Patio Project

"Hey honey, can we put a patio in this weekend".
"But honey, we have Odepalooza next weekend. This will be a disaster!"

Moments later...




The project took the whole weekend, Karen came over to help as well (which was a real blessing). Tara did a most of the work, but I got in and kicked some butt, too.

Tornado Warning!

We had a very bad storm come through on the 8th (Saturday) which sparked a few tornado warnings. Unfortunately, Tara's cell phone was broken and she was at Target.

I heard the siren go off shortly after I put the kids to bed (around 9 or so), and ripped the sleeping babies out of bed. They were SO good! Jake (who has been very nervous about tornadoes anyway) bolted downstairs, followed by Emma. The two of them played with Abby and didn't complain at all, which was amazing as I didn't have a bottle for Abby or any food.



Tara got a hold of a phone at Target and called to tell me that they had brought her to the back of the store. Most of our friends in the cities were on facebook talking about what they were doing with their families. All told, we were in the basement for about an hour.

The next day, I asked Jake what he was worried about and he said, "well, two things: tornadoes and cash-for-clunkers" (driven by his fear of us trading the car in - he hates change). Tara and I almost fell over.

Nice Day at the Trabin

We had a nice time at the Trabin again. The morning started off looking awful, but beach weather was in full force by the time we got there.



Grandma provided some floats for the kids and blew them up (which we were more than happy to let her do).







And the grown-ups hung out on the five square feet of beach that is Lake Sturgeon Beach.

More Lake Elmo Park Reserve

This week for Family Fun Night we went back to Lake Elmo Park Reserve - this time to the beach and to cook out. I got to use some of my homemade BBQ sauce that I've been bottling and Jake set the table while Emma, Tara, and Abby played at the beach.





The kids really love the beach. It was a real struggle to find a grill to use, but a nice family let us use theirs.





The park was crawling with people. We love the fact that there is a lifeguard there (not that we get more than a few feet away from the kids at this age).



Dinner really came out. I LOVE that BBQ sauce!! Next time we're going to need to bring more chicken.

Weekend at the Trabin

I’m sitting in the trabin on Sunday watching baby Abby sleep and listening to Connie and Debbie read Grandma Brown’s journal on the porch.

There’s a fly that keeps landing on Abby and waking her up a little. I’ve been chasing it around with a fly swatter between reading a biography of Carly Fiorina (former HP CEO).

We’ve had a nice weekend. Tim was here till about 6 last night with Dorothy and then took off (timing the drive around the Twins game so he could listen to it on the way home). I got in an afternoon nap then we had a dinner of brats and hotdogs.




This is what Emma looks like when she is up TOO late!

The little bar here promised to save some bottle caps for Jake’s collection, but when we came back in the morning (per the agreement) they had been thrown out. A promise of getting some from Uncle Adam’s job at Acapulco and two choco-taco’s made everything better.

Tara and I got a run in down Pumpkins Seed road and enjoyed a nice time by the fire and S’Mores (a trabin favorite).

Sleeping arrangements are notable… Shelly slept where the table is, Karen took the couch (against my protests), Jake and Emma slept on fluffy blankets on the floor, Abby had the playpen, and Tara and I got the… BIG BED. We were woken up in the middle of the night by a white horse neighing really loudly right outside the window and Abby getting up several times.



Breakfast was sausage, pancakes and eggs cooked in the grease from the sausage.

It’s fun listening to the ladies read from Grandma Brown’s journal. Lot’s a family history mixed with world history. Notable was the comment about Clinton. Something to the effect that ‘he did have an affair with that Lewinsky woman… bad news for our country’.

Family Fun Night @ MarketFest

We had a nice Family Fun Night at MarketFest in White Bear Lake.



The kids couldn’t wait to get there and start spending their money on treats and rides. Tara sprung for some crazy yummy ice-cream sandwiches (they used hot cookies and some great ice cream)… amazing.





Emma wanted to do the bungee ride, which initially scared Jake. I was pretty impressed that Emma would try something like that at 4. Jake got over his fear pretty quickly, but had already missed a place in line.





While Emma was waiting in line (long, long time), Jake got to play some kind of ducky game, shoot water balloons, and run an obstacle course.





It was a ton of fun!

Tara is 33!!

We had a really fun day Monday, despite some disconcerting news from home about mom.

We took the day off and relaxed. In the morning I took the kids to Karen’s and let Tara sleep (she’s running at 4:45 am these days, so it doesn’t count as “sleeping in” per se). Afterward, we went to Best Buy to scope out Tara’s gift: a new camera lens with a higher aperture (for portrait shots).



Then it was off to brunch at one of our favorite restaurants: Victor’s 1959 Café, which is the only place in Minnesota to get good Cuban food. We sat at the table below which has a lovely portrait of the Terrorist Che Guevara.



Then we saw The Hangover at the Rosedale AMC. Very funny movie, if not way inappropriate.



Afterward, we played with the kids at Teddy Bear Park.







Then met up with Grandma, Papa, Shelly, Adam, Emily and Kelly at Acapulco’s in Stillwater. Karen took the kids overnight, freeing us up for a little date at another of our favorite spots: Ingredients.

Sunday's Picnic

We had a nice little picnic after church this week, which worked well with Jake’s lesson at church: celebration (which was apparently taught via a heavy dose of the Kool and the Gang song – as he came out teaching it to Emma). So the theme of the picnic quickly turned to Celebrating Christ.





Tara found some little Lunchables (a favorite) that were make-your-own pizzas. Big hit.

After lunch, I took Jake and Emma on a little hike while Tara and Abby hung out. Jacob was worried about poison ivy and skunks. I had them concerned about elephants for a little while as well before I let them off the hook.




We had a stick race in a little creek that came to an abrupt end when Emma’s stick (which had just started to take the lead) was pulled out by a fisherman. Jake was elated to win, and Emma took it in stride (which is so like both of them).

As an aside, I’m on a work trip to Tampa today (mid-flight). It was a year ago that our close friend Greg Jones passed (leaving a young daughter and a pregnant wife behind). Greg and his family are on our minds and hearts today. I’m thinking a lot about how fleeting life is and how thankful I am for all that God has given us.

Family Fun Night

What's family fun night? It's one night a week that we take just to do something fun as a family. It's a great way for us to always focus on slowing down and taking time to enjoy being a family. This has been something that Daddy has been suggesting for years and we finally instituted it with great success this past spring.

Tonight's Family Fun Night theme was family movie night. It started with Jake & Emma drawing movie posters. Everyone got to make a treat movie mix. This consisted of a variety of candy choices (Rolos, M&Ms, Fruit Chews, Starburst, Pringles & Cherries) that they got to pick and put in a little baggie to enjoy during the move. The feature movie was Bugs Bunny. Everyone enjoyed it! We finished the evening with make your sundaes that included daddy's favorite magic shell. Abby was mostly oblivious, but enjoyed a lot of high fives and crawling all over and exploring.





Last Week Family Fun Night: We enjoyed a great evening at Market Fest. The kids got to play in 2 bounce houses: a giant slide and pirate ship obstacle course. We got some fresh squeezed lemonade and a few treats. It was a great summer evening in MN and we made it back to the car just in time for the rain to start. It's really great living in White Bear Lake. Market Fest is just one of the things that makes White Bear Lake a great little community. Of course the lake is awesome, I have been luck enough to go running by the lake almost every week day at 5am.

Firsts for Abby and Other Fun Stuff

Abby cut her 3rd tooth this week. It was her first top tooth. We are learning that we can't take our eye off her for a minute...we did this 2 times this week and it resulted in her getting all the way upstairs. She's a girl on the move.





Jake had Lego club and book club and went to Jack Skare's Birthday. He's been really shy at first at them as of late, but quickly warms up. Emma went to story time at the movies.



Invites went out for the infamous Odepalooza...the do not miss party of the year! Jake & Emma also received new books in the mail from Mom-mom which they LOVED! Emma's new book was 'Lllama Llamma Mad at Mama' and Jake's was a 'Choose Your Own Destiny: The Way of the Jedi'.

 

After the Holiday

After a long weekend it was back to work and daycare as normal! Abby had an exciting 1st this week: she figured out how to crawl up the stairs! She is so cute and determined! I have a feeling she is going to give us a run for our money! Abby also spent time doing one of her current favorite pastimes - emptying anything!! She loves empty bags, boxes, drawers and cupboards.



Emma spent as much time as possible on Monday night swinging in the back yard. She learned to "pump" her legs, so now she can swing for hours on end. She also spent some time as the Odebrecht Photographer and Videographer. She took some great video of Abby climbing the stairs.



Jake was a little under the weather getting his 6 year molers this week. Yuck! Jake loves to learn. He is such a sponge. Today he learned about the Greek and Trojan war. He can re-tell those stories so well! It's amazing to me.