Frogs and more frogs!

Catching frogs has been quite a highlight in the Wiffler household. In the past 2 days, we caught over 20 frogs. We typically catch them in the window well, let the kids play with them, identify the type of frog, put them in the little pool to hang out and then let them go. High adventure!

Grandpa was part of the adventure one night also!
Here are some shots of the different types of frogs.
Here is a bucket full of frogs and Michael cannot keep his hands out of it.


Just look at how excited Michael is. He has one frog in each hand and he is inspecting the frog hanging from Josh's hands.

Momma frog and Mikey frog are taking it easy and hanging out in the buckets.

In this bucket are 2 of the biggest frogs I have ever seen!!

Ribbit! Ribbit!

Too funny

During dinner one night, Michael couldn't keep his head up. He was so tired that I think his head was going to fall onto the table. Josh moved his plate just in case. After a few minutes of laughing really hard, I saved him from despair and within a couple of minutes on my lap, he was fast asleep for the night.

Well, we scratched an itch. This past weekend, we went camping for the first time! Below is a picture of our set up. Natalie and Michael did awesome (much better than expected). We stayed close to the house in case we needed to abort the adventure. It was an interesting night of sleeping and the next day we all took long naps.

Fishing was a success (again)! Once again, Natalie caught the most fish and we are convinced the pink hook attracts the most fish.

Michael loved splashing in the water at the beach. He also found a nice worm on Sunday morning. I caught him 3 times trying to stick the worm in his mouth. I just don't understand. Really. Why? Hmm...
Here is a picture of everyone hanging out by the fire. S'mores were a hit!
Natalie starts Summer camp tomorrow and she is really excited! Michael is talking our ears off and we love it!

It's official, Michael put more miles on his mower than Josh.
We got a nice hail storm on Memorial Day weekend. Luckily it wasn't a tornado. Below is a picture of the hail on the back porch.
We took Michael and Natalie for their first canoe ride. It was a huge success. We stayed in the canoe 25 minutes longer than I anticipated...we made it 30 minutes total! Yeah Michael and Natalie!
We had a couple Superhero sightings in Savage, MN. The Super Squirter...
The Tutu Avenger....
The Tutu Avenger again...
We took Michael and Natalie fishing for the first time and it was super, super fun. Natalie caught the most fish, while Michael was simply fascinated with all the fish and worms. Below is a picture of Natalie's first fish.
Natalie really enjoyed fishing. This past weekend, Natalie sat out on the backyard porch and practiced casting her fishing pole all by herself. That's my girl! (I know my Dad was with us and he was proud).
Natalie also caught a bullhead fish. Yuck!
I hope you are enjoying the warm weather. Josh's birthday is coming up (June 15th).

Springtime high adventure

Hunting for morel mushrooms. These little morsels were surprisingly good!-->

Hanging out at our new favorite park -->
Stopping for a picnic break. We stayed here for a long, long time because both Michael and Natalie loved throwing rocks into the water. Honestly, Michael was so engrossed in throwing rocks that I think he was in a different world. I eventually had to force him to leave-->

Finding worms. This was a highlight for Michael....worms all over the driveway! If you look in his other hand, it is filled with smaller worms. He was a proud little boy when he brought all the worms inside to show his mommy-->

Finding frogs (not one frog, but two frogs)-->

Hanging out at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum-->
Taking pictures before the tornadoes rolled through (clearly, we were oblivious to the danger of the storms heading our way)-->
Hiking through the woods -->
Taking pictures by the tulips-->
Riding bikes super, super, super fast down the sidewalk!-->

(Michael also ventured down the stairs a few times. Oh yes, he also figured out a new "trick." He stands on his bike while it is moving....nice...oh the cuts, scrapes, and bruises have begun).

Taking a break under the bridge (to get away from the rain)-->
Eating popsicles-->

Mowing with Daddy -->
I hope you have a fabulous Memorial Day weekend! Hugs and kisses!

A night out....

Well, well, we do exist and we sometimes go out....

Happy Mothers Day!! I am having a great day!

Easter activities

Decorating Easter eggs...

Searching for Easter eggs.....notice that Michael's mouth is full of treats. He immediately ate whatever was in the egg before continuing his search. Natalie searched the yard for eggs and put them in her basket.

Easter basket treasures.....sunglasses and an alligator.
The Easter bunny was really good to Natalie....she got gum!!

Here are a few pictures of the kids chasing the geese. In the picture below, they were just starting to chase the geese.

They started to pick up speed...
The geese had enough and started to fly away....
In the pictures below, Josh had to extract Michael from the big dirt pile. Michael was adamant about staying there (not listening).

Hugs and kisses to everyone reading this blog!

The hill

Here's a good story. Michael, Natalie and I (Jeanne) went for a walk this morning. Natalie was riding her bike, Michael was riding his Strider (2 wheel bike with no pedals), and I was walking. We have quite a bit of construction going on past our house and it makes for a fun little walk/bike ride. Both kids take their bikes through the dirt piles and go over the big bumps and sometimes we stop to throw rocks in the pond. Michael is getting very good on his Strider, however, he does get side tracked very easily by rocks, dirt and weeds. I haven't quite figured out what makes one dirt pile different from the others. During one portion of this walk, Natalie was far ahead of me and Michael was far behind me. I turned back to look at Michael and unfortunately, he was just making the decision to ride his Strider down the steep hill (take a look at the picture). I yelled "no, Michael" and there he went....no brakes, no flat surfaces, just a small construction fence between him and the pond. Luckily Michael bailed off the Strider about 2 feet before the fence and rolled into the fence. The fence stopped him from rolling into the water. Whew! That was a close call! Michael was very upset, but not hurt. I told Michael that was a bad decision. A few tears later he was back on his bike. What was he thinking? I asked Josh this same question and Josh seems to be more in touch with Michael's decision tree...his exact words were, "why wouldn't you go down the hill?" In a future blog, I will post a picture of Micheal and his Strider. I might take a picture next to THE HILL.

Natalie and Michael helped Josh build another new garden. One more to go....
During dinner one night, we caught Michael trying to feed his frog shredded cheese.
When Grammi Barb came to visit, the kiddos had lots of fun playing. In this picture, they have ponytails all over their heads and they are sliding down the steps.
Gosh, it feels good to be outside again! I hope you are also enjoying the nice weather. Hugs and kisses!