California and The Championship

The Trek Bike I used while in CA

A fruit, granola, acai berry bowl.  So so good.

Dinner in Malibu, CA on way to Solvang

Dinner at a little Mexican place with Mango Margaritas

Solvang is called the Danish Capital of America

Climbing Mt. Figueroa 

Solvang Bakery

Car show in Solvang

More scenery

Trek Bike group

Beautiful landscape

Windmill in Solvang

So excited about the win!

The boys were busy winning a hockey championship while I was gone!

First Place!

Finn helped open and close the door for the zamboni

Euro American 2008 AAA Hockey Team

Tournament was played at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center

Getting ready to play!

One of Finn's new girlfriends, our coaches daughter!

Finn and his girlfriends!

It was a busy week and weekend for us.  I made my first ever trip away from the boys in 8.5 years.  I went with a friend to do a Trek travel bike camp in southern California in the town of Solvang.  Solvang is a city in Santa Barbara County and is known at the Danish Capital of America.  It is a quiet town nestled in the Santa Inez valley.  The city itself is adorable with lots of shops, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, etc...We had such a wonderful time.  We were blessed with ideal weather conditions and we made the most it.  Trek Travel provided the bike along with most of our meals and snacks so all we did was ride and relax.  It was truly a wonderful experience and I am thankful I was able to make the trip.

Meanwhile back home, John was more than busy!  He had two days of school to cover along with packing for a weekend hockey tournament.  This was the first ever travel hockey tournament that the boys have been on.  Luke and Liam are playing on a AAA Hockey Team for boys born in 2008.  They have worked hard to make this team and they were thrilled with the idea of staying in a hotel with friends.  What could be better?  Many of the kids on their team have younger siblings that Aiden enjoyed playing with.  And, as you can see by the pictures, Finn found some girlfriends that did an amazing job entertaining him at the rink.  

Never a Dull Moment....

Aiden had his final game in the spring hockey league he played in during the month of April.  He will take a break and play soccer until hockey starts back up in the fall.

The Bruins final game.

Shaking hands at the end of the game

Ice cream to celebrate post game!!  

Temps got up to 75 degrees!!

Finn showing me his "scary guy" glasses at Kevin's house in our old neighborhood

Despite the fact that Luke appears pretty excited in this picture, it really wasn't that exciting.  He is, however, happy that the doctor said he could still skate in his hockey tournament assuming he is pain free.

Over the weekend, Aiden played in his final hockey game until he starts back up in the fall.  After he finished his regular season hockey, he participated in a small spring league for a few weeks.  I will admit that it was really hard to even consider doing anything hockey related over the weekend because we finally hit 70 degrees on both Saturday and Sunday.  The weather was gorgeous and spending time in a cold ice rink wasn't something that any of us really wanted to do.  Aiden, however, was excited about his tournament and his spring hockey team so we enjoyed watching him play.  Next up for Aiden is soccer beginning in May.

The remainder of our weekend was spent enjoying the warm weather!  We enjoyed dinner and ice cream outside, had a bonfire and smores with friends, had a water gun fight, went on a bike ride, and spent more time outside than inside.  All in all, it was a good time with the exception of a little mishap for Luke.

While rollerblading outside on the driveway, Luke's skate caught an edge between the driveway and sidewalk and he went down really hard on his left hand.  He was wearing a helmet and pads, but unfortunately nothing to protect his fingers.  He ended up with a fracture in the second and third fingers of his left hand.

Luke's one and only question after the accident was whether or not he could still skate in his hockey tournament this weekend.  Thankfully, there was no misalignment and the fracture should heal in a few weeks.  Meanwhile, he is clear to skate in the tournament games over the weekend.  He has a splint to wear for awhile to protect his fingers a bit.  He hasn't complained at all about any pain from his fingers.  Luke is a sweet and easygoing kid that never complains so he really has continued to be active and make the most of the situation (we are the ones reminding him to rest!).

Our week with Mimi

Ready for the Olympics or at least the open gymnastics

Finn was able to meet the Basswood Bulldog, Buster.  That was the highlight of the school carnival for Finn

Liam breaking a board at the carnival

Mimi bowling with the boys

Spring snow.  ICK....

We enjoyed our week with Mimi here to visit.  Although Luke, Liam, and Aiden still had school this week and the weather was not exactly springy, we managed to find several fun things to do.  We enjoyed several fun lunches with friends at a few new restaurants that I haven't ever tried.  We also went to a open gymnastics with Finn and Aiden to burn some energy on one of the cold and windy days.  Luke and Liam's elementary school had their annual carnival on Friday night and we went to that with Mimi.  It was crazy as usual, but the boys loved it.  The highlight for Finn was getting to meet the big bulldog, Buster.  Over the weekend, the big boys were able to go bowling with Mimi while Finn napped.  It was super fun for her and something we have not done in awhile so the boys really enjoyed it.

I am certain that Mimi watched more hockey this week than she has ever seen in her life!  Not only did she mention that, but we had two games for Aiden and 3 practices for Luke and Liam.  We skipped a few of these, but she still was able to see her fare share of hockey for the boys.

We greatly appreciated all of Mimi's help this week with our nightly reading homework, baths, cleaning dishes, meal prep, as well as her playing the countless games of War, Go Fish, UNO, checkers, and whatever else the boys came up with!  Thank you Mimi, we look forward to seeing you again soon!

Mimi is Here!

Luke's lego tower that he is proud of

Lunch at the arboretum with Mimi.  We had a beautiful warmer weather day!

Finn is making some "cereal" in the sand

Daddy and Finn eating lunch at the arboretum

Although it looks pretty realistic, Aiden is pretending to nap in the fort that he and Luke built at the arboretum

Reading the signs at the arboretum

Liam and his fort

Trying to balance

Crossing a log with Mimi

Mimi is here to visit!

We are happy to have Mimi here this week for a visit.  I would love to say we are enjoying the Minnesota spring weather, but spring in Minnesota isn't always that nice.  We have had a mix of rain and even a little snow.  We did, however, have one really nice day with sun and warmer temperatures so we made a trip to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  This is one of my favorite places to take the boys and out of state visitors.  They have an outdoor play area with lots of sticks, tree trunks, rocks, and random things where the boys can build forts and play with things in nature.  We spent over an hour there watching them play and still had to drag them out to see the rest of the arboretum.  Unfortunately, none of the gardens were blooming yet so we didn't get to see any flowers or fountains, but it was still a gorgeous day.  Despite having to go to school, it should be a fun week!

Spring Break 2016 and Easter

Aiden as goalie for the first time

Finn really wants to be a part of it

Luke and Aiden as goalies 

Getting ready to dye our eggs

Here we go!

Luke and Liam

Finn loved it!

Aiden was able to participate this year thanks to our special gloves

Finished product

Hockey on the driveway with our buddy, Xavier

Indoor play place with friends.  The boys are all dressed in bright neon yellow

Ready to hunt for eggs way too early in the morning

Sorting out our loot

Aiden and Finn before church.  Just to keep it real...shortly after this lovely picture was taken, Finn bit Aiden after Aiden kept taking his Buzz Lightyear toy.

Daddy and Finn.  Aiden wore this same outfit when he was close to Finn's age and I was actually pregnant with Finn.

Finn at church

Best of the worst trying to get the boys to look at the camera

He is Risen!  Easter Sunday 2016

It has been a busy week here with lots of fun activities.  So much so that the boys were less than excited about starting back to school today.  I am not sure I had the same sentiments.  Although the week was super fun and it is nice to spend extra time with Luke and Liam, I am pretty sure I need a break from our spring break.  

Despite the popularity of leaving town over spring break, we stayed home over spring break.  I am amazed at how many people go on really big trips over spring break.  Like Mexico, the Caribbean, Dominican Republic, Arizona, Colorado, California, even Europe!?  The boys didn't mind being home at all and we found plenty of things to do.  We went swimming at the community center one day since we really have done that since over the summer months.  The waterslide and climbing wall were open and that's a big bonus for the big boys.  Finn loved loved the water so I feel like this summer will be fun for him.

We went to two open gyms at the fitness center so I could get in a work out, but additionally the boys have been asking to go and play floor hockey in the gym.  Aiden has, in fact, been asking to do this since he turned six in January because you have to be six to play with the bigger kids in the gym.

We went to see the movie Zootopia and we had dinner with our best friends at one of our favorite places one evening.  The movie was a lot of fun as we had 16 close friends there to share in the fun!

We also went to an indoor play area with huge slides and things to climb and expend lots of energy.  This was a good idea since we actually had snow on one off our "spring" break days off.  Lastly, the boys played in a pick up hockey game with several teammates and friends from school one afternoon.  They have not been on the ice a whole lot after our season ended so this was on their list of things to do over spring break.  It was a special treat for Luke and Aiden because they got to be goalies.  

Lastly, even though the weather was not all that "spring-like", the boys played a lot of hockey in their rollerblades on the driveway with neighbors.  They met a good friend named Xavier that has been coming over the play hockey quite a bit with the boys.  

After our egg dying fiasco last year, we tried something different this year.  Aiden has an egg allergy and cannot handle eggs at all.  He will become very itchy and uncomfortable so we have to be cautious when he is around eggs.  If you read the blog, you might remember that we tried to dye some fake eggs that were sold at a local store and it was a total disaster.  They didn't hold the dye at all and the boys were pretty disappointed.   This year, however, I purchased some plastic gloves and taped them to Aiden's arms and we used real eggs.  Everyone really loved it, especially Finn who missed out on doing eggs last year.  We were still very cautious and had Aiden take a bath afterwards, but thankfully all turned out well.  

Happy Easter!!