Happy Birthday Finn!

Finn's official birthday is tomorrow, but I have a moment to post from the hotel while Odin is sleeping, Mickey is buying swim diapers and Finn and Leif are reading with Grandma Teresa.  We're in the cities (poolside!), so I don't have photos, but here's a link to April 5 years ago:

http://baby-pearson.blogspot.com/2006_04_01_archive.html

Our little guy has grown so much!  He brings so much joy to our lives.  He's growing into a curious, witty, shy, loving boy.  We love you Finn!

Exploring the shore!

In an effort to enjoy the occasionally warm weather, we've been frequenting Park Point and exploring the remnants of winter along Lake Superior. Duluthians, take note: if you haven't seen the enormous ice cliffs yet, get down there and enjoy them before they're gone.

The boys love playing at the beach again and this summer will certainly find us on the sand as often as possible.

Odin!

This post is all Odin, as he was cooperative with the camera this weekend.  Enjoy!

He is starting to figure out how things work.  For example, he pulls the green chair and red stool with him to help him climb.  Step 1 - place the chair and stool:

Step 2 - climb onto green chair:

Step 3 - climb onto stool:

Step 4 - kneel:

 Step 5 - stand:

Step 6 - so proud:

Sorry for the lack of posts.  The boys are still cute!

Wrestling is huge at our house these days:

Date night!

Our little superhero had kindergarten round-up today.  Wait.  What?  Yes, he is that old already!

Puzzles and Ely

Finn is still a puzzle fiend, and here is his latest triumph. With the help of his parents on the 500-piecers, Finn completed all of these Disney-themed jigsaws. The 100-piecers are no match for him, and he does surprisingly well on the 350's by himself.

A grand accomplishment: all the "little piece" puzzles done!

So proud, he permitted a photo.

Last weekend, we went to Ely for a winter getaway to a cabin on Garden Lake. Despite ridiculously cold temperatures (-30 on Saturday morning), we still managed to play outdoors and explore the lake and woods. Other highlights included visiting the International Wolf Center and the North American Bear Center.

At Ely's International Wolf Center

One of many bear dens the boys built

Odin's new favorite spot in the house

Odin spends most of his day perched on top of the block-case in our house.  He climbs up there himself using the tic tac toe box thing.  If we move the box after he goes to bed, the first thing he does in the morning is move it back so he can climb.  He also enjoys climbing onto the dining room table, kitchen counters, coffee tables, etc.

The weekend

We went to Spirit Mountain today and yesterday.  Finn thinks downhill is great, Leif doesn't like it ("my feet hurt").  Both wear the ski bum look well and we are excited for lots of family skiing days in Duluth.  When we weren't skiing, we played outside since the weather was awesome!  Video of Finn skiing and Leif singing coming soon.

Haircuts + Cousin Nora