Holiday Photo Slideshow 2011

Holiday related pictures from Christmas 2011.  The kids were really psyched up and enjoyed all the giving and receiving of gifts.  Lots of great times and memories created with family and friends.

Olbrich Gardens Holiday Trains

Jonas, as usual, had his flying wings on. You can see him start to get excited than pump his arms/wings until he is flying high. Needless to say this excitement reaction is quite contagious as Niles does this on a much smaller scale when he is excited. Niles usually just kinda flicks his wrists really fast, so he hasn't taken flight yet.

Bogart, Boys, Packers, and Reading?

Tug o war with Bogart.

Jonas getting his passengers ready for a rocket ship ride.

Friends over for dinner.

New baby Wheeler, Niles was well versed in what to do since he has been taking care of his baby so well at home.

Packers = Popcorn  In the only time that Niles really gets his brain fried from watching tv  he also gets to eat popcorn with his Dad and brother.

Jonas wanted to create a chamber where he can rest.  I told him it looked like a coffin, he asked what that was and I  played it as a 'Special box that people go into."

Niles was reading Henry and Mudge...sorta.  he definitely is picking out all sorts of things and actions from books and associating them across contexts.  The best part of the video is his mobster laugh after making an observation.  If you get a chance you can hear the laugh, after that it is more of him being silly.

Protest, Haircut, Bumpers

Niles is singing away into the mic.

Niles enjoying the truck bumper.

The boys doing the usual, protesting WI being taken over by national interests, paying to speak through Gov Walker, who have no stake in the lives of WI citizens.  

The boys checking out a teamster truck up at the Capitol.

Fresh off a haircut, or should I say 3 haircuts.  Dad is quite the barber.

Jonas is at sports class on the far left stretching with his classmates.

Halloween 2011

Halloween was once again an awesome event. The cow produced many moos and collected quite the candy haul.  The spaceship pilot wowed the public with the nimbleness of the spacecraft maneuvered through the neighborhood, state street, and in the cover of darkness.  Niles was awesome at following Jonas's lead.  Niles was knocking on doors with full force and saying trick or treat....than in a pronounced motion shoved his bucket out to the unsuspecting benefactor of candy.  He often was able to get a double portion.  The pumpkins turned out great; a a Jonas train, a Niles owl, a Mom bat, and a Dad Carbon Dioxide ppm global warming indicator that is way to high (389 ppm....oh well to late who cares about the current Earth!) Its great to go out and see and talk to the neighbors, a great community building event.

Gigantic wooly bear discovery!  After dropping him off in the neighbor's yard the wooly bear found his way back to our front door.  What a connection Jonas must have made.

3 boys in a box, isn't the box supposed to be a toy box?  The best toys are not intended to be toys.

Jonas giving Cory a ride on his four wheeler.  Ben is close behind.  The kids had to put on hundreds of miles so far this October.  Need to change the tires soon.

Soon enough Haloween will be here.  This is the stage 7 of the Jonas costume creation.  Obviously it is going to be a rocketship.

First Days of Fall

As the leaves fall the boys continue to sprout. Niles puts multiple words/vocalizations together to communicate and Jonas facilitates with patience and guidance.....(most of the time.) It has been fun to watch them grow together as Niles always wants to do everything that Jonas does. We've had a wonderful time enjoying the most wondrous and simple things in life and I hope that can continue forever.

Here is a link to the photos in the movie.

Birthday 4

6 days -------------- 1 year

2 years -------------- 3 years

Jonas had an amazing 4th birthday. This was by far the most excited and proud he has been about having a birthday and growing up. It is beautiful to sit back and picture year by year all the amazing changes that kids go through, especially when they are your own. I hope that the proud anticipation of Jonas growing up crawls along simply because we love the kid so much. Thanks to everyone that helped him grow up to this point, wouldn't change a moment.

Expressive

The boys' faces are so expressive, you can read their minds by catching a glance.

Bay Beach GB

The boys had a great time at Bay Beach in Green Bay. Niles got a chance to get on some rides by himself and Jonas was enjoying the last fleeting days of being a 3 year old. Niles loved the rides so much that at the end of each ride there was an instantaneous cry, but luckily his big brother came to the rescue everytime as Jonas would rush out of his car to comfort Niles and get him out of his car, bug, boat, etc..

Little Engineers

Jonas and Niles took a trip with Cory and Ben up to the Mid-Continent Railroad Museum on Monday for a steam train ride. Normally the Museum runs their diesel trains, but for just this week they had a little steamer running. We had a great time riding the train, listening to its cute whistle and watching it spew black smoke from the funnel. Afterwards we looked at all the restored train locomotives and cars at the museum. Some of them were very intricately detailed and beautiful. The boys had a great time!

A few fast summer pics

Adventure Galore

The kids have been cranking things out. Niles is now in full gear with his walking officially started on 6/15/11. He is officially running and jumping at this point, what a difference 2 weeks makes. The kids got a chance to take a ride on jet-skis on Lake Mendota, play at a bunch of parks, fly some kites, wrestle with each other, build a bunch of things out of 'trash', and sing protest songs at the capitol. It was another great father's day just being in the presence of these great young humans. I had a blast, (as usual) and really enjoyed all the treats, surprises, and the ignorant lobster puppet show. Along with all of his kids songs that Jonas has been singing, this one below has been a frequent song choice, but it always is sung at a very loud volume...

Spring is almost over...

The last couple of weeks have been filled with the normal adventures, but with the nice days the kids have had a chance to get some playtime in the water. Not only in sprinklers, but lakes, splashparks, and pools. We got a chance for the kids to go out to the cottage for the first time to celebrate Grandpa getting a little older....they had a blast. Jonas also got a chance to go in the medflight helicopter which often flies overhead on the way to saving people's lives. Below is a great video of a recent splash dance session. Props go to Jonas's offscreen choreographer who can be overheard giving Jonas the motivation and direction to make those dance moves happen.

I had to add this video...How long would would you last with all this action going on? Props goes to mom on this one!

Fitchburg Days Carnival and Arboretum blooms

We had quite a busy Friday. While Jonas went berzerk at an indoor play/adventure center with Grandma Sue, Niles and I headed to the UW Arboretum to soak up some nature. It was a feast for the senses. Four of my senses were on board and Niles used all five of his, as you will see in the slideshow. He tends to bite everything within a few feet of him.

After dinner I took Jonas to the annual Fitchburg Days just south of Madison. He went on some rides, including a kids' roller coaster that was pretty fast! We ate ice cream, watched fireworks and avoided making eye contact with my former students who were in rare form. All in all a very busy and fun day.

Summer: here we come!

Jonas pitstop school pics

Jonas stopped up to my class and got an anatomy lesson.  He touched the human brain took his gloves off and went for more.  A few swim pics from earlier in the week, Niles, Jonas, and mom left before the rest of the body.  Evidently niles was ready to let off some screams.