Hunter's Piano Debut and Memorial Trail Ride

I hope everyone's Memorial Day weekend was fabulous!! Here is what went on at the Jones's!!

Early in the week Hunter had his very first piano mecital. His teacher doesn't believe in recitals. She thinks that you are there for one person and shouldn't have to listen to 25 other kids play their songs. So only Hunter and his invited guests attend a piano mecital.

Hunter played 3 songs for us and did a duet to Yankee Doodle with his teacher. It was very cute and he did an awesome job. He was so proud of himself. He gave his teacher some flowers for being a great teacher and then Baba got him a little present. As you can see in the pics it is a bag to carry his books in for next year! He was very exicted!!!

All that excitement and the next day was the last day of school for the kids. They had a talent show and water play. They both had complete meltdowns when I picked them up! Luckily the ball games were canceled that night due to rain and we could get to bed early!!

Later on in the week we got news that Hunter and Gunnar have a new cousin Elizabeth!!! She is beautiful and we can't wait to meet her!! Congrats John and Amy!!!

The weekend brought camping and trailriding for all of us! Gunnar started out riding with Muck and then switched to riding with Talyn (his favorite babysitter ever) and then at lunch break he got on with MOM! Mom let him ride in front of her and have control of the reins (for the most part). He did really well and had a blast!!

But lets talk about riding!!! Hunter J started off by being ponied by dad. Did a wonderful job on his donkey teaching him to walk through the creeks and walk over logs and sticks. At lunch Hunter decided he wanted to try it by himself. He was very nervous and scared at first but when he saw his buddy Trevor doing it as well he cheered up. We went through a big field of grass and after that the scary tears were gone and there was nothing but a huge smile on that kids face the rest of the day. He did awesome!!!! Enjoy the pictures! Talyn's mom snapped these on the ride, at the lunch stop and through the field. They turned out good. Thanks Danielle!!

When we got back to the campground we had a crawfish boil and smoked pork loin with TONS of awesome food. The boys played baseball with all of the kids that were camping. I think this was the best part of the weekend. We all just sat around and watched this....it was pure entertainment. We had so much fun over the weekend.

We packed up and headed home on Monday to clean out the horse trailer. We are getting a new one this week so watch out for updates on this :) I think ALL of us are very excited about this!!! The boys spent the afternoon on the new slip-n-slide, it was a gorgeous day out!!

Next weekend we have 3 baseball games a trail ride and a trip to see the Icubs play!! We will update with those activities!! Until then.....

Gunnar's Lady Bug Graduation and Birthday!!

Greetings all, it has been a busy month!! The first weekend of the month we had a ball game, 2 graduation parties and a wedding to go to. We made it to everything but the wedding. We tried to get there but not enough time in the day!! The next weekend brought a trail ride to Prairie du Chien Wisconsin. Chris and I went on this while the boys got a weekend with Grandma Carol and Grampa Jim. We rushed home to go to an afternoon cookout to welcome a visiting scientist that is working with us from Brazil. Her name is Jalusa and she is fabulous. I look forward to working with her for the next 18 months!!

Meanwhile....that brings us to this weekend!!

Gunnar's Graduation

Gunnar has graduated from the Ladybug's to the Bumblebee's. YEAY!!! He had a concert where they sang "who let the A out" and Gunnar was the proud owner of the letter Q. When they would sing through the alphabet each letter was held up by a different child. When it was Gunnar's turn there was no Q. He claims to have dropped it :( Still cute though. Gunnar refused to sing any songs while on stage (typical) and when it was time to cross the stage and get his diploma he was the only one to start crying. Way to go Gunnar!! Obvioulsy doesn't like crowds :) Here are a few pics of the graduate.




He also had made a placemat for the table about what he wanted to be when he grew up. Here is his decision.

Please keep in mind that most kids wanted to be fireman or bus drivers. Only Gunnar!!!


After all that excitement, we went home and rested. Saturday morning was supposed to bring a ball game but it was pouring down rain and was cancelled. I squeezed in some garage sales before it was time for Gunnar's 4th Birthday Party!!

We held the party at Pizza Ranch (Gunnar's favorite place to eat) and had Dairy Queen ice cream cake (mommy's favorite)! It was yummy!! Gunnar got tons of cool stuff like a Jessie doll, and buzz lightyear sleeping bag, puzzles, movies, ds games, flashlights, baseballs with bases and a slip n slide, remote control digger and money!!!! WOW!! Here are some pics of some of his gifts.

After the party we ran to the park to wear the kids out so we could clean the shop here are a couple of pics of them at one of their favorite parks. I can't believe how big Hunter looks in these pics.


Here is Gunnar getting ready to take a nap after all of the excitement with his 2 favorite gifts! I don't think he has put that doll down for long.


When nap was over we got out our bases and baseball stuff and practiced hitting with the new pitching machine that a guy I work with gave us. That took us into dark and then finally to bed.

The next morning I felt a little sick so I stayed in bed and watch movies while Chris took Joe Feeney and the boys fishing all afternoon. They were so pumped when they got home they hooked up a stock tank for their pet fishes. Here are some pics of their haul.



Little do they know that these will probably be bait for the usual Memorial Weekend fishing extravaganza!!

Anyways, until next week. We have a trail ride this weekend and will be fishing and a crawfish boil. Should keep us busy!! Hope everyone is doing well!!!

Take me out to the ball park!!!!

Well the time has arrived!!! I thought I would dread it but I LOVE it!!


BASEBALL!!!!!!!!!!!





Hunter is on the Mets this year in T-shirt ball. For those of you not familiar with this it is 6-8 year olds with a parent pitching to them. Hunter's coach is a kid I went to school with and he knows Chris's family as well. So this is really nice. He is AWESOME with Hunter and Hunter really likes him!

Hunter played left and right field in his first two games. In his game on Thursday night he got 2 hits and got on base both times! YEAY!!!! In his game on Saturday he got a hit but got out at 1st and then struck out on the next time up. I think he did wonderful all times up! He has a smile on his face the whole entire game and he is paying attention and just enjoying everything. I couldn't ask for more! He is a picture of him fielding the ball on saturday and throwing it in! Great job Hunter!!!




After the game we headed out to a fish fry at Clyde Hull's and saw just about everyone we knew. Had a great time. The boys wore themselves out!! The rest of the weekend was spent building a new pen for the colts. This is going to be nice for us. It will allow us to work with the younger ones and get them used to us!! The boys were sick some on sunday so it was a rest day for them. Hunter helped me do a little landscaping that we will finish up this week weather permitting!!

This week brings ball games, I am chaperoning a fieldtrip to the Arboretum, getting the mules ready for riding (feet and hair),planting some more hostas, a graduation party for one of Hunter's daycare teachers, and a wedding if we can squeeze it in. Woooo!!


Until next week.......