Michelle left me for the weekend, so I responded by being a bad parent. First off, it probably isn't a good thing when your seven year old has one of your four year olds in a stroller on a hill. Do I tell them to stop? Of course not, this is a Kodak moment (well, a Sony moment, to be technical)!
Away you go, Eli!
Boy, I sure hope nobody gets hurt.
Next example - who teaches their kids to go down the slide like that? Must be their mother.
What's this? Why is the stroller tipped over? What do I hear from inside of it?
Oh, look, Milena fell over and she can't get up!
"Koleman, I bet if you jump you'll kill yourself. I dare you!"
"No really, don't ... oops, too late."
"Drat."
By the way, for video highlights of bad parenting, you can always watch this video (8.9MB).
We had the pleasure of having some visitors stay with us during Labor Day weekend. If you have seven little kids in the house, the obvious thing to do is to set up something where they can all jump and bang into each other.
What could go wrong here? OK, maybe a face plant or two, but nothing serious.
And anyway, even if something happened (not that it did), there would, hypothetically speaking, be an uncle around to provide sympathy.
Jorgen does his Darius Miles impersonation.
The quality on this picture isn't the best, but if you look close you can see that Jorgy does not have any problem unleashing his primitive hunting instincts. Jonny is in trouble.
Koleman and Jonny discuss what effect the appointment of John Roberts to the Supreme Court would have on the rights of the individual.
On Sunday we went to the Minnesota Zoo. In a brilliant turn of events we managed to drive right into the heart of a nice big thunderstorm. We pulled over to wait for the road to become visible again. The kids were a bit nervous in the Lund van. Kelson tried to hide behind a toy car.
Eli explains to Milena and Koleman where in the zoo they were.
Seven kids chowing down on a yummy pancakes and eggs breakfast. Mmmm, syrup!
Hey, look at those cuties!
Don't mess with this kid!
Milena is Queen of the Soccer Ball.
And finally, three kids in tires. Jonny.
Milena, who managed to find some kind of bizarre wind tunnel.
And Koleman, who happens to be upside down.
Koleman was very excited that he was able to climb up into our tree all by himself. And no, the tire swing on the ground is not a permanant feature. Koleman brought it over there so he could wrap the rope around a branch. Milena is attempting to copy Koleman's route up the tree.
Here is a picture of Koleman as he gets ready to go to his first day of school.
And the next day Eli and Milena started school. Eli is trying to showcase the Big Bear on his shirt.
Milena is ready for school!
Milena is so excited that she runs all the way to the bus.
Kelson, left behind once again, watches the big kids drive away.
Kelson was ready to go, but he's just not big enough... well, he's just not old enough yet.
But this time it's a different playground. Last week we went to a new playground that we've never been to before (as a matter of fact, we didn't even know it existed until that day). The kids were quick to explore the playground as soon as we got there.
Eli and Milena share a moment of Dino Riding.
Hey, who's at the end of the tunnel?
They had lots of tires set up all around the playground. Koleman shows off his amazing athletic ability (which he gets from his father).
This spot was dubbed the Fire Station, due to the fire pole in the middle. Kelson couldn't make it to the top, and when Milena got up there she started crying because she got stuck. But Koleman and Eli enjoyed it.
There's a fire! Down the pole!
One problem with the playground is the lack of shade. We did manage to crowd into the one shady spot for our picnic lunch.
Eli and Milena very patiently wait for me to push them on the swings.
The Lund Children conquer the tires! Although, Milena is very nervous, and Kelson is crying. So maybe "conquer" isn't the right word.
Milena tries to stand up tall, and Kelson just keeps screaming. If only there was a parent around to help the little sad child.
Man, he's got long legs.
An impasse.
Look at Eli jump!
In this picture, he was actually jumping backwards, from the tire on the right to the one on the left. Amazing, isn't it?
And, just to add to the fun, there are some videos. The first one is Milena stuck on the fire station. Click here for video (3.6MB). Then we have a video of Koleman jumping across the tires Click here for video (2.9MB). And lastly, there is Eli jumping across the tires. Click here for video (6.5MB).
