Welcome Spring!

More like, welcome summer!  Today was about 70 degrees, simply glorious for Minnesota in March.  Grandpa A is visiting, so we put him to work helping move the outdoor furniture to the deck, walking to the playground and pushing kids on the swings.  Then after our THIRD, yes, THIRD meal on the grill this week and our first outside, Grandpa treated us to the recently-reopened-for-the-season Dairy Queen! 

N's pre-DQ swinging smiles

I love you, DQ!

Ice cream cone refresher course for M

Curly Q

Thanks, Grandpa!

P.S. See those girls in the background?  They were running around shortly after this pic (and a bit too close to the road for my comfort) and N was watching them intently, desperately wanting to run with them.  Then they all piled into a minivan and took off.  We hadn't spoken to the family at all, but as they drove away, N called out, waving, "Bye, bye, pink one!  Bye, bye green one!"  So funny that he's already watching the girls! 

Where's Papa?

"Don't touch the trains" at Choo-Choo Bob's!  Not the model trains, anyhow.

At Blue Door Pub in St. Paul, featured on the Food Network last month.  Guy Fieri was right - the Blucy's are delicious!

He went home to Michigan.
Where's Grandma?
She went home to Michigan.
Where's Daddy?
He's working in Miami.
Where's brudder?
He's right next to you, silly!

The fellas aren't quite into the "why" stage yet, but they are definently into "What's that?"  "Where's this?" and "I want more ______!" which basically sums up our entire lunchtime conversation today.  The guys are reminiscing about our fun weekend with my parents, occasionally saying, "Don't touch the trains!" because they were grabbing the model trains off the tracks at Choo Choo Bob's, and "pet the piggie oink! oink!" because we visited the birthing barn at the fair, and "I want donuts!" because we bought apples and apple donuts at the orchard yesterday. 

Our visitors have gone home, Daddy's gone to work, even the neighbor kids have returned to school and it's me and the guys today, cleaning house and doing laundry.  I get a little sappy on the first day of school, when my teacher friends go back to work and my mommy friends send their children off to school and enjoy an entire day of SILENCE.  Honestly, I'm envious.  Do you KNOW how much housework I could (theoretically) get done in 6 hours?! Only three years until I have a clean house - when I send them off to kindergarden.

But how can I complain?  I had coffee, a sunny morning, and two busy boys completely occupied by their red cozy coupes this morning.  Best of all, the mosquitoes are gone!  There was an occasional argument over whose rock was whose, since they were filling the cars with landscaping rocks and leaves in order to transport said items to a different area of the yard, but who cares?  Well, Daddy does, but they are entertained for hours doing this, so I don't stop them. 

Sharky's been put away and fall has officially begun.  I'm off to fold laundry and start packing the boys' summer clothes away and creating an inventory of fall clothes so I know what I need to buy at the MVMOM sale in two weeks.  Hurray fall!

Minnesota State Fair Fun!

Boy oh boy are we having a good time with Grandma and Papa this weekend!  I'm just going to put up a couple of State Fair pics right now, though, because today was a blast!  Hubs and I started going when we moved here in '04 and made it a 'family tradition,' which we've missed for two years now, so it was extra special today.  I haven't had my Dairy Barn ice cream in three years - yikes!  Here are some highlights:

We started the morning off right - with N's first ever fried cheese curd.

More cheese!  More cheese!  M was begging until they were all gone.

Mom and Dad with Hubs and the guys, also enjoying their first fried cheese curds - at 10:30 am!

We went straight to the Miracle of Life barn, where the baby animals are on display.

M was trying to catch the piglet's tail!

Our cute little piglets!

For lunch, what's better than a corn dog? N didn't like sharing it.

M was in HEAVEN driving the tractors on machinery hill!  We could've stayed there all day.

They didn't like sharing tractors much, either, but we made them.

A great place to relax - the lactation station, where we changed diapers and just lounged around, playing with the toys set out for the older siblings.  Who cares that no one was lactating?

Farmer N collects his eggs at the Little Farm Hands display.

Noshing on Sweet Martha's Cookies and 1919 rootbeer before heading out

Me my little piggie at home

What we didn't take a photo of, but should have, was the big bus we rode from the park and ride.  To the delight of our fellow riders, we sang "The Wheels on the Bus," all the way there and back - the guys were just thrilled to actually see and touch wheels of a bus and then ride on it!  They talked about it all the way home.  We'll be talking about their first trip to the Minnesota State Fair for years to come - or one, until we go back next year.

Staycation Adventures

What a week!  Please excuse my absence, readers - I've been on wonderful adventures with my in-laws during our "staycation."  Everyone made their way to our place to spend some family time together - by car, by plane, and by semi-truck - no joke!  It was so much fun to be a tourist in our own area - we got to do some activities that we haven't done yet in all of our seven years here in the Twin Cities.  You know what the best part of vacationing at home is?  You guessed it- sleeping in your own bed! 

Here are a few shots of Sunday and Monday, our first Staycation days spent in our town and then a few hours at the Mall of America, because what Minnesota vacation can be had without that?, after picking Mom up at the airport.

Grandma and M play the bongos at the Best Buy MOA

They didn't heed the "Please Don't Feed"

Dwinka wadda?

Aunt L and N play at the Legos store at the MOA

We kind of took over the joint

My in-laws amazed our server with their Bubba Gump trivia knowledge!

M was amazed only with the ping pong paddle

Okay, and Forrest's shoes!

Tuesday was a special day because we drove up to Stillwater and took a paddleboat luncheon cruise down the St. Croix River.  Not only was the weather perfect - and it has been all week, praise the Lord! - but the food was good and the boys were well-behaved, something I was a teensy bit nervous about.  What nut takes all of her in-laws and twin toddlers on a humongous 18th-century, two-hour paddleboat ride? Me.

Cool boy N, Grandpa, and M

N was quite snuggly and silly with my sunglasses!

All Aboard!

exploring the boat before we lift anchor

Don't kiss me, Aunt sheeshee!

Boo hoo! N spent a bit of time on the deck howling about something - like he can't jump overboard.

Upstairs, downstairs!  The boys can talk Grandpa into anything!

I said the weather was grand, didn't I?  So that evening we surprised Grandpa with his favorite cake, Pineapple Upside Down cake, which I'd never before made but everyone ate it so I guess it was ok, for his birthday (next week) and all settled down for a bonfire with s'mores.

There were grey clouds overhead but it looked like the weather was to the north of us and was going to miss us.  Hubs had a nice little fire going when we brought the fellas, freshly bathed and covered in long sleeves and socks to protect them from the evening skeeters, down the fire.  They were so tickled and thought that being outside in their pj's was the funniest thing!  We were outside for maybe 15 mintues, M was aways off "mowing" the lawn when

BOOM!

The loudest crack of thunder any of us have ever heard rattled the trees and our ears!  We all dropped low to the ground as bright lightning flashed all around us for a few seconds.  Then we grabbed our kids and our cameras and rushed inside to watch the downpour!  We were a bit rattled and had to watch an episode of "Imagination Movers" to take our minds off the fact that we had been nearly killed by lightning!

Parent-Free Vaca

It seems appropriate that the boys' vacation should be called Parent Free if ours was Adults Only, right?  We left them in the competent hands of my parents and sister-in-law, as well as my parents and sister.  They traded back and forth!

The first day, I called right away to check on them.  Aunt L told me that N cuddled with her in the morning, asking "Daddy ok?"  Yes, she told him, Daddy's ok.  "Mommy ok?"  Yes, Mommy's ok, too. "Ok."  He was satisfied with that.

A dream come true for N!  He got to open and close the door 100 times - AND sing "wheels on the bus!"

I guess they didn't miss us too much after that.  M waved to the photo my mother-in-law keeps on an endtable in the living room "Hi Mommy!  Hi Daddy!"  He also told them that "Daddy at work at the airport," and "Mommy in the other room."  I was in the other room for 5 days, but he didn't seem to mind!

M ate the WHOLE thing!  Free popsicle day at Junction Valley Railroad

The fellas went on more excursions than we did!  They played at a neighborhood playground, rode the quarter sized trains at Junction Valley Railroad, ate at Zehnder's and took a carriage ride in Frankenmuth, swam at Sanford Beach, AND visited the Saginaw Children's Museum!  Whew, I get exhausted just thinking about it!  The boys are sleeping like rocks this week, so I guess they're recovering from the vacation as well. :)

tractors and busses and grandpa, oh my!

a little unsure of that tunnel coming up...

all smiles on the carriage ride with a horse named Ernie

we love chicken, yes we do, we love chicken, how about you?

I'm having difficulty recovering the pics of the boys at Sanford Lake with my folks and my sister, but Aunt M told me this: that they played at the splash park then had lunch.  A fence separated the picnic area from the beach. M said, "going to the beach!" and slipped between the posts, running toward the water.  My sister said her great big skinny little behind couldn't fit through the rails, but she pushed her way through because she wouldn't make it to the end of the fence to go through the gate before he hit the water!  She told him they had to finish lunch first and dragged him back.  My brilliant son told her upon returning to the picnic, "Going to the beach!" and did it again!  This time, lunch was finished and they schlepped the beach chairs and whatnot to the sand.

"Why did you bring those?" my mom asked her, indicating the chairs.

Aunt M told her she always brings them, that HER sons play in the sand and splash in the water while she reads a trashy novel  magazine.

Needless to say, Aunt M didn't get any reading done.  In fact, she never unfolded a chair.

Heh, heh.

We'll see if they're up for it again next summer because we've already made reservations for two in Kona because the boys had so much fun they're already asking for vacation again!

Update: Here are the Sanford Lake pics - it was near 100 degrees that day, extremely hot for MI!  What a great way to stay cool!

M likes to give his trucks a bath

N on two feet, though I'm told he liked crawling like a dog in the water.  Go figure.

Uncle A Week

We have had SUCH a busy week!  I'm sorry to have left you hanging, faithful readers!  I won't bore you with the details because we have so many fantastic highlights!  Uncle A is in town with us for a whole week and they boys are in love with him.  "Uncle A sleeping?" is the first think M says every morning!  And yes, Uncle A is always up last - I think he's enjoying his "vacation." 

We spent Wednesday morning at the MN Zoo with Uncle A and Grandpa A, where we snapped some cute photos in the chicken coop and the play area:

Daddy had Thursday off, so we explored River Bend Nature Center nearby. We told the boys we were going on a hike, and M was so excited he said, "Hike! Hike! Hike!" all the way there!  What's even funnier is that we were trying to buy sandwiches to take on our picnic and we had to stop a few times to finally find a place that was open (thank heaven's for Jimmy John's!) and each time we stopped the van, M would ask, "Eat-eat?  Eat-eat-time? Hike! Hike?"  Poor kid was so confused!  But we made it and it was worth the effort! 

Uncle, Daddy and two little indians

Rollin' on the River...

Here are some more MN Zoo pics...not sure why Blogger won't let me move them around today, but I'd rather you see them out of order than not at all!  Today Daddy had to go to work again, so Uncle A went with us to ECFE.  We promised him a good time at the end-of-the year school picnic and vehicle fair after class - we know he only went to see the fire engines - but it got rained out!  So we punted and had an impromptu party at McDonald's playplace with our two-year-old twin friends from school!  Unfortunately, we don't have any pics of the dozen two year olds and parents, but I promise you it was quite a sight!  And uncle A was quite a sport, climbing up into the two-story play structure with the fellas.  He said it was fun, but then someone (not my kid) was really stinky, which just may be what ended the playtime.

We have just one more day with Uncle A, but it's supposed to rain again tomorrow - boo!  We'll still hope that it will be nice enough to go out for a little bit because we think the farmer's market starts tomorrow! 

Peep! Peep!  I'm about to hatch!