Movie Time! Planes Fire & Rescue

On Saturday, July 19th we had a great day hanging out at home and working in the yard with Mommy.  We hung a bird house and fixed the roof of our swing set after our recent big storms.  I even got to use a drill!

 

After dinner Daddy & Mommy surprised us by taking us to Lake Mills, IA, to see the 7 p.m. show time of the movie Planes: Fire & Rescue with our favorite crop duster, Dusty!  The newly restored old time theater was awesome and we loved the movie.  Hudson and I even got our own popcorns!  We give it four thumbs up & highly recommend it! 

Can't wait for whatever our next show is!

Hudson Graduated Swim Lessons!

Mon., July 14th through Fri., July 18th, 2014, Hudson was in Toddler swim lessons at the Blue Earth Area Pool.  He had an awesome instructor, Jenna, and really enjoyed himself.  He learned to blow bubbles, get comfortable with getting his head under water, jumping in, getting rings & even going into the deep in.  Of course big brother was there to assist along the way! 

Here's Hudson in the deep in with Baiely, our sitter who helped Mom with us both weeks of swim lessons.  He loved floating around in his life jacket! 

On Fri., July 18th he graduated and even got his favorite color sucker, blue!  He didn't want to hold his certification card & treat so I helped him out! 

Congrats Hudson!  Next year on to the Preschool class!

2014 All*Star Game!!!

Hayden & Hudson's Mom here and thought Richard & I would share an awesome experience this past week we were blessed to have - the 2014 All*Star Game!!! 

 

The game was held in the Twin Cities at Target Field on Tues., July 15th at 7:00 p.m.  Here's Rich & I right behind home plate row 13! 

Some of the pre-game highlights included seeing the Budweiser Clydesdales with their Dalmatian pup, Captain.

Idina Menzel, singer of Disney's Frozen song, "Let it Go", kicked off the show by singing Minnesota native, Bob Dylan's song "Forever Young".  She than sang an amazing, goose bump worthy "National Anthem".  The woman has some pipes! 

Here's all the players for both the National & American sides during the anthem; notice my favorite, Derek Jeter, up on the screen!  Of course I being a Yankees fan & Rich a Twins we were cheering for the American league to win.

Here's Twins legend Rod Carew, a Hall of Famer and 18-time MLB All-Star, throwing the ceremonial first pitch of the 85^th Midsummer Classic. 

Here's #2 Jeter getting ready to lead off for his first at bat with soon-to-be named MVP Mike Trout.  Amazing past MVP talking to future MVP.  Both had a great night! 

I was so proud that all the fans, players, workers, etc not only cheered but gave Derek Jeter a standing ovation at both at bats as well as when he walked off the field for the last time.  Here's the living legend tipping his hat in thanks.  One of the best short stops of all time & how lucky to see him play in his 14th & final All*Star appearance. Derek you’ve been one of my favorite players since I was in high school & it won’t be the same game without you.  You’ll be greatly missed!

The American league won 5 to 3 and 3rd basemen Mike Trout won MVP along with his choice of one of the vehicles below...yep, he picked the Corvette! 

We say thanks again for a bucket list experience and a special thanks to Grandma / Grandpa Prestegard for watching the boys so we could attend.  After attending the beloved baseball song, "Take Me Out To the Ball Park" comes to mind, especially the verse, "I don't care if I ever get back" as it was just a perfect night.  What a great date night just before our 10th wedding anniversary!

Farmer's Day Weekend!

The week of July 7^th through 11^th Little Giants was closed for their annual cleaning and shutdown so we got to stay home with Mom on the 7^th and 8^th.  After nap on the 8^th we met Grandma Anne in Mason City, IA (*about half way to Waterloo) for dinner and the switch!  Yep, we got to stay with Grandma Anne and Grandpa Scott until the morning of the 10^th when Mom took more vacation & came down to get us.  We had a great time hanging with Gma/pa Sergeant including going to the golf course to cheer for Grandpa Scott, we played non-stop inside & out, and even had a slumber party in the living room with Grandma Anne.  The fun continued for after lunch on the 10^th Mom took us to Jesup, IA to see Grandma Dawn & Grandpa Mark for our annual Farmer’s Days trip.  Since we just got back from vacation up North Daddy had to stay home & work but man did he miss out because we fun!  Thursday night was kids’ night and we had a special treat our Culbertson cousins from Oregon came to town!  We haven’t seen them since they moved from Minnesota last summer so we were pretty excited.  We met up after dinner and even did the park together before we all walked downtown together for unlimited rides!  And boy, did we ride! Here's me on the motorcycle ride with Cousin Issy behind me. 

Hudson loved the boat ride.

Here's us boys, Hudson, Cousin Owen and me.  Owen & I are buddies and just a few months apart in age. 

Here's Cousin Issy, their mom Cousin Diane and Cousin Evelyn.  Evie and Hudson are just a few months apart too! 

Here's us men riding with Grandpa Mark; I'm making him laugh! 

 Here's me & my buddy/cousin Owen - it was hard to keep us separated all weekend!

Here's Grandma Dawn with Issy and up front Hudson & I; do you like our matching crane t-shirts?  We wore them special for Grandpa Mark as he use to be in the construction business! 

After a couple of hours of riding we got a snack (*fresh squeezed lemonade & mini-doughnuts!) and then rode some more. We stayed out until 9 p.m. and by the time we got home we were tuckered out! The best surprise of the weekend came from Grandma Dawn who got us our own toddler beds to sleep in. I got a Spiderman one and Hudson a Lighting McQueen/Mator one from Cars. We were so excited to sleep in them - thanks Grandma Dawn!

The next day we slept in, had breakfast, played and then headed to Great Grandma/pa Vogel's new place in Independence, IA. Grandma Mary & Grandpa Richard also joined us for lunch at a fun Chinese restaurant which was right by the river where Grandpa Mark taught us to throw rocks!  Next we headed to Great Uncle Rock’s for a backhoe ride which was awesome!  After the ride the rest of the weekend Hudson asked for “backhoe ride” every time we got into the car.  Apparently he really liked it!  Here’s us loading up in the cab - three happy boys!

Here's us going around the farm. 

 After a quick nap we met our cousins in Independence to have fun at the pool & then dinner at Great-Great Aunt Pat & Uncle Jim's house (*Cousin Diane's parents or Owen's grandparents or Great Grandma Mary's brother or Grandpa Mark's Aunt & Uncle - got all that?!).  Here's Grandpa Mark showing Hudson the toddler pool.

Then off to the big pool for a dip; Cousin Issy, Grandma Dawn & Grandpa Mark even showed us how to go off the diving board! 

After a fun dinner & dessert (*Cousin Diane made peanut butter filled chocolate cupcakes with Grandpa's work honey peanut butter - our favorite!) we headed backed to clean-up & bed.  Another day of wearing us out!  On Saturday, July 12th we got to have breakfast with Great Uncle Luke and then headed downtown for the parade.  We met up with several of our Vogel cousins as Cousin Andrea was awesome & let us sit in her front lawn - prime parade location.  We saw Cousin Brett's family, Cousins Andrea, Autumn and Angie and Great Uncle Kurt.  It was a family filled weekend!  Here's us with Grandma/pa and notice we have the cutest matching shirts; mine says "Hello my name is: Best Big Brother" and Hudson's says, "Hello my name is: Best Lil' Brother". 

Here's me with Grandpa Mark checking out some machinery: 

One of the floats handed out Beanie Babies and Hudson got a blue one and I got a brown one - we were both so excited!  Here's me & my bear: 

Hudson loved all the animals in the parade and really liked the horses at the end - he even stood & clapped for them!  He waved and they waved back which was pretty awesome! 

After the parade we met up with our Culbertson cousins again went to the park, had lunch and set-up a monster train set.  Here's Owen, me & Hudson: 

Here's all us cousins: me, Issy, Evelyn, Owen & Hudson: 

Before we headed for home & a started our nap Grandpa told us all some stories - disclaimer:  do not believe any stories Grandpa Mark tells you, they are extremely exaggerated! 

We got home just in time to unload the car, meet up with Daddy and head to Blue Earth for our first Giant's Days Parade!  We were hoping to see Cousins Hannah & Elise however poor Elise got sick and they headed home early.  We did get to meet up with Great Grandma Betty, Grandma Judy & Grandpa Allen - here's our crew at our friend Dave Persig's house! 

Silly Grandpa stole Hudson's Twin's cap!  Looking good don't you think?  Of course Hudson is trying to climb all over him - our little monkey! 

So happy to be back with Daddy - we missed him! 

Still can't believe we did 2 parades in one day but we have the evidence 3 gallon bags of candy!  Of course, Hudson, Mom, Grandpa Mark and Daddy did most of the work.  Here's our little worker bee:

The brother's who love tractors & any and all types of ag equipment!  Always makes us stop in our tracks.  After the parade we got Pizza Hut and met up with Brittany who watched us while Dad & Mom joined some friends for the Blue Earth street dance.  We didn't mind as we were too tired to notice they were gone!

Today, Sun., July 13th we enjoyed sleeping in, church and then a special family breakfast after we checked crops at The Cottage in Amboy, MN.  They even made us special tractor shaped pancakes!

A huge THANK YOU to all our family & friends who made this past week / weekend so much fun.  We can't believe how blessed we are & are truly grateful.  Hard to top the past two weeks we've had they've been spectacular - thank you!

XOXO, Hayden & Hudson

June at Little Giants

June brings the officially ending of the school term and the start of summer session; bittersweet as we said goodbye to some great classmates like Murron, Aiden and Elaena but we also welcomed new ones like Dylon & Rayne. For the month of June our Explorer themes included Caterpillars/butterflies, Fishing/Father's Day, Bugs & Bees, and Red/White/Blue in preparation for the America's birthday! In addition to our themes some of our new fun sensory centers this month included: plunger painting, cloud dough, sand alive, iceberg towers, shaving cream and cinnamon oats. Finally, we also learned about measurements with a ruler and yard stick, patterns & what's missing for tall/short, less/more, etc. My favorite part of the month by far was Water Week! The week of June 23rd to 27th we hosted a week with indoor/outdoor water themed activities including water themed snacks, songs & more. I loved anything to do outside with the hose & sprinkler. What a busy, fun month!  Here are some of my masterpieces this month: 

Notice here I made planes & my art is really starting to take shape! 

For the month of June in Hudson's Little Sprouts room their themes included Cows/Dairy, the color yellow, Father's Day, the Ocean and Primary/Secondary colors. Since June is National Dairy Month Hudson's class read fun dairy/cow themed stories like Click, Clack, Moo and he even got to use a typewriter like in the story to make art (*must watch Mommy a lot on the computer!). He also liked on June 2^nd as they hosted art time outside so he got to paint the yellow sun on the easel outside. To go along with the Dairy Farm/Cows unit they hosted cookies in the grab bag one day - Hudson loved eating that!, got to shake the container on June 19th to make cream - of course picky-eater Hudson wouldn't try to whipped cream but did eat the buttered crackers! The sensory activities Hudson liked included checking out the frogs, trucks & sand (*even too busy June 26th to do art time as loving the trucks just like brother!), sea shells, and observing the birds & their birdhouse.  Here are some of Hudson's creations - notice he's starting to really get into doing art projects, before he'd color a little or not at all - way to go Hud!:

Here Hudson colored strawberry, white and chocolate milk bottles to match what he got to try.  Hudson drank the white & chocolate but had no interest in the strawberry! 

This shows off his typing skills! 

Finger painting artwork: 

Wonder what we'll be up to in July!

Happy Father's Day!

On Fri., June 13th I got to have a play date with Cousin Hannah at Grandma Camp, otherwise known as Grandma Judy's house! We had a blast catching up and playing together and even did some golf cart riding! Hudson & Mom had to go to Fairmont for a prep appointment for his upcoming eye appointment in the Cities in July. Friday night we had a Mommy date as Dad was in the field so we ran errands in Albert Lea, had dinner and even played at the our favorite park where they have an excavator!  I should mention on Thurs., June 12^th before blastball I got my 1^st faux hawk!  It’s awesome and I’ve been wanting one for a while.  Here’s me styled and ready to go on my date with Mom (*note my jersey is from our dress-up closet and since I thought it looked so good I figured I'd wear it out!): 

Here's me at my favorite spot at the park in Albert Lea - all smiles! 

Hudson the climber also all smiles and on the go! 

On Saturday, June 14th we had a night with Daddy while Mom went out with friends for Ms. Megan's bus bachelorette party. We had fun doing man stuff!

 

On Sun., June 15th we celebrated Father's Day!  We made a big breakfast for Daddy, headed to church and came home to presents!  Here's Dad & I with the present I made at daycare (*it says, "Hands down best Dad!"): 

Here's Dad opening the present I made at home entitled, "Dad Through My Eyes": 

Here's an up close look; I made a picture of my family - from left Kato, Mommy, me, Hudson & Daddy.  Then below I wrote out facts through my eyes about Dad: 

Here's Daddy opening one of our family gifts, an ISU sign for our "Fan Cave" for our newly finished, ISU themed basement!  We also made Daddy a picture mug of his boys - us!

Of course Hudson got in on the action and even made his own wrapping paper: 

Here's one of the crafts Hudson made at daycare called, "No fish story here, best catch of the year!" 

Hudson also made Dad a "toe" truck - cutest idea ever! 

After presents it was cuddle & nap time - Hudson got some extra time with Daddy! 

Then after dinner Daddy wanted to go to the Kee Theater for the movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2!  We've all been excited to see it and it was really good!  Can't wait to watch it again.

Happy Father's Day Daddy - to the best Dad & friend two little boys & a dog could ask for!

We love you,

Hayden, Hudson & Kato