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.