An afternoon in Stillwater...

One of Jay's and my favorite places to go for the day is Stillwater. We love to walk down by the river and watch the boats, go window shopping, and eat lunch out on one of the many patios offered. Matter of fact this was where we spent the day just two days before giving birth to ET. I can remember so clearly how bored Jay and I were that Memorial Day weekend. We had everything washed and ready, and the house was spotless. We were so bored we just wanted me to go in labor so we had soemthing to do! HA! Wow - wouldn't I love for a weekend to just be bored now. :)
We recently went to Stillwater on a date for our 7 year anniversary and it was blissful. We ate dinner at The Luna Rossa and had a drink at Reve's 324 while we watched live music.
On Friday, we planned to spend the afternoon in Stillwater again and so I told ET we were going somewhere fun. After a about an hour of window shopping he said to me, "Mommy, going to stores is not fun." I couldn't believe it! The day has finally come where ET realizes that shopping and running errands is not exactly fun. Up until now he was always so content to get out of the house and sight see different places and people. He wasn't at all upset, he just wanted something fun to do. Luckily Stillwater was celebrating Lumberjack Days, and so there was plenty of rides to surprise him with just near the river. This definitely put a smile on his face. :)





There were about six different large jumping apparatuses to choose from. ET also chose to go down a large blown-up tiger mouth slide. I accidentally erased my pic of this.

Check out the water level!!! We normally walk this path when we go down to the river. It must have been at least 6 feet higher than what it normally is!

YIKES! I'm not sure how even small boats are getting under the bridge at this point.

A Trip to the Beach!

We headed over to Lake Elmo on Thursday. This was the day the heat index finally dropped low enough to do something outside again. The kids had a blast! This was Nate's first time swimming, and he wasn't the least bit nervous about the water. We stayed for a few hours and had a picnic lunch. It was a nice time spent together.

Vaca continued...

On Tuesday, we really didn't do much of anything during the day. We kind of needed a day to recoup from Valleyfair the day prior. We stayed inside and did a bit of shopping. On Tuesday evening, the boys had their first official drop-off playdate and so Jay and I went on a date to Olive Garden (thank you Barb, you're an angel!). On Wednesday, we went bowling and out for lunch with Mary and the girls.

This was Nate's second time bowling, but I really wouldn't even consider it his first time yet. He really took no involvement in the game because he is still just too young. As you can tell Nate looked a little bored. After a little while he discovered the car video game where you can "drive" with the pretend steering wheel. He hung out near the arcade games and played with this the majority of the time and really seemed to enjoy himself. The rest of the time, he got a kick from walking up and down the ramp at the end of the alley. :)

ET went with the ramp for one game and then just rolled it for the second game. Make a mental note...when bowling with a four-year old, plan for double the amount of time. It takes forever for that ball to get down the lane. :)

Valleyfair...

On Monday we spent the entire day at Valleyfair. With the help of Great Gma Mavis, this has become a tradition for our family. The heat nearly did us in, but we still managed to have a great time. We made a point to go on a water ride regularly to stay cool, and luckily the employees didn't stop us from bringing in our own water bottles.
Here is a photo of all us (minus Nate - he spent the day with Gma Darlyn)...






I thought it was torture enough for the ride employees to wear bottom-up collar shirts, but this was unreal. I don't know how this person could even breathe in this costume! The heat was nearly unbearable.

I think ET still needs to grow another 6 inches before he can go on any of the larger rides. I'm not sure what I will do when that day comes...I think I will be more nervous than him.

Our vacation...

Both Jay and I were off of work last week. We had such a great time spending time with family (Mary and her girls were in town), and just enjoying life. We hosted a BBQ on Sunday (July 17th), but afterward I made a point to not really do any cooking all week. We ate out or ate simple and easy dinners thrown together last minute. I picked up a few essentials at the grocery store mid-week, but that was really all we needed. Although I love cooking, It was such a treat to not have to plan any big meals. It was also such a treat for Jay to be with me and the boys the whole week. I will have to post pictures in segments when I get the time.

To start here are pictures of the family at our house on Sunday for the BBQ...

We celebrated Gma Darlyn, Papa Bob, ET, Morgan, Hailey, and Jacob's birthdays!





Unfortunately, we needed to be inside the whole first half of the week because of a pretty major heat wave. The kids still stay entertained by playing downstairs with the daycare toys. They got a little silly and tried on all the costumes.

Then they wanted the parents to dress up. Luckily, Uncle Scott and Auntie Mary were good sports about it. :)

ET's Four Year Pics...

We had these pictures taken of ET in the middle of June. We had planned to take them sooner to his actual birthday, but I needed to cancel the first appointment I had scheduled because he gave himself a black eye. Yes, he actually gave himself a black eye! How you ask? Well, he was so upset that he didn't get to the green swing first when going outside with his friends that he decided to close his eyes and throw a giant temper tantrum. He accidentally ran right into the nearby red swing. Laughable, I know, but if you have a four-year-old boy, you know how temper tantrums can get sometimes. :)
So, I simply rescheduled the appointment for two weeks out. The day before the next appointment ET fell twice while running out in the cul-de-sac and skinned up his arm pretty good. A few cuts an scrapes didn't matter all that much too me so we kept our appointment. The day of, ET took a bath and got in his nice clothing. Just minutes before leaving the house he was playing with Nate and crashed into the couch and gave himself a very fat and bloody lip. I am lucky I caught the blood before it hit his nice white shirt I had dressed him in. I wasn't going to cancel the appointment last minute so I gave him some ice and hoped for the best. Luckily the pics turned out fine and you would never have known any better. :)

4th of July Weekend continued...

On Monday, July 4th, we headed over to Eagan to watch the parade. We felt a little sad that we were rained out of our own city's parade this year, so we felt the need to make up for it.




It was fun to see my old high school's marching band. I don't feel that old, but boy did they all look young. :)

ET was so sensitive to the noises. He was still very scared of the fire engine's sirens going off.


Nate didn't mind the noises a bit. I felt bad just leaving him in his stroller, but he was just so content.



It was a pretty big parade...KS95 was even there. Here's a laugh for you...

Some lady actually came and handed out a handful of warm M&M's. Yes, opened - from her hand to Jay's hand. I laughed pretty good at that one. :) On the other hand Jimmy John's was there and they were handing out cold mini subs from coolers on their floats. I was handed a delicious cold sub and Jay got the handful of opened and warm M&M's. Ha! I shared though...I'm nice. :)

After catching up with a few old friends in Eagan, we came back home for a late lunch and a very late nap. ET napped from 2-5pm, and Nate from 2-4:30!!! I actually took a much needed nap myself during their rest, and so it turned into a pretty lazy afternoon for us. Afterward, we filled up the pool again for the boys and just grilled a late dinner for ourselves. The goal was to get the boys to stay up late to watch the fireworks. We were successful considering we got home at about 10:15 and both boys still were not exactly tired. Luckily, though they fell asleep and slept until about 9am the next morning. :)

My "attempt" at a cute picture of the boys with Eddie in front of the flowers...



Making his hair "spiky and cool."


Muscle Man!!!!!

Update: ET can make it all the way across on the monkey bars!!!



Daddy teaching Nate how to eat his first corn on the cob.

Another couple attempts at a cute pic in their matching red and blue outfits...


This year we watched the fireworks from the truck. The boys LOVED it!!!!





Tuesday was our last day before starting work again and so I wanted to make the most of it. The boys slept in late, but as soon as they woke we headed over to Chutes and Ladders for an afternoon of FREE fun!
This park is awesome for all ages...highly recommended! Our nanny use to take me and my sisters here when we were little and I used to take the kids I was nanny for here as well.









After Chutes and Ladders we had lunch at our favorite pizza place (PUNCH) and then headed over to Afton Apple to pick strawberries. YUM!

Don't be deceived by this pic. He may look like a hard worker but I had to bribe him with a honey stick, and any strawberries he did find he just ate for himself. :)

Nate just enoyed picking up piles of straw and throwing them. Oh, and running from me and laughing. It's pretty hard to pick strawberries when you are constantly chasing after a one-year-old. It was still a great time with family and a great experience for the boys.

Jay did most of the picking, but I'd say a half hour of work was pretty fruitful for us.


Honey sticks!!!



The weather this weekend was absolutely perfect! We had a great fourth of July weekend and we hope you did too. :)