May is beginning to wind down and summer is in our sights.  Ashlyn and Aubrie are deep into their soccer season and Sabrina and Kadence are perfect little cheerleaders.  It is always fun to watch the girls play and see the difference between 4/5 year olds and 8/9 year olds...the speed picks up and the kids begin to realize there are positions and they shouldn't just follow the ball around the field (as cute as it is to watch).

                                                                         Aubrie

Ashlyn

                                               Kadence and Grandpa watching the games

The weather is warming up, which we are all grateful for.  As much as I don't care for humidity, I welcome the warm weather.  We have spent time outside, eating on the deck and jumping through our various sprinklers...by "we" I mean the 4 little girls.  Just so you know, the grass was cut shortly after these photos were taken :)

                                                                Hopscotch Sprinkler

                                                                Our "Old" Sprinkler

 Kadence got a little thirsty...she kept asking when the ice cream truck was coming...she must remember that from last summer.

Sabrina had an "accident" in her swimsuit (we chose to skip the swim diapers)...potty training stinks...we told her to go clean off in the sprinkler :)

This past weekend Grandpa planted our garden.  Each girl chose one vegetable that they wanted, so we ended up with lettuce (Aubrie), carrots (Ashlyn), tomatoes (Sabrina) and peas (Kadence)...we added green beans, various peppers, and radishes (for Grandpa).  Our goal is to keep Dora out of the garden...I think she may be interested in tasting a few items.

On Sunday, Jim went out of town for a choral performance in Des Moines.  The girls and I chose to head to the zoo in the morning.  It was cool and a little rainy, but that meant less people at the zoo :)  The girls were able to get up close and personal with many animals...which they loved.  It is nice to be able to have all 4 girls with one parent and survive!  The big girls walk the whole time and the little girls ride in the side by side stroller and then climb out when they want to look at animals...it works pretty smoothly.

                                                 The turtle they always have to climb on.

                                                        Visiting the penguin exhibit

                                              Our other favorite picture spot...the wolf.

                                                The wolves came and visited the window.

                We watched this man feed the fish in the coral reef exhibit...the girls LOVED it!!

                                                          Hanging with the sharks

Next up for our family...Ashlyn turns 8 on Friday the 25th!!  I can't believe our first "baby" will be 8.  It feels like yesterday Jim was making whale noises as I rolled over in bed, he put a garbage bag under our sheets on my side of the bed in case my water broke (didn't want to ruin the mattress), and we tried to figure out how a car seat worked.  Ashlyn Grace came into this world after 6 hours of labor, 2-3 hours of pushing, and finally a C-Section...she still likes to do things her own way.  We were so excited to welcome our first child (not knowing there would eventually be four).  We are having a family party Friday...that should be fun.

We will have a fish fry for memorial day...Grandpa wants to cook.  Ashlyn has an eye doctor appointment on Tuesday (she has been complaining of her eye sight), Jim has a concert Tuesday night, I have my final concert Wednesday night and then we both have graduation ceremonies on Saturday the 2nd.

The weekend on June 2 and June 3 is also our Alex's Lemonade Stand weekend.  If anyone is interested in joining us for the events or donating, you can visit www.alexslemonade.org/mypage/82262 .  There is a great run on Saturday morning and the Mall of America Lemonade Stand on Sunday.  That weekend on June 4th, will also mark Sabrina's 3 year cancer free mark.  That is the anniversary of her tumor resection!!