Chad got home after a long road trip and Saturday morning he took his boy fishing - thanks to his cab driver for a good location suggestion! Matthew was so excited to go!
We got a bite!
Matthew is battling hard here...will the fish get away?
And the big catch!! Matthew's first Trout :-) He was then let go, so that he could swim back home.
Chad has been on the road for the past two weeks, so Nana spent lots of time helping out at the homestead. We were all ready to get out of the house, so last week we went to the Wildlife Park. I think it had been a good 20 years since either Mom or I had been there. It was a lovely day, so the kiddies were all decked out in the hats, shades, and sunscreen!
Matthew and Nana beside the deer
Matthew's favorite part of the park was the otters. One in particular was very playful and kept diving in and out of the pool and then over to the fence. You can see Matthew is quite preoccupied with the otters, while Sissy is haming it up for the camera as usual :-)
Matthew meeting the big bear...two nights later he woke up from a scary dream where a black bear was growling at him...
Nana and the babes on the way to see the baby goslings
Me and the babes walking through the wetlands
Sissy was pooped after a long morning and snoozed while Nana dragged her up the stairs.
Matthew has recently started his first organized sport activity - gymnastics! He really enjoys it and always has a blast on the trampoline (above), bars (below), beam, mats, rope, etc. Last week was teddy bear week, so Teddy made the trip too...and seems to be having a great time!
Matthew is a bit of a monkey on the bars :-)
Cheese!! 
This weekend we went to the Valley to visit with Sean, Cathy and Baby Shay. Chad and I were thrilled to be at the hospital when our first nephew was born last week on April 29, but we both had colds and didn't get a chance to hold him. Plus this was our first chance to visit Shay with the whole family. The day before several people at Walmart had referred to Anna as a little boy, so here is my pretty girl in a dress :-)
Anna and Shay - what a big boy!! He is so adorable and cuddly!
All three of the Smith cousins :-) 
The other night when it was time for bed we could not find Teddy anywheres. We looked high and low, and poor Matthew was beside himself saying "Mafew miss Teddy". He finally was semi-asleep by 10:20pm (extremely late for Matthew - but Teddy has not missed a betime for well over two years), when Chad spotted Teddy in the chandelier - good grief!!
This was a special alumni tournament as it was Matthew's first time watching his Dad play in a bball game and it was the last year that the tournament will be held in this gym - the new one is set to open in the fall. Matthew loves basketball and was very interested in when it would be his turn to play. Half time and game end were highlights as he got to dribble, dunk, and have some of Chad's gatorade. But he also enjoyed cheering "Go Daddy Go"!
Here is Anna sporting her cool dude shades from Nana - she has also started loving the camera and hams it up all the time!
Around mid-April, Sissy Anna finally became mobile -- though I find it hard to say "finally" as she started crawling a month and a half before her brother did. But it was finally for her - Anna had been creeping backwards for some time and was ever so frustrated with not being able to get going forward. Well she's off now!! Yeah Anna!!