The wedding

As many of you know, we got to be part of my cousin Lisa's wedding. Emily was a flower girl and Andrew was a ring bearer. They were so excited to be part of this incredible wedding. This will be a great memory for us. The entire weekend was filled with events. I will save the reception for tomorrow. Believe me..it deserves its own post! Lisa and Emily looked beautiful in their dresses.
Andrew was amazing in his tux. He loved that he got a rose like all the other guys. Steven looked pretty good that day too.

Below is a slide show of the rehearsal..the rehearsal dinner and pre-wedding. The wedding was in a great church with beautiful stained glass windows. The entire event went beautifully. I got slightly nervous when Andrew came and sat down next to me holding the rings. I soon realized someone very smart decided not to let the four year old hold the real rings. As soon as he sat down next to Grandma Ginger..he feel asleep. Yes he snores. Emily looked amazing too. She is going to remember this forever. I was so proud to be their mom.

The wedding

Big things goin' on

Today was finally the last day of school. Notice Ryan is the first on the bus. For the past month or so he has been getting to the bus stop 35 minutes early just to be first. I am so happy that we do not have to meet the bus at 7:30 for a few months. Hooray for slow mornings!

Emily randomly broke out into a happy dance!

One tradition at school is a student show-case (talent) show on the last day of school. They have try-outs and pick a few students from each grade level. This is Emily's second year in the show. Last year she and a friend put together a cheer. This year Jade, Emily and Maria put together a really cute dance to a Hannah Montana song. We got to see the show. It was wonderful. They did the entire thing themselves. FYI Emily is the one in the middle. (Amy, don't you think they should have used plaid shiny skirts? oh well not everyone can be as cool as we were)
Now we are getting ready for this wedding. The flower girl and ring-bearer have their outfits. We tried them on tonight to show Erik. This is a warning that there are about to be a bunch of pictures of Em in her puffy dress and Andrew in his tux.

Get Excited. (the face-painting will be gone on the actual day)

Happy Birthday

The big day has come...Erik had a birthday. Emily doesn't think dad will like that I tell his age. Honestly, this year he has been a good sport about the whole getting older thing. Thank goodness! We got to go out to dinner with good friends, followed by a fun round of mini-golf. We gave up on my score about 1/2 way through the fun outing. So, we will never know for sure if Robert really won. My parents also had us over for a yummy BBQ. I still have not come up with a good gift for the guy. Any ideas? It is an honor to have a whole post about him..is that enough? hehehe

The Zoo

We live within walking distance of the Zoo. (not that I have ever walked, but I know people that have). Yesterday was opening day of the new Russia's Grizzly Coast exhibit. Usually I try to stay away from the zoo on Saturdays, but I thought it would be fun to be there on opening day. So we loaded up the kiddos + Maria and hit the zoo. The new exhibit is amazing. One of the bears came right up to Emily and put its paws up and the glass and stared at her. It was in a friendly, non-hungry way of course. I cannot wait to go back and see it again.
While we were walking into the zoo, Ryan bumped his knee. He decides he has to limp and complain all the way into the zoo. (very dramatic) We get in the gate and the girls instantly start asking for stuffed animals. My visions of fun zoo trip is fading away fast. Luckily, one of the workers hears the girls. She tells us that if we hurry, they are giving away a limited number of free stuffed bears by the bear exhibit. Of course, the girls take off running. Hot on their heels is Ryan my non-mover. I run with them. I tell Ry I have to stop and walk. He tells me I cannot walk. "We have to RUN!" So we GOT the bears. We all were able to have a happy time. It is amazing how a free toy can make a bumped knee disappear.

Friday Night

It is Friday night. In my ongoing effort of make children tired, I decided it would be fun to take the kids to the Children's Museum. It is in St. Paul. These guys have been going here since they were teeny tiny. It never gets old. We have a blast. I will let you in on a secret. Friday night is the BEST time to take kiddos to the Children's Museum. Open late, really empty and quiet.... at least until we get there : ). Tiffany brought her boys too. It's always fun to go with them! Here are some highlights of the evening.

They opened up the rooftop for outdoor sand and water displays. Fun times.

Tonight they also had a fairy tale room. This was part of the Cinderella story. Did you know that "they" have found some form of this story from the 9th century in China.

Another room has a factory display. The kiddos all have to work together to move around the large gray cubes. Kevin was loving this job! This is a room that does not change. It is so amazing..all ages love this "factory" and it never gets old.

Ethan was running the factory.
I was snapping away with the camera and captured Andrew. He was done with the whole picture thing.

This is the wilderness room. These guys are inside a huge ant hill. It has tunnels and slides for the kiddos to climb around in. Em and Maria found the queen ant.

Oh did I mention that Maria was spending the night? (another reason I wanted to wear these guys out!) They are still downstairs giggling and watching movies. Not sure if my plan worked.

Don't get excited, they are faking.

Grandma is 90!

Well, that was kind of a teaser. I posted the title and lost my will to blog yesterday. So I am going to actually finish this post. I mean seriously, you don't turn 90 every day.
We had a great BBQ at the park right next to grandma's home. This was also Grandma's first time meeting the very wonderful Fiona. As you see, all the Minnesota Hamers were there. I have to share a funny conversation:
Me: (trying to start a conversation) So, Grandma what sports did you play when you were young?
Grandma: Oh I don't remember
Me: Well, they probably didn't really have that many girl's sports when you were in school.
This is where grandma kind-of faded off..not sure if she really heard me. She probably did though. So dad joined in and tried to ask again what sports they had for girls.
Grandma: (irritated) Yes they had sports for girls! What do you think, I'm 100 years old?
No grandma..no one thinks you are 100 hehehe. Oh good times!

The cake was really yummy. Good job to all involved
I have to add this picture. It is of dad and my aunt Gail. When we are all together, one of my favorite things is when dad gets Gail laughing. She loves it when dad teases her. Here he was probably talking about eating something gross. I cannot remember.