Spring into Summer

Checking out Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis with a spring-time hike.

Finn had a bowling birthday party with a couple friends (and family).

Julia had some art displayed at the River Falls Public Library (next to her shoulder).

For Mother's Day, the kids made Amanda breakfast in bed and presented her with cards. Skippy attentively watched the card presentation. I'm sure it had nothing to with the food sitting in front of her.

Each spring at Westside is a day of end-of-the-year outdoor activities and competitions. It's a time of hanging out with buddies and participating with your class. Julia did well and won the hula hoop competition - video evidence. Both Julia and Finn participated in the three-legged race with friends (more video evidence linked on their names).

We always get a state park pass since we have two nice state parks close to us. We took a hike at Kinnickinnic State Park and walked down to the St. Croix River. The hill back up is much larger than it looks in the picture!

Julia crossed over in Girl Scouts from being a Junior to a Cadet.

We took the kids to their first Twins game at the end of the school year (and our first time at Target Field).

There was a great fireworks after the game. I wonder how we looked during the fireworks...

Supercallifragilisticex-tra Close-up Pictures

In April we took a weekend trip to Chanhassen Dinner Theatre to see the musical Mary Poppins. At the start of the trip, I had the idea that we take a bunch of family pictures throughout the weekend. I was pleased with how it turned out.

Before we left.

In the car, heading out!

At Eddington's, our favorite soup place.

Silly pic at the hotel.

Hotel bathroom mirror shot.

Intermission at Mary Poppins - great show!

Quick hike at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

Relay for Life, 2015

The Kauth family participated again this year in Pierce County Wisconsin's Relay for Life. 2015 had another good turnout.

Julia had company on the survivor's walk, neighbor and fellow cancer survivor, Lee.

It's very touching to see people cheering everyone on and to see Julia take it all in.

Luminarias are made to remember friends and family lost to cancer and in honor of those who've survived. We collectively made a few to add to the hundreds of others around the track.

We put Julia's Luminaria and one we made for Carina together. Carina was a friend Julia had met in the hospital while they were both undergoing treatment.

Finn and a friend shared some music.

The kids can act civil to each other at times...

...and put on a good show of sibling love too.

We grabbed a family picture before the kids took a ride around the track on a stretcher pushed by the EMTs on site.

Julia used the 80's theme to try out a new hair style.

Last year Julia lost out on the silent auction to win a giant stuffed horse. This year was her year - and she was thrilled to have her two new pals join her family.

Both kids stayed all night this year. I did make them lay down for a few hours and rest though.

March

"La la la la! I love to sing! Nothing could go wrooooooong!"

"Juliaaaaaa! Look out behind you!"

"Peace, Finn. Nothing bad could happen."

There was an optional science fair at Westside and Finn decided to participate. His experiment was to understand why raisins sink and float in pop and if grapes will do the same thing. First things need to be set up.

Then data must be collected.

And if you get thirsty, you can always take a sip of your experiment.

The night of the science fair, each kid set up their results and had to explain their work to the judges and other interested parties.

Finn explained to a judge that the bubbles from the carbonated beverage stick to the raisin causing them to rise to the top of the glass. At the top, the bubbles pop and the raisin sinks back down. This repeats as long as carbonation remains. Finn's hypothesis was that grapes would not have the same thing happen because their skin is smooth, unlike the wrinkly raisin's skin, and so the bubbles wouldn't have anywhere to hand on to. His hypothesis was wrong because the grapes rose and sunk with bubbles as well. SCIENCE!

Finn chatted procedures (I'm sure) with one of his classmates.

March started out with snow, but ended with bare ground. Julia looked good in shades while picking up Skippy's winter waste.

The bare ground very evident while Julia and I went on our go-to, close-to-home hike to Foster cemetery and the Kinni.