Big Sig Retires!

We spent some time at Bethesda Hospital the afternoon of April 26th to celebrate Dad's last day of work. The official retirement! He has had his count down clock going for some time now, and now it is his turn to pass it on to the next lucky dog! He offered to do daycare for us his first week of retirement as we were looking for a sub for a couple weeks, but "Whew!" we got someone else to step in for the two weeks! Grandpa would have been ready to go back to work! They had a really nice "tea" for Dad, and had pulled out his life's philosophy from his senior year of high school in 1959. He really hasn't changed much--it's pretty interesting. When you see him next you'll have to ask him to let you read a copy!

The kids

Just spending time with these two before we blink and they're grown!

Wisconsin Dells

Well, it's been a busy month with the house going on the market and all. We finally got some time away and headed with some folks from the Cannon Curling Club to Wisconsin Dells. We stayed at the Kalahari Resort. The group had 3 suites and 2 more rooms. We had communal breakfasts and dinners--it was great! All of the kids were great and all spent time together. We could not convince Mitch to put his swim trunks on, so he wore his sweats. The cotton clothes would just stick to the slides, so he didn't get much action. Next year we'll practice with the shorts! Maria was stylin' in her suit and went down some of the slides by herself and loved it! I wish I had gotten photos of her in her cute suit!

Busy!

This is how we all feel with the packing and cleaning and fixing we (mostly Chuck) have been doing to get our house ready to put on the market!

New Job!

I have accepted the position of 7-12 Guidance Counselor at Cannon Falls High School starting next school year. I have enjoyed my time at the Area Learning Center in Columbia Hieghts, but now it is time to head home! I am really excited to go to work as a "real" guidance counselor in a traditional school--and the high school I graduated from--who woulda thunk?
I asked Mitch if he wanted to move and live in a different house. He said, "Yep. Move to Cannon Falls. Live with Gramma and Grampa!" His big thing now is the Cars movie--Lightning McQueen and Doc and Mater are his "best friends"! He's been pulling Maria around by the hand since she started to walk. It's so darn cute!

Happy Birthday, Maria!

Maria turned one year old today! It's hard to believe--the time has gone by so fast! She is walking and giggling and chasing her brother Mitch around the house. They play really well together! This morning Maria woke up Mitch by crawling up in his bed and giving him a bear hug! He woke up laughing! Maria also had her first ear infection this week--we spent 2 hours waiting at urgent care to be seen, but it's a good thing we're patient since she needed some medicine. She is still holding on to her sunny disposition. She is also getting all 4 top teeth at one time! I tried to get a picture of them, but she had too much frosting in her mouth! Pretty soon she'll be driving, and I'll be thinking, "Didn't we just blow out her first candle?!?"