Minnesota Summer

The kids and I have been in Minnesota since Thursday.  We flew on the same flight with my sister Jen and her kids who were returning home from their summer in Sitka.  We were quite the site walking through the airport - 2 adults, 6 kids and a dog.  All 6 kids did awesome on the flight.  My cousin Anna met us at the airport when we arrived in Minneapolis.  We had a 4 hour drive ahead of us to make it to the cabin.  This was the leg of the trip I was most worried about.  And Natalie lived up to every expectation I had - she cried the entire way!  We must have stopped 6 times, and then changed our travel plans.  We ended up at Jen's place at 12:30am instead of making the entire trek to the cabin  which would have taken us another hour.  Anna was such a trooper to deal with the 4 of us!  Ryan and Kendall did awesome considering the number of times we had to stop.  Once we arrived at Jen's Natalie was happy as could be kicking on the floor.  The rest of us were pretty happy we had arrived, too!

We hung out with Jen and her kids for the morning, then ventured to the cabin.  None of us were particularly happy to get in the car again, but the 45 minute trip wents smoothly - no stops!

The kids were so happy to get to the cabin, and even happier when the next round of cousins arrived.  Jillian and Gabe stopped out to visit for a bit, then Gina, Gunnar, Emma and Evelyn.  The Gunderson crew has been here since Friday, and we've been having a great time.  Jen and her kids came out on Saturday so the cabin was full with 9 kids and 3 crazy moms!  We were blessed with beautiful weather, and the kids were so content to be outside. 

On Sunday, we were invited to our long time friend's cabin.  The Colligans were so gracious to invite all of us to their amazing place for the entire day.  I'm not sure they knew what they were getting into - 11 kids, 5 adults and a dog.  Rose and Al have 3 daughters and 7 grandkids so it was quite a houseful.  Again, we had beautiful weather so enjoyed being outside the entire day.  The kids had a great day swimming in the water, jumping on the water trampoline and fishing.  Ryan got the "Biggest Fish" award for the day.  He had so much fun jumping off the dock, and spent almost the entire time we were there in the water. 

We made it back to the cabin a little later than we were hoping, thanks to Ms. Natalie, but we made it none the less!  I'm happy we don't have to travel a long distance with her again for a while.

The last two days have been pretty low key - just hanging out at the cabin living up the lake life.  I ventured out in the kayak with Ryan, Kendall, Emma and Evie.  They all sat so nice, and just enjoyed being on the water.  I enjoyed it as much as they did!

It's been great so far, and am excited we are only at the half-way point of our trip!  The only downfall is that Grandma Sue and Grandpa Ken aren't here to enjoy the fun with us.  They are still in Sitka until mid-September. 

Anna with Kendall, Evie, Ryan, Gunnar and Emma

The Baumann crew.  All 11 grandkids - soon to be 12!

The Baumanns and the Colligans crew

Me and Evie

My little fish.

Jillian and Natalie.

Kendall on the digger Ben used to play with when he was little.

The kids having fun on the slide at Colligan's

Ryan and Emma with the "Quiz" they set up.

Sisters

Gunnar, Gina, Natalie and Evie

Sweet Natalie

Ryan with the frog Uncle Ben found in the yard.

Uncle Ben encouraging the kids to touch the frog.

Gabe.

Jilli with the frog.

Luke, Jack and Ryan playing with the digger.

Grace and Emma playing cards.

Ryan, Jack, Luke and Grace

Jillian

Are You Ready For Some Football

Football season is upon us, and the Boehm household couldn't be happier.  It is no secret that I love football - college, pro, high school.  I love this time of year!

David's dad got season tickets to the Seahawk games this year, and gave us his pre-season tickets that he wasn't going to use.  How could we not go to a Seattle Seahawk vs. Minnesota Viking match up? 

What a brilliant idea to take all 3 kids to the game on a Saturday night - NOT!  It was a fun adventure for us, but definitely not one of our brightest ideas.  Ryan had a blast, but it was not a place for the girls.  It was loud for one, and Kendall could not sit still so we really didn't get to pay attention to the game.  We did figure out quite quickly that the Seahawks have a lot of work to do, though!

I'm glad we tested the waters for a pre-season game, and didn't waste good tickets during the regular season.  The girls can watch the Seahawks again when they are a bit older and can actually enjoy it!

Happy Boy!

Cheese!

Natalie's first game!

Kassi

Ryan adores my friend Kassi.  He always has, and they've always had a special bond.  We learned last week that Kassi is moving to LA to start a new job, and a new adventure.  We're going to miss her terribly, but are so excited for her!

Ryan and his favorite girl, Kassi.

Baby Sling

My sister Jen got us a sling for Natalie.  It's a huge help on the days when the girl won't let me put her down.  I toss her in the sling, and she just hangs out - literally!  She doesn't make a peep when she's snuggled in. 

Two Months

Natalie is already two months old.  I'm always so amazed at how quickly time passes when you have a newborn in the house.

It's been a process figuring this girl out.  She is so content from 10pm to 10am, but so uncomfortable from 10am to 10pm.  The zantac seems to work, but then sometimes it doesn't seem to work  We see this, "I'm uncomfortable" face a lot.  The doctor says that she'll eventually outgrow her reflux, and we're already seeing some improvement.  We just want the poor girl to be comfortable.

The one thing we know for certain is she does not like her Daddy.  Well, maybe that's being a little harsh but she cries hysterically whenever he has her.  We're working on this. I've been leaving for longer periods of time and letting them bond.  It seems to be helping, which is a good thing because I start back to work soon!

Natalie has really started responding to us.  She coos and smiles when we talk to her.  She LOVES when Ryan talks to her.  It is very sweet to hear him talk to her in his high-pitched voice.  Kendall loves her up, too, but is not quite as gentle.  She gets in her face and tries to give her kisses and head butts.  She means well, but Natalie doesn't like it so much.

Natalie is an amazing sleeper.  She sleeps through the night most nights already!  When she doesn't sleep through the night she wakes up only once and then is back to sleep in 15 minutes.  It makes up for the fussiness during the day, that's for sure!

 Natalie had her 2 month check up last week, and was such a trooper getting 4 shots.  Both Ryan and Kendall were obsessed with checking our the bandaids on her "ow-ees". 

Weight: 12 pounds, 8.5 ounces - 85th percentile
Length: 24 1/4 inches - 98th percentile, almost off the charts! 
Head:  39 1/4 - 85th percentile
Clothing Size: 3-6 month, quickly outgrowing her 3 month stuff
Hair:  Dark and crazy

She's one big girl, and we love her to pieces!

Smiley

She has the best smile!!

Happy Time

We have found one thing that Natalie likes...bath time!  Most of the time, that is.  Sometimes she turns her head and gets a drink of water which doesn't go over so well, but in general she's usually pretty content to be in the water.

Andrew and Lexi

My cousin Andrew and his girlfriend Lexi stopped to see us on Wednesday.  They met in Sitka last year, and were venturing up there again to help Angling Unlimited wrap up the season.  We've heard a lot of wonderful things about Lexi, so were excited to meet her.  Nothing we heard was a lie.  She is wonderful and they make such a cute couple!  We also LOVE that Seattle is the halfway point from Minnesota to Sitka.  We get lots of visitors that way.

Ryan had Andrew out playing baseball first thing in the morning, and Lexi soon joined in.  That's one way to steal Ryan's heart!  Kendall got in on the game, too, but was much happier when Andrew allowed her to use him as a jungle gym.  There is nothing she likes better than being tossed in the air or flipped upside down!

It was a short stay, but we loved every minute of it!

Hanging with Dad

Car Wash

A little girl with big ideas.  Need I say more?  Thanks, Jen for capturing the moment!

Sweet Cousins

Jack, Luke and Grace adored Natalie.  They were all eager to hold her, and always had sweet touches and hellos each time they passed by her.

Don't let the picture deceive you, she really did love Luke!

Just Say No

To crack...

Piggies

Little Miss Sassy Pants!

Blue Angels, Cousins and Summer Fun

Jack, Luke, Grace and Auntie Jen were in town last week.  They arrived last Thursday and left Tuesday morning.  Needless to say, our small house was a bit crazy with six children running around.  Well, five children running around and one crying.  No it wasn't Ryan crying, which may surprise some of you, it was Natalie.  She continues to be one fussy baby.

It was great to have Jen's help soothing her and give me a little break.  The two of them bounced on the exercise ball quite a bit.

The other five monkeys played, played and played some more.  The boys were outside entertaining themselves in the dirt and being "downhill racers" most of the weekend.  The two tomboy girls joined in as well.  If they weren't playing with the boys they were usually tattling on them, or reading books!  They also had fun in the pool and the slip and slide, and just using their imaginations.

On Friday, Jen and I took the kids downtown to tour one of the Navy ships in town for SeaFair weekend.  I'm not sure why we thought this was a good idea.  Why would children under the age of 12 appreciate such an experience?  Jen and I enjoyed it, and the kids were troopers but it was not the ideal activity for 6 children under the age of 8.  It was an experience though!

Loved this picture by Jen.  The ship we toured was the USS Chafee.

Jack and Luke

Ryan

Kendall and Grace

Saturday we drove down to Lake Washington for a picnic and an awesome Blue Angel Jet show. It was a beautiful day, and we all enjoyed every minute of the show!  Luke was a little obsessed with getting an ice cream treat from the ice cream truck, so the kids enjoyed a little treat on the walk back to the car.  Even Natalie enjoyed the outing.  She wasn't even bothered when I covered her ears to protect them from the loud jets.

All these great pictures were taken by Jen.

Monday we ventured back down to the lake for some swimming.  Kendall enjoyed this more than any of the kids by far.  She was a little fish.  One brave little fish.  Jack was so good to help her when she ventured out a little too deep for such a small girl. She didn't think a thing of it, though!  The lifeguard brought life jackets for all the kids, which was perfect.  They had so much fun floating and playing.  Again, it was great to have help.  With Ryan's 3 trips to the bathroom, chasing Kendall into shallower water and Natalie's need of constant attention there is no way I could have done it alone!

Jack helping Kendall

Natalie hanging out in her sling.

It was a great long weekend with lots of fun memories made!