Grandpa's Helper

These pictures were taken while at my parents' house in July. Joshua wanted to help Grandpa and his cousin Brandon cut the grass. We could not get him off of that tractor. Every time we tried, he just kicked and screamed! He is such a handful.

Joshua has mastered the 'toddler tantrum' that he picked up at preschool. If he doesn't get his way, he lets you know it - kicking his legs, saddest cries you have ever heard, crocodile tears streaming down his cheeks. It could just break your heart, but you must resist it! It will only become worse (if that is possible).

Leah and I are so grateful that Joshua has a good big brother. Eli really helps keep Joshua occupied a good portion of the time. Eli is patient and thoughtful when he needs to be - even when Joshua is not behaving nicely. It is so awesome just to watch the two interact on a daily basis. They genuinely love one another. How can two parents be so lucky?

Big Kids Night Out

This picture was taken the night Leah and I went to the Nickelback concert. The kids were with grandparents for the week, so we were able be just a married couple (more like a couple of big kids) for a while.

The concert was great. Chris Daughtry and Staind were the opening acts and all three bands did an awesome job. We had an excellent time, except we bought floor seats. I don't think I will do that again on the account that we are both 5'6" and everyone else on the floor seemed to be 7 foot tall. Not a huge deal though, since we stood behind the sound equipment by the VIP section and had a clear view of the stage.

We got to see a couple people get escorted out of the building for being too drunk (and stupid), got to smell enough weed to almost get high, and I got told to "f*ck off" by one of the street guys selling t-shirts for trying to low ball him. Pretty successful night if you ask me.

We need to do it more often.

A Day to Play

These images were taken at an I-35 rest stop playground on a trip coming back from Iowa. The kids get pretty cranky about 3 hours into the ride, so Leah and I figured we would let them stretch their legs a little.

It is pretty amazing how quickly these two rug rats are growing. I can remember when Elijah was Joshua's age. Crazy!

Some updated news: Wednesday, August 1st, Joshua's hand slipped on the bed sheets in our room and his head slammed into the corner of the dresser next to the bed. This ended up cutting his forehead right above the right eye; blood went everywhere! Four and a half hours waiting in the emergency room, a little purple glue (Durabond) on the cut, and he is okay. He slept right through the procedure. Of course all of this had to happen the night the 35W bridge collapsed and every emergency room in the Twin Cities area was booked up.

Good thing we love the stinker!