Happy Guys!

A rare picture of the boys smiling together!

Giddy-Up!

Ben and Papa going for a ride.

Quinn and Dad having a good time!

Big smiles!

The boys waiting in line.

Quinn dancing with Mama.

We went to the Crow Wing Power Company picnic while we were up visiting my parents last weekend. They had free horse rides and the boys loved it. Ben went twice - smiling the whole time. Quinn looked like such a little man - so cute!

Summer's Here - Out Comes the Pool!

Going down the elephant slide.

Quinn taking in the action from his chair.

Running through the sprinkler with Dad.

Quinn kept getting closer and closer to the water but never actually got wet - maybe next time!

All done - time for a nap!

I bought a pool on clearance last fall with the hopes that we would be able to use it this summer now that Quinn is a bit older. Thankfully we have had nice weather and decided to try it out one Sunday afternoon. Ben had a blast - running through the sprinklers and sliding down the slide. Quinn took a while to warm up to it, but eventually had some fun once he got used to the water. Hopefully we will be able to use it a lot more!!

Mr. Baseball

Here's the pitch!

Nice form!

Getting ready to throw right at Mom!

Ben LOVES baseball. He loves to pitch the ball, hit the ball, catch the ball, anything with a baseball. We have tons of baseballs around the house and in the garage - all different sizes. We also have baseball hats, he has one in particular that he loves and wears even though he outgrew it a while ago. He pitches right but can also throw left and bats right and left - he only likes to hit pitched balls though, not a fan of hitting off a tee. His favorite player is Jo Mauer (or is that Mom's favorite...) and his favorite team is the MN Twins of course!

Mama & Papa's - the New Weekend Retreat

View from the porch of some of the trees Chris and my Dad have cleared out. They now have a better view of the lake.

Ben and Quinn on horse rides at the Crow Wing Power Picnic.

The boys on Paul Bunyon's footprint in Breezy Point, MN

Ben giving Quinn a ride at Aunt Susan's & Uncle Al's in Breezy Point

One of my parent's "neighbors", a friendly snapping turtle that is looking to bury her eggs on my parent's yard.

My parents have moved out of our basement and are now in their BEAUTIFUL new home in Breezy Point, MN. Ben refers to it as "Papa's House" implying that Papa lives there, but Mama still lives with him. He has definitely formed a very strong bond with his Mama (that's what Ben calls Grandma)! We have spent a few weekends at the new place and LOVE it. Chris has been clearing dead trees and brush with my dad and Bella spends all day wandering the woods. She is one tired puppy by Sunday! I have been collecting some toys for the boys to keep there and they even have thier own room. We are so blessed to have my parents back in MN and close enough to visit as much as we want. I hope someday the boys will be able to look back and cherish all the wonderful memories that they will have of spending time with Mama and Papa.

My Do It

"My do it" is a phase we hear often from Ben these days. Everything is "my do it, my do it". It's fun to watch him assert himself and try new things. He's very persistent and likes to either do things all by himself or at least help out whenever he can. We captured a cute moment when we were getting ready to put Quinn to bed one night, Ben insisted on being the one to hold Quinn and help feed him his bottle. Quinn really didn't care who fed him the bottle, he just wanted to eat!

Quinn the Walking Machine

Quinn's PT Melissa getting him all set to go!

And he's off!

Getting those feet to go

Hi Mom! Here I come!

Aww man, Melissa is making me work again!

We recently got to bring home a walker for Quinn to use. He tried it out a few times at physical therapy and seemed to really enjoy it. It was fun to see him cruise around and discover that he can use his legs to be upright and move! We are so lucky to have a great facility at Gillette's in Maple Grove and I think Quinn really likes his PT, even though she makes him work!

Banana's anyone??

Here Mom - you try it!

Hmm, this is interesting...


OK! I think they taste pretty good!

Quinn is an eater - he really likes to eat. He is totally off baby food and is on to eating meals with the rest of the Kollasch clan. He recently tried bananas, it took a few days but he eventually discovered that they weren't too bad!

Quinn turns 1!

Enjoying that blue frosting!

Checking out one of the Oreo "wheels".

The big cupcake cake that fed everyone else.

Quinn is getting the hang of opening presents and I think he likes it!

Mom, Quinn, and Dad. It's so hard to believe that 1 year has past by so quickly. I will always remember the first time I saw Quinn's face and how fierce the love we have for him always will be.

Our little guy turned 1 on April 17th and we celebrated with a little party at the Kollasch Speedway. Quinn enjoyed "tasting" cake and opening his presents. He had lots of help from big brother Ben and some cousin and friends. He was pretty tired after all the festivities but thought he had the best 1st birthday ever!

Quinn @ PT - learning to walk!

All strapped in and ready to go!

Getting ready to start!

Look Mom - I'm walking!

Working on getting those feet in the right position.

Quinn has continued his physical therapy at Gillette Children's Rehab in Maple Grove. We have done lots of things but I think the most exciting has been Quinn recieving gait training on a treadmill with a special harness. I took Ben with me to Quinn's PT session this week and Ben "encouraged" Quinn by patting him on the head as he was getting strapped into his harness. Overall Quinn has made impressive progress from where we were in January. He is still having some lower leg/hip/trunk difficulty. Chris and I have made the decision to take Quinn to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore where they have a Transverse Myelitis Institute and the Kennedy Krieger Spinal Cord Injury Center for a 2 week intensive PT course and consultation. We want to make sure that all of Quinn's options are being fully investigated and exhausted. We are still waiting to hear exactly when we will be making the trip out east and we can't wait to get out there and see what they have to say!

Easter Egg Hunt

There's an egg!

I think Leo found the Golden Egg!

The kids after the hunt: Olivia, Leo, Stella, and Ben

Quinn taking an opportunity to check out the Easter Baskets.

Get those bubbles!

We got together with our neighbors and found out that the Easter Bunny had also hidden eggs outside our houses too! Ben, Leo, Stella, and Oliva went in seach of the elusive Golden Egg, the egg with a special prize inside. After the hunt Olivia got the kids going with a bubble chase!

Easter Morning at the Kollasch's

Thank you Easter Bunny!

Ben testing out the wheel-barrow by hauling his blankie.

Quinn, the One Sock Man, wants to know how the Easter Bunny got M&M's in a carrot!

Quinn LOVES his new boots!

But is not so sure how to actually walk in them.

We woke up to find that the Easter Bunny had visited our house and left some goodies for the boys. He also hid the eggs around the house and Ben got to practice his egg-hunting skills. He managed to find all of 14 of them (at least the Easter Bunny thinks he hid 14 eggs). The boys got some new boots to wear at Mama and Papa's house since it will be a little muddy up there once they move in. Ben also got a cool wheel-barrow to help Mama haul stuff around the yard.