Happy Memorial Day

After our float trip, Scott and I drove home on Saturday night then to Chicago on Sunday to celebrate a retirement of my former sports editor. It was great seeing old friends who we had not seen in almost 8 years. I'm really glad we made the trip even though it was a lot of driving in one weekend. Blake and Drew stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and others at the cabin. They woke up at 5 a.m. for them. But the rest of the weekend went pretty smoothly or so they say. Here the patriotic kids relax in a new hammock we picked up at IKEA. It was nice to get away by ourselves for a couple of days, but I have to admit I missed my Drew hugs. He's the best hugger right now. And he's a Klingsick boy. Really. We both got great big hugs and kisses from both of them when we got home.

The Family Float Trip

We went on the annual Klingsick family float trip this weekend. And Drew took his first trip in a canoe. We were a little worried because it was a 12-mile float, and if he wanted out after the first couple of miles, we were in BIG trouble! Luckily, he thought it was great. He and his big brother Blake - a veteran canoeist, it was his 3rd trip - donned their life jackets and sat in their Scooby-Doo beach chairs that Dad had strapped to the middle of the canoe for them. Drew's favorite part was seeing all the turtles. He was hoping to spot "Bambi" but either Bambi was taking a nap or his uncle Tim scared him away by yelling, "Turtle!" everytime he saw a turtle. Blake's favorite part was when a Zebra Swallowtail butterfly (I think that's what kind it was) took a ride on his swimtrunks. He theorized that the butterfly must have liked the sharks on his swimtrunks. It rode on his leg for a good mile of our canoe trip. He also liked eating Pringles. He especially likes the ones that have trivia questions on them. Of course you have to read EVERY trivia question on each Pringle before you eat it. Just remember - as Uncle Tim and Don found out - if you buy the Pringles with questions on them, you get to read all of them to Blake. Mom and Dad like the plain ones. At least until Blake can read well enough to read the questions himself. The kids were a little disappointed we didn't get to ride the rickety school bus back to the campsite (we were in a van instead), but all in all it was a great float. Enjoy the pictures.

Graduation Day

Blake graduated from preschool Friday. The class wore matching t-shirts with all of their names on it which they wrote. When they called their names, they walked up on top of a "podium" to accept their diplomas. When asked how he felt about being a preschool graduate, Blake said, "Good. I'm just excited about starting kindergarten. I'll miss my teachers, but I still want to go to kindergarten."

MOther's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. I had to work on Mother's Day but spent a good morning with the kids. Here's a pic.

A visit to kindergarten

Blake visited a kindergarten class today at the school he will be going to in the fall. They got to ride a bus, and the bus dropped each child off at the elementary school they would attend in the fall. He said they got there just in time for "carpet time." They went over all the months of the year. And also did a matching game. He said they also had computers in the room.

Birthday parties

Blake got his school pictures back this week. Here it is below. Not much else to report. Blake had a couple of birthday parties. Drew got to tag along on one of them. In the picture, he is flying down a slide at the party. The place is an indoor soccer facility, but is has a big playland area in the front of it. Blake also had a party on Sunday when it rained and rained and rained some more. And the party was at a park. He came home completely drenched but said he had a good time. He is now planning his birthday party (only a month away!) which has changed themes and locations about 20 times throughout this past year. Currently, it's dinosaurs and possibly a pool party.