Tool guy ready for work

Bottomless pit on Christmas

Post shoveling treat

Trimming the tree

The boys were champion tree trimmers this year, putting the ornaments on the tree in less than two hours! The tree got up just in time, lighting the 14 hours of darkness and bringing a bit of cheer to the house.

Haircuts

Some squirming. Some whining. Some laughing. Two good haircuts.

Little Tree Choppers

Luckily, it was an unusually warm December day to chop down the annual tannenbaum. The kids had a great time roaming around "cutting" down trees and hauling the branches around. After much deliberation, we chose a voluptuous Canaan fir tree. The tree is fragrancing the house and ready for decorating!

Mondays aren't always a bad thing.

Making homemade pizza

Yum...

Badger bash

Saturday was the last Badger bash. Jonas and Niles went to Union south with Cory and Ben to jump around and create havoc.   Jonas was the only one brave enough to try the velcro wall.

storytimes

The boys love to do storytime together. Jonas has a schedule of daily storytimes for Niles.  We also had a donuts with dad storytime at the library which went through 96 donuts in 10 minutes.  Lots of hungry young readers in Madison.

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Halloween 2012

One thing is certain: each Halloween the boys figure out how to eek out more candy from unsuspecting strangers and neighbors. We had a great Halloween week going to parties, trick or treating (twice) and watching a parade with--you guessed it--more candy.  Jonas stuck with his Luke Skywalker costume throughout, at least in public. Niles switched mid-celebration from being a cow to an astronaut.

Bay Beach 2012 put to bed + Midvale Fun Run!

Jonas and Niles spent a windy cool day at Bay Beach in Green Bay before season's end a few weeks ago. Little did they know they'd go back the next one for the final day of the summer season while Sara and Travis got to go to the Packers vs. Saints game at Lambeau Field. Can you really have too many pictures of kids yukking it up on the rides? Yes, but here are some more anyway.
 Jonas's school, Midvale Elementary, had their yearly fun run on Friday October 5th in the afternoon. Jonas and his 4k classmates had been practicing up on the course over the past two weeks. Jonas told me he "won" every time. Later, his teacher confirmed this. Jonas was concerned with winning on the big fun run day, although he acknowledged that there were rumors of a fast boy in the afternoon session. We reminded him that it was a fun run and that everyone was there to have fun and to run as fast or slow as they wanted. Well, that just fueled his fire. Jonas did end up "winning" the 4k fun run (the bigger kids run further) and chatted it up with the other kids afterwards. Check the youtube channel if you care to watch some choppy video of him running the little race!

First day of 4k

Jonas started 4 year old kindergarten on Tuesday, September 4th. He told us he had a good time and played "duck duck goose", but was "just a duck". Today was his second day and he told me that they played "Chicka-chicka-boom-boom". I had to check to make sure that Mrs. Gronemus was the one who invented that one, not the one subjected to it :). He's been pretty mum about his days, but right now he's quietly doing an art project and singing a new song about the smiling sun to himself. As always: the more you listen, the more you learn...

Jonas turns 5

Well, we all knew it was coming, but it still came up so fast. Jonas turned five on Sunday. He was quite excited about his birthday and he and Niles had a great time. I can't believe how much he has brought into our lives. He is a wonderfully curious kid with a great spark of energy.

Camping at Governor Dodge 2012

In the last part of August we decided to brave the mosquitos and the heat and head out to Governor Dodge for a night of camping and mayhem. Travis and Sara provided the camping. Jonas and Niles provided the mayhem.

Flight of the bumblebee

One of my favorite videos in recent times. Enjoy!

Little Norway

On Monday we went to Little Norway in Mt. Horeb to see the beautiful grounds and to get a glimpse of what life was like for the Norwegian immigrants who bought this chunk of land for $50 in the 1860s. The boys learned a bit about how the Tangen ancestors might have lived and Grandpa Helge and Grandma Laurie told stories that Great-grandpa Helge told about living in Norway and in the U.S. After a tour with Marie the tour guide and two beautiful collies, we had a lovely picnic lunch before poking around the grounds some more.

Summer just keeps rollin' along.

Fun at home and abroad (in Illinois).

Summer morning at the lab with Dad

Jonas joined me for the morning to as my lab assistant.  He did pretty well and I hope that some of the things he learned will come in handy when he starts 4K this fall.  After the lab we rode down the Mem Union for ice cream and fun and met up with Mom and Niles.

Summer Heat

Mom is watching Jonas join together with the geiser.

Its been a busy couple of week as usual.  Jonas and Niles got to spend a couple of days in the Chula Vista waterpark in the Dells, Jonas spent the night at Grandma Sue's to watch the big rhythym and booms fireworks show, the family went to the fireworks nearby a couple nights later, and got a chance to hang out at Aunt Carol's house on the fourth.  We have been going on lots of bike rides and finding lots of creative ways to cool off such as sprinklers, sprinklers in the pool, swimming with Cory and Ben (Jonas is quite the under water swimmer), making mud baths, and dumping water buckets willingly or unwillingly on each other.

Niles the tornado and the Snoop Dogg family trick trike

Cruzin

Mama coming to the bus stop to pick up riders

Tickets please

No hanging, Niles likes to do pullups, not okay

Cruzin again

The boys have been loving the book 'Otis and the Tornado'.  Niles has taken the opportunity to act like a tornado quite often, only he says 'there is a tomato coming'.  Jonas picks up on this by creating multiple storm cellers for shelter and the fun commences from there.  We also recently improved our transport options to include a snoop dogg family trick trike.  It seems crazy but this is blog entry #401.

(ps: these were the first rides, but since than all riders wear their helmets, a slight beginner's safety mishap)

Swimmin

Its been a warm stretch of weather and the boys have been sprinklin, mini-pooling it, and big-pooling it over by Cory and Ben's.  The little fish are certainly learning how to swim.

Fathers Day 2012

The boys channeled their testosterone to make for a great father's day.  I got treated to breakfast at EVP, received some cool creations from Jonas, and enjoyed a graduation party and a celebration of Madison West's state soccer championship at our neighbor's house.  Mom and the boys put together a beautiful art gallery to update some of the art in the living room.  There is nothing better than rolling around with the boys.

Farmers Market and Safety Day 2012

Curds and peas

Fare please

2 bus drivers...going to be a crazy ride

Fire truck number 4

On the way to a call in neighbor Jay's rig

On the bumper

Snake Skin

Surfboard...lets ride the waves

The market has been in full swing.  We have our tomatoes planted and have partaken in many cheese curds, strawberries, and sweet peas.  The boys got a chance to play around in some fire trucks, ambulances, cherry pickers, and see various animals on the square.

Mmmm...food.

Boys love to eat. Especially outdoors. Hey, at least it makes clean up easier.