Swimming at Lincoln...

Last Tuesday it was so hot that Ben and I's volleyball actually got rescheduled! So we took the opportunity to "cool" off in the water at Lincoln park. Grandma Pammy came swimming with us. The water was warm, felt more like bath water then swimming pool, but the boys had fun none the less!

Porter being silly with Mommy's sunglasses!

Braylon and Daddy cooling off a bit!

Porter going down head first! Copying his big brother of course.

Grandma and Porter swimming.

Braylon telling Porter: Ok on the count of three we will jump...

Porter thinking... Why do I have to wait until three???

Porter going down the slide the "right" way!

Bray going down the slide.

Now on his tummy! Trying to beat the ball down! The ball won every time :)

Thanks Grandma Pammy for coming with! We had a blast!

Our little Reader!

Porter loves to read books, he doesn't like books read to him, he sits on the floor by himself and will read aloud to himself. If you try to read it to him he throws the book down and says NO! If you leave him be, he will accumulate a wide variety of books around him... Tonight while wrestling, he decided he needed a small break to rest his body and engage his mind :)

Wrestle Mania!

The men of the house wrestling... Nothing new in our house :)

Daddy tickling Braylon's feet, his signature move!

Pins you... 1, 2, 3!!!!

Porter comes to the rescue of his big brother!

Ends up getting taken down!!!

So Braylon jumps in to help!

One more time from behind!

The boys LOVE to wrestle with Ben and Ben loves it just as much as the boys!

Filling their meter...

The boys have been given my old piggy bank, and they are having fun trying to fill their parking meter piggy bank all the way to the top (I don't have the heart to tell them that there are actually two more tubes that make it taller). Grandma and Grandpa gave the boys some money to put in their piggy banks! Thanks Grandma Pammy and Grandpa Todd.

Deciding which one to put in...

Braylon showing  Porter what a penny looks like.

Better then a sucker!

We went to eat at Grandma Pammy's, like we do every Monday night and Grandma sent home cucumbers for Braylon and I (we are the only two that like them). Well we got home and Braylon said he wanted to eat his cucumber, so I washed it and he wouldn't let me peel it so he ate it whole! I asked if it was better then a sucker and he said "Ummm... Maybe!"

Braylon showing me his cucumber

Eating his cucumber!

Helping Grandpa Rick Mow!

Braylon got to ride on the riding lawn mower with Grandpa Rick. He thought it was pretty fun to mow the grass while sitting down!

Hot Hot days!

This weekend has been HOT! Yesterday we were excited to spend the day with wonderful friends, thank you Maggie, Sam and Benjamin for coming to New Ulm and spending the day with us! We were suppose to go to the Bavarian Blast parade but because of the crazy temperatures that we were dealing with, we decided that we would go swimming instead. So we headed up to Ben's parents house and used their pool while they were at the lake (with their permission of course). The kids had a great time, Sam I think had the most fun (Maggie's husband), he was very entertaining and very funny to watch!

Benjamin was so careful getting into the water, he would sit down and slide in. Very adorable to watch!

Braylon is a fish! Born to be in the water all day every day! He swam his little heart out and can actually swim all by himself. He is pretty independent in the water. He jumps off of the diving board by himself and swims to the ledge and go's again and again and again. He can swim from one end of the pool to the other with a few rest's during. His arms and legs are building lots of muscle! Of course there is always an adult near by, especially when he is jumping off of the diving board!

Porter loves to be in the water as well, although he wants to be very INDEPENDENT in water he is unable to swim by himself yet, so that is not an option for him. So we usually have to have one or two "small breaks" from swimming for him to calm down and for him to understand what he can and can't do. Porter has NO fear of the water, none what-so-ever! He will jump off into the deep even when no one is around, he will jump right off of the shallow ledge and try to swim himself. While we are glad he doesn't have a fear of the water, it is also very scary as there has to be someone by him at ALL times! He definitely keeps us on our toes :)

Bray jumping off of the diving board, he asked Ben to catch him this time.

Porter also loves to jump off of the diving board and actually enjoys going under the water.

Big splashes!

Swimming back to the ledge

Benjamin putting on chap stick, to keep those lips hydrated!

Thank you Schroeder's for coming and spending the day with us! We had a blast like always and can't wait for Baby Schroeder to make her appearance any day now :)

Look Daddy Pretty!!!

The other night I was painting my toenails before the boys went to bed. Braylon always finds it very interesting when I do it. He has to sit next to me and watch very closely what I do. He always asks if he can paint his toe nails too, but the answer is always "Boys don't wear fingernail or toenail polish". Well Saturday morning Ben and I were awoken to the smell of finger nail polish. I rolled over to find Braylon sitting on the floor with Hot Pink toenails! I guess his thought is, if you won't do it for me I will do it myself!!! He went over and showed Ben his "pretty" toenails! He made his father so proud!



Up Close

The other day we had to walk down the block and look at the skid steer up close. The boys were so excited. Braylon even brought along his skid steer to compare the two!

Look Porter!!!!

Braylon checking out every angle of the Skid Steer! He was in Skid Steer heaven :)

Porter loved the Skid Steer, but found that playing with the mud was much more his style!



SKID STEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have mentioned the boys love for construction vehicles many times on the blog, summer is their very favorite time, because they get to see every possible kind of construction vehicle, driving down the road, being hauled or in action. The boys go NUTS over all of the construction vehicles that we see, I actually will take different routes when we are driving so that we can check out all of the construction vehicles. The boys know exactly where all of the Skid Steer's are in New Ulm (when they are not in use that is). Today was their lucky day, as we were driving past all of the M&R Dump Trucks and we saw a front loader and a digger on our way home from D's. We pulled into our development and there was a big white, dirty skid steer! The boys went wild, screaming at the top of their lungs SKID STEER!!!!!!! We got home and Braylon and Porter ran up onto the back deck and watched it at work. Braylon kept yelling HONK YOUR HORN! (must say that to the dump trucks they see at daycare). It was perfect because while I cooked supper the boys stood out on the big porch and watched the Skid Steer at work. They even had to pull out their own construction vehicles so that they could "pretend" (as Braylon calls playing). So cute, but I am pretty sure our neighbor who was enjoying dinner outside with her children, thought that they were crazy! Good thing we know them :)

Braylon trying to climb up the railing so he could see better!

Porter getting some leaves for the skid steer to pick up

Braylon telling me to stop taking pictures and look at the skid steer, as he squish's P into the corner of the railing!

Braylon up on the Porch checking out the skid steer.

Bray and P checking it out, they were just amazed at all it was doing, hauling cement blocks, dirt, rocks, backing up, going forward, beeping... So much to keep them busy!

And it just wouldn't be the same watching the skid steer without a sucker!

Or in Porter's opinion M's!



Beat the Heat!

On Friday I picked the boys up from daycare and we stopped to pick up ice cream from Dairy Queen before heading home... When we got home the ice cream melted too fast and didn't cool us off like we had hoped, so instead I turned on the sprinkler for the boys to run through, while we waited for Ben to get home from work.

The boys enjoying their ice cream treats on the back steps... It looks like our fall project of repainting the steps might need to be moved up to mid summer project!

Braylon loved running through the sprinkler, Porter was a little more hesitant (usually is the exact opposite)

The boys getting sprayed by the sprinkler! Having fun!

YIKES!

Mommy turned it way down so that they could just get their feet wet, Porter preferred that over getting his face wet!

Bray trying to figure out how it works, he such a curious little boy, has to know the ins and outs of everything.

Congratulations Grandpa Lowell!

We didn't get any pictures at the wedding wedding... And I asked for a picture of the four of us, but things got crazy really fast, so I just snapped a few pictures when I could. The boys were "well" behaved for the circumstances, no nap, didn't eat until after 7 and it was 100 degrees, and no air in the church.

 But they had a great time and spent the 3 hour drive home sleeping :)

Congratulations Grandpa Lowell and Doris we are so happy for the two of you!

Porter enjoyed dancing and the punch (if you can't tell from his shirt)

Rachel, Avery, Braylon and Porter waiting for the music to start...

Braylon, Porter and Candon waiting... Candon didn't really want to be associated with the Jensen boys so he sat a little further away!

Candon and his baby sister McKenna

Porter, Rachel, Bray and Candon dancing their tails off!

Damage...

Here are a few photos of the damage at Grandpa Lowell's farm.

This doesn't even capture it, there are tree's down everywhere, power line hanging in the front yard...

Amazing that the house is still standing!