May!

May brought Elena's first dose of laughing gas.  She was a bit out of it, can you tell?!

Anni was very supportive during the whole ordeal.  First cavity was a breeze!

Annika decided to stop taking naps.  But she needs them.  So this happens in the late afternoons, if I'm lucky!

Our deck is so wonderful on summer evenings.  The sun goes down over the front of the house, and our deck is cool and breezy for supper.  Perfect!

We potty-trained.  Looking back on this picture, in August, I have to laugh.  We went three days without peeing even once on the potty.  Lots of crying and puddles on the floor, but now I have TWO potty-trained children.  What a relief!

Grandpa had his four wheeler with him when he dropped by, so he took the girlies for a ride or two.  They loved it!

Grandma painted nails.  She's an expert.

Twirling.

Nate and I took part in a group cooking class.

We had a fantastic time!

Our group made the salmon main dish.  It was delicious!!!!

Elena decided that she wanted to have a bake sale, so the girls helped me make cookies.  It was actually pretty fun!

Summer fun.

Happy Mother's day to Me!!!!  Love my ladies!

I did a 21 day cleanse in the month of May.

I ate pretty much nothing but veggies, nuts, seeds, fruit, and quinoa.  It was difficult, but more delicious than you might think!

Elena's last day of preschool.  I nearly cried.  We will really miss Fantasyland.

More naps.

Annika has developed this obsession with licking everything, including the McDonald's bathroom floor.  It is a small miracle that we haven't ended up in the ER!

Elena's end of school show was freezing, and wet, but she did really well.  She was the President of the United States in their play, and acted it out quite amazingly.  Unbiased mother.

Griffy turned one!!!!  Love that little dude.

We have a pass to the Peoria zoo, so why not go on a random May day?!

Familiar, but still fun.

And this time Daddy came along!

The North American pack horse was a favorite animal.

More suppers on the deck.

The benefits of being a stay at home Mom.  Panera on a May morning?  Sure, why not.

Our poor, poor dog : )

We had a church picnic down at Mom and Dad's cabin.  Although many were skeptical of Beutel-ball, we had them converted by the end of the evening!

We took a little vacation towards the end of May.  We stopped first in Madison to drop Zoey off at the babysitters!

The first day we explored downtown Eagle River.

Played a little mini-golf.

Annika was an amazing golfer.

We went hiking around a local waterfall.  The girls loved splashing in the freezing cold water at the bottom of the falls.  Northern Wisconsin had yet to warm up completely!

Family.

We found another North American pack horse in the wild!

I love carrying my babies.

Condos we stayed in.

The lake at the condos.  It was so cold that we'd most often swim there for a short time, then go running to their indoor pool/hot tub.

One morning we discovered the Eagle River farmers market.  This gentleman was making crepes and giving them out for free.  Why yes, thank you!

We then moved on to the Children's Museum.

Daddy got remarried.

He even did the hair for his bride.

Fun in the sun.

Nate bought a new road bike at a local shop, so the owner let us rent bikes and a wagon for free!  We took wonderful bike trails to a local town that had a winery.

and ice cream shoppe.  Ice cream is always worth pedaling for!

Love, Love, Love.

My strong man.

He hauled them 12.7 miles there, and then back again.  I barely made it alone!

On our final day we took a tour of the lakes via........

pirate ship!!!!!

We were the only tourists on board, so the trip was shortened.  But it was just perfect for us!

At the end, Nate and I walked the plank right off the side of the ship.  The girls thought it was hilarious.  I'll keep the videos of us in our swimsuits to myself!

We then visited old family friends of the Ramquist family.  The girls loved seeing their horses and doggies.  It was truly a wonderful vacation.  We realized that we hadn't gone anywhere with just us in a couple of years.  I'm ready to do it again, anytime!