Braeden Skates at the X

The neighborhood kids (l to r) Nolan, Preston, Braeden, and Tim all pose next to the Herb Brooks statue at the Xcel Energy Center

An excited group of Park & Rec. hockey players from Owatonna await instructions before heading down to the locker room area approximately 1 hour before the start of the Wisconsin/Denver game of the WCHA Final 5 hockey game in St. Paul.

Braeden sporting his new jersey that says WCHA Final Five on it. The sponsor for the lil' chippers was McDonalds and they announced them as the 'small fries' when they came on to the ice. The tension builds...

The full group....the Owatonna kids scrimmaged each other.

Time to step on the ice in front of an announced 14,000 fans between the 1st and 2nd period of the WCHA game.

We were perched high up in the Xcel Energy Center, 2nd row from the top. Mom and the kids were very afraid of heights and barely made it to their seats. They managed a smile for the photo!

Mike was neighbor Tim's 'dad' for the event. He helped him get ready and in return got to join us in the 'bowels' of the X to get the kids ready to step on the ice.

Here they go onto the ice!

Let's Play Hockey! Braeden is the last one on the ice in this second video.

Laken Graduates to Threes

Laken had her last Twos ECFE class on Thursday. She loves her Ms. Kris class. Thankfully Ms. Kris will still be her teacher when she moves over to threes at the end of the month (she is now on Spring Break). We, also, have her signed up for Preschool next year. She will either go one or two days per week (Mom hasn't made the final decision on that one). She is very excited to go to Pudgie's school next year. Although I don't think she realizes that Preston won't be there.

Kindergarten Open House

Preston attended Washington Elementary's Kindergarten Open House. He loved exploring the Kindergarten rooms. Braeden's Kindergarten teacher knew he was Braeden's brother and rembered Laken even though she was a newborn then. He knew so many kids there. He is going to love Kindergarten!

Laker Parties with Girlfriends

Eight lil girls helped Laken celebrate her 3rd Birthday. Almost everything was pink and there were a lot of princess type toys and presents. In addition, both grandma and grandpa's were there as well as uncle Mike, uncle Eric and aunt Sarah. Laken's cousins Madeline and Constance also made it for the celebration.

Hockey Comes to a Close

Here's some video from Braeden's hockey Jamboree. This is the finale of the regular season, however he gets to skate between periods of a WCHA (DI college hockey) game at the Xcel Energy Center-where the MN Wild play on March 20th. In the video Braeden is in the blue jersey #10.

Happy Birthday to a Muffin Princess!

It's Laken's 3rd birthday, today (were does the time go)! She was so excited for her Ariel cake and had to sample it before it was time to eat it. She doesn't quite get the concept of blowing out the candles, so after awhile she was grateful for the brothers help. She opened her gifts of a Little People Carriage, a Rapunzel outfit for her American Girl Bitty Baby's and a My Little Pony Candyland game. Here's a few things we love about Laken:

1. She loves to dress as a princess.

2. She is a little ballerina, gymnast and hockey skater (got to love those feminine sporty gals)!

3. She loves to play with princesses and her "American Dolls".

4. She is excited when you come or return home.

5. She is a little song bird.

6. She likes to talk about herself in the third person.

7. She loves reading books.

8. She thinks her baby cousin is her sister.

9. She practices dancing Pointe all the time.

10. She always says "I Love You."
We love you Muffin!

Gymnastics!

I enrolled Preston and Laken in gymnastics. Partly because the need the outlet to endure this winter. They love it! Laken is in Tumbling Tots for 18mos-3 years and Preston is in Mini Monsters. Preston goes on Tuesdays and Laken on Fridays. Sometime Preston participates with us on Friday, too. They both seem to really enjoy it and they work off some major energy, which is fabulous! Their favorite activity seems to be bouncing on the enormous trampoline.

Owatonna vs. Dodge County (Kasson)

Braeden's Park and Rec Hockey (the don't have a mite team) has been playing games against Dodge County (Kasson). We missed his 1st game due to a Chamber event. These are pictures from his second game against them in Owatonna. He scored 4 goals! It was so fun watching him play his position, instinctively know where to be and skating all out on every shift. His third match up against Dodge County was in Kasson and Nama and Grandpa made the trek over to watch him. He even scored a goal for them, too. He has one more game left on March 5th at 5:40 pm for anyone wanting to catch him in action.

Laken's 1st Haircut

Laken had here 1st haircut on Feb. 9th. She said on my lap for it. The boys always used to do that, too. The brothers were very excited to help out by taking lots of pictures (I'm sure you can imagine). She just got a trim and we made sure to get an envelope full of hair for her scrapbook.