Sucking Noodles!

Levi has a talent.  He can suck these rice noodles into his mouth with amazing precision!  He enjoyed the stirfry, and we enjoyed watching him! 



On this second video, you have to watch closely to see the noodle disappear!  He's so quick and efficient!

Fun in the Tent & Tunnel

Our Weird Daugher

Who knew that eyes could move like that?

Laughs

I've been trying to put this video on our blog for a long time!  It is a bigger file, so it just didn't go through every other time I tried it!

I just love the belly laughs that both of the kids have.  Levi's drool as he laughs is so funny!  Their laughs are contageous, and it takes such simple things to get them going!

Daddy & Mommy's Weekend Getaway!

As a long postponed fifth anniversary gift to ourselves, we decided to ditch the kids and head on over to the Mississippi River area between Redwing, MN and Alma, WI.  We really needed some time to ourselves, and this time of year is the best time of year of all!  We dropped Alena off with her Uncle Davey and Auntie Avery in Wausau, and Grandma Hawkins drove down to pick up Levi.

 

We headed on over to Eau Claire where I found a deal on a room with a whirlpool!  I had no idea why the desk clerk was snickering a bit when he told us that we were staying in the "Red Room."  After we navigated through the maze to find our room, we quickly found out why it had its name!  There was not only a sign on the door indicating this was the Red Room, but there was a red light outside the door!!  Inside, there were these sweet retro red lamps, and red carpeting.  I have never slept on a bed that had a mirror on the wall AND CEILING!!!  until then!  I was kinda grossed out, but we weren't there for all that long!  We at at Red Lobster, one of my all time favorite places, where I dined on snow crab legs & munched on Eric's Endless Shrimp!

We enjoyed the big whirlpool tub... with mirrors around it, of course!

We made a few stops on the Great River Winery Tour.  We loved the hard cider at the Maiden Rock Winery (too bad they were all sold out of our favorite product0, and bought a couple of bottles at the Danzinger Winery in Alma, WI.  The view was fantastic from the bodega, as shown here!

The view from Alma's city park on top of a bluff.  The town of Alma is nestled between the base of the bluff and the mighty Mississippi!  We spent some time marveling at the lock and dam, and watched a train barrel down the tracks as we stood on a platform just above it!

Alma city park

We were not disappointed with our choice of accommodations for our second night!  The River Nest Bed and Breakfast near Wabasha, MN was delightful!  Shown here is the tub and fireplace in the sitting room.  The bedroom was on the opposite side of the fireplace, too!  We ate super at an Irish pub in Wabasha where I had amazing Irish stew!  Breakfast at the Inn was generous, scrumptious, and unique.  The view from the sitting room area in our suite was of the Mississippi! 

While we were out having fun, Grandma made sure that she and Levi were ready to cheer the Packers on to victory!  The kids both did great and we were very relieved!  It was a weekend getaway that was just what the doctor ordered!

Quarry Quest

We drove over to Michel's Quarry in Neenah for our second year at Quarry Quest!  Alena had a much better time this time since she was older.  She had a better grasp as to what was going on, and we also got there right when it started!  That proved to be extremely beneficial as the lines to go on the bigger equipment were much shorter!

Alena and Daddy sat in the very back seat of the bus.  Alena was super excited to be on one of those school busses that she always sees driving past our house!

Daddy said that Alena got the "good driver" who picked up manly (larger) buckets full of dirt and moved around.  So proud of his daughter!

Operating an excavator

Levi was so patient and only got to do a couple of things.  He will be back next year, however!

She thoroughly enjoyed playing around on the huge, and I mean gigantic, sand pile complete with buckets, shovels, and lots of fun for the kids.

Something Levi got to do!  A giant earthmover!!!  They must have had about 25 people in the back of this enormous dump truck!





Apple Picking

We set out to Hillside Apples near Casco, WI on a cloudy September Saturday!  On the way and when we arrived, it was lightly sprinkling!  We Cerkas' are a hearty family, though!  We proceeded to get out there and pick nonetheless!  We had somewhat planned for this scenario, anyway!  The rain stopped once we had picked only one bag full!



Levi spent much of the time supervising the efforts from his stroller and putting on the cute show as usual.  He stayed pretty dry in there!





Alena enjoyed picking any and all apples that she could reach and scavanged through the bruised apples on the ground. She really took to "sampling" the different apples by taking one bite and then tossing it on the ground! Here she shows off her current collection.





Levi put in his 2 cents worth about the different varieties.  He liked them all... especially the ones that made it into his mouth! 



 



Alena thought this was a pretty cool one. Also though that she could actually carry it, ha ha! I think we brought this one home!



Daddy taught her how to chew on straw. I thought that she looked so mature in this one, like she's smoking in some elegant manner!





He also supervised the search for the perfect pumpkin! He is such a ham!!



Photo ops on the tractor ride.  Since we drove through the orchard, we didn't take the tractor.  We packed everything up, then took a spin around the whole orchard while pulled by a tractor.  Alena was hilarious with her permagrin!

Bay Beach 2011

 Levi got to go on the carousel!  He was just enthused that it was something new... and it blew his wispy hair up!

 We met Uncle Nick, Auntie Kerry, & cousin Aubrey there!  The dads were on ride duty, making sure the girls were all set for each of the rides!

 The planes with the annoying "guns/laser" sounds!  They tag teamed all of the invisible bad guys!  Don't mess with the Cerkas cousins!

 Aubrey & Alena worked together enough to drive a boat...

 and drive a purple bug!

 Levi was a stroller spectator!  His job as a little brother was to look cute!

 One of the favorite parts of the whole day was riding on the horses!  Here, Alena is saying, "giddyup giddyup horsie!  Neigh neigh neigh!"

 We withstood the long line to get on the little train.  Even Levi got to participate!  I remember going on this same train when I was a kid.  Even though we lived in Tomahawk, we still came to Bay Beach in Green Bay from time to time!

 Uncle Nick waves to Aubrey up a few rows.

 With all the excitement, Levi had to rest... while eating cheerios!  Notice the one stuck to his chin!

And the big slide!  The dads took their girls down twice!  A total blast from what I hear!

August Fun

We've had a fairly busy August, so I figured I'd just throw a bunch of pics on here to share them and get kind caught up. I still have more photos on my camera that I might add at a later date!

Random sibling photo from in July

Momma and Alena dancing while singing Camp songs at VBS!



Eating an ice cream cone at VBS

Alena got to swim at the boat landing on Birch Road. Of course, Grandma Hawkins' dog, Baylee joined in on the fun! They're sometimes like two peas in a pod.

And Levi looked on while Alena swam. He had his time, too, since we went a couple of times that week.

Alena got to hold a toad in Grandpa Cance's backyard. She thought it was pretty special, and so did we :)

Every time she goes to her Grandpa Cance's house, she finds the joker hat and puts it on. And, yes, that is dirt on her face. She is always dirty, it seems!

Checking out Grandpa's one remaining Corvette!

She wants to drive it already!!

Eating some lunch on Uncle Steve's pontoon at his cabin.

There are lots of rocks in the swimming area and dock, and Alena enjoyed picking them up and throwing them! We just try to keep her from chewing on the little ones! She had a blast just goofing around! She even went on a tube ride with mama and had a super duper thrill!

Levi just used said tube to take a nap. Cute little guy!!

Random funny shot of Alena while at Lake Wissota.

The fam overlooking Lake Wissota. We camped there for 3 nights. More pics from that trip to come! Lots of fun!!!

Our first family bike ride to Grandpa & Grandma Cerkas' house. They were great on the way there, but Levi screamed the whole way back :( We're hoping to do more of this in the future!

Levi and I went to La Crosse last Saturday to meet the newest member of the family! Auntie Ashley & Uncle Jake welcomed Quinn Dorothy Colstad on August 26th! She was 7lbs 15oz, 21 inches. She seemed so super duper tiny to me! Levi was royally intrigued by this little girl. He did hold her hand and it was so sweet!

Uncle Jake & Auntie Ashley were commenting on how big Levi was, and this was Levi's response... putting on the cute show! Just wait until Quinn is my age!!