The Past Few Weeks

I thought I'd post a few photos that I finally downloaded tonight. We've had some fun adventures. The only thing we don't have pictures from was one of the most fun things we've done recently. Ben surprised me last night and got a babysitter overnight so we could go stay at the Edge, the waterpark hotel in Duluth. We had an absolute blast playing in the water with no kids! This morning, Ben picked up the kids so they could play there for a couple hours too and they had a great time, well Caleb was terrified but he says it was fun! Unfortunately, we forgot the camera. Oh well. Next time.

A couple weeks ago we stayed with Ben's brother Micah and his family for a night while his mom was visiting from Texas. These are Micah and Nichole's kids. I think Caleb almost looks more like these two than he does Sophia!

Sophia's new talent.

Caleb's look of pure joy in his new toddler bed he got from his cousins.

Caleb and Grandma Jane.

A bunch of people from church helped clean up some parks last week for Earth Day. We ended up going to Brighton Beach to do it. Sophia loved it and Caleb mostly threw rocks in the lake, which is just fine. I think this photo is probably one of the only pieces of garbage he picked up.


This is another picture from the beach clean-up. As you can see, that's Caleb's new smile. He is quite the comedian.

Sophia practiced jump-roping tonight while Ben installed a stereo in our new car. It was very cute.

Caleb's Turn

Caleb got his turn at a haircut on Monday. I was trying to give him just a little shorter trim than normal and it turned out really bad . Apparently, I can only do one style of haircut. So I finally gave in and asked Ben to take the clippers to the top of Caleb's head and all his blonde hair. I was a little sad at first but then when Ben was rinsing his hair he discovered that it looks really cute spiked up so he now uses "product" in his hair! He really enjoyed the photo shoot after and has been telling everyone about his haircut all week. Oh, and yes, I know he's wearing his Mater and Lightning McQueen shirt again. He would wear it every day if he could!

Science Museum

We took a little trip to the the Science Museum in St. Paul on Monday morning after spending a relaxing night at my brother Matt and his wife Karna's house. We hadn't brought the kids there before and we all had a great time. Here are a few photos from the day.

Sophia and her skunk friend doing the news.

Who knew that a fan facing upward could be so exciting? The kids could tape together all sorts of different stuff and then stick it in this thing and watch it float up in the air. Caleb loved it!

Dinosaur bones. Also Caleb's favorite part.

Sophia, Ben and a woolly mammoth.

We caught Caleb right in the middle of yelling, "DINOSAUR!!!!"

Easter

We had a great Easter on Sunday! We woke up in the morning to a couple inches of snow on the ground! Then, instead of our 5 regular services at church (Saturday and Sunday) we had one huge one at the DECC, the convention center in Duluth. It was crazy busy...there were close to 200 kids checked in and over 1,100 people at the service! It was a lot of fun. After that some friends invited us over for a great Easter dinner at their house.

Before we ever left the house the kids got to enjoy their Easter baskets for a little bit. They were excited to have chocolate before 7am!




A picture of our Duluth day. Sophia wore a wool dress coat and pink flip flops for Easter! Don't worry; she wore boots outside in the snow.

New Do's

Sophia and I both got new haircuts last week. It was the first time I took Sophia somewhere to get it cut and she loved every minute of it!

Isn't it cute? She especially liked when the lady blow-dried her hair. I don't even own a blow dryer!
Posing for a camera.

Both of us with our haircuts. I wasn't too sure about mine at first. I went to some fancy salon and on the first cut I knew it was going to be shorter than I asked for. Apparently, she didn't realize how much my hair would curl up. I'm getting used to it though and I like it now.

Jen's Mom's 70th Birthday Weekend

We had a surprise birthday party/weekend for my mom in the Cities a few weeks ago. All of my brothers and sisters came home for it which is a rare occasion. It was tons of fun and she was really surprised!This is all the grandkids who made it to the party along with my parents. My nephew Aaron made these shirts. It's a picture of my mom with a baseball hat on and flashing some kind of gang signs! Gangsta Grandma!
A failed attempt at another photo. The whole weekend was like the paparazzi was there.

Sophia, Megan and Renae - her cousins.

My entire immediate family! Yes, I do know all of their names! I can't believe how much I have been asked that question.

My sisters, Kathy and Terri and me.

Thanksgiving and such

Our picture-perfect apple pie.

The first annual Metzger family Gobble Wobble run/walk! Sophia rode on Ben's back while he ran for the majority of it but I couldn't keep up with him to get any pictures!!

Everyone vegging out after eating a ton!

Ben and the kids all bundled up. It's freezing here right now!