A quick trip to the state fair!

After work on Thursday I took the boys to the state fair by myself. It is tradition for my sister and her family to go every year on this Thursday, and so we always meet up with them and my parents. Unfortunately, this year Jay's volleyball conflicted with our plans and he was not able to come along. I was a little nervous to head down there on my own so I decided to take the bus. It was so easy and the boys loved it!
By the time we got there and met up with the rest of the family it was already 6:20pm. After a couple bites to eat and a few rides with the kids, it was already 9pm, and we were on our way home again. The kids were in bed a little past 10pm, but neither of them were the least bit crabby. Nate was so happy on the bus ride home, that he sang (in his own language, of course) all the way home. The people around us had a quite a show to watch. They all thought he was just adorable, and I would have to agree. :)

The boys very first official bus ride!

Rides...rides...rides...





Of course we didn't leave without a chocolate malt! I learned my lesson from last year, and got one for each of us. It is shocking how much ice cream this kid can eat!

Nate was just happy as could be in his stroller. Matter of fact, I let him out once and he wanted to get right back in. I think all the people was a little much for him. He was just content sitting back, relaxing and watching the crowd. I tried to get Nate to eat a corn dog, but he only took a few bites. Later on I bought him mini-donuts, and he devoured those! :) Not a great dinner, but it was a special day.

Jay and I plan on going together with the kids this Saturday. I am excited for the boys to see all the animals.

I am not exactly proud of my array of pictures to show. I would have liked to have taken a picture of the boys with all of their cousins. However, keeping track of two kids at the state fair doesn't exactly offer many opportunities for a free hand to take lots of pictures. :)

Ladies Night...

On Wednesday last week I enjoyed a night with just the ladies. We all met at Crave in the Mall of America (one of my favorite places). We enjoyed sushi and girly drinks together! :)

Owie...

While eating dinner last night ET said, "Mommy, my finger has a reflection."

I told him I am not quite sure what that means.

He replied, "Well, it hurts. So what does that mean?"

Luckily daddy was listening in...Jay answered, "It means you think you have an infection." :)

A movie with Cousin Sam!

Last week my sister and her family were in town. On Tuesday I took ET and Sam to the new Smurfs movie. I left a little early from work (5:00) so that we could catch the 5:45 movie. I stopped in Jimmy John's to pick up some sandwiches for their dinner. We also bought some water and popcorn at the theater.
Here is a pic of the boys eating their sandwiches...


The boys did a great job sitting nicely and quietly for the movie and only needed one potty break. The movie was great, but a lot of it was over their heads. They still understood the good guy/bad guy gist of it though.

After the movie we stopped for some ice cream before dropping off Sam at Grandma & Papa's house. Surprisingly ET passed up eating all of his ice cream so that he could hop around from bench to bench with Sam. :)

Silly faces...

Prankster!

The other day we sent ET out in the backyard to play for a bit. He thought it would be clever to sneak around to the front yard and ring the doorbell. Not knowing it was him, we went to answer it like normal, and he went running. He ran around the house to the garage door and walked in the house laughing enormously at what he had just done. Then he very loudly said, "Did you hear that mommy, I dinged the ding-dong!"
He just thought he was soooo funny. Of course, I was laughing too, but for different reasons. :)

Summer Fun!

I just wanted to share these fun pics...

Our friend Addison has allowed us to use her bounce house temporarily with the daycare kids. Needless, to say we are putting it to good use!


On their own, the kids started playing "Ring Around the Rosie" one day recently. I loved that I could catch this on camera. Seriously, it doesn't get any sweeter than this.

Newport Pioneer Day

A couple of weekends ago we headed over to Newport to enjoy the very small festival they put on each year. Our favorite part is the unlimited corn on the cob for just $2.50.

The parade...
This parade was perfect! It had all the major trucks the boys would want to see, but it only lasted about 20 minutes.


This was the first time I let Nate out of his stroller for a parade. Apparently there must not have been a whole of people watching the parade. We were at the end of the route and they were nearly emptying their buckets of candy on us. I laughed hysterically because the first couple times someone threw candy, Nate got up and threw it back at them! :)

Check out that loot!

They had a bounce house there. The kids could go for free and for as long as they like.

Yummy!

Yes, that is my hand feeding Nate his corn. He liked it, but for some reason this time he didn't want to touch it.

August 5-7...Our Weekend Family Getaway...

Our friends (Steve and Andra) invited us to Andra's hometown to stay a weekend at her Mom and Step-dad's resort (Grandma Jean and Papa Ken) in Grand Rapids. We told ET we were going to Addie's cabin. :)
They let us stay in their two bedroom, plus one den suite. That meant each of us had our own room. If was a perfect setup for us and the boys. The drive was about four hours and although Nate got whiny at times, I would say both kids did very well. After completing a successful car ride this long, I feel like more freedom has been given to us. :)
We left right at 5:30 on Friday night and arrived around 9:30. The boys were awake the whole way up, and settled down in their beds pretty much right away. They were both so excited about their new surroundings that neither one of them showed any fear of sleeping in a new and different place.
On Saturday, we woke to a BEAUTIFUL view of Pokegama Lake! It really was just gorgeous! We ate breakfast out on the deck, but it wasn't long before the kids were begging to go swimming in the lake. The rest of the weekend we had a really nice time soaking up the scenery and playing outside. The kids got along great and had a lot of fun. ET thought Grandma Jean and Papa Ken were "really nice." Addison started at our daycare the following Monday, and so the weekend allowed us the perfect chance for us to get more acquainted and comfortable with each other.

Our early morning swim...




Jay's attempt at a cannon ball...he claimed he was too full from breakfast to get much lift. :)



I bet these boys will be pretty good buddies over the years...






Fishing off the dock...


Here are the men fishing with the Barbie fishing poles...



I have to say though, those Barbie fishing poles weren't too bad. Steve caught the first fish of the day and ET came running. He immediately grabbed it without any hesitation. I was a little shocked, but well...that's a boy for ya!


ET went running to get a bucket and fill it with water to keep the fish in...

I love how Addie is hiding behind his back. :)

A boy, a fish, and a dog...it doesn't get any cuter than that. :)
That's Lacey by the way. Grandma Jean and Papa Ken have two big dogs (Lacey and Brandy), and Steve and Andra have two small dogs (Gizmo and Gadget). All the dogs were up at the cabin, and so ET and Nate definitely had their fun times playing with them.

Addie's still a little skeptical...


So sweet...I just wonder what he is thinking. :)

Like I said...those Barbie fishing poles weren't too bad. Steve caught this very large Bass. Addison is still not so sure about the fish...too cute!



Sweet little Jacob sat so contently playing on the beach. He also ate his fair share of seashells. I love these pics!




Next up was a boat ride...the sights were gorgeous and some of the homes on the lake were AMAZING!


A look back at the resort.





We spotted an eagle in its nest.

Beautiful...


Papa Ken let ET drive the boat...so cool!

After making it back, we headed out one more time for a quick ride on the paddle boat. ET wanted so badly to be in charge of the steering, but he kept making us go in circles so we had to take over. :)

After our paddle boat ride it was time to come in and get washed up for dinner, but the kids couldn't resist get wet in the lake one last time (good thing we brought lots of extra clothes). I shot these pics of Nate...probably my favorite pics of the weekend. Check out that adorable smile!



On Sunday we spent the morning at the town festival. Addie got some cotton candy and shared it with ET. It was at this moment that she said to ET, "You're cute, and I'm gonna marry you." :)

Blue tongues!

ET hugging the Hawaiian Ice penguin. Nate let me carry him over to the penguin, but he did not want to touch him or give him a high-five - he didn't cry though.

Yum...Fair food! Corn dogs are one ET's favorites.



We watched the lumberjack show. It definitely kept the kiddo's attention - they loved it!


The log rolling was by far the coolest part of the show. Yikes! That sport is dangerous.

ET getting an autograph on a scrap of wood. :)


Well, if you got to the bottom of this post you might think that I live behind the camera. However, these pics were an accumulation of Andra's and my own. Hope you enjoyed all the pics...it is important for me to archive everything because who knows what I will forget someday. :)

The weekend was a lot of fun! Thank you Steve and Andra!!!!