kind of funny. We are sad that we won't be able to hang out as much with Silas (and Molly and Adam too) after their moving day. We wish that Henry and Silas would have many more days to play together as they grow up, but life takes us to different places now. Such is life.