Camping

"De-sanding" his shoes after playing at the park

This kid moves non-stop! Apparently he is following in his big brother's footsteps!

Yummy S'mores!

KOA in Maple Grove, Minnesota.

This kid doesn't miss a thing!

My little sister, Emily, with her neice and nephews

S'mores seem to be a theme for our family this summer!

My step-dad's words BEFORE he handed Silas the sparkler went something like this. . ."this is against my better judgment, so don't let me down."

P0p-Troy had no idea what he was in for when he came out to visit the Tolosa Family!

Pop-Troy and Mom-mom with the kids

Silas does not believe in personal space

Summertime

It is a rare thing that I manage to get a truly good picture of these two without silly faces, forced smiles or squinty eyes. . .Oh well!

Water Baby

Let me outa here!

Pickin' Strawberries

I have wanted to go strawberry picking for the last few summers here in Minnesota, but we just never managed to plan ahead for it. This year, we finally did it. I could have stayed for at least another hour, although, I can't say the same for the rest of my family. The highlight for the kids was the "cow train" pulled by the tractor, and the giant chocolate chip cookie we ate at the little country restaurant. My kids love strawberries, they don't last long in our house and I will only by them in the summer when they are in season and on sale. These berries were delicious--so much better than store bought. We picked enough to eat, freeze, and make Matt's favorite, strawberry pie. I would like to go again next summer,I just wish the picking season was longer. My pictures are all out of order, but you get the idea.

Getting ready to cut 'em up and make some pie!

Being silly at the orchard, while mom is still in the fields picking

The "cow train"

Yummy Strawberries

This kid climbs everywhere--mind you, he isn't walking on his own yet! He wanted those berries so bad. I made the mistake of feeding him one while we were picking and then I couldn't move them away from me fast enough. I tried to contain him, but that, as you see, was NOT happening.

It was only the second day of the season, so the berries were small and some still had white on them, but if you looked hard enough, you could find some good ones!

Our little strawberry scavenger

Experiencing Sound

This is one of the videos we took of Ezekiel on Activation Day. We were told by the audiologist that right now, sounds are just noise to him--it will be that way for some time. It was neat to see him hear for the first time!

Activation Day

May 27, 2009, We head down to the audiologist for Ezekiel's cochlear implant hook-up. What a morning of emotions that was. I have a video posted on facebook and will put one on here in my next post. So much I could say about this whole journey, but I prefer not to type a book. If you are interested you can read more on my facebook notes.

A little uncertain about this new world of hearing that has just begun.

His new "ear"

WORN OUT!

Our lives these days are filled with more running than normal. Ezekiel has therapy twice a week, plus a visit with the audiologist once a week right now. The deaf and hard of hearing teacher comes to our house once a week to work with Ezekiel, so some weeks we have four appointments in five days not counting the normal day to day errands that I need to run. This particular day we had Ezekiel's regular speech appointment at 11:00 and then some running to do afterwards. I needed to get some things taken out to the car before I loaded up the kids, (I'm always finding myself in need of a couple more hands) so I gave tired little Zeke his pacifier and ran out to the parking lot. I was literally only out there for MAYBE 3 minutes--tops, and by the time I got back inside, this is how I found my little man. Sprawled on the carpet, fast asleep! Poor Guy!