Hugs!

One of the most special moments in my life was when my brother, Shawn and I took our entire tax returns along with some money we saved up and decided to blow it all on hotel room and shopping in the Twin Cities. It was like we were kings for a day. If we wanted it we bought it. I think another very special memory that I have is when my brother, Josh and I decided to head down to the Xcel Energy Center to watch the High School Hockey Tournament together. It was him and I and some good old fashion hockey. I know I could talk the whole day on all the special memories that I have shared with my brothers over the course of my life but that isn't what I'm trying to do. What I am trying to point out is that I'm pretty sure Easton, Owen, and Addy won't remember this hug but to me it shows just how much they care for each other and how much FUN they have when they are together and that is the one main ingredient that you need to make many WONDERFUL memories together! I think Shawn, Josh, and I no matter what, always have FUN together and I can only hope they do the same!

Here's to childhood and those special moments that we are all able to share!

Happy Birthday Boys!

At 9:23 AM this morning Easton officially started his journey into the "terrible two's" and one minute later at 9:24 Owen joined him! Ya, It's hard to believe 2 years has already gone by but it has and what a two years it's been! I'm not sure if I'm totally looking forward to this crazy, angry, crabby stage in their life but I wouldn't miss it for the world!

For their birthday Kristi and I decided to take off work and take the kids to the zoo but when it rained Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and yes, Thursday we were 2nd guessing our decision but when we woke up this morning and heard it was going to be 60 degrees and no clouds in sight our doubt quickly turned into us thinking we were the smartest people on the planet and maybe we should change our careers into family event planning.

I know if we started this family planning business it would only be a matter of time before we would be making millions of dollars and the first thing we would buy is our own zoo but I guess until that happens we will just have to be like every other non-zoo owning families and walk along with the rest of the ordinary people and enjoy it that way!

I'm not sure if it had anything to do with 5 straight days of rain or because it was just a beautiful day out but it seemed like all the animals were out and moving around!

I have really no clue where Addy learned this but when we were looking at the elephants, Addy turned and said, "Look Daddy, I'm an elephant!" Here she is doing her impression of an elephant stretching out his/her trunk!

I have to admit when I took this picture all I was thinking about was our blog. I was trying to put both of the boys in 1 shell because in my head I thought it would go great with a comment like, "look a two headed turtle!" but the boys wanted nothing to do with that! They had to have their own. "Really boys you couldn't throw dad a bone?" It has only been 2 hours and they already got this "terrible two" thing down pat!

I think the smartest thing we did was we brought our own lunch! Here I'm trying to keep the kids out of Kristi's hair as she made PB & J's! When we get our family planning business up and running we would be more then happy to also plan your lunches or suppers for your special event. Of course that will cost extra, I mean someone has to feed our zoo animals! Addy had to help mom make the sandwiches!

Owen and Easton absolutely LOVED them and so will you!

I think it's kind of tradition to ride the merry-go-round every time we go to the zoo!

Addy and Easton giving each other one more hug before heading home!

It wasn't only a beautiful day but it was also GREAT birthday, Happy Birthday boys!!!