Jamming to a "Jungle Beat"

Zach and Alex perform with their classmates

The kindergarten classes at Zach and Alex's school put on a Spring program titled "Jungle Beat." Each of the classes was featured for one of the song, performing music about the jungle and the animals who live there. Zach and Alex's class was featured for the title song, "Jungle Beat," using a bunch of percussion instruments for the beat. They did a great job! Video clips and pictures of the performances can be found in the Mar-Apr 2012 album.

Arrgh! We be here to see Pirates!

Also added to the album are pictures from Z&A's spring break, where Zach, Alex and Mommy went all over town having lots of fun. There are pictures from our trip to the Minnesota Zoo and, the big highlight of the week, the trip to the Science Museum to see their special Pirates exhibit, featuring treasures found from a real pirate ship that wrecked off the coast of Cape Cod.

A big month for Cole

The birthday kids get a special treat at Fogo

Cole reached the ripe-old age of 17 in February (still hard to believe - he can't be *that* old!). The weekend of his birthday was a busy one, with our side of the family having a little celebration at our house and then we joined Lisa, Gene and Gene's parents in celebrating the birthdays of both Cole and his girlfriend Meagan at Cole's favorite restaurant, Fogo de Chao. We all had a wonderful time and enjoyed more than our share of so many tasty kinds of meat - yum!



The birthday pics have been added to the Jan-Feb 2012 album, along with some more pictures and videos from basketball, a cool centerpiece craft project for our Cub Scout den, and a pirate-themed birthday party for Z&A's friend, Luke.

Cole's Baptism

In March, Cole became a full-fledged Catholic, getting baptized and confirmed and receiving his first communion. We're so proud of him for making the choice to continue to grow and strengthen his faith! Pictures from the baptism, which was done before Mass, are posted in the Mar-Apr 2012 album, along with pictures and video of the beautiful new piano that we bought (can't wait to start lessons!).

Derby racing and birthday fun

Alex's and Zach's cars

Zach and Alex participated in their first Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby race in January and had a fantastic time doing it. They picked the models for their cars from their collection of Hot Wheels and then helped shape and sand them. The cars did great in the races, and both boys earned trophies and medals! Zach's car placed 3rd in Best of Show, the best looking cars out of the whole Pack, and Alex's car placed 2nd among the fastest Lion Cub racers (our den).

The pics and video clips from the race are in the Jan-Feb 2012 album, along with pictures from a recent den meeting where the scouts built models of special inventions using Legos (as you can imagine, the activity was a big hit with all the boys!).

The birthday kids

Also in January, we celebrated Zach and Alex's 6th birthday and Grandma Pat's (annual 29th?) birthday with a nice family celebration at the house. Zach and Alex also had a Lego-themed party with all their friends from school and a few old friends from New Horizons at a fun place called Jumps and Downs, which had bounce houses and inflatable play areas. Pictures from both birthday celebrations are in the Zach and Alex's 6th Birthday album.

They blinded me with science!

Exploring the Science Museum

OK, so no one was actually blinded, but it's hard to resist a headline like that when talking about a trip to the science museum. :-)

Our first photos of 2012 include Z&A's first season of basketball, which they absolutely loved, and a family trip to the Science Museum of Minnesota for some fun and learning through cool interactive experiments and exhibits. The photos are in the Jan - Feb 2012 album.

More pics coming soon, including the Pinewood Derby, Z&A's birthday and more!

Family trip to DC

Dressed up and ready to celebrate

We took a family trip to Washington DC over New Year's to celebrate the wedding of Joe's sister Mary Ann and her new husband, Nelson. We had a wonderful time at the wedding, spending time with much of Joe's family - such a good time, in fact, that we actually forgot to pull out our camera so we'll have to wait until we order some of the official pictures to post them. In any case, it was a lovely evening, and we are so happy for them!

While we were in town, we did get a little sight-seeing in, spending a day at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum with Grandma Pam, Auntie Katie and Uncle Iose. The museum is a kid's dream (big and little), featuring some of the biggest milestones and best artifacts of the history of air and space travel. We also took a brief walk down the National Mall to see the Washington Monument (from the outside, since the building is still closed). See the pictures in the Washington DC album. We're looking forward to our next trip out to DC when we can take the time to really explore all the other great landmarks and museums that DC has to offer.

Holidays Part 2

Excited for Santa

Finishing off the holidays, our pictures of family, fun and food have been posted to the Christmas 2011 album. We captured some pretty great expressions of joy from the wonderful gifts we got from our family. (Yep, short and sweet, but what else can you really say about Christmas pictures? :-))

The Holidays - Part 1

Spending time with GG

This year, we once again spent Thanksgiving weekend in Chicago to celebrate the Holidays with family and friends - a great way to kick off the Holiday season! We spent a day with GG, eating lunch at a nearby Polish buffet (yum!) and opening presents. The following day, we had breakfast with Karen's godmother, dinner with the Belousek family (and meeting our new cousin, baby Joshua) and in between we played for a few hours at a nearby children's museum. We then concluded our whirlwind trip with brunch with the Chmuras (aka "Uncle and Auntie Chooch" and Amanda) before making the trek back home.  See the Thanksgiving 2011 in Chicago album for the photos.

We continued our Christmas holiday celebration in the following weeks with performing at the church Christmas Concert, an awesome Advent calendar (Lego Star Wars!), a Christmas play performed at the Stages Children's Theater, and Brunch with Santa at Macy's with some of Zach and Alex's friends from New Horizons and their families. You can find all of these pictures in the Nov-Dec 2011 album.

Also added - some pictures from our church's Fall Festival in September, courtesy of Grandma Pat, and an update to the basement project! We've hired a contractor to finish the walls downstairs to the point where we can paint, and it's almost done! The pictures in the Basement album show the rooms with the drywall up - what a difference that makes!