Splash Dunk!

Take a beautiful, hot summer day. Pull out the trusty slip-n-slide. Turn on the hose. Have fun! It's pretty simple folks.

Maija thought she was SO funny sitting in

the ending pool... It was a constant

battle with the big brothers...

"MAIJA! Get out of the way!!!"

1. The action shot!

2. The triumphant after shot!

1. The action shot!

2. And again, the triumphant after shot!

Maija did not attempt a run down the

splash dunk course...

instead she happily played in her own pool...

and made sure to get in some swinging!

Too cute for words...

A day of family fun!

Yesterday the Saari crew + Uncle Matt headed over to Thunder Road. It was a super fun filled afternoon of mini-golf, batting cages, go-karts, bumper cars and arcade games!

Putting is serious business for these four.

TRIUMPH!

Two of the cutest little golfers out there!

The peanut gallery!

Intimidation... we WILL conquer!

Go-Karts were a blast!

Caleb is big enough to drive all by himself!

Bumper cars!

Posing with a grin at the end of the day!

True to life...

Although I am not a talented photographer by any means, occasionally I manage to capture moments of awe and wonder. For instance, one evening, all three of our children had piled into everybody's favorite oversized chair. Full of giggles, they squirmed to claim their place amongst the thick, cozy cushions. Thankfully I recognized the "Kodak Moment" as it presented itself, and was able to grab the camera quickly enough to snap a shot that truly captures each child's personality. I was in complete amazement while looking at each of their faces... Caleb, forever the big brother, with his bright, kind eyes and shy smile. Brady, with his over-the-top, cheesy grin and the sparkling glint of mischief. And Maija, with her baby cheeks and wild hair, she shares the same mischievous twinkle in her eyes as big brother. All my babies...happily crammed together, arms and legs everywhere... this could be one of my favorite pictures of all time.

an update through pictures...

Maija's first pigtails!

Sunday afternoon bowling!

MILE RUN DAY - Spring 2010


Caleb finished 1st out of his group!
He improved his score yet again!!! 7:11! SPEEDY boy!

Like my new watermelon suit?

The beloved Spiderman pool returns!

Bring on another fun filled summer!

Miss Maija... such a ham!

Hey batter, batter!!!

Getting warmed up!

Sliding fun at RibFest!

Maija went down with Brady the first

time around....

...but being the independant girl she is,

she wanted to go alone the second time!

Maija's first RedHawks game!

And hopefully our first of many of this summer!!

What in the heck have we been up to???

Sooooo. Once again, I have severely neglected the Saari Blog. Once again, I apologize to the handful of faithful followers who check in to see what's new in our little world! It seems as though the day flies by... especially now that school is out for summer (YAY!) and we have baseball, and other family activities to squeeze in before bedtime rolls around. The blog has become a forgotten piece of our (my) routine!

Well. Now that I'm sitting here... What in the heck have we been up to lately?? Like I said before, there's baseball. Caleb is in a new 8 year old league, and is having a blast. He's on the Athletics, and has practice every Wednesday and games on Fridays. They had their first game last week. The team did a fantastic job all around, and Caleb had three great hits! Super fun to watch! And the other 5 days of the week usually include some other form of the game... playing catch, backyard games with all the neighborhood boys, watching the Twins on TV, or taking in a RedHawks game. I guess we're big into baseball around here! Other activities include, but are not limited to: swimming, walks to the park, bowling, golf & mini golf, neighborhood kids coming and going (they all seem to end up in our yard!), lounging on the deck (we purchased a new umbrella for our patio set, and are enjoying it tremendously!), planting flowers, bikes, scooters, sidewalk chalk... ahh yes, so much to do and so little time to fit it all in!!! Gotta love summer!

More of Maija's Words...

Yes, the following is completely a, "Mommy is so proud", brag about post....

So our little Miss Maija is constantly growing her vocabulary. It is amazing, and sometimes hilarious, to hear all the new words and phrases and now small sentences she is creating! Just last night we were getting in the car to drive to a favorite park of the boys'. They call it, "the blue park" as it is mostly blue... Brady and Caleb were listing off other favorite parks, all classified by a different color, "blue, red, yellow", and Maija piped up from the middle of the back seat, "GREEN!"... Matt and I shared an all to familiar, "Did she just say/do_____?!?" moment. It's so fun! And she does have two extra fun teachers in her brothers. They think it's so funny that she will repeat or attempt to repeat just about anything they ask her to! Maija has also started counting. Granted, it's usually only to three, but hey! She's only 17 months old!

Here are some of our favorite phrases/sentences!:

No way!

Where is it?

There it is!

I don't know.

Help - A lil help ( I need a little help)

Go bye bye!

Go for a ride!

Maija's Words - continued:

blankie

shoes

outside

deck

grass

Brady (she has yet to figure out how to say Caleb)

phone

cup

juice

milk

moothie (she LOVES yogurt smoothies!)

again

cheese

zebra

puppy

kitty

duck

cow

train

truck

car

egg

apple

hat

owl

taco

hot dog

sweep

write

Wow, thanks for reading through all of those... there are MANY more, but I figured I'd leave the list at half a page! (for now) :)

Mommy bragging moments... they are just a part of the job!