The McClures Visit Minnesota

Working on our keychains for the lemonade stand

Finn helping Aunt Sarah

Luke working on the keychains

Calvin

Going to the driving range

Luke at the driving range

Calvin really enjoyed the trip to the driving range

And Finn...he gave it a great effort!

Lemonade stand complete with yellow lemonade, cookies, and keychains

Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day putt putt

Watching our putt putt balls come out 

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Petting the goats.  If given the choice, Finn would stick his entire hand inside the deer.

No peaking!  Taste testing foods

Taste test for Calvin

Ninja warrior training

And this is about all I could do.  Seriously.  Those obstacles are even harder than they look!

Salmon ladder with Liam the Monkey

Climbing wall

Liam

Cousins at the Ninja training place

Wonderful dinner out with no kids!

Playing with friends at the park

We enjoyed a very fun week when my sister, Sarah, and her husband and son drove up to Minnesota for a visit last week.  Although the time we spent would never be long enough for the boys, we were thankful to share several memorable adventures.  I am pretty sure that by the end of their stay here, the adults were ready for a few low key days.  We wish they lived a little closer so we could spend time together more often.

The four big boys slept together in one room so they were always up early and likely stayed up a little too late as well.  We enjoyed swimming in our neighborhood pool and playing at a few local parks and hitting golf balls at the local driving range (a new hobby for the big boys).  We made water balloons one afternoon and played in the backyard before heading to the pool for an afternoon swim while Finn was napping.  On Father's Day, we went to play miniature golf at a sculpture garden.  Each hole had some type of sculpture that the ball had to travel through.

Another of our adventures took us to a new American Ninja Warrior training facility.  If you have watched the American Ninja War television show, then you know what type of obstacles I am referring to.  It was a bit of an eye opener for all of us to see how tricky the obstacles really are in person!  The boys enjoyed it and climbed everywhere.  Liam, especially, was like a monkey!

We had a lemonade stand one evening and sold lemonade, cookies, and keychains (courtesy of Aunt Sarah's supplies).  The neighbors came out to support us and the boys had so much fun running door to door to let people know we were open for business.      

The adults enjoyed a dinner out at a local farm to table restaurant in downtown Minneapolis.  The restaurant was called Wise Acre Eatery and it was awesome.  Lots of fresh food from a farm about 45 miles away.  Super fun evening!

Overall, it was a fun trip for everyone and we hope they make their way to Minnesota again soon.  Thanks for visiting Jason, Sarah, and Calvin!          

First 5K Trail Run

Standing at the start of the 5K trail race

Luke and Liam getting ready for their first trail race

Liam was quite fast and strong.  First child under 10 years of age to finish!  He ran in around 35 minutes.  The next person in front of him (by 30 seconds) was a 10 year old boy.

Luke was the second 8 year old to finish.  He ran in roughly 36 minutes.

Strong Man pose before the race.  

We have three visitors this week...our cousin Calvin, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Jason are coming from Arkansas to see us in Minnesota. We are very excited to see all of them so this will be brief, but I didn't want to skip a post on Luke and Liam's first 5K trail race.  Each of them had expressed an interest in running a race for some reason?!  Its not like John or I run very much (joking!).  This race was part of the trail series of runs that finishes up in September with the Moose Mountain Marathon which John will be running again this year.

Luke and Liam ran the 5K trail race with John at a local park with gorgeous trails earlier this week.  It rained almost all week long so we thought the course would be messy, but it wasn't too bad.  The boys loved a few of the mud puddles, of course.  It was hilly in several places and they slowed down a bit, but overall they ran very very well.  They were the first kids under the age of 10 years to finish.  It was a fun race and a good introduction to 5K running for the boys.  They are both already talking about running faster next time.

End of School Party and Pics

Water Balloon Fight with Aiden and some friends

And winning the water balloon toss!!

Tossing the water balloons

 Luke and Charlie doing water balloon toss

Finn loved the snowcones!

Last Day of Second Grade and Kindergarten-June 9, 2016

Third Grade next year!

Aiden will be a big first grader!

Same snow cone as above, but NOT the only one he had!!

Water Balloon Fight

Check out the curls on a warm humid day! He still has not had a haircut.

After a busy last week of school, we topped off the week with a super fun party at our friend's house. Kirsten, Audrey, Lindsey, and Kim all live in the same general area and they spent a lot of time and energy planning an end of the school year party.  The boys had a blast with the slip and slide, water balloon toss, snow cones, water guns, and tie dyed pillow cases.  They ran and played and wore themselves out.  Finn's favorite was the snow cones.  It was a warm and humid day for Minnesota so the water games and snow cones were quite refreshing.  Bring on summer!!

Third Grade...here we come!!!

Finn at the splash pad on a rainy yet humid day.  We stopped at the park one day after lunch and it started to rain so Finn wanted to try the splash pad before heading home and changing clothes.  

This is cool!

Here I go....

Luke with two of his school buddies, Adam and Alex, before the play started

Rice Park with some soccer friends from Team Mexico

We had the opportunity to bike to and from school with some kids from our old neighborhood.  The trip is a little under two miles, but Luke and Liam have been wanting to do this.  There are a couple busy intersections to cross so myself and two other parents joined them on their ride!

Ms. McWilliams 2nd Grade Class (minus a couple people including Luke!)

We are finishing up the school year for Luke and Liam this year.  Last week, their class went on a fun field trip to the Ordway Theater in St. Paul.  They watched a program and visited an international children's festival.  It was a beautiful day and the boys had a fabulous time.  The boys have had a wonderful year and will miss their teacher, Ms. McWilliams.  Third Grade, here we come!  I am not ready for that quite yet, but it sounds good anyway....

Aiden had his final day of kindergarten last week and enjoyed some extra freedom at home.  I know, however, he is more than ready for his brothers to join him as soon as possible!

Our Trip for Jacob's Graduation

Cousins Caitlin and Ella with the boys

Jacob with the boys

Jacob opening his graduation gift...some Michigan glasses, a pitcher, and coasters

Cousins Zach and Seth with the boys after we went swimming at their house

Over Memorial Day, we went to see John's family in Cincinnati and we attended Jacob's graduation party.  It was a very fun event with all of John's family present over the weekend at some point.  We went swimming at Aunt Jennifer's house, jumped on the trampoline at Aunt Ann's, had an awesome BBQ dinner at Jacob's grad party, and enjoyed seeing all our cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  Such a fun and memorable weekend.  We are so excited for Jacob as he heads to the University of Michigan in the fall.  Congrats Jacob!

As Uncle Dan pointed out, "Enjoy the Ride" (the title of our blog) took on an entirely new meaning over the weekend as we made the 12 hour trek (one way) to our cousin Jacob's graduation party in Cincinnati.  We didn't make the actual graduation ceremony because it was during the middle of the week and Luke and Liam were doing some important testing at school.  However, we left Thursday afternoon and drove to Chicago where we spent the night and then left early Friday morning to finish out the trip.

As we got in the car on Friday morning, it was a sticky, muggy, warm summer day.  John and I separately went for a run along Lake Michigan that morning and we were still cooling off.  As we started our trip, we noticed the AC in the car was not blowing cool air.  This is a new car that we have had zero issues with thus far so we were not sure what to think.  We pulled over outside of Chicago to have the car checked.  After some time in the parking lot playing simon says and red light, green light with all the boys, it was determined that there was some type of hole in the compressor for the air conditioning.  They tried charging it and sent us on our way.  We had some relatively cooler air for the rest of the trip, but it soon leaked out.  Sadly, the entire 12 hour drive home was spent with no AC.  We opted to leave Sunday night rather than Monday morning to break up the trip a bit without AC.  It was a relatively warm ride with temps in the mid 90's as we were heading out of Cincinnati.

I know many people have probably done long car trips without AC and they survived so obviously we would have to make the most of it.  Shockingly, the boys never complained even once on the drive home.  They asked the notorious, "how much longer until we get there?"  But, not one time did they complain about the heat, the fact that it was a wind tunnel with the windows rolled down, or the fact that you couldn't hear the music or movie very well, or even talk much due to the noise.  All this to say, we survived and the car will be repaired this week.  We will have a new appreciation for AC in the car.

One funny comment from Luke during our drive....We were in a relatively remote area of Indiana and  we were passing through several cattle farms.  The smell was horrible.  We had most of the windows down because it was also quite warm outside.  As we were driving, Luke says-"Dad, what are the plans for stopping to change Finn's diaper?"  Thankfully, the horrible smell was not Finn, but John and I died laughing when Luke asked the question.

8 days until school is out for the second and soon to be THIRD graders.  Aiden's last day of kindergarten was TODAY!?  

Aiden's Kindergarten Graduation

Liam was very proud of the Lily pad he found at the park

Nature Walk with our friends, Jack, Charlie and Andy

Aiden's school (and the school where Luke and Liam attended preschool and kindergarten)

Finn wanted to stand on the risers while we waited for the program to begin

Aiden was beyond excited for his graduation

So excited

Aiden's class, teachers, and director at his school

Do, Re, Mi with bells

American History song, Aiden is the flag

Posing for pictures after the program

Ready for First Grade!

Silly picture with his teacher, Ms Kristi

Kindergarten diploma

AJ and Ms Kristi.  Aiden has had Ms Kristi since his first day of preschool

Aiden and his buddy, Keaton

Yes, it seems like yesterday that we were celebrating kindergarten graduation for Luke and Liam at the same school (in the same classroom).

May is a crazy month!  The month of May can be exciting, exhausting, and a bit emotional for me with the end of school, graduations, end of year parties, awards, tournaments, and even more parties.  After an entire year (and sometimes more) with many of the boy's teachers, it is difficult to say goodbye to them.  Many of these teachers we will continue to cross paths with at their elementary school, but some of them we really won't see as much anymore.

Aiden's kindergarten teacher, Ms. Kristi, is one of those very special teachers that we likely won't see as much after he finishes his last day of kindergarten at the end of May.  We are hopeful to send Finn to preschool and kindergarten at Montessori shortly, so that's a bit reassuring.  When Aiden began preschool at Montessori, he started with Ms. Kristi and he has been with her through kindergarten.  Luke and Liam also had Ms. Kristi as their kindergarten teacher.  She has done so much to work with the boys, guide us, and provide suggestions and input on things to incorporate.  She knows them all so well and we are thankful to have worked with her over the last six years.


Aiden had his kindergarten graduation ceremony this week and he was more than excited about it.  He began practicing his songs for graduation in January.  They had a Spanish song where they sang the months of the year in Spanish.  They named all 50 states in another song.  And lastly, they also had a song about all the various inventors and their inventions throughout history (airplane, American flag, first president, electricity, etc...).  Aiden has been practicing his songs in the bathtub, the car, and at the house so it feels like we all know the songs to some extent!

Aiden's kindergarten class was small class this year (8 students) which was definitely to his advantage because he received lots of individual reading time, math tutoring, etc...The classes at Montessori have been cut in half due to a change in the school system in Minnesota the year after Luke and Liam finished kindergarten when it was decided that kindergarten would be all day/5 days per week.  Previously, children only went for half days of kindergarten so many working parents had to find additional daycare and Montessori had larger classes.  Aiden's kindergarten was three full days per week and it was perfect for him.  It wasn't until the end of the year that he seemed ready for five full days.  He is so excited to begin first grade in the fall.

Congratulations Aiden!!  We are so excited to watch you continue to grow and learn!