Month: August 2012

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Minnesota State Fair – 2012

Time once again for the Great Minnesota Get Together!! Our trip tonight was quasi planned, but we were originally going to wait because it was supposed to be SO hot. Thankfully, the heat held off  a bit, and it was actually a very nice night out. We had a lot of fun and thankfully it wasn’t too crowded. We took the shuttle direct from the Mall of America. Definitely saved us a lot of aggravation! And the kids got a kick out of riding on the bus 🙂

Our first stop after arriving at the Fair was the Miracle of Birth Barn. The kids loved seeing all of the little babies! We saw Mama and Baby Pigs, Cows/Calves, Goats and Sheep. We were even “lucky” enough to watch the birth of one of the calves on wide screen TV before we left. While Jim and I watched, we had hoped Evan wasn’t paying attention. unfortunately for us, he did see it and had many a questions for us. Regardless, he was insistent that he did NOT want to go see it again.

After the Miracle of Life Barn (which I still think was pretty cool!) we headed over to get a bite to eat. Corn Dogs, Pronto Pups and Bloomin Onion were on the menu for dinner. After eating so well the past few months, that was quite the gut bomb! Afterwards we headed over to the raging river where I managed to get SOAKED. From there it was the Reptile Barn, Cotton Candy (which for some odd reason scared Emma) and then the Merry Go Round. By then it was about time to head home. But what a wonderful time we had! This was really the first year that the kids were old enough to understand what was going on. We plan on going back once more before the fair ends.

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Sunday Home Reno!

I remember when I was younger still living at home, I loved to watch This Old House, week after week, seeing how it would progress over time. I always thought how nice it would be to live in such an estate, or to even do some of the repairs myself.

Over time,I have tried a few myself; we redid the kitchen in our home while I was pregnant with Evan. We completely landscaped our back yard; I replaced the floor in our beloved three season porch. So what is next???

Well, I guess you could say I had the seven year itch. We have been here seven years, and have had the same dreary bathroom that entire time. Enough time had passed for me to “Just Do It” and that I did! Unbeknownst to Jim, I took a trip to Home Depot earlier this morning, and purchased a new vanity and flooring for our upstairs bathroom. Nothing crazy – not looking to sink too much into this house. So off I went! Tile by tile, inch by inch, I tore out what had to be close to original tile in the bathroom (some of which has come up over the past year or so). The room soon became very musty! But onwards I pressed.

Soon the dark bathroom looked even darker, as ripping the tile out did nothing for the room :). But slowly as the vanity came out, and the new floor and sink went in, it began to take shape. It isnt my dream bathroom, and it isnt the best work that could have been done. But the sink doesnt leak, the floor is sealed, and it doesnt look like a 5 year old did it. So I guess I consider that a success!

Now we have to sand down the walls, paint them, then buy new fixtures for the bathroom, and that will be it! Shoudl stay well below the $1K mark which was more then my allottment in the first place!

Thank you to my sweet husband for coming to my rescue when I realized I couldnt do ALL of it myself! And to my little boy for helping me lift those “heavy tiwles mommy. Im stwong!”

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I Love You…And Thank You!

Self admittingly, I have behind on the blog 🙂 But while I am catching up, I wanted to post a quick message to everyone who we had to say “See You Later” to yesterday and today.

Saying goodbye is never easy, but after this last trip, it is particularly difficult to leave.

Our first week home, was so refreshing to see everyone. The joy on the kids faces to be able to play with their cousin Alex, and to be surrounded by the warmth and love of our family was comfort beyond words. The ease in my mind and my heart while on this trip is unsurpassed. Thank you Mommy, Daddy, Jay and Angela, and of course “Baby Awex” for bringing that peace to my heart! I love you all a bushel and a peck! Nonni and Pop, we cant wait to see you for the kids’ birthdays!!!

Our second week brought us to Vermont, where that warmth and love continued. Never have we had a trip such as this time. To have Grandma and Grandpa there to visit, but then to have Aunt Heidi, Uncle Bruce, Shane, Chelsea and Waseem with us, was a time never to be forgotten. I have been coming out to Vermont for quite a few years now and this past week’s trip was one of the most enjoyable, relaxing, fun and did I say enjoyable? Trips.

Thank you to everyone for making this such a memorable trip not only for the kids, but for all of us. Jim and I love you so much. And we cant wait to see you again soon. As the tears run down my face, my heart is comforted by all of the memories fresh in my mind from our wonderful trip this year. XXOO

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East Coast Trip 2012 Day 9 – August 14

Good Morning Fairlee Vermont!!! You know, before we left, Jim reminded me that evenings in Vermont tended to get very cool. I didnt believe him though, and ignored his request to bring warm clothes for myself. I did bring some for the kids though, you know, just to keep him happy. Little did I know he would be RIGHT. Oh well, there is a first time for everything!

My loves!!

 

Emma and Elise awaiting launch.

 

Tuesday morning we rose to a beautiful day. The cabin was wonderful – just what we needed for the four of us. It provided ample room for us all to sleep, and gave us a place to take a break for naps, etc during the day. After waking up, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for breakfast – Bacon and Pancakes with real Vermont Maple Syrup! (Hense my first day falling off the diet wagon). It was sooo good that we decided to take a walk in the warm morning sun, and burn off some of the calories. We had a very relaxed morning, just what we needed. We headed back to the cabin after lunch, and took a nap. All four of us!! When we woke up, we headed back to Gramma and Granpas. We had a great visit with Jim’s cousin Eban, Lena and Elise! Evan, Emma, and Elise had a great time playing together! Shayne worked on launching apples to the geese via the homemade treveche. And of course Dad was right there to help out whenever possible! The first launch didnt

generate great results. The men determined there wasnt enough weight associated with the hinge to launch the apple appropriately. So they decided adding some horseshoes was a good idea, for some additional weight. The second launch proved to be a

Emma watched intentely…

bit too successful, lanching the apple clear over the geese. The third was a “success” being that the apple landed within reach of the geese, albiet a little close for the geese’s comfort! It was a TON of fun just watching the kids just be curious about what was going on. Evan wanted to know everything that was going on. “Granpa, what is it. What does it do?” and there were lots of “Why’s” Too! But to see them so inquisitive and curious was just so much fun! I know my Grandpa would have loved to do the same with the kids 🙂 So its wonderful to see my kids have that same experiences with their Granpa.

After a night sitting by the “Fire Camp” as Evan calls it, we called it a night and headed back to the cabin. It was such a great day…

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East Coast Trip 2012 Day 8 – August 13

We are on the road again! This time it was a relatively short jaunt to see Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Heidi, Uncle Bruce, Chelsea, Waseem and Shayne in beautiful Vermont. We left relatively close to baptisms which made the drive pretty easy! When we arrived around dinner time, the kids started playing right off. They just love to run around in the back yard there. And It was wonderful to see the kids explore and be free.

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Monday night, Waseem and Chelsea headed out for a walk, while we all stayed close to the house.  We knew they were going on a hot air balloon ride, so we were all anxiously awaiting the launch of the balloon.

Little did we know that Waseem was planning to propose to Chelsea! Congratulations to Chelsea and Waseem on your engagement!!

After the excitement of the night, we all sat around the fire talking and relaxing. What a great first night in Vermont. After dark, we headed over to Silver Maple Lodge in Fairlee. What a great place to stay!!

East Coast Trip 2012 Day 7 – August 12

Sunday, August 12 marked the end of our first week on our East Coast 2012 Trip. But the day proved to be fun as always.

Early in the afternoon, we traveled to my mom Celeste’s house to celebrate Billy’s homecoming from the Navy, before venturing off to Japan for the next three years. We are proud of Billy’s accomplishments but will miss him greatly while he is gone !

  

But we greatly enjoyed the time we had together at Celeste’s house. Billy spent a lot of time playing with the kids in the pool (thank you Billy!!) and the kids really enjoyed themselves again. I swear Evan learns to swim a little more each time his feet hit that water!

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Later in the day, Jim and I got to take a 10 mile bike ride down the Rail Trail. It felt so good to get out and stretch our legs. It was a beautiful ride through the woods – I cant believe I never knew that we had such beauty so close to my home. Afterwards, we came back home for a great family barbeque. The kids had so much fun playing together!

 

 

Jason and Angela, my brother and SISTER, I love you unequivocally, and could not be more blessed in life than to share my life with you guys as my siblings. And to have our children play together, there is nothing better.

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East Coast Trip Days 4, 5, and 6 – August 9, 10 and 11

Things seemed to slow down to a relaxing pace as the week progressed. Nonni, the kids and I spent some quality time doing some of our many loved activities while in New York. We rode bikes on the rail trail, painted more birdhouses to adorn Nonni’s trees, played outside in the sandbox, and even got to ride on the bikes that Nonni and Pop worked together on to get all fixed up for riding.

While Uncle Pat and Aunt Leigh were in town this week, we also kept in step with our nightly trips to Mickey’s Igloo (I did really well earlier in the week with my diet! But by the end of the week, I had obviously fallen off the wagon).

To my dismay, these slow, easy going days seemed to fly by as if it were no time at all…but we certainly had a great time!

We had a great time Saturday night out to dinner at Ninety-Nine. The ENTIRE family of 17 was there! We had a great time! And we managed to get a shot of all of us! Thank you Jason and Angela for sticking around long enough to get the picture before running off for a night of guy fun!!!

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East Coast Trip Day 3 – August 8

As Jim continues to work this week, the kids and I decided we needed to keep busy. We were very happy and very excited to visit with Aunt Steph on Wednesday!

In the morning, Nonni, Emma and I headed over to Michael’s Crafts to feed our scrapbooking appetite, while Evan hung out at Nana’s house. (He preferred to stay home and play with trains for some odd reason!). So we managed to get our fill of scrapbooking supplies just in time to get back home for Aunt Steph, and cousins Bella and Gabby to get to Aunt Gails for some fun swimming!!

Evan had a ball swimming. He got very daring and jumped in a few times! He was loving his swimmies that helped provide him with the security he needed to swim, without making him feel invincible. Emma was happy to hang out with Aunt Gail.

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Evan even showed off his ever increasing swimming skills!

After we went swimming, the younger girls (Emma and Gabriella) stayed home to nap, and Evan, Bella, Aunt Steph and I headed up to the Fun-E-Farm in the Mall for some more energy burning time!

Wednesday night, we had our family favorite Ravioli. Anyone who knows our family knows that ravioli are a long family tradition, and one that we always make time for when we come home!

 

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East Coast Trip Day 2 – August 7

Tuesday was a much more relaxed and laid back day, which was perfectly fine with us after our long trip, and a very busy Monday! We stayed close to home on Tuesday, having dinner at home with Uncle Jay and Angela, followed by our favorite trip to Mickey’s Igloo!! We opted not to go bowling with Uncle Pat and Family in lieu of taking a walk again, along the rail trail.

Evan also had his first certifiable recycling trip to the Town of Hurley Dump! (I know, sounds exciting!) but to a 4 year old, seeing Pop at night and having him all to yourself is pretty special!

Other then that, just a laid back kind of day which is what we really needed. Here are some pictures from Tuesday’s ventures and games.