Finally

Nils has had a loose tooth for months. He finally lost it, and couldn't be happier. I still can't get over how cute he looks with that missing tooth.

Fun Times at Mormors

We went to visit my parents. There were some wasps there. Nils and Walter were terrified of the wasps. Here they are after i rescued them from the wasp that was holding them hostage in the car.
Sigh. So fun!

Lego Creations

Here's some things Nils and Walter made. Nils made the Mecha-suit and Walter made the car. The mecha-suit has articulation in the legs. Nils is a very advanced builder. 

Lego Land

After Christmas we went to Legoland. It was a lot of fun. 

Nils' favorite part of Legoland was the Dragon Roller Coaster, because it went 'super fast.'

Walter's favorite part was these cars that he got to drive. "I didn't even crash at all, I just crashed into the car in front of me. I did not stop going."

The beach.

While we were in CA staying with Aunt Tiffany & Summer we also got to visit the beach. There were lots of hardcore surfers there. Only the best surfers go when the water is freezing. This means that we actually got to watch some rather impressive surfing. 

Anyways, this was my favorite picture of the kids at the beach. 

It's Christmas! In February

Yeah I know Christmas was two months ago. At least I got the Christmas decorations put away by now. We have started a tradition of making gingerbread houses and cookies. 

This is my house:

Walter decided that the Christmas Tree Ornament shaped cookie was actually a bomb, and decorated it as such.

Nils and his Dad collaborated on this Gingerbread Nativity scene. And yes, there were dinosaurs at the stable. 

Nils also made this and was very proud of it.

Birch Aquarium

Part of our original plan was to go to Seaworld because Nils said he wanted to go to an aquarium and see some sponges. 

We decided that for the cost, and for what Nils was actually wanting, it would be better to go to an actual aquarium rather than an Orca themed amusement park. Luckily a rather nice aquarium was right next to the beach that I'm most familiar with so that worked out pretty well. 

There was a sponge in one of the tanks, but we couldn't find it. Though the seahorse exhibit was super cool, and they also had a bunch of sharks. 

Walter didn't like it and pouted just about the whole time.  Except he stopped pouting when he got to ride on this see-saw. It helped that there was a similar sized kid on the other end making it extra fun. 

Guy Fawkes

 So yeah. It's been awhile since I posted anything. BUT! Here's a picture from Nov. 5 when we celebrated Guy Fawkes day by drawing him and then burning him.
Walter wanted to celebrate it again the next night. I think he just liked the fire.

Halloween 2012

Nils is a mummy, and Walter is a bat. (The same bat he was two years ago. It's a bit tight, but I'm surprised he could still get it on at all.)
Their dad took them trick or treating, and interestingly they got tired of it before he did.
Walter's costume changed at least 100 times until it was actually time to go, luckily he put together all of these costumes himself. He also has the next five or six years worth of costumes planned out.
Nils' costume was made by my very generous Mother in law who put it together while I was out of town.

Big Saturday

Both Nils and Walter wanted to play soccer this year, and the soccer season is now in session. Nils is still preoccupied with the bugs he sees, and Walter thinks it's a fashion show. But they both still manage to kick the ball a few times in between the other parts. Nils played keeper for part of his game and seemed to do a pretty good job. He especially liked taking the goal kicks.

Walter managed to score a few goals, and especially liked the after-goal high fives and fist pumps.

That morning before the game this rather large, very friendly dog came wandering up the street while I was out in the front yard. I saw him almost get hit by a car so I snagged his collar, then we and the next door neighbors contacted his owner. He spent the next half hour or so tethered to our tree watching the garage sale next door.  

#0379

Now that the kids are in school I've gotten back to doing the billions of things that need doing around here. Part of that has been going through the kids school stuff and digitizing their art. (Where digitizing means taking a picture of it and throwing it away. )

Anyhow I found this gem from Nils' preschool days. 

It's a bear. 

Covered in blood. 

Now, in his defense he may have been drawing the inside of the bear, but then again there we are. 

Also, while searching for that picture I found these other two pictures both with file names img0379

This one is Walter, back in his crawling days.

 And this one is Nils on his 5th birthday.  Oh nostalgia!

First day of School Pictures

School started on Wednesday. When I was herding them outside so I could take pictures Nils asked me why I wanted pictures of the first day of school, because "we've already done this." That it was a full year ago seems to make no difference to him.
Anyways.
I asked them to stand next to each other and smile. This was the result:

Then I said "Walter, smile!" He said "I am!" Hmm. Okay. Then I asked Nils to stand by himself and smile. He grimaced at me, so I tricked him into just looking at me and this was the result.

Then it was Walters turn. First he started just walking away. Then I bullied him into coming back, so he stood there like this.  

I tried to bend down and sneak a picture of his face, but he turned around too quickly. If I had gotten one of his face you would have been able to see his smirk- proof that he was loving every minute of this picture shoot. Oh well, if he wants to be immortalized as pouting at his mom on the first day of school I'm happy to oblige. He'll never hear the end of it when he gets older.

Happy birthday Nils!

Seven years later this boring little lump of a baby is an actual kid, and we couldn't be happier.

Freckles

Since we've been swimming every day, Nils' freckles have continued to get better and better. His eyelashes, on the other hand, have always been that awesome.

Like a fish

The major summer activity around here is swim lessons. Nils can now tread water for a minute or two, he can retrieve rings from the bottom of the pool, and can float on his back. Walter can get his face wet (hey, that's a big step for him).

 I got them these hilarious swimsuits, which will pay for themselves in the cost of saved sunscreen by the time we're finished with them.
 

And I made them these towel ponchos, because I'm awesome like that.
 

Can opener

Nils opened a can of mandarin oranges.

Last Day of First Grade

So Nils' last day of school was a little less than a month ago, but hey. Oh well, here's a picture of it anyways. He got into a grass fight with his friends at school that day, and then came home wondering why his eyes were watering like crazy.

New skirts

I call it "The Bed Skirt" and I think my siblings may be able to guess why.

Also visible is Nils playing with legos, and Walter trying to make a face for the picture. (I distracted him by telling him that his shirt is on backwards and inside out.)

Fauxhawk

Nils was sorely in need of a haircut, so I coaxed him into letting me shear him last night. As part of the coaxing I asked him how he wanted his hair done, and he said that he wanted it where it sticks up in the middle. I knew exactly what he meant since about half the kids at school are wearing their hair like that these days. I helped him do the styling this morning and he was pleased as punch about the whole thing.

My question is, when did he get so old?

Major Breakthrough

Sometime last month Nils was telling me that he hoped to be able to ride his bike without training wheels when he turns 15. He's about 9 years ahead of schedule.