Mike's great day

Mike started fly fishing when he was just a little older than Matthew is now. It is one of his greatest loves. Watching him fish has always been one of my loves. He is so good at it and it seems to be so natural. Even watching other people fish at this pond it amazes me how smooth Mike is when he fishes. I can't wait for him to share this skill with Matthew. This was the first time he had been able to fly fish in three years. It was great to see the smile on his face all day. He caught between 30-40 medium sized trout in this pond. Matthew thought it was really cool to see his dad catching fish almost every cast. He had 11 strikes at his fly in a row once and then realized that his hook had broke off.


Changing flies
Matthew wanted to hold one so bad and it keept slipping out of his hands. Mike was holding the line above him and it looks like the fish is going up his sleeve!
Brad Pitt has nothing on Mike Willits!

He loves this goofy hat! This is a cute little ice cream shop in Lanesboro
On the bridge

This is the size of most of the fish he caught. Not bad for a small pond in town. Mike loved being able to catch and release them in front of all the campers that were fishing for dinner. He things that all fish should live to be caught another day. Matthew supports not killing them too, naturally!

Sports VBS Camp

Matthew attended a camp with friends last week at a local church. They did lots of things from making these cool shirts to lots of sports. He had a really good time. This is his group leader and her nickname was "Scooter".
This is another leader that they loved her name was "Cous Cous"

Matthew dancing!

This is his group singing the team song. Scootin' Scootin" Chipmunks

Matthew's Music Program

These pictures are from Matthew's music program back in February. I have not had any way of sharing the videos until now. Blogging rocks!
Matthew did such a great job with his one line he had. He got a great laugh from the crowd. He is the little guy in the purple sweatshirt in the second video.

Seeing double!

We had a nice rain storm here yesterday and when we looked out back not only was the sky a pretty golden color but a rainbow had appeared. I went to get the camera and when I returned another one was beside it. I don't think I have ever seen a double rainbow before. Between that and the fireflies at night Minnesota can be breath taking at times. If only the winters were not so long!

Dinner in Elgin

We stopped on the way home from Hastings to eat dinner in Elgin. Mike had seen this BBQ place a few times while working out there. It was pretty good and affordable. It felt good to support the owner too. It is so hard to run a business anyway add on top of that, a food joint in a small town like Elgin(population of about 300) would be even harder. Matthew loved it because they brought him out free cookies after we were done.

Xplore Minnesota

We took a trip to Hastings today to see the Dockdogs competition. This is a contest to see how far dogs can jump out into the water. Matthew thought it was the best thing ever. There were dogs everywhere. This young yellow lab is being trained to jump. They are trying to show her where the dummy is. It was quite funny to see them talk to her like she was a toddler. She just wanted in the water. All Mike and I could think about was our old friend Moose and how he would have smoked the other dogs at this in his day.
Matthew had a ring side seat for all the action.
What is a dog event without puppies for sale. This little guy was about as cute as you could get and already house broke. Made us think... he is a mini Moose after all. Two is plenty for now. He already loved to swim in the pool though!

A trick to show Grandma

We thought this was a pretty cute trick that the boys were doing. They just ran over a can with the bike and then they had a motorcycle.

Finally! a new post.

Matthew had a few friends sleep over the other night. It was a lot of fun. There is nothing like a house full of boys. Two of them even managed to stay up until 1:30 a.m.! I am sorry to those moms. When I went upstairs to see what was going on, they thought that they were the coolest kids ever to be up that late. It was really cute.
Matthew, Sam, Jackson and Kaden. Sam was Matthew's first friend he met after moving here. Jackson will be moving next year about this time and every time I think about it I cry. Matthew and him have been such good friends. Mike and I really love his soft knock at the door when he comes to see if Matthew can play. We always know it is him. Having Kaden over is a real treat for all the boys. He lived in a house one street over until a few years ago. Now he gets to come back and see his friends again. Matthew loves Kaden. The only difference they have is with bugs! During the slumber party I found a wasp nest and wanted to flush it. Matthew thought I was mean for flushing them "Mom, they are just babies" Kaden on the other hand thought Matthew was crazy. He explained to Matthew that people can "actually" die from wasp attacks. Matthew will be a bug scientist and Kaden will have the exterminator on speed dial!

How can a Tornado warning be funny?

We had some pretty serious weather here today and Matthew and I had to hide out in the basement bathroom for a little bit. I asked him to get a few "snacks" and he came back with...

Frozen fish sticks
pudding mix
his grasshoppers
apple sauce
his chore chart
his binder from the past year of Kindergarten
and a few other needless things
(I might mention that he was also quite upset that I would not help move the fish down there)

I just went back in and realized that he also took the picture of his cousins Chelsea and Alec off his wall and hung it in the bathroom. Too funny!

It was quite funny to look in the bathroom and see a six year olds view of "importance"
The storm passed quickly and other than the grasshoppers the rest of the things are forgotten, guess who will be cleaning that mess up? Maybe I could add it to the chore chart. It is after all, already down here.

Quarry Hill Camp

Matthew started Quarry Hill nature camp for the third year in a row. He LOVES this camp. He loves catching bugs and seeing animals.

Matthew and Jackson meeting the group
Hiking back after the class
Good buddies!
Checking in!

Motercycle Matthew

One of the little boys at the end of the street has a mini motorcycle that he shares with all the other boys. Even though it gave me a heart attach I have let him ride it a few times. It actually goes pretty fast. Matthew does not go that fast on it thankfully! I make him wear his helmet, thanks to Grandma that is easy for him..way to go Grandma...she taught him early that if you were to ride a motocycle you HAD to wear a helmet. He still points out the peole who he sees riding without helmets and tells me how they are not very smart.

4th of July in the neighborhood

We had a fun little neighborhood get together. It was one of my favorite 4ths in a long time. We started with a BBQ and games and then we lit of our fireworks together. I love taking pictures of fireworks with the light catching setting.

Matthew was sitting in front of the Boysen Firework box. They have a son named Brady that got to light off some for the first time this year.
My photos are starting to get as fancy as Jenny's! I love the way this looks.
This is a cute little video of Matthew with a sparker.

Our 4th of July

We started our 4th of July by mini golfing in Kellog MN. This was at the Lark Toy Company. It was really fun and well worth the drive(45 minutes) We started by golfing on the 18 hole course. Mike won by two strokes. This is the hole that he almost lost his mind on though. There was a little ridge on the hole and a score of what should have been a 2 quickly became an 8. I wish I had a video of him throwing the flag out of the hole that happened about two minutes after I took this picture! It was honestly the best part of the day for me. I love seeing his competitive side.
This was Matthew's favorite part of the day. This does not look like much but the little brown thing in his hand is actually a tiny frog. It was no bigger than a pencil eraser. It was very cute. I can't even imagine how he managed to catch it.

Look how pretty it is at this place. I wish it was closer to Rochester.

After golfing we went inside to the toy store area. Matthew rode the Merry Go Round that was hand carved.
What is better than ice cream on the 4th of July!!!! Mike looks like someone stole his top scoop. Maybe he is still thinking about that 13th hole.

Update on Portis

Our baby dog is pulling through. We were really afraid he was not going to make it but he showed huge improvement today. He is eating again(first time since Tuesday) and his tail is wagging. The vet said he should be in the clear now(I sure hope so) Thank you so much for all your support. He is such a big part of our family and we would have been so sad to not have him.

Matthew gets a hair cut

No hair in my face please...
Bye bye pretty curls...this was harder for mom
look at all that hair

Short hair for summer yeah!

Prayers for Portis

This past week our baby dog Portis has been sick. We took him to the vet and found out that his kidney is not doing well. We are not sure if he is going to make it through the weekend. Anyone who has ever been around him knows that he is an amazing and wonderful dog. I can't imagine our family without him.

Kids Night Fun at Fazoli's

If we remember we try to go to Fazoli's on Tuesday night. Matthew loves the crafts and Mike and I love the pasta. He is making a 4th of July craft here. The young kid who works with them is really good. He always has a lot of fun with the children at the table.

Map of the Missouri River

Bob left Great Falls this morning. He plans to float a good part of the summer.