River Rats

Life on the river has changed a bit for Dirk and Lisa. A typical summer weekend used to consist of boating, wakeboarding, drinking and tanning. Now we just gaze happily at the river as we sit on shore. Cullen loves being outside. In fact, he refers to our beach as his "sandbox". He continues to demonstrate his passion for sports - anything with a ball: golf, basketball, soccer, baseball - he loves it all! I truly believe Cullen has Grandpa Mark to thank for his stellar athletic genes. He already has great shooting form with the basketball and shouts "homerun" after a big hit off the t-ball tee. Cullen keeps telling us to watch his "big muscles" as he shoots the ball. And Simone seems to sleep quite peacefully with the breeze coming off the river.

This Saturday we painted our fence with Bob and MaryAnne. A big thank you to them for the labor! We all took turns watching the little ones. Life on the river goes on...

Rainy 4th...

We spent the 4th of July holiday with the Parke and Vogel families. 5 kids ages 2 and under. George and Joanie invited us all to their cabin in Trempeleau, WI - and it was the perfect getaway (just 1/2 hour outisde of La Crosse). The day was busy and it was a blast! No fireworks though. Cullen and Jack made their opinions and fears abundantly clear. Dennis was a little bummed that he had to go home with a bag still full 4th of July goodies.

Summer half gone

C
Well the Fourth has came and gone. Hard to believe that this summer is half over, it has flown by. Simone and Cullen are both doing great. Simone is still pretty easy. Spending her time sleeping, eating and squawking. Cullen wants to spend all of his time outside. Either playing golf, soccer, basketball, or swimming in his little inflatable pool. The only thing that will bring him inside are fireworks....he does not like those. It's nice to know we don't have a pyro on our hands.

Father's Day Weekend

We had a great weekend celebrating Father's day with family. Simone and Cullen slept until 6 am (late for the little Swanson early birds). We had a great day of fun in the sun and family time.

baby phone?!

Whenever we ask Cullen what his sister's name is, he replies "baby phone". I guess phone does rhyme with Simone! Cullen adores his baby sister and often asks to hold her. He gets tired of holding her about 5.2 seconds after she is placed in his lap, but at least he likes her.

We took our first trip to MPLS this weekend to meet some of the LaVigne/Moore relatives. On the way up, Simone made it about 30 miles outside of Minneapolis before she let us know that she was hungry. Her tummy is still so little and she can't make it too long without stopping to eat. However, she did make it the whole ride home without eating, but Dirk and I won't be winning any "Parent of the Year" awards. We smelled something amiss right outside of MPLS, but both kids were sound asleep so we just kept the car moving. Then, about 25 minutes from home, Simone let out a cry. I crawled into the back seat to see if she was alright and learned that she had a major explosion in her diaper. Because we were so close to home, we just kept going. Our sweet little girl stewed in her poo for almost the whole trip. Dirk and I felt so horrible. At least she won't remember this tragic experience. I hope...

Babies and Boats

Summer is here. Cullen embarked on the first boat ride of the year, while Simone opted to stay home for some alone time with Dad. Baby Simone is growing - she weighed in 6 lbs. 7 oz. at her 2 week appointment. Our weekend consisted of babies and boats - what more could you ask for?!

At home with baby Simone.

We are coming into our new "normal" as a family of four. Simone is a great baby and really just eats and sleeps - oh and she poops a lot too! Cullen is a busy 2-year-old and requires a lot of energy. He tries to help hold the baby, but mainly he just does his own thing. We're learning to manage two kids at different stages. In this last whirlwind week, Dirk and I also celebrated our 4 year anniversary. Wow how time flies when you are having fun!