Nick and Cara's Blog

Play Date with Lori and Lindsey

2008-08-15T22:43:00.004-05:00

Nick and Cara had a play date with Lindsey. Jill and Lori, Lindsey's mom, went to grad school together. We all met up at the Mall of America to check out the rides. And boy, were they fun!

On the Merry-Go-Round!
On the Fast Cars!

On the Bus!

It was unanimous that we should go to the Mall of America again sometime.

Fun with Mommy and Daddy

2008-08-15T22:33:00.004-05:00

Here's Daddy reading "Horace and Morris Join the Chorus, but what about Dolores?", which is one of Nick's favorite books.

Mommy and Cara built a snowman! And the snow man is bigger than Cara.

Nick and Cara's First Swim Meet

2008-05-13T22:02:00.003-05:00

Nick and Cara have been taking swimming lessons at Foss Swim School. For the first time, on February 24, they competed in the swim meet that Foss hosts. Nick competed in the free-style and back stroke, and Cara did her "tiger paddles" with a noodle. They both just had to go one length, which was far enough! Here is a "before" picture.

Here goes Cara! Go, Cara, go!
And now it's Nick's turn. Go, Nick, go!

Everybody got ribbons for doing their
race. Nick was pretty excited about
his ribbons! All in all, it was a good
experience.

Grandma's Birthday Dinner at Red Robin

2008-05-13T21:51:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday, Grandma Claudia! We all went to Red Robin to celebrate.

Kindergarten Round-up

2008-05-13T21:47:00.003-05:00

Believe it or not, Nick is old enough to go to kindergarten next fall. He will be going to Turtle Lake Elementary School. They had Kindergarten Round-up in February, which Nick was very excited about. The kids got to ride on a school bus and tour the school. Here are Nick and his good buddy Ben in the library, listening to the librarian read a story.

Playing at Grandma's House

2008-05-13T21:36:00.004-05:00

Nick and Cara have some fun toys that they play with at Grandma Claudia's house.

Nick's got some cool cars and trucks, and also spends lots of time building walls and towers.

Cara made some cool stick people, who look nice and smiley, just like our girl!

Birthday Dinner

2008-05-13T21:29:00.004-05:00

On Nick's actual birthday, we went to Space Aliens Restaurant with Grandma Claudia. Here's a few pic's of both kids modeling the martian head gear.

Happy 5th Birthday, Nick!

2008-03-15T17:34:00.023-05:00

A few days before Nick's birthday, we had a party for him with lots of his good friends and relatives to celebrate this milestone birthday. For the second year in a row, Nick had his party at the Lifetime Fitness in Coon Rapids. It was a blast!

The plan was to jump in the new Super Jump, eat cake and pizza, open presents, and then go swimming.

Nick picked Scooby-doo for the theme of the party, and Grandma Claudia even got him a Scooby-doo shirt to wear for the occassion.

Here's the birthday boy, with his Scooby-Doo shirt, hat, and "I am 5" birthday pin!

What's a birthday party without a cake? Of course, we had to have this be Scooby-Doo, too.

Lifetime Fitness got a new Super Jump, which everyone loved. Here are Nick and Cara in the Super Jump, pausing long enough to allow us to take their picture.

Then all their friends got in on the action!

Jessica, Nick, Owen, Eleanor, and Aunt Jenny all jumped like crazy!

Cousin Amy played Ring-around-the-Rosie with Blake, Cara and Quinn, while Maria, Pete, and Joann watch safely from outside.

Cara, Carmy and Ben all modeled their star sunglasses. Don't they look cool?

Ben and Cece guard the door.

Here's a bunch of the kids! Blake, Dominic, Brady, Cara, Jessica, Carmy and Cece.

Pizza, anyone?

All that jumping makes us hungry!

Cake Time!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday,

dear Nick, Happy Birthday to you!!!!

Eleanor, Ben, Daddy, Mommy and Aidan get a front row

seat for the candle blowing and wish making...

That's our big 5 year old! We can't believe you are that old already, but we have loved every second of the journey to age 5.

Getting together with Cousins

2008-02-17T15:40:00.002-06:00

Another fun thing about having time off is getting to see the cousins. Nick and Cara were lucky enough to have Aidan and Quinn (and Paul too) come visit.

Here Cara and Quinn took turns sticking out their tongues!

Recovering from the Holidays

2008-02-17T15:35:00.004-06:00

After the Holidays were over, Nick and Cara were glad to get back to their routine. Here are Nick and Cara hiding from each other (when they are supposed to be eating a grilled cheese sandwich!)

Christmas Day Night at Grandpa Skip's and Grandma Pat's

2008-02-17T15:30:00.002-06:00

After recovering from a morning of fun, Nick and Cara headed down to Hastings for a Christmas Day night celebration with Grandpa Skip, Grandma Pat, Uncle Shea and Uncle Beau! This was really fun and a great way to cap off a wonderful Christmas. Grandpa Skip showed both Nick and Cara the beautiful Christmas tree and all the ornaments (some of which Daddy made when he was a little boy). Nick and Cara got a really neat easel that had a chalkboard on one side and a dry erase board on the other. They also got lots of other really cool presents and were really glad to spend some time with the group before Grandpa Skip and Grandma Pat went back to Florida.

Uncle Beau and Uncle Shea thought it would be good for Nick and Cara to explore their musical interests and bought a drum set.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Morning

2008-02-17T14:38:00.009-06:00

After spending the night at Grandma Claudia's house, Nick and Cara went to Bob & Teri's House to celebrate Christmas Eve. They had so much fun with all of the Sajevics. They saw Jake and his cast on his leg. They played with Ben at the piano. They played with Kristin, who chased them around the house. They also played with Amy and Brian and a really funny spiral hat. They also were lucky to spend time with Dave and Joann, Grandpa Skip and Grandma Pat, Grandma Florence and Grandpa Pete, Jack, Mary and Quentin, Denny and Gloria and all the rest. Besides spending time with their family, they really liked singing the Christmas carols. By the time Nick and Cara were strapped in their carseats, they were both very tired and ready for bed. Daddy and Mommy even saw a light in the sky that might have been Santa!

But before bed, Nick and Daddy made sure to set out two cookies that Nick and Mommy had made on a plate with some water for Santa, just in case he came that night and was hungry or thirsty.

When Nick and Cara woke up on Christmas Day, excitement was in the air as the kids wanted to see if Santa had paid a visit during the night. Nick and Daddy looked at the plate and all the cookies were gone and the glass of water was empty so Santa must have been hungry and thirsty! This was surely a good sign and when they looked at the tree, they saw all kinds of presents! Nick helped hand out the presents to everyone and then he was ready to jump right in and open some!

The one thing that Nick had asked for from Santa was a Spinosaurus dinosaur. Mommy and Daddy didn't really know what that was, but he got one! Everyone agreed that Nick had been a good boy that year!

He also got a really cool Hot Wheels track and a couple of Hot Wheels cars.

And a stop sign to use when he rides his bike out in the driveway!

Cara was also excited to open presents. She got a brand new baby, just like she wanted! When she went to see Santa, the one thing she asked for was a new baby! She must have been a good girl! She also got a really cool Little Eintsteins Rocket and some other cool toys!

Daddy's favorite part about Cara's presents was that she sat in his lap while she opened the presents!

Nick and Cara even got some presents to share. They were very good in taking turns opening the Lincoln Logs!

Nick was a really good helper and he was excited to hear that there were more presents in the stockings from Santa! Even Chester (in the background) got some presents.

Christmas at Grandma's House

2008-01-06T14:54:00.003-06:00

Christmas started a little bit early at Grandma's house this year. Nick and Cara were very excited to open presents. They were also very sure that they were good kids and that Santa would be coming to their house a few days later to bring them presents!

Nick and Cara are here sitting in front of Grandma's tree with all the presents behind them!

OK, onto opening presents!

Nick and Cara got great presents, including really warm pajamas!

Even Mommy got a present, and Nick and Cara offered to help her open it!

Grandma got presents too, and Nick and Cara were becoming experienced present openers.

Grandma received a Calendar with lots of pictures of Nick and Cara. It was one of her favorite presents.

By the end of the night, Nick and Cara tried on the new pajamas and were lucky enough to spend the night at Grandma's house. What a great Christmas and a great start to the season!

Cara and Naps

2008-01-06T14:47:00.000-06:00

Cara has pretty much stopped taking naps. Most of the time when she laid down for a nap, she would play in her room, which was fine - parents need quiet time too. Then she started taking off all of her clothes and (sometimes) trying on Nick's clothes.

Then, she decided to climb up the shelves in her closet. Mommy caught her on the third shelf one day and in a(n unsuccessful) bid to discourage her from doing this again, Mommy took some pictures. Nick decided to join in on the fun.

In the first picture, Cara looks like she knows she's not supposed to be doing this. In the next picture, Nick knows the same thing (but not Cara).

Finally, they decided not to worry about it and enjoyed themselves (much to their parents dismay!)

Bundling Up

2008-01-06T14:27:00.000-06:00

Nick and Cara don't mind bundling up for the cold weather if it means they can play in the snow (and if its not too cold). Here is Cara doing her best Santa impression.

Here they are all bundled up, sitting on a pile of snow. This year Cara decided that it would be fun if she wore Nick's red jacket, even though she has a jacket that matches her snow pants. Sometimes its hard to resist being like your big brother!

Cara and Chester

2008-01-06T14:22:00.000-06:00

Cara loves animals (elephants, horses, in particular). But she also loves our dog Chester and gives him lots of hugs every day.

Having Fun....One Day at a Time

2008-01-06T14:10:00.000-06:00

Nick and Cara sometimes have to fight to make sure they get enough food...fight the dog that is. Here you can see Chester roaming around them looking for dropped food and an opportunity to sneak a bite!

Here are some pictures of Nick and Cara having fun at Gymnastics Class. The pictures are little bit psychedelic because they were taken through a window. The gymnastics studio smartly keeps the parents out of the gym. As you can see, Nick and Cara love gymnastics. You can see them trying to "stick it". They do it pretty well, I think.

Christmas Tree

2008-01-06T13:56:00.000-06:00

Getting ready for Christmas was a lot of fun this year. Both Nick and Cara are getting old enough to understand that Santa is coming and that it is Christmas time. They both really wanted to help put up all of the decorations (especially Nick!).

Mommy and Daddy brought out our lovely (although fake) Christmas tree and then the kids helped put the decorations on the tree. Nick really enjoyed putting the hooks on the ornaments and putting the ornaments on the tree (even on the back of the tree!)

With all of the hard work, the tree started to look really beautiful!

Cara got into the act as well and had fun helping Mommy and Nick!

Nick made us promise that next year we would put lights outside our house. We told him that was a good idea as long as he was willing to help. Of course, that put a huge smile on his face.

SNOW!

2008-01-02T19:42:00.000-06:00

Nick and Cara were very excited to see the snow fall this year. Unlike years past, we have had enough snow in December to go sliding. So, Nick and Cara and Ben went sliding on the hill next door at Ben's house.

Nick really liked sliding and he and Ben would take turns to see who could go the farthest. Cara liked it too until some snow blew in her face. But she liked being outside with her brother and neighbor Ben!

Walking up the hill was a lot of work and as the day got long, the legs got tired, so sometimes the kids needed help getting up the hill from Mom and Dad.

They worked up an appetite and were happy to take break and think about all the fun they were having on this nice Minnesota day!

Getting the Family Picture taken; Going to see Santa

2008-01-01T12:28:00.000-06:00

Getting the family picture taken is always a challenge. In years past, we have done our best to pick the best time for the pictures (before nap, after nap? before a meal, after a meal?) with modest success. Somehow, the pictures have always seemed to work, but we never understand how they do because Nick and Cara do not sit still. Now that we have unofficially given up on Cara taking a nap, that made it easier for us to schedule.

We made an appointment at 10:15am on a Sunday to get our picture taken at a local shopping mall. After church, we hurried to our car (no donut after church!) so we could make it to the mall in time for our appointment. When we arrived, the clerk told us that they forgot to write down our appointment in their book so they did not have any photographers available; but she offered many different appointments during the week (great - Pete has lots of free time)!

OK, fine, so we decided to go shopping. Not many stores open at 10:15am on Sunday. Then we noticed Santa would be at the mall at 11am. So Pete agreed to wait in line but we decided the kids would probably not want to stand still until 11am. Before we knew it, we were 2nd in line and about 30-40 people were behind us. It made us glad that Pete waited in line! Anyway, here is our Santa picture:

When we looked at the Santa pictures from other years, we realized that this years was different, not just because it the kids were older but because Santa looked different (we have taken almost every other Santa picture at a different mall with the same Santa).

By the way, we did go back for the family pictures - on a Thursday night - and they didn't turn out that well anyway.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-01-01T12:23:00.000-06:00

For Thanksgiving this year, Pete, Jill, Nick, Cara and Grandma went out to eat. Since everyone works too hard, we decided it would be more fun to let someone else cook this time. Plus, not everyone wanted turkey (believe it or not!) so everyone could eat what they wanted.

Making a Gingerbread House

2007-11-25T09:54:00.000-06:00

To get ready for Christmas, we decided to make a gingerbread house! The kids really did help!

The hard part was not eating the ingredients!

Happy Halloween!!

2007-11-25T09:34:00.000-06:00

This year Nick and Cara were very excited for Halloween. They had a chance to pick out their own costumes this year. Cara wanted to be Buzz Lightyear (from Toy Story). We thought she might want to be a princess since she has been dressing up like one around the house.

Nick wanted to be Peter the Prince from the Narnia movie. He had never seen the Narnia movie, but he liked the costume. Actually, I think he really liked the sword.

Here are the cute kids before they left our house!

In what has become an annual tradition, Nick, Cara, Ben and Dominic went to the Zoo Boo at the Como Zoo.

Here you can see Ben also wanted to be a prince (with a shield!). Dominic was a ninja. If there was going to be any crime going on at Zoo Boo, this crew would be ready!

Cara pretended she was a gingerbread woman!

Nobody can deny the truth behind this picture!

Pumpkins for Halloween!

2007-11-25T09:25:00.000-06:00

Getting ready for Halloween is always fun. We had 2 pumpkins this year and decided to put a smiley face on one of them and a scary face on the other. While we were decorating them, Nick had a strong opinion about what the scary one should look like. Cara also tried to pose for the scary pumpkin.

Then Nick decided to try to scare the smiley one.

We also decided to give names to the pumpkins. The scary one was Murray and the smiley one was Frank. Why? For those of you not paying attention, these names come from swimming.

Going to the Science Museum

2007-11-25T09:19:00.000-06:00

Daddy decided to take a day or 2 off work to be with his family, so everyone hopped into the minivan to go the Science Museum to see if we could find any dinosaur bones. Nick has been looking for dinosaur bones in our yard for quite some time. He really loves dinosaurs! Anyway, they have a lot of dinosaur bones at the science museum. Nick and Cara could hardly believe how big the dinosaurs were! We tried to imagine how big they would look in our yard! Daddy was really glad to get to spend time with Mommy and his 2 favorite little munchkins.

Here are some pictures of a dragon outside the museum and a chair inside the museum.

Singing in the Rain

2007-11-25T08:33:00.001-06:00

What is great about being a kid is that the things that adults start to dislike, kids still love. Case in point, a rainy day. We came home one day and it was raining. Instead of running into the house like an adult would want to do, Nick wanted to play in the rain.

Fall Activities

2007-11-25T08:07:00.000-06:00

It has been a fun activity filled fall for Nick and Cara. Now that she is 3 years old, Cara is able to participate in activities by herself (before 3, most activities are with a parent).

Cara started swimming lessons for the first time at Foss Swim School with Nick. She is in the Little 1 class. She is learning to get her face wet and to float on her back, which are both pretty scary at first but she is doing really well and enjoying it (most of the time).

Nick is in Little 4 and is starting to look like he is swimming. He "paints the ceiling" with a backstroke and "throws the fish out of the water" with a front crawl. For some reason, they call the right hand "Frank" and the left hand "Murray" so he is working on his Frank and Murrays too. They are both doing really well.

They both went to "Mini-kickers" camp with Ben and Cecelia. This was twice a week at the community center and involved soccer drills.

We also signed them up for gymnastics at Midwest Gymnastics. They have really enjoyed this class with their teacher Mark. They walked on a balance beam, practiced somersaults and jumped into the "pit" which was filled with sponge like squares.

Of course, they also have fun at home coloring with mom.

and just playing around the house with each other and sometimes hiding in their Ikea chairs.

or dressing up like a princess!

They are very good kids and we are so lucky to have them!

Fall Soccer

2007-11-24T08:33:00.000-06:00

Nick started playing Fall Soccer, not to be confused with summer soccer. This time Nick was in an actual league with teams, jerseys and opponents. His parents finally figured out that you are supposed to wear socks over the shin guards, so he managed to avoid some embarassment before his first game. Nick played on the Alligators with his buddy Ben.

Before the game, Nick and his teammates would warm up by doing pushups and toe-touchers.

Most of the games looked like rubgy with a massive scrum of toddlers chasing after the ball. It was pretty fun to watch, though. Every once in awhile he would get to kick the ball, but mostly he just chased it.

He really liked being the goalie.

It was a great experience for him to get to learn about being part of a team and getting to run around a lot.

August 25 - Going to the State Fair

2007-11-24T08:03:00.000-06:00

On a beautiful sunny and warm day, we loaded up the minivan and headed down the street to the Minnesota State Fair. Actually, we went to a park and ride where we got on a bus that drove us to the fair. Now that we don't have the double stroller, it's a lot easier to get everyone into the bus, which saves a lot of time, headaches and $$$. The park and ride bus brought us right to the front door of the fair. We were a little sad to find out that next year Nick will become a paying fair-goer. Not because it will cost us more money; it seems like yesterday that we brought our kids to the fair when they were little babies.

The State Fair is right up Cara's alley. Not long after we arrived, she noticed that they had bushes shaped like animals! Here Cara found one of her favorite animals - an elephant!!

And Nick found one of his favorites -- a dragon!

We went early in the day - mid morning - so the crowds weren't too bad yet. First we went to the Kidway to go on some kiddy rides. Nick is more excited about this than Cara so far, but she enjoyed them too.

We also went down the Giant Slide, which is a big yellow metal slide on which you go down on burlap sacks. Nick and Daddy went on a burlap sack and Mommy and Cara went on one too. We could have done this all day long it was so fun.

We also climbed on some machinery on Machinery Hill. Then we decided to get a bird's eye view of the fair in the Skyglider, which was really fun for the kids. Of course, hanging out with the kids and showing them all the new things is fun for the parents!

Then we went to a relatively new exhibit called the Miracle of Birth Exhibit. This Exhibit has all different types of animals that are delivering babies or have just delivered babies or where babies are being born. We saw a whole bunch of eggs that were hatching, we saw a lamb have a baby lamb, and we got to pet the animals too. Here is Cara petting a minature horse.

A fun time was had by all but everyone got tired so we went home. Rest assured we will be back next year (even if Nick has to pay to get in!)

August 19, 2007 - Mommy does a Triathlon

2007-10-28T16:31:00.001-05:00

As if Mommy didn't have enough to do, the day after we celebrated Cara's birthday (and right before school started again), she finished the St. Paul Triathlon. It was very cold and rainy on the day of the triathlon. This was right in the middle of August when it is typically very warm. Jill is not a fan of cold weather and particularly not cold and wet weather, so it was particularly unfortunate. Here you can see Mommy with a smile (before the race started).

As you know, first they swim! At this triathlon, Jill swam 1/2 mile. Here she comes out of the water!

Then to the transition area to shed the wetsuit and get ready for the bike!

Then off to the bike in the pouring rain . . .

Then, back to the transition area to get off the bike and get ready to run!

And then you are done (with a smile on your face!)

But when its all said and done, at least you have friends to celebrate with! here is Jill with Joanne and Jennifer

August 18, 2007 - Happy Birthday Cara (2 days early) - You are now 3 Years Old!!!

2007-10-28T11:57:00.001-05:00

2 days before Cara turned 3 years old, we decided to go to Adventure Zone, which was in Ham Lake, to have a party. It turned out to be a rainy day, so it was a good idea to celebrate inside. They let the kids play on the slides and the mazes and then everyone ate pizza, opened presents and then ate cake.

Cara had a lot of friends come to her party - Nick, Ben, Aidan, Quinn, Cecelia, Carmela, Dominic and Blake all came to help her celebrate. Of course she and her friends had so much fun playing that we forgot to take pictures of all the playing. We did remember to take pictures of the eating and the present opening.

Here you can see Paul, Jenny, Aidan and Maria sat at one end of the table

Here you can see Grandma Pat, Grandpa Skip, Ron, Jennifer and Liv at the other

Cara blew out the candles all by herself. It took some convincing to Nick and Ben to allow this to happen.

She even took time out from her big day to pose with her Daddy for a picture in front of her cake.

Here you can see Nick, Ben, Dominic and Aidan (with Mommy and Grandma Claudia in the background) eagerly ready to watch Cara open the presents.

Ben offered to help open the presents. Cara thanked him with a hug.

Nick helped open presents too. Cara had a lot of fun opening presents and had fun playing with what was inside too.

She also had a lot of fun handing out hugs (here, to Cecelia and to Grandma Claudia)

When all was said, sung and done, it was time to go. Everyone had a good time and packed up and went back into the rain. Just to show what a good big brother here is, Nick even helped pack up the toys!!

We can hardly believe our little Caroline is now 3 years old. The time went by so fast. She is turning into such a big girl and is so much fun. We are so lucky!

Enjoying the rest of Summer

2007-10-27T19:23:00.000-05:00

Summer goes quickly, especially when your mom is a college teacher. But that doesn't mean there isn't time to visit Mommy's friend Jill's cabin to watch Mommy show off her abs to her friends . . .

and there is still time to cheer on the Turtleman triathletes as they run past our house. Here you can see Nick and Cara carefully pouring gatorade into dixie cups which they handed out to the triathletes . . .

and there is still time to go to the Children's museum to be a rock star with cousin Mackenzie and her friend Marie . . .

and to see what life looks like from the perspective of a turtle (she lives on Turtle Lake, after all)

August 1, 2007 - Nick finishes Summer Soccer

2007-10-27T19:09:00.000-05:00

Nick finished up with Summer Soccer. He learned the basics of playing soccer, like how to race to the soccer ball. Sometimes, he would get there first and he really liked it when he would score a goal.

But soon it was over and he was off to other challenges.

Pete was able to come watch Nick on one of his last soccer practices (Nick played Mondays and Wednesdays while Pete was usually working). The added benefit to this was that when Pete wasn't watching Nick, Cara entertained him.

Pete explained to Cara that she would have to wait her turn and pretty soon, she would be able to play soccer too.

July 27, 2007 - Grandpa Pete's, Cousin Ben's and Grandma Florence's Birthday!!

2007-10-22T20:37:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to Grandpa Pete, Cousin Ben and Grandma Florence!

Here are the 2 birthday boys!

Here is a portion of the group that gathered at the Hastings Country Club.

Nick thought the chef's hat was funny. So he, and godmother Amy, took turns wearing it!

Now for something else..

2007-10-22T20:32:00.001-05:00

Just in case it seems like all Nick and Cara do is go on vacation, here are some pictures of Nick and Cara working. They are actually really good helpers and here you can see them helping Daddy mow the lawn.

July 12, 2007 - Vacation Trip to Brainerd - Part IV

2007-10-22T20:15:00.001-05:00

Nick and Cara also got to go on a pontoon boat ride!

Here Cara and Grandma enjoyed the breeze!

and both Nick and Cara got to drive the Boat!!!

What a fun time was had by all!

July 11, 2007 - Vacation Trip to Brainerd - Part III

2007-10-10T21:40:00.000-05:00

We went to Nisswa, the home of the Turtle Races. If you've never been to Nisswa, it is a quaint little town, with great shops and cute restaurants. We window shopped and ate lunch, then rested on this bench for some picture taking.

Nick picked up his turtle and told him to run fast!

Cara tried a different kind of motivation...

but it was not to be.

So, instead, Nick and Cara decided to see if they were faster than a turtle.

After some deliberation, they decided that they were faster than a turtle.

July 10, 2007 - Vacation Trip to Brainerd - Part II

2007-10-10T20:57:00.000-05:00

Water Activities played a big role in our vacation.

We went to a water park with a HUGE water slide, a play area they both loved with smaller slides, and a lazy river.

Here's Nick and I on the tubes, floating around the lazy river.
To the right is a picture of the slide. Can you believe Nick was a water slide pro?!?!?

We went out to eat and on a carriage ride, and then swam some more!

Here's the gang! Nick,
Cara, Mom and Dad, and Grandma.

Here's the tubes that we rode down the water slide. Nick was fearless! He was too little to go by himself, so mom and dad got pretty good at the water slide, too!

July 9, 2007 - Nick and Cara go on Vacation to Brainerd - Part I

2007-09-09T11:46:00.001-05:00

Nick, Cara, Jill, Pete and Claudia went to Cragun's for a whole bunch of fun.

They started out by the beach on the swingsets...

then they made a sand castle and a moat...

then they decided to bury Cara in the sand!

And if that wasn't enough fun, they went on a pony ride!

Fourth of July Fun!

2007-08-16T07:53:00.000-05:00

We had friends over to celebrate!

Ron, Mark, John, Jill, Jennifer and Liv

Mark, John, Jill, Paul, Jenny, Quinn, Liv and Jennifer

Joann, Owen, Aidan, Ben, Cara, John and Jill enjoy the dock on a beautiful day!

Paul and Eleanor hope to catch some fish.

Cara decided to have some good food, while Aidan checked out the waterfall!

But pretty soon, everyone got into the WATER!

Everybody tried out Nick and Cara's new slide!

Nick and Ben and Owen tried to see who could get wetter while Quinn showed off her patriotic swim suit!

Everyday Life

2007-07-28T20:30:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, especially when you are almost 3 and 4 years old, even the simplest things are exciting. Both Nick and Cara love riding bikes in the driveway. Sometimes Mom even draws race track with sidewalk chalk so the bikes have a course to drive.

Even things most people dread can be very exciting. Here is a picture of Cara on the way to visit the dentist for the first time, all smiles. She kept saying she was going to the dentist "so the dentist be's happy." She was very cooperative and seemed to enjoy the whole process, especially getting a tooth brush and stickers and a prize.

Sometimes, it's fun to support the home team,

or to swing really high.

All in all, life tends to get you pretty messy. Good thing kids are washable. And once again, a mundane act is fun and exciting, especially with two in a tub!

Usually, though, as soon as the bath is done, a chocolate donut or the like results in the need to repeat the process again! It's so hard to stay clean and so much fun to get dirty! It's definitely the simple things that are so enjoyable.

Nick and Cara get a new Slide!

2007-07-14T12:27:00.001-05:00

Nick and Cara had run out of fun things to do so their Dad bought a yellow slide for down by the Lake and he even put it together himself!

Nick tried it out to see if it worked

It Worked!

June 30, 2007 - Nick and Cara go to Big Pine!

2007-07-14T12:16:00.001-05:00

Nick and Cara traveled with their parents to Great Aunt Susie's and Devie's Cabin on Big Pine Lake on June 30. They got to watch their Dad play volleyball with Great Uncle Bob, Jake, Zach, Brian, Amy, Dave, David and others.

Cara's cousin Kristen showed Cara what its like to fly in an air force airplane!

Nobody could figure out why Cara couldn't stay upside down by herself

Nick's godmother Amy showed him how to throw a frisbee.

Brian and Amy put on a special fireworks show for Nick and Cara

Nick starts soccer

2007-07-05T21:03:00.000-05:00

On Mondays and Wednesday mornings, Nick plays soccer with other 4-5 year olds through Shoreview's Park and Rec Program.

Here he is with his coaches.

He really likes it, especially scoring goals! Here are all of the kids warming up!

Carnival

2007-07-05T20:57:00.000-05:00

Adventure Park Carnival ~ Saturday, June 23

Nick, Cara and I went to a carnival with a petting zoo and a Super Jump. They both loved feeding the animals.

Life as a Mom

2007-06-23T11:17:00.001-05:00

Here is an email that Mommy sent to Daddy on June 21, 2007

To: Pete
From: Jill

I took the kids to Maple Grove to meet Paul. They all got hungry so I bought Nick and Cara hot dogs (none for me cuz no $). Got home, got themdown for naps, started eating a protein bar. Cara has to go potty. Put her on. She doesn't go, which she has been doing all day yesterday and today. Put her back to bed and come back and Chester has eaten my protein bar. Then Nick starts banging his door and I go in there and he's starting to rip the library book, so then I get to fix that. Still no food for me. Just sharing. Hopefully it's therapeutic. See you tonight. Love, Jill

Deep Thoughts

2007-06-23T11:04:00.000-05:00

Here are some actual conversations by Nick and Cara:

Nick - 6/21/07 (age 4&1/2)

Nick - "How does God make the T.V.'s?"

Mommy - "God makes people and people make T.V.'s"

Nick - What about Boats?"

Mommy - "The same. God makes people and people make boats"

Nick - "But not the motor. People don't make the motor"

Cara - 6/21/07 (age 2&3/4)

Cara - "I don't like Captain Hook or Zurg (from Toy Story). But I like Horses. And elephants."

Happy Father's Day!

2007-06-23T10:46:00.000-05:00

Nick and Cara helped Daddy celebrate Father's Day at his favorite place - Turtle Lake!

For the very first time, Nick went in a tube behind the boat all by himself!!

For the first time, Cara and Mommy went in a tube behind the boat too!

Later, Daddy, Mommy and Nick went into the lake and Nick swam in his life jacket for the first time! Those swimming lessons are finally starting to pay off! What a great way to spend Father's Day!

Cara likes Brownies!

2007-06-23T10:43:00.000-05:00

Cara helped Mommy make Brownies today.

June 9, 2007 - World War II Memorial

2007-06-23T10:32:00.003-05:00

Nick and Cara's Great Grandfather Peter Sajevic was honored at the dedication of a World War II Memorial in Saint Paul, Minnesota on June 9, 2007. Great Grandpa Sajevic fought in the Pacific and was on Iwo Jima And Guam.

Here is a picture of Grandpa Peter standing up and being honored at the dedication:

Here is a picture of Nick and Cara's Great Grandpa Pete, Great Grandma Florence and

Grandpa Skip.

Here are some pictures of some of the other Sajevics who also attended the dedication.

We are all very lucky and grateful for the service of Great Grandpa Pete!

Nick and Cara visit Madison!

2007-06-23T10:19:00.000-05:00

On June 6, Jill, Nick, Cara, Lori McMillen and Lindsey McMillen took a road trip to visit the Pertzborn's and the Parmenters!

Nick and Cara slept in blow up beds for the first time.

Jill, Lori, Michelle and Lori were all roomates in grad school and now they all have kids about the same age. Here they are having a blast!

Cael, Nick, Bella, and Cara Bella, Lori, Taylor, and Allie

"These kids are too loud!" Nick says. Nick, Bella and Allie

Oh, cool a bunk bed and a TV! How many kids can we fit on the top of one bunk bed?

Bella, Nick, Allie and Lindsey Glued to the tube!

Nick Finishes Swimming Lessons

2007-06-23T10:07:00.000-05:00

Nick has his last swimming lesson for the summer. He has learned so much and he really enjoyed swimming which is what his parents were hoping for! And he really loved his teacher Isaac, who was lots of fun. Here is some of what he learned:

He learned to keep his head down and kick!

He learned that is fun to jump in the water!

He still has a lot to learn, but he is off to a great start and most importantly, he loves it!

May 29, 2007 (All Week) - Nick Goes to Vacation Bible School

2007-06-02T07:34:00.000-05:00

Nick started his summer of fun by spending this past week at Vacation Bible School at Incarnation Lutheran Church. The theme was "Avalanche Ranch - A Wild Ride Through God's Word". He sang songs, ran around at Horseplay games, enjoyed "Chuckwagon Chow", made "Cowpoke Crafts" and listened to "Wild Bible Adventure" stories. They had 106 preschool aged kids (going into kindergarten next year and the year after that - Nick will be in Kindergarten the year after that [2008-09]).

They gave the kids red t-shirts that they wore everyday and had all kinds of props in the Ranch theme.

Nick had fun with his teacher Kristen and made some new friends and says he wants to go back next year.

May 20, 2007 - Cara Moves into her Big Girl Bed

2007-05-27T07:37:00.000-05:00

On May 20, our little baby - actually our Big Girl - Cara moved out of her crib and into her big girl bed. She had spent the night before at Grandma Claudia's house with Nick. While she was gone, her Dad took her crib apart and moved her Big Girl Bed into Nick and Cara's room.

Although she has not climbed our of crib more than once or twice, she is getting to be old enough to make the switch.

We put Cara and Nick to bed the first night at about 7:30pm. Nick and Cara stayed up until about 10:00pm jumping on the beds and making mischief. We expected that Nick would not be excited about the switch since he will notice the changes most directly. Other than asking us to get Cara out of his bed, so far no complaints. One week into it and Cara is still staying up later than usual but she seems to always fall asleep in her bed (eventually).

Welcome to Our Blog

2007-05-25T20:25:00.000-05:00

This is our first post on our first blog, which we hope to use to share what is happening in our family! We were inspired by our friend Jenn in California who just started a blog to show pictures of her beautiful baby boy Bennett! We are hoping to keep this going on a somewhat regular basis. Thanks for checking us out!