Happy Birthday, Kaitlin

This last week we celebrated Kaitlin's 15th birthday. She wanted to make a pirate cake, so after looking at a few online we ventured with our own unique idea. You can see how we put it together, cooking it in two loaf pans and then freezing, slicing and sticking it together with dowels and frosting. Kaitlin did all the piping. We had the best time finding little figures online and then cutting them out and sticking them to toothpicks. At first we just wanted pirates but then decided to add a Peter Pan, and then a Hook, and then the alligator, then we found a guy from
Aladdin, and a Prince Eric, and we needed an Ariel for the front, of course, and then we needed a Dumbo, and a Flin (he's our favorite)... anyway. We had fun choosing the characters for the ship. In the end it turned out awesome. Kaitlin was sure she had the best birthday cake ever. The next day Kaitlin had some friends over and they recorded a bunch of footage for a new music video.


State Parade

Ruth and Jared are wrapping up school. They will be off for three weeks and then go back at the end of July. This week Ruth had her State Parade and patriotic program. She made a float for the state of Minnesota. She painted large loons for the sides and the center had a Mall of America. It also had a ground squirrel, walleye and blueberry muffin represented. She pulled her "float" around the school with the other students in her grade while all the other grades served as the spectators. Afterward her grade put on a program where they sang songs including one that named all the states and capitals and one that named all the US presidents in order. I was impressed by how much they kids were able to memorize.


Special Olympics

Kaitlin spent a few days at a Youth Conference with our church. While there she was able to volunteer at the Special Olympics. She was a "cheerer", ran a carnival game and did face painting. Our family went for an hour to watch the festivities. Jared got to play the carnival games and we got some free cotton candy. Kaitlin had a great time at the conference and made many new friends.