New swing set

We bought a swing set from a family that lives in iur neighborhood and attends TLC. Brycen always loved going to the parks in Swidher and is getting at just the right age for a set.  

He's lived swinging... Especially with the tire swing underneath. We still had the baby swing from our house in Swisher so it is convenient for Caden and Brycen to swing at the same time.

Brycen looking through the telescope --checking for animals to hunt. He calls this his blind/lookout spot. 

It was a little bit of a chore to stain but for the price it was worth it! Fun for years to come!

Father's Day weekend

Brothers

Camping out- sort of

We finally had a weekend where we were home and with nice weather.  Brycen and Daddy attempted to camp out in the back yard.  Dad set up the camper and air mattress but when it got time to check in for the night he chickened out and decided to come inside.  

Burke was ok with his decision because it ended up getting pretty cold that night. 

Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy camping next dinner when Caden is a year older.

Outside Summer fun!

Two tall boys!

Burke and I knew we weren't going to have short kids.  So far both Brycen & Caden are pretty tall.  Brycen was 40" tall at his 3 year appointment and Caden has grown nesrly 3" in 3 months! 

We keep teasing Brycen that Caden will be bigger than he is and taller than he is.  He doesn't like it and it usually gets a funny reaction out of him.

Kitzman's

We were visited by Nathan, Amy and   Baby G.  Although she's really growing up do we might not be able to call her "baby" G anymore... Grayson will have to do.  :)

They visited for the day and we really enjoyed their company. They met Caden and Brycen got some wrestling and baseball time in with Nathan. 

Visits to see Kelly

Our dear friend Kelly has been fighting cancer and we were lucky enough to spend time with her while she received chemo treatments.  

Brycen got to go three times and Caden four. It was an opportunity for the boys to get out of the house.  All of the nurses sure loved seeing them, too.  Brycen was spoiled by snacks galore.  The last time we were there, Brycen ate so much food and spilled a little bit of juice that I didn't think they'd let us come back. 

Thankfully Kelly is getting better and prayers for healing are helping.

Happy Mothers Day!!

This year's Mother's Day was special for many reasons.  Not only because we now have Caden in our family, but because we were able to see both Grandma Fara and Grandma blanchard on Mothers Day. 

New do & Caden too!

This blog has been all about Brycen so far, that is about to change. The thought of keeping up with two blogs is exhausting and for many things will be redundant. 

So even though it's named Brycen's journey , it's more of the adventures of the Blanchard boys now. 

Here's an old pic of Brycen after a hair cut.  I've been cutting his hair and he usually does good... As long as I'm fast and he's distracted.  We're watching Lsnd Begore Time here.  

Brycen helping feed Caden 

I thought this pic was too funny not to share!

Welcome home Uncle Steve!

Welcome. Home Uncle Steve!  Over the weekend, Caden had the pleasure of meeting some very special family members. We traveled to Lincoln to meet Steve, Leigh, Logan, and Skylar from Kansas for the first time.  We also met up with uncle Kevin, Aunt Roxanne, Megan, Spencer, Brandon, Shaye, Landon, and Rylan. 

We had a shelter at a park reserved for lunch and boy, was it a beautiful day! Sunny, 85(+) degrees, and breezy. We even stopped at Cabellas in Omaha to buy some shorts because I failed to look closely at the weather.  

The kids had fun playing at the park that was within feet of the shelter and it had plenty of age-appropriate activities. 

Landon & Logan 

The boys all got baseball bats and balls so the Dads were pitching to them.  

Brycen & Logan

Megan holding Caden

Having fun with slingshots and marshmallows. 

Brycen didn't nap, but he was such a good boy .  He was zonked before we were far from Kevin & Roxannes house before we left Lincoln. 

We spent Sunday at the farm and Btycen had the time of his life with Grandpa feeding cows, checking on the baby calves, and finding the new baby kittens. 

The trip seemed so short, like always but we put about 700 miles on the highlander before the weekend was over. 

May Day

Happy May Day!

We loved making May Day baskets so much last year that we had to of it again this year.  We used popcorn, left over Easter candy, gummy worms, and suckers.  It was fun putting them together and Brycen really loved the act of taking the cups up to our neighbor's door steps, ringing the door bell, and RUNNING!

Caden helped, too! 

We did six of them and Brycen even enjoyed one himself. It was a cold, windy May Day so we hurried fast when delivering. I'm sure we lost a few kernels of pop corn along the way. 

Seasme Street Live

Elmo Can't Stop Singing!

Barcen had the best time going to the Cedar Rapids 5 seasons Center to see his very first concert. 

It was a special day and Mom picked him up from school early so he could have supper before Grandpa and Grandma Blanchard came to pick him up. 

He even wore an Elmo shirt and Oscar the grouch swearshirt. :) he had a blast and Gramps and a Grandma said he was just the very best behaved little boy. 

The next morning he was having such fun with his cookie monster/Elmo balloon!  He told me all about the story and was still excited about the whole experience!