Red Hot Lava

Ida signed up for soccer this year for the first time and was on the Red Hot Lava team.  The season started out a little slow as she was pretty tentative and had never played before.  The first picture was from the "team meeting" before a game the week after Memorial Day.  Note the heavy clothes--they were not overdressed.

 

As the season progressed, Ida went from cheerleader, snack eater (well into the second half of each game) and flower picker to a kid who gave it her all every game.  She scored a few goals, fell a few times, and ran and laughed lots.

By the time the season had ended, he had earned the nickname "Firecracker" for her efforts and practice and during the games and was nominated by her coaches to the Superiorland Soccer Association as the "most improved player" on the team.  We're so proud!

One of the moms was thoughtful enough to pick up medals for the girls.  Ida couldn't stop talking about how she couldn't believe she got her first medal.  I'm fairly certain she wore it to bed (even though I told her not to). 

Henrik, by the way, was pretty inspired and wants to play next year!

Madison, WI--Memorial Day weekend

Chad and Suzanne enjoyed a weekend away to Appleton and then on to Madison.  Of course, we had to make a trip to State Street, where we immediately spied this multi-person pedal vehicle thinggy.  Very interesting!

 

Suzanne ran the Madison 1/2 Sunday morning, and we stayed at a hotel only three blocks from the start (which was the Capitol).



 Chad diligently hoofed it out to a couple of spots along the course to take a few pictures of Suzanne along the route, such as Camp Randall Stadium.  Somehow they missed each other at each point he waited, but

he did spot the running beers.  We can't imagine that was very comfortable!

They found each other again shortly after Suzanne finished (with a PR!) and had claimed her one free beer (at 9:00am on a Sunday no-less).

And then spent the day being tourists, including a trip to Mt. Horeb and the Grumpy Troll Brewery, a brewery in downtown Madison and the Toronodo Steakhouse for dinner.

More fun while (still) waiting for spring to arrive

A not so "spring" day (9 inches of snow actually) called for a trip to the Children's Museum.  The kids quickly found the climbing wall . . .

 

 

the TV studio (complete with Mt. Rushmore) . . .

 

 

a hungry turtle . . . 

a pretty cool lizard . . .



and a performance in the kid's theater!



A few weeks and a good thaw later and Henrik found himself at the "boy's camp" for the first time ever.  He spent the day with the Larsen boys and came home telling the girls how much fun he had!  It went well enough that he was invited back for "wood cutting weekend" a few weeks later and spent two nights with all the Larsen boys and grandpa Curry.

 He even successfully used the outhouse.

 

Ida had her final dance open house, where we got to see a preview of her recital number. 

Easter and "spring" (and I use that term loosly) fun

Coloring Easter eggs turned out to be a bit hit, even if neither child was interested in eating the eggs.

 

The Easter egg hunt and hunt for baskets was also a big hit before we all headed to church.



 

 Following a rather non-traditional Easter dinner with some church friends, Chad & Suzanne had some work to do to prepare for the contractor coming later that week to install new floors in the kids' bedrooms.  Here are the (emptied) before pictures.



 And the kids' temporary bedroom while the work was being completed.

And here are the after pictures!  The kids each picked out their own rugs, and the rooms (shockingly) have been kept almost this clean since!

Spring seemed to never come this year, as evidenced by yet another snow storm mid-April.  Actually, the most recent snow fell on May 23, which we are really, REALLY hoping was the last snow of the season.

Chad has continued brewing beer, his most recent experiment having great flavor but less alcohol than the beer sold in Utah.  But seriously, his brewing has mostly been successful.

Winter Fun

Winter got off to a bit of a late start, but once it arrived it was not in a hurry to leave. Thankfully the kids were helpful when it came to clearing snow and other outdoor necessities.

Ida took a stab at cross country skiing this year and did really well. We didn't get out as often as we wanted to, but she had enough fun that we might give SkiCats a try next year.

February brought more snow, cold and sled dog races! This was the first time the kids and Sandy had witnessed the excitement of these races and it was a great time!

Ida went to her first Valentine's Tea and greatly enjoyed the juice and treats with Lotus and the older girls of the church.

Henrik completed another session of swim lessons, passing to the next level. The final day of lessons meant that the slide was open, much to his delight!