Jump in, the water's fine

We've had a couple turns on the diving board after swimming lessons lately. We're pretty comfortable on the lower one. Jackson did climb up the high dive to give that one a shot, too.

If we could spend all day, everyday in the pool, we would.

Look out 2028 Olympics.

Happy day

Today was Mommy's birthday and what a day it was.

We got to go to the Twins game with our good friends Ari and Gwen (and Stephanie).

For some reason they didn't seem to trust Ari so they checked her bag thoroughly.

Once inside, it was such a pretty sight, we had stop before getting to our seats to admire the view.

Eventually we were shown to our seats. Apparently we are legends.

First things first, peanuts . . .

. . . and Sprite.

With the trading of Jason Kuble and Michael Cuddyer, two of our favorite players, we now clap for our new favorite player every time he hits, Joe Mauer.

After a little more game-watching, it was time for another snack. Ice Cream . . .

. . . and cotton candy.

The bag of cotton candy was huge. There was lots of "sharing".

To top it all off, we headed to the beach after the game. What a great day, hopefully Mommy had as much fun as we did. It was her birthday after all.

Birthday bike ride

We gave Mommy a bike rack for the car for her birthday so we could go for fun bike rides in other parts of town. We planned on going Saturday, but it rained all day. Instead, we went Sunday, when it was nice and hot.

We took our time. Riding a little, then snacking in the shade a little.

A little more riding . . .

. . . and then wading into the lake to cool off before lunch.

A little lunch on the shore . . .

And another dip before heading back to the car.

We had a little more celebrating to do in the evening. Grandma and Bumpa came over. Grandma made this awesome banana cake from Mommy's website.

We "helped" blow the candles out, of course.

So long preschool

The time has come to say goodbye to preschool. It's been three years and lots of fun with our amazing teachers and great friends. However, all good things must come to an end.

But first, a bike ride to school.

Another last one. Our next school will be too far away for bike rides to school.

Mommy rode with us on this special occasion.

It was definitely bittersweet riding up to the church where our preschool is for the last time.

We gave our farewell gifts, handmade books, a final once-over and it was go time.

And look at this, here we are on our very first day of preschool, three years ago.

The encore

We performed in our last preschool concert. As always, we put on a good show. We'll post a video soon, hopefully.

When it was over, we were presented with a certificate for finishing the year of preschool

Rookie season

Gameday finally arrived. It was our first one. We were mixed with feelings of excitement and anxiety. Once we took to the field, however, it was all business. Hitting . . .

. . . running . . .

. . . and throwing.

Hitting is hands-down our favorite part. Even though the wait is hard sometimes . . .

. . . it's well worth it when we get to smack the ball . . .

. . . and cruise to first.

Playing in the field on the other hand, well, we love that too, it's just a lot harder.

We do our best to always watch the ball and be ready for it to come our way . . .

. . . but there's just so much dirt, calling our names.

Not to mention the anticipation of getting another chance to swing the bat.

So long St. Louis

Is there a better way to spend a last evening in St. Louis than under the Arch?

And eating gooey butter cake? We don't think so.

SWIMMING ELEPHANTS!!!

Can you believe it? Not only did we see elephants, and lots of them, but we saw them SWIMMING . . .

. . . and wrestling in the water on a hot, summer-like day.

Jax did his best to communicate with them . . .

. . . but we're not sure they understood his accent.

We also went on a train ride at the zoo. Normally this would be the highlight of any trip to any zoo, but come on! how can anything top SWIMMING ELEPHANTS!!!

The sleeping hippopotamuses under water came really, REALLY close. They certainly were funny, but not nearly as awesome as the SWIMMING ELEPHANTS!!!

So we kept on looking.

Sleeping chimpanzees? Funny, yes, but not even close to SWIMMING ELEPHANTS!!!