Lazy day at the lake

We spent this afternoon at the lake with Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Tim. We even brought our dog Gauge with us so he could finally go swimming now that the lawn is all nice and grown in and can handle a 115lbs dog running around on it. He was the happiest dog ever! Ashlyn came out to the lake wearing her cute blue fish dress but after she insisted on walking in the water we had to change her in to outfit #2, shorts and a cute tank top... then she wanted to go in the water again and splash around some more (can you tell the girl LOVES water??) so we had to put her in her plain white onesie. She had a blast walking up and down the steps over and over with Grandma and watching Gauge play fetch in the lake. We should really do this more often, too bad the lazy days of summer are coming to an end :(

Giving Grandpa "5"

Parade

Since Joe is gone fishing this weekend, Ashlyn and I decided to hang out with Grandma Deb on Saturday. Grandma was babysitting Jared and Chloe so we decided to go to the Sleepy Eye parade. We knew someone who lives on the parade route so we had great seats! Cousin Scott & Jenny were there with Jeffrey too. It was Ashlyn's first parade and she loved it! We got lots of candy a few other fun things. (Thanks for the pictures Jenny!)

Ashlyn and Mommy

Grandma Deb, Jared and Chloe

Jared, Jeffrey and Ashlyn

Road work

Anyone who has been to St Peter lately knows that they are doing a huge road construction project through town on Hwy 169. Every time we go by she stares out the window and points at all the equipment. So we went to the park after lunch today and when we got done on the swings and slide we headed over to watch them work. I was surprised that all the noise didn't scare her... lots of beeping, banging and loud engines. She really liked the bulldozer pushing rocks and the excavator digging a hole. They seemed to be the loudest ones too!

In front of Minnesota Square Park

Pool

I took Ashlyn to the pool again this afternoon since it was so hot out. She just loves the water and watching the other kids play. She's getting really good at motering around the pool in her floatie, she practically runs after her toys sometimes. It's cute!

Taking a snack break in the shade and enjoying a pretzel... yum

Watching the kids in the big pool.

The cement was so hot she had to stand on my shirt!

Playing outside

We try to get outside everyday and play for a while. Sure hope winter doesn't get here soon ;)

Checking out daddy's corn crop.... looking good!

What a day! Ashlyn and I went to the John Deere implement to pick up a new wagon for her. Then we went to the Case implement to get dad an air filter for the combine and then we dropped off the filter for dad and had to check out the wheat that he was combining. To top the day off, we went to the pool and had a great time! The water was perfect and there were lots of kids there to play with.

The wheat is taller than me!

I like my new wagon!

Walking

I finally got a clip of her walking!

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Eight Steps

She's up to about 8 steps at a time now. Improving every day!! I'll try to get a video on here soon :)

FOUR

Ashlyn stood up today and took four steps all on her own! It's so exciting!

Ozarks

Our vacation was great! The weather was just perfect. We had one day of rain and the rest were sunny and hot. We packed the Acadia up Friday night. Complete with the "clam" on the roof for strollers and pack and plays and a hitch mounted cargo rack (a big thanks to uncle Bernie for letting us use it!). We were LOADED, no room to spare! The drive took us (Ruth, Christy, Connor, Ashlyn and I) 9.5 hours, with 2 stops. We were on the road at 4:30am. We thought that the kids would sleep, but they stayed awake for about an hour then napped. Ashlyn only slept for about 2 hours total the whole way... I was surprised that she was as happy as she was. Connor napped much better. The drive actually wasn't all that bad, we thought it would be a rough one, but the kids did great!

The week went by pretty fast. We met Joe's dad at the resort (Tim was speaking at a conference on Monday, hence the reason behind our vacation). The conference was over on Wednesday and Joe and Bryan flew down to join us that day.... they decided to fly since they were only going to be there Wed - Sat. Our neighbor Wade Yahnke is a pilot and he's going to school for aviation. Since he needs flight hours, he gave us a pretty good deal on flight. Don't worry, he has a lot of experience, he actually gives flying lessons! It only took them 2.5hrs to fly from Mankato to Osage Beach and the airport was only 10 minutes away from our resort!

Most of our days were the same, wake up with the kids, have breakfast, put the kids down for a nap, wait for them to wake up, have lunch, go to the pool until their afternoon nap time then get ready for supper. The guys golfed Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning. We went shopping on Thursday while the guys watched the kids. We ate at the resort restaurants a couple nights, ordered in pizza one night and had a "date" night on Thursday. Tim and Ruth went out for an early supper and came back to babysit the kids after they went to bed. Bryan & Christy and Joe & I made reservations at a really good steakhouse. We sat at different tables in separate rooms to make it feel more like a date with our spouse :) It was wonderful, I had the best lobster ever... yum! Then on Friday afternoon we rented a pontoon and cruised around the lake. It was 90 degrees and sunny, perfect for a boat ride. We took the boat to Captain Ron's for supper. It was so cool, the whole place was pirate themed and the food was excellent. We took a family picture there that Christy has... I'll post it when I get a copy :) When we got home we packed everything up and loaded up the Acadia for our early morning departure. The guys weren't flying out until after lunch so they got another round of golf in Saturday morning

Our trip home took longer, we didn't leave till a little after 6am and we made a few more stops on the way home than we did on the way down so we didn't get back until about 4:30pm in Mankato where we met the guys who had just landed. Then Joe, Ashlyn and I had to go pick up our dog at Jeff's house by Lake Crystal. By the time we got home it was after 6pm. Ashlyn and I had enough driving for the day!

Overall it was a great trip!

Here are just some of the pictures that I took on our trip. Grandma Ruth and Auntie Christy have more but I don't have a copy yet... I will post those when I get them!

At the baby pool on our fist day

having some mac and cheese for lunch

feeding the carp and ducks

lots of carp... yuck!

Ashlyn and Connor watching the fish

sharing a snack of grapes and ham

bath time!

looking at the lake

So happy!

Taking a break at the indoor water park on our rain day.

We took the kids on the lazy river for about an hour. They liked it!

Their view, they enjoyed watching the kids play.

Dad and Ashlyn watching the sunset before bedtime

Hanging out at the big pool

Drinking from a water bottle on the deck... she was soaked!

Packing for the trip

While I was busy packing for our trip, Ashlyn was busy getting into trouble!

Pulling out the plastic containers in the

only cupboard that isn't child proofed in the kitchen....

Oh this is fun! Look how fast I can spin the roll mom!

I'm out of here... maybe mom won't know it was me! I'll blame it on the dog :)

We're home!

We're home safe and sound after a wonderful weeklong vacation to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. I will be posting pictures soon!

Birthday Party

I'm finally posting pictures from Ashlyn's 1st birthday party!! We had it out at grandma and grandpa Loula's on the lake. It was a perfect day! Good food, great weather and of course, wonderful family! We grilled out and grandma Deb made her a cake in the shape of a number one. It was delicious :) We just hung out by the lake and visited. Joe took a few of us for a pontoon ride and Joe, Jared and Molly went swimming in the lake. Ashlyn loved watching them swim and wanted to get in the water too! Then we came back to eat, have cake and open presents. She LOVED the cake... it was so much fun to watch her feed herself. She had frosting everywhere! It was the first time she really got to eat a sweet treat :) She got lots of wonderful gifts. She's lucky to have such a great family!

A big THANK YOU to Joe's aunt Mary who came and took many, many wonderful pictures, helped decorate and made the party run smoothly. The pictures tuned out great... her are just a few... ok, a lot!

Her birthday dress from Mary, it was so cute!

She didn't like the grass

(tutu from Aunt Christy)

In her Cozy Coupe from Mom & Dad it was a huge hit!

Connor LOVED the car too... he lit up when he saw it!

He's a such a little gear head already!

Cake!!

she had her own little cake

yummy....

this is really good!

what? I have cake and frosting where??

What a mess! Too cute!

Cousin Chloe is so smily... she's a doll :)

First family picture in a long time!