4.22.2012

Dad's Birthday Present Hunt

For something a little fun, this year for Ken's birthday I set up a treasure hunt for him and the kids to find his presents! Here are the clues and pics to show the fun :)
Clue #1

"Dad’s gifts are too big to give inside our home,

So I’ve made a treasure hunt where outdoors you’ll roam...

Head out the front door, and here’s your clue,

Each has one leaf on it, and you can step on it too!"

Which took us to the front yard stepping stones.
Clue #2
"This is a good start, but just you wait...

You’ll need another clue to get through the gate.

So head to where you might find,

A sweet treat in the summertime!"

Which lead us to the strawberry & blueberry patch...
Where Daddy got his first of the presents, a new bike!
Clue #3
"Congrats you found the first one :)

Head to the backyard for some more fun!

This one’s more tricky, so do not haste,

It is hiding near where we put our kitchen waste."

Which brought us to our backyard compost, and present #2... a Wee Ride child carrier.
Clue #4
"Hooray, you’re doing just fine!

You need to keep going, there’s more in line.

Now this one’s trickier, you’ll need to think,

It’s the way in the summer I give the flowers a drink."

Right beside our garden hose was a bike rack, to mount on the back tire of our vehicle.
Clue #5
"Oh so you think you’re smart? Well here’s one more!

Find the outside wall to where I have my computer."

Melissa wasted no time to run down the side of our house, where they found a trail-a-bike! Now we are set for family bike riding trips! Yay!!!
Shortly after we set up the seat on my bike for Brody to try out! He seemed to love it, except for the bright sun.

4.19.2012

Easter Egg Hunt at Klassens

Here are some pictures I took at Easter with my family, when the kids did their Easter Egg Hunt!

Cousin Justus (only 1 month old here) getting in on the action :)

4.18.2012

Melissa's 2011 - 2012 Class Photo


Only one of Melissa's teachers is present in this picture - Mrs. Gain.
Her other teacher is Mrs. Flynn.

4.04.2012

Wagon Ride

So glad we saved our wagon... Melissa and Brody enjoyed a ride together :)

3.29.2012

Playground Play

Here are some more pics from our outdoor fun this past weekend. We went to the local school playground where Brody played on the playground for the first time :)

Watching his sister going down the slide...
Going down the slide for the first time with Daddy! Seemed to really like it!
So he went again and again! (love how his little hand is holding on for dear life to Dad's)
Thought I'd get in on the action too!

Weeeee!!!


Geocaching

The other day I came across an app on my iPhone that is for geocaching. The weather was beautiful this past weekend, so we set out (on two different days) to find some of the ones within walking distance.

Here is Melissa with the first cache we found...
The second cache... she found it all by herself!
Along the way we were learning about nature... here Ken is giving a beaver chewing demonstration!
Brody sleeping through most of it!
Cache number 3... Melissa found it once again! She seemed to be on a roll this day - which made her very pleased!


Swimming Lessons

Spring break was a busy two weeks for Melissa as she was in swimming & ice skating lessons. She hadn't been in swimming lessons in couple of years, but she made huge progress in the 10 days that she went. So proud of her. By the end she was jumping in the deep end and much more!


Melissa & her teacher Laura... there were certainly some perks to being the only girl in the class! Here on their last day, Melissa is being warmed up by her teacher after going down the water-slide :)


3.22.2012

Brody 8 Months

Here is a video which captures a few of the sounds our little boy loves to make. He does this throat growl and loves to knock on things. Brody turns 8 months on the 24th.

3.14.2012

Worksheet

Melissa brought home this worksheet which I found was cute. I loved her sketch of "A walking stick" and the sentence which she didn't complete, and the teacher kindly finished it with "an egg?". She could simply have just put "up" there! haha

3.11.2012

A new cousin

Friday we welcomed a new cousin to the family! My sister had a baby boy they have named Justus Shinen Brown. He was born March 9th at 6 am at home.

This is a picture I took about 2 hours after he was born...
These photos are from when Melissa & Ken visited him for the first time the following day...
Melissa & Justus:

Xander had a new-found interest in babies!

3.08.2012

Bathing in the sink

Yesterday Brody tried bathing sitting in the sink for the first time... it sure was a hit :)

32 weeks

3.01.2012

Jumping & laughing

Yesterday Brody was jumping in the jolly jumper and Melissa made a "phfft" sound... and Brody laughed. Every time after that when she would make the sound he would laugh again. Already enjoying boy noises!