A weekend with cousins!

 My birthday is always the week before Memorial Day which also happens to be the last cheap weekend at Trout Lodge before the prices all go up.  So this year we decided to celebrate with the kids cousins Gabe, Mike, Angeline, and Alex!
The kids had a perfect weekend with amazing weather!
We started the weekend off by kayaking in the lake!

Adriana and Andrew loved it!

 Joey wasn't so sure and stayed close to the shore before getting to scared and getting out.

 That night the camp did a fun night of skits....

 And somores!

Adriana and Angeline teeter tottering together!

 The next day we did more kayaking...

 and swimming!

 We also did some archery!

 and more swimming!

 And more archery!

 The best picture I could get of all 7 kids!

The kids had an amazing time!  We also played mini golf, rode bikes, and did some crafts!  It was the most perfect birthday weekend a girl could ask for!!!

Kindergarten Graduation!

 I can't believe how big my little boy is getting!  He has done incredibly well adjusting to kindergarten, especially considering when his dad died on his first day of school!  I know Chris would be so proud of it and it breaks my heart that he is not here with us to celebrate our little boy!
Anyway, don't want to make this a sad post.  Here is my big boy looking so handsome on his special day!

Here he is getting ready for his kindergarten presentation!  He isn't a boy who likes to be on stage in front of people so he tends to shy away!

 Andrew and his buddy's, AJ and Sam!

 Andrew and his student teacher, Mr. Vossenkemper!

 Andrew and his teacher Mrs. Gotsch!

 Andrew and MawMaw and PawPaw!

So sadly we move on to first grade!  I know he is very smart and will always do well in school!  I'm so proud of you, Andrew!!!!

Strawberry picking with Joey!

 We love fruit picking every year and I usually try to do it with all three kids but this year didn't work out for the strawberry picking since the older two were always in school.  So I decided to just bring Joey and he had an amazing time picking all to himself :)
Picking just the right strawberry.....

 Working hard finding the best strawberries!

 What an accomplishment!

Now time to play while mom pays for the strawberries :)

 

We had a great time and although I missed my older two a lot, I must admit it was much easier with just one with me!



Cardinals game!

For Mother's Day, we received a special gift from our financial advisor for Edward Jones!  She gave us 4 tickets to a Cardinals Game as well as passes to go down on the field to watch batting practice!
So we made a full day of it and headed downtown early to walk around a bit.

Then we headed down to batting practice.  Skip Schumaker came over to the kids and signed an autograph for them!  This made the kids so extremely excited to meet a Cardinals player!

 Some of the Cardinals players during batting practice!

 The kids and I getting ready to watch the game!

We had a great time and it made it easier to get through my first Mother's Day without Chris here with us!

Fishing with PawPaw!

 Today Paw Paw took the boys fishing.  The boys love fishing so much and don't get to do it as much as they used to with their daddy!  So PawPaw tries to make sure to do it with the boys as much as possible.!
Joey and the fish he caught!

Andrew and his fish!

Someday the boys will be able to do most of this on their own and hopefully have a love for it like their daddy did!

Borromeo school Field Day!

 Today the kids had their annual Borromeo Field Day and they couldn't have asked for a better day!  They start off the morning going to Mass then they all head to Blanchette Park together as a school.  The 8th graders put together a bunch of fun games for all the kids and the classes all have an assigned color to wear.  This year the third graders had to wear orange and the kindergarteners wore green.

Here is Adriana getting ready to play a game......always a smile on her face!!!

Adriana and a few of her good friends!  I wish they could always stay so close!

 Adriana playing tug of war!

 Adriana and her best friend, Clare!

 Andrew with Mrs. Gotsch and his kindergarten class!

 Andrew playing tug of war!

 Playing duck duck goose!

 Andrew doing a somersaut!

It was a great time as always which ended with a big barbque for all the kids!  I'm so blessed to be able to spend so many fun times with my kids!