Kevin is in training with the SSA office in St. Paul. Elena is writing/reading like crazy. Lucy is enjoying the world of make believe and writing her own songs. Isaac is standing up and bear crawling, has 4 teeth, and can now drink through a straw! Emily is keeping busy with kids, LLL, Girl Scouts, and her job at Children's.
Yes, Lucy is a thumb sucker. Lately she has even been preferring the thumb over her food source (Possibly a new diet plan?). 
Here's the nature center at the state park. Elena didn't quite measure up to this big Sturgeon.
See, we even went canoeing!
Here are a few things we learned from our first family camping trip #1 PACK LIGHT Our entire van was filled to the brim for our 2 night adventure. The only thing we didn't have was enough ice...in our search for more ice after hours we almost ended up locked out of the park for the night...the very nice ranger came and let us through the gate a few minutes after 10pm. I still don't know what we could have lived without... #2 BIGGER TENT See above. #3 DO NOT EXPECT TO SLEEP With the new S.I.D.S. precautions we were breaking all the rules, so mom woke up every 5 mins to make sure baby was still breathing. Dad slept soundly except when kicked by 3 year old. Mom worried about being eaten by coyotes. Dad slept soundly and denied any coyote exposure. 
Our first morning at the park we decided to take a walk through the beautiful trails. After 2 hours of preparation it took us approximately 20 minutes to finish our 0.9 mile hike. #4 DO NOT EXPECT TO BE ABLE TO TAKE A LONG HIKE OR UTILIZE MUCH OF THE AVAILABLE TRAILWAYS. The heat and extra cargo tired Elena out very quickly(See pic below for her method of transportation!)
And the number one activity while camping.........BIKE RIDING! #5 BRING THE KID'S BIKE. 
Lucy got her wings! This was Elena's fourth vacation by air. We visited lots of family while we were in Altanta. Kevin's sister Megan and her husband Matt, and cousins from both sides of our family. 
Here's auntie Megan meeting her new neice for the first time! Megan graduated from Georgia State and will be attending Law school in the fall.
The kids had a great time at Megan's graduation party.
This is Kevin's great aunt,
Here we are at the beach on Tybee Island. Elena was a little hesistant to go in the ocean, so we had to dip Lucy in to show her it was okay! The sand felt great on our feet, even Lucy thought so.
Don't we look good! Sunday was the March of Dimes WalkAmerica. We walked 5 miles, in the rain, with two strollers! This was to raise money for the MOD which is an organization dedicated to prematurity(preventing, researching, and helping those that have come along early.) Surprisingly the walk wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. The rain took the focus off of how out of shape I am! Elena had a blast, the only grumpiness that showed up was when we had to put her back in the stroller because we were falling so far behind. Lucy stayed toasty warm on daddy's chest in the Baby Bjorn for the first couple miles and slept the rest of the way in the stroller. Thanks to all of those who donated.
Elena danced in her last dance show of the year on Saturday. She is the little one in the purple tutu toward the right. She had lots of people cheering her on in the bleachers(as always). Daddy Kevin made it just in time to see the finale and for Lucy to spit up all down the front of his "Class A" Uniform that he needed to wear that evening to the Military Ball!
"I love dance shows!"
"Mom, you need to learn how to focus your new camera!"
Elena, Maya, and Lucy sure know how to take great pictures, maybe when they are all in high school we will be able to capture them all smiling...at the same time!
Doesn't seem like the three babes are having much fun here! Lucy(6 weeks) is on the right, Austin(11 weeks) in the middle and Alyssa(6 weeks) is on the left. The moms sure had a good time at lunch, despite their whiney babies!
I finally caught Lucy smiling on camera! She shared her first real smile at 4 weeks and started cooing at five weeks. 
Have I mentioned what a good eater we have on our hands! Lucy has "pipes" like her dad, and is working on her third thigh roll! I'm guessing she has just about doubled her birth weight now.
We try to get out of the house at least a few times during the week. Elena can spend hours at the library reading stories and playing with the puzzles and magnets. She loves these fairy tale chairs that they have at the Woodbury library. We usually go to Central Park every week to stop at the library, indoor playground, indoor waterfall, and a quick lunch at the "restaurant". We also get together for playgroup almost every week with other moms and kids in the area. 
I can only guess that Elena is imitating what her big brother learned in karate last week!
This is mom's old dance outfit, Elena would wear it everyday if she could! At closer glance you would see that this is about 5 sizes too big for Elena! (I just realized that our toilet is in the background of this pic...I'll have to look closer at what I am posting next time!)
Here's a close up..."I'm trying to eat the blanket, why won't anyone feed me!"
Austin outgrew this cute sweater outfit, so now we get to borrow it. It is so warm and cuddly.
Quit taking pictures, mom, this is just exhausting!
