Summer Fun!

I imagine I'll get many more variations of these pics over the years. Gotta love cousin fun!

Worn out after a day of fun!

Road trippin' 2014 day three and arrival!

Omaha-ah, somewhere in the middle of America. 🎶 

I can't help but sing that song every time we drive thru Omaha. And when you get thru Omaha, you're in Iowa!!

Gus was more than content to watch movies for a good majority of the trip. He didn't seem to mind being stuck in his car seat for three days, as long as there were shows to watch!

Helloooo Wisconsin! Crossing the Mississippi River from Iowa into Wisconsin, we were met with a pretty impressive rain storm. Fortunately, it was fairly local and only followed us for a few miles. 

By 10:30/11pm central time, we had reached Elkhart Lake and were ready to slee...party! 

I gotta hand it to these boys. Overall, they were amazing travelers! And I have to give a HUGE thank you to grandpa Wayne for delivering us safely here! We couldn't have done it without him!

Road trippin 2014 day two

Less excitement for day two. We entered Wyoming fairly early in the day, and continued through WY, for a good chunk of the day. 

The boys needed to stretch their legs by lunch time. A few laps around the truck and trailer seemed to do the trick, with a few shaded rests in between! I think Arjen is emphasizing how many laps he made around the truck here, even though his face makes it look like he's whining (but oh no, he never whines!)

Back in the car again, and the boys are expecting the contents, er, ingredients, of their backpacks. Here they are making soup! It was pretty entertaining for at least five minutes. Gotta love the dollar aisle at target for some cheap entertainment! (They made pretty tasty soup from paper, stickers, and crayons!)

And finally, it wouldn't be a proper trip across the Midwest without a hail storm!!

We made it to Nebraska by mid/late afternoon. (insert here: picture of "welcome to Nebraska!" sign, that I managed to miss. Grr). Like I said, fairly uneventful day. Pretty awesome roadtrip companions!

Road trippin' 2014

Well, it's a new year, new adventure! We set off on our annual trek to wisconsin with grandpa Wayne this year helping us do the drive. 

Waving hi to Baba and Dave as we pass thru Davis Monday morning!

Nevada always seems like the longest state to drive through. We made it to the western border in pretty good time. 

Then made it to the eastern border before dark! 

Aside from some impressive 3 yr old tantrums (which I take credit for in starting off with tired kiddos), the boys survived day one reasonably well. 

Sorry for the blurry pic here, but I had to share. He looks awful because he had just finished one of the aforementioned tantrums. What for this time you ask? Well, aside from being hungry too late at night from not having eaten his dinner earlier (I mean, who needs to eat when you've got an indoor playground to explore??), he also had chapped lips. He asked for my Chapstick, which unfortunately made his lips sting, and then nothing else worked after that. Tired, hungry, with ouchy lips = bad combo. He was determined that a bandaid would help, and after my logic that a bandaid won't stick to your lips failed, I gave in and gave him the bandaid. Who knew? It actually worked. Hence, the bandaid on his lower lip. Reminded me of a certain aunt Casey who once put a bandaid over her eye after being in the kitchen when mom was cutting onions. I guess bandaids really to make owies feel better. 

Then there's Gus. At some point, he decided it was time for lights out. He's under there, I promise. 

After a late night getting in to Park City, UT, the boys had no troubles sleeping past their usual 6:30am wake up time. I hated to wake them, but there's no rest for the weary when you're road trippin!

Happy Father's Day!

I'm pretty sure that we've started a Father's Day tradition with our family...if the other dads continue to agree at least. We had a great day at the river, with our four, my parents, Shannon and dad-to-be Brian, and Casey and her friend. If only it had been a little windier, Andrew would have had the perfect day perhaps. But the rest of us had fun sailing on the beginner equipment, and we even got to take this little family sail:

The day before Father's Day, we took a family adventure with our boys, to Santa Cruz to buy a couple new windsurfing boards. We found a couple boards and then some. Among the loot was this tandem windsurf board that Gus, Andrew and I got to take a spin on. We managed to find some wholesome family fun at the beach boardwalk too! From a bike taxi ride, to splashing in the ocean, then dinner on the pier, it was a great pre-Father's Day celebration! 

So, as you're probably noticing by now, I have no pictures but the one above, to show for our Father's Day weekend. I do have some pretty great fathers to appreciate though! And to the father of my kids, we love you! Thanks for making life so fun and easy for us!

Happy Mother's Day!

Ha!  So, better late than never, right?  And at least I got these up here before Father's day, so hopefully I can post whatever pics I take next weekend, next weekend!  So much for trying to be efficient by using my phone to update the blog.  I managed to hide this pics away for the past month!

We had a lovely, quiet Mother's Day this year, at our house.  Between new work schedules and boys having cold after cold after preschool infested cold, it was nice to just be home and not go anywhere.  And it was the first time, in a long time, that it was just the Keane-Miller 5, plus our new additions.  All in all, it was a very nice day celebrating being moms (and an almost mom!).  

Gus getting cozy with Baba and a popsicle.  He had a bandaid on his cheek/chin, but I can't remember why.   All better now I guess!

Arjen helping Baba open her present

It was a most fabulous day for an outdoor feast!  The men and not-yet-moms did us proud by putting together a most delicious meal.  

What else are you supposed to do with a big cardboard box?  Just toss it in Recycling? Bah!  Make it a boat!

Gus getting silly with his future cousin

And managing to get some lap time with Aunt Shanny before her lap disappears! 

And here, insert the picture you imagine of my boys and me.  We're all looking at the camera at the same time, smiling, and the love just radiates from the photo.  Cheese!  Flat Squirrel! :)

Gus the Builder

This kid has a knack and a certain patience for building things.  He is becoming quite good and quite focused on building trains, birdy-houses, castles.  Of course, some of his best work happens when he's supposed to be sleeping.  I'd blame the late nights on the longer days, but by 10pm, it's well beyond dark and I have no idea why he's still often awake.  At least he's being quietly productive, right? 

If you look closely, you'll noticed the caged elephant in the front box car...