T-Ball 2010

Yesterday the boys began their t-ball season. From now until the end of July we'll be spending Sunday evenings watching the boys play. This year their ages work out that they can be on the same team which makes it a family night. It'll be fun to watch as they learn and improve throughout the season. Last night they were most excited to hit and run the bases. Evan did catch a pop fly which brought a big smile to his face.
1. The team.
2. Hans' first position to play was catcher.
3. Evan up at bat.
4. Hans in his ready position.

7 under 7

Friday evening two friends from college, Bekah and Kari, along with Bekah's four kids came up for supper and the evening. It was supposed to be a picnic with some time at a park/playground and roasting hot dogs over the fire pit but the weather didn't cooperate. Instead the kids entertained each other here, we grilled in the rain, it was a little noisy, and we all laughed a lot. Pickle! It's funny how you can throw a bunch of kids together and they instantly become friends. It makes it easier for the adults to relax and enjoy the their time together visiting. Thanks for coming up to see us. We can't wait to do it again.

Mosquito Hill Revisited

*Actual Date:May 2* Last Sunday we headed back up to Mosquito Hill. The day was just as sunny as our first visit but much warmer. We didn't play by the ponds and swamps this trip but headed up to the top of the "hill" in search of a geocache and a view. Evan was on the hunt for butterflies and bugs as well. We managed to find everything we were looking for and a few things we weren't. Evan found countless butterflies and bugs, we found our geocache, and the park lived up to it's name, we found mosquitoes, lots and lots of huge mosquitoes. I'm thinking our next visit might have to be after the fall frost.

1. Our three adventurous kids.

2. A spring woodland flower.

3. A perching bluebird.

Spring in the Backyard

Our crab apple trees were in full bloom last week making the whole yard seem brighter with their white blossoms. Also blooming are the "weed flowers" in the woods behind our yard. This means countless bouquets of flowers from blooming children who are really trying to make their mommy happy. That brightens my day even more.

Spring Program

*Actual Date:April 23* This year for the spring program the preschool classes opened with a performance of silly nursery rhymes. Lydia's class recited a mixed up version of Hickory dickory dock (picture #1).

For the main event the parents were challenged with Are You Smarter Than a Martin Luther Eagle. Five parents volunteers for each class and had to answer some tough questions. The kids let the parents know if the answers provided were correct or not. The first and second grade classes did so by cheering for correct answers (picture #2-note Evan on the far left of the photo). Nathan was one of the volunteer parents for Evan's class although he might not like to admit their score of 3 correct and 2 wrong (picture #3).

The kindergartners also performed by providing the commercials between classes. The commercials were taped earlier in the week on shown on the "big screen". The kids got a kick out of watching themselves. My favorite of the commercials was one where the kindergartners tried to teach the big kids how to dress for snowy weather with a song titled, "Gloves, mittens, snow pants, boots" set to the tune of "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes." Unfortunately the commercials didn't photograph well.

After the performance Kevin and Mary, who had come over to watch with us, treated us to some custard. They stayed until late afternoon the next day warming up our rainy Saturday.

Mosquito Hill

After viewing the sturgeon we headed to Mosquito Hill Nature Center to do some exploring. It wasn't the warmest spring day but it was sunny and we all had the need to spend some time outdoors. The nature center was closed but we hiked some of the trails around the ponds and swampy areas. The kids loved listening to Nathan identify birds that have returned with spring. We saw a cardinal, a warbler, chickadees, a kinglet, and a pair of mallard ducks. They also got their hands wet as they dipped pond water watching the water bugs and mosquito larvae squiggle around in it. We enjoyed our visit enough that we'll certainly visit again.

Sturgeon Spawning

*Actual Date: April 17th* On a sunny Saturday we headed up to the Wolf River about 45 minutes north of here to check out the sturgeon spawning. Until moving to WI I wasn't familiar with sturgeon. I'd heard of them and knew they were big fish but that's about all. Here sturgeon are a big deal. Really, this year a record breaking 212 pound sturgeon was caught! Lake Winnebago and it's waterways are one of the only places in the country where sturgeon spearing takes place each February. It's a crazy kind of ice fishing where large holes are cut in the ice, fish are speared with multiple spears, and then landed by several fishermen with large nets. Each spring the fish travel up stream to spawn in the shallows of several rivers. While spawning they are very easy to spot and it's popular for small crowds to watch. This year we joined in with the locals. It was interesting to watch and we even chatted with the Game Fish & Park warden that was present. (GF&P along with volunteers watch so that poachers don't take advantage of the spawning fish and illegally take a fish.)