Bowling! Yee haw!

On Sunday we made a little day trip to New Ulm for bowling and Happy Joe's Pizza. The pizza was spectacular, to be sure. The bowling was new to most of the kids. Here Kelson works on his special "Set the Ball Down and Push it so that it takes Five Minutes to Get Down the Lane" delivery. Eventually I decided to help him by giving the ball an additional push after his push. If I hadn't started doing that, we would probably still be there.

Milena uses her big strong muscles to bring the ball to the lane.

Being a big girl, she was able to do it all by herself. Sometimes.

Eli was definitely able to get the ball going down the lane, although he was never able to come up with a consistent approach. Sometimes he'd push it, sometimes he'd throw it, sometimes left handed, sometimes right handed. It was a work in progress.

Koleman actually looks like he knows what he's doing, except for the fact that the ball is a foot in front of the start of the lane. He was fortunate to have his mother helping him. He had at least one time where he picked up a spare without the ball bouncing off the lane guards. We were so proud!

Time to go, and everyone is still happy. It went well enough that there might even be a next time in the future.

Doppelgangers!! Yikes!!

The children are ready, but they're not exactly sure what for. Michelle is taping large sheets of paper together. It's all very strange...

Ah, yes, it's time to make life-sized replicas of the children in paper. Eli goes first!

Kelson looks on as Milena begins the replication process.

"Hey, that tickles!"

Even Koleman wasn't so big that he avoided the cloning procedure.

Kelson very astutely choses to give himself green hair.

Milena's double has a lovely hand outline pattern on her shirt.

Eli did make sure to give himself brown hair and brown eyes.

Koleman ... well, Koleman is creative.

And now it's time to cut out the replicas and bring them to life!

Are the real Lundlings in front or in back? I can't tell! Oh, the confusion!

All four children are saying, "Hey, you're incredibly good looking!" Now that our children have doppelgangers, we are confident that one of the two will always be behaving themselves.

Just Some Pictures

It's been over a week since I posted new pictures, so I'll just toss a couple up so nobody goes through withdrawal. Here's Koleman being Koleman.

Apparently Kelson doesn't follow directions very well.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Those lucky little buggers woke up to find Valentine's Day presents on the counter. When I was a kid, Valentine's Day meant we got one less beating that day. Kids definitely have it easy nowadays.

Eli is excited to find some candy.

Milena is happy to find ... goggles?

Yes, it is goggles! Koleman carefully examines his.

Kelson is thrilled with his gift.

Let's be honest, nothing says "Valentine's Day" like protective underwater eyewear. (Despite what those repulsive Kay Jewelers commercials say)

Happy Valentine's Day! The important thing is that the kids thought goggles, bouncy balls and candy made for a wonderful Valentine's Day. The balls have been bouncing around the house all day, and the goggles have been on and off. And on and off. And on and off... well, you get the picture.

Milena Rides Her Bike

Milena finally decided that she was big enough to ride her bike. All last year she claimed that she was too little to ride it, but apparently that's not a problem any longer. She was pretty proud of herself.

Koleman's Science Fair Project

Koleman did a science fair project for the first time this year. His topic, as you can probably see, was "Big Cats".

Michelle and I helped him a little, but this was almost all his own work. To spite Norm Coleman, I pointed him to Wikipedia, where he did most of his research.

And here he is at the Science Fair. He was very proud of his project. When he went to go look at some of his friends' projects, he left Eli in charge. Eli thought that was a very cool responsibility.

The Beauty of Nature

Look at the pretty birdie! It is playfully peaking around the trim of the garage door to look at me. I think it's playing Hide and Seek.

Oh. I guess it got killed by the garage door and got stuck to the wall. Well, let that be a lesson to all of you about the dangers of Hide and Seek.

Room Redecoration, Phase VII

(or something, I have no idea anymore)

Anyway, last weekend we finished all our wallpapering. Milena and Kelson's room finally got the fishy touch. You will also notice that the pod people, which I mentioned a long, long time ago, have completed their metamorphoses into hot air balloons.

Another view of Kelson and Milena's room. The only thing left for this room is a new valance. Cool.

Here is Eli's hot air balloon.

And Koleman's hot air balloon.

The kids also painted pictures for their fancy new rooms. Here is Eli's creation, which depicts "Nice sharks. A mommy and daddy shark, and a grocery shark, and a dentist, and a garbage shark, and a zoo keeper..." That's what I would have guessed.

Milena's painting, on the left, is of an elephant. There are red legs on the bottom, a purple tail on the left side, and the big red blob is the head and ears. Kelson painted snakes, although he now claims they are sharks.

Koleman painted three animal pictures. Tiger, Elephant, and Cheetah saying "Rarrr." The lines behind the cheetah indicate great speed. Da Vinci couldn't have done better. And no, Scott, you don't need to post the link you sent me earlier today.

Robes! Yikes!

Kelson wanted to put on the robe that Grandma Bonnie made him, so all the kids followed along.

Milena got her robe on.

Eli is a laid back guy.

Koleman has grown a bit since his was made.

And there they all are, happy siblings!