A Quick Birthday Trip

My mom came up so that we could celebrate her birthday together, since she will be in Colorado with my brothers and their families on her actual 60th birthday.
We met at the Eden Prairie Mall.

The girls enjoyed following Kyce around while he played.

We had to get some shopping in, too!After the mall we stopped to swim at the Lifetime fitness outdoor pool in Maple Grove.

Then after dinner my mom and I went to get pedicures. It was a quick trip for her but we all had a great time and enjoyed the day!

Birthday Decorations

A very special girl turned 30 this week. So we decided to decorate her home for the celebration.

Her puppy even got in on the action.
We brought along little helpers so that we could set a great example and train them in the right way!

It is always more fun and creative when the guys help out!We waited in our cars silently so that we could give the Birthday Girl a
a hug!

FYI: If you are looking for some professional birthday decorators, give us a buzz.

Red Wing

One of my favorite things about summer is not being on a time frame. If we sleep in or stay up late, it doesn't matter. We can pick up and go if the weather is nice and hit the malls if it isn't. We can stay at home all day or be gone all day, it really is up to us. I especially love the flexibility of being able to meet up with Benjy when his schedule allows for it. It is a small window of opportunity that makes me love summers with the girls being out of school.
Last week we were able to make a quick trip to Red Wing.

It was a misty/hazy kind of day, but it was beautiful. It is really breath taking to see this little town nesteled in a green little valley with the mississippi running through it. The historic down town area is just best described as, "Cute."

We wanted to hit a couple of other shoes to pose on, but Kyce fell asleep in the car, so we couldn't venture more then a couple of feet away. It was a quick trip, but this was one of those, (Making the most out of our summer opportunties.)

Car Show

Last weekend we had fun at the Car Show at the State Fair Grounds.

This 56 was for sale for $18,000.
The girls had fun playing.
We had a blast walking around looking at the cars while searching for fair food.
Benjy got his Annabelle snuggles.The question wasn't, "what did we eat, it was what didn't we eat." The group had cheese curds, mini donuts, french fries, ice cream, steak sandwiches, pork chops on a stick and hot dogs. We look forward to going back again next year. We are trying to talk my dad into putting in his 56.

Hyland Park Reserve, A.K.A Chutes and Ladders & Como Zoo

We made a quick trip to the Chutes and Ladders Park. We went with the Hobbs when they were in town. I can't believe we didn't get any pictures with them. I am still sad about that!Our friends, the Kennedys. Cutest little family...
We then made a quick trip to the Como Zoo on our way home.
Karsyn is into making faces other than smiling.
Our friend Melissa, her sister Elizabeth and her two boys hung out with us at the zoo.
I use to have a hard time in the summer because I often felt like I had to pull out the referee whistle all day long in order to break up the nit picking. This summer, so far, fingers crossed, has been extremely enjoyable. We have enjoyed being outside when we can but have also had our lazy days enjoying reading and movies. I can only hope that the rest of the summer continues down this path. Kyce has loved playing with his sisters all day long.

Canal Park Take Two.

I love how everyone else is saluting but Kaydree is doing the Rock on or hang loose, not sure what?

One last trip there to say goodbye to some fun times in Duluth.

Non-Soccer Related Playtime in Duluth.

Canal Park, Take One. We went down to Canal Park to walk around and have dinner at Grandma's Sports Garden.
We actually got to see the lift bridge go up and down a couple of times.

The girls loved trying to skip rocks.

We had fun watching the seagulls but this was when the most guilt kicked in for not having Kyce with us. He loves Finding Nemo right now, and the seagulls that say, "Mine, Mine," sounded a lot like these seagulls and we know he would have been beside himself trying to catch them.
Hopping on the water stones. Kaydree actually wanted to wade in this water fountain.
We finished it off with Grandma's yummy ice cream.