3 Day - FIRST DAY

Feeling great at first Cheer Station - Lake Harriet
We had lots of cheer at this station! Leah was even dressed in a pink tutu!

Making our way towards downtown Minneapolis.

Winnie and Vivian handing out bags of ice to walkers on Summit Avenue - 2 miles uphill to the end of Day 1. The walkers loved the ice!

"Britta's Pit Stop" Our Favorite treat of the day was in that cooler : )

Ending Day 1 at camp! A great feeling.

Day 1 complete!

This year we had these AWESOME youth hockey players setting up our tents. Loved just standing by and not having to set up a tent.

In front of one of our tents. Ready for "Sweat Lodge". That is the nightly ritual we've created where we all smash into one little tent to enjoy cheese, crackers and a nightcap :) Provided by Karen who walked with us last year.

This is the part of the night where we are mostly just giddy and think everything we say is super funny. My cheeks hurt from laughing.

To Grandma and Grandpa Wagner's House He Goes!

He brought his bike, scooter and he couldn't leave his Treasure Box behind - he always finds LOTS of treasures at the Shack.
I told him he could fill a bag with whatever toys he wanted to bring for the week. It ended up being two bags : )

Packing the car up with Grandpa.

David gets to go and spend the week with Grandma and Grandpa up north. He was so excited. He even told our next door neighbors that he gets to go for FIVE days and that Mikko only got to go for FOUR. We can't wait to hear all about the ventures he has with Grandpa and all the books he'll read with Grandma when we pick him up this weekend.

Cheeseburger Store aka McDonalds Bday Party!

My sister Carrie is totally amazing. David LOVES cheeseburgers so she made him this amazing cheeseburger cake. Customers at McDonalds went crazy when they saw it. Someone who was there even wants her to make a cake for his son's party.

Eatin' with all the girlies!

Say Cheeseburger!

All the kiddies - love Mikko grabbing for the cake!

Grandma Carol bought David the special birthday candles.

Skateboard from Mary! Huge hit.

Rollerblades from the Frasers.

Soccer/Hockey net from G. Carol!

His very own camer from G & G Wagner.

He immediately wanted to ride his skateboard when he got home. He got super frustrated - think that he thought it would be as easy as riding a bike.

Thanks to everyone for coming to David's party. We have such wonderful family and friends. David will be entertained with his new loot for a long time!

5 Years Old

He is so proud of riding a bike - he is amazing at it.

I started off his special day with a stack of 5 mini pancakes. He got to pour his own syrup (imagine ELF) and put 5 Skittles on top! Yummy. He only ate one because it was way too much sugar - even for him!
We picked him up from school and asked what he wanted for dinner - Sprinkle pancakes at Perkins it was! He is wearing his pink Birthday crown his friends at school made for him.
More pancakes! - his favorite at Perkins. The waitress brough him a piece of pie which we brought home.

Super silly guy which we love!

Showing off his muscles.

We came home and he opened his present - a little trampoline. Hopefully it will use up some of his neverending energy!

Today is David's 5th Birthday.

It has been great fun (yet challenging at times) to watch him grow up. Determined, sweet, stubborn, creative, spirited, sensitive - all words I would use to describe David.

The past year has flown by.

David started Pre-school, learned to ride a bike, rode a rollercoaster, took karate, learned to ice skate, practiced swimming.

He lost Grandpa Dave, but still mentions him from time to time so we are happy he remembers his Grandpa who loved him so much.

David still doesn't like to watch many movies (except Cars), but LOVES watching Berenstain Bears, Caillou, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Here are his responses to my survey!

What do you want to be when you grow up? PAINTER

Favorite color? PINK

Favorite toy? TRAINS

Favorite thing to do? DECORATE

Least Favorite thing to do? TAKE A BATH

Favorite place to go? AUNTIE CARRIE'S HOUSE

Favorite thing about school? PUZZLES

Best friend? BOBBY AND GRETA

What have you learned to do since your last bday? CUT PAPER & WRITE MY NAME

Funnest thing to do? CRASH DUMP TRUCKS

Favorite Book? CURIOUS GEORGE

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We love you so much David. Keep being your unique self - you tell the best stories, make the best crafts and are a fun fun kid to raise.

_________________

And, one last thing, now that David is 5 he said he isn't going to suck him thumb anymore!

Thomas the Train

Mikko first seeing Thomas.
Could NOT get him to turn around for a picture - it was WAY too EXCITING that Thomas was right there!

Another attempt to try and get him to turn around for a picture - he just wanted to keep looking at Thomas.

On the train ride - we got to be up on the top level of the 2 deck train car.

Mikko was overcome with excitement. I even bought him a Thomas the Train t-shirt for the occasion.

Checking out the train museum.

Damon was playing w/ Ross in Duluth all weekend. I happened upon an advertisement that Thomas the Train was going to be at the Duluth Train museum today so we decided to drive up to Duluth for the day to ride Thomas. Needless to say, Mikko was ecstatic. He was so good all day and so fun. It is so fun to see him so crazy for trains!

The boys were great in the car (mostly) for Mommy, even though I had them alone! Only had to pull over one time to rescue a stuffed animal that was out of reach and David could NOT wait for it. And mark down #s 321 and 322 for the number of times we've watched the move Cars. I can't believe that DVD hasn't worn out.

Random Friday Night

Tonight we went to Broadway Pizza w/ Mandy, Leah and Grandma Carol - a very fun spontaneous evening out. (Damon is in Duluth @ Bayfront Blues Festival). After dinner we walked to Half Price book and the boys each picked out a book. Super interesting choice that David made : ) We'll be bedazzling something this weekend.

Shockingly Mikko picked out a Thomas the Train book.

David made a barrier out of all kinds of things so that Mikko wouldn't bug him - pillows, potty seat, a Rapping Santa etc. He gets really annoyed when Mikko messes with his stuff. Needless to say the barrier did not keep Mikko out.

MOA

Today we ventured to MOA because Mikko got a Build-a-Bear gift card for his birthday. We also got a "Mystery Ticket" to Nickelodeon Universe. When you get there they check it and you either win 1 ride, a days worth of rides, or a year. We were lucky and had a ticket with a day's worth of rides.

The biggest news is that David is the magic 42 inches tall and can now go on all kids of fun things. I can't count the number of times he rode the rollercoaster with Daddy. He took me on it and held my hand because I was scared. He rode the Log Chute and another big ride where they drop you from the top. He was so proud of himself riding all the big rides instead of the kiddie rides. I didn't get any pictures of the big rides - too hard to take them. But believe me when I tell you he was smiling EAR to EAR.

Mikko enjoyed the Choo Choo train ride and the Air Balloons. Other than that he didn't want to ride in the stroller AT ALL so I pretty much just chased him around for 3 hours. He was especially fond of escalators and playing with dirt in the planters. I didn't get a training walk in today but certainly got a workout following him around. BUSY BOY.

It was a fun family day that we planned last minute.

We didn't even get to Build-a-Bear because we wanted to use our day pass for rides. Next time.

Such a big week for David - he is a superstar riding his bike (you'd be truly amazed if you saw him), and he can now go on BIG rollercoasters.

No Training Wheels - first time! 3 Videos - press play!!!

One of the moments you'll always remember.

Damon and David have been riding their bikes around the block for the last month - with training wheels. Tonight Damon took off David's training wheels for the first time. We were shocked at the results. He is wearing a few bandaids to bed tonight, but we were so proud of him. Matt and Angie were out with us cheering him on. Way to go David - we love you so much and are so proud of you!

Family Fun on the way home.

David got a Hole-In-One. The hole ahead of us was cheering him on.
In front of the Pirate Ship -it was a super fun course. Mikko carried his little plastic golf club around the whole 18 holes and had a grand old time.

David got a Pirate Eye Patch for completing the course.

After golfing Damon and David went on the Go-Carts. Super fun.

The boys were so good. Love my little guys so much. And the big guy too : )