The Great Minnesota Get Together!

We went to the State Fair today and had a great time! This was Colton's first State Fair and we weren't sure if he would last but he had so much fun I think he could have lasted a few more hours! Of Course we took a ton of pictures so here are some of the awesome things we did (and ate) at the Great Minnesota Get Together!!Colton was a helping hand at the farm - he picked corn, drove the tracter, fed the chickens, picked the eggs, planted seeds, milked a cow, picked apples and sold his things at the market where he earned a dollor and bought a small box of lucky charms!Grandpa, Colton and I went up in the Space Tower. Colton wasn't too sure at first but once he got used to the idea he liked it - but I think he was even happier when we were back on the ground!Colton and Daddy shared a Giant Turkey Leg - actually I had some too (it was huge)!Colton of course had some Sweet Corn!

And we all shared a bucket of Sweet Martha's Cookies - and even brought some home for Grandma!Colton and I went in a fun house! He thought this was pretty cool!
Colton and Daddy shot some hoops at the Timberwolves exhibit!Colton decided to take a little nap while Grandpa and Daddy played some games! Daddy finally won and got Colton this giant Black Bear. Grandpa ended up winning too and got Colton a big Zebra (the one from Madagascar).
Frankie, Grandpa, Colton, Giant Bear and Zebra - quite the site to see!!
Colton and I shared some Shaved Ice - one of my favorite things at the fair! We saw lots of animals - Coltons favorite was this cow! Everytime she would move her tail to chase the flies away he would burst laughing!!
Colton and I went on the Giant Yellow Slide. He loved this - the minute we got to the bottom he jumped up and yelled again! We did not go again - that was way too many stairs for me to climb twice! We ended our day at the fair with a bucket of french fries. It was a great day, the weather was awesome, the food was fabulous and the memories will last forever!!

A Wedding and a Parade!!!!

Frankie and I went to Arrowwood Resort in Alexandria for a wedding this weekend and it was so much fun! We stayed in a townhome with 12 of our friends. The wedding was perfect, it was an outdoor ceremony and the weather was awesome! We of course had some drinks (some a few too many) and lots of laughs. We had a great time! I took over 150 pictures so here are just a couple:


And then Sunday morning we had to get up and hurry home so Colton and I could be in the Woodbury Days Parade! We walked with the Hartford and handed out candy and fire hats. Colton had so much fun in the parade - he was waiving and saying hello to everyone!

Boys Best Friend!!

Colton and Sampson are such good buddies! Sampson let's Colton do just about anything to him! Colton loves to give Sampson hugs (although it looks he is about to ride him instead of just give him a hug). Here they are playing cars! Yes Colton is driving his dirt bikes on Sampson!
And here they are playing monsters! Colton loves to sneak up on him (and me) and try to scare us. As you can tell, Sampson isn't too scared of the pantless two year old!

In this case I think Sampson really is boys best friend! Colton loves Sampson, and Sampson is pretty protective of him too! Sampson wakes him up every morning, usually by crawling up in bed with him which is quite comical (Sampson weighs over 100 pounds and Colton is in a tiny little bed). And Sampson goes with every night when we put Colton to bed. Really the only time they are apart is when Colton is sleeping or when Sampson is outside, otherwise they are connected!

Summer is going by way too Fast!!

I love summertime but it seems like I never have a day to just sit on the couch and do nothing! I guess this is probably a good thing or I would be a 600 pound moose by now but there are some days when I wish I didn't have to get out of bed at all!! And it is August already, which means this summer is almost over.. where did it go so fast? I have been working some good overtime hours which is nice for the pocketbook but hard on the personal life, but the time I pick Colton up, get home and eat dinner... it is time for bed! No time for playing and that sucks! And then weekends are always busy. I have decided to skip going to the lake the last couple weekends just so I don't have to pack (again I am getting lazy). Last Saturday Colton and I spent the day with my cousin and his daughter. We packed a picnic and went over to their house and ate outside on the picnic table. Colton and Evie picked raspberries in the garden (which Colton loved, he was eating them by the handful). And then we went down to Afton Marina to go swimming for a while. We ended the afternoon with ice cream at Selma's. It was such a nice, easy going afternoon.. I wish everyday of my life could be like that! Okay enough complaining, I have it great who am I kidding, but somedays I wish I could I just win the lottery and never have to work again.

On a different note, Frankie and I have a new nephew. Jaxx was born on July 25th and he is perfect. He reminds me so much of Colton when he was a baby (although it seems like he was never that small). And I am honored that I get to be Jaxx's Godmother. He will be my first Godchild and I am so excited, just one more good reason to spoil him. I am trying to tell Frankie that Jaxx will need a playmate but he isn't quite agreeing to that just yet, which is okay because Colton is keeping us plenty busy.

Colton is talking like crazy now. His favorite lines are "What's That?" and "Look, Look, Look" he is very observant when we are in the car, he is always pointing out all the big trucks and construction vehicles that he sees!! He also says "Thank you Mama" whenever I hand him anything and it is the cutest thing ever, it just melts my heart everytime. Yes he has me wrapped around his finger... he is my momma's boy that is for sure.

Well I think that is it for now, I really should be studying for my test on Insurance Administration instead of playing on the computer but I needed a break for a while. The test is on the 19th and I am not even half way through the book (only 280 pages to go).

Raspberry Anyone??

Look Who Learned how to float!

My little Sponge Bob Square Pants Monster!!

We love the lake!

We spent the last two weekends at the lake! Colton and I went to the lake over the 4th of July for 5 days there and it was so much fun. Then this weekend Frankie was able to get off of work so we headed to the lake again! Colton loves being at the lake. He loves riding the golf cart, going for paddle boat rides, swimming and we even took him out in the canoe.. but only once becuase I am really not any good at paddling a canoe. We had so much fun and of course I took tons of pictures so here is a link to a slideshow of the best ones.

http://apps.rockyou.com/rockyou.swf?instanceid=117605732&ver=102906

I also took some videos and here is one of my favorites:

We made my brother run behind the golf cart and Colton thought it was the funniest thing ever! And no we are not going 50 miles per hour like it looks! It is an electric golf cart... we are lucky if it goes 4 miles an hour (I mean come on my brother was able to keep up so we couldn't have been moving too quick!!).

Happy 2nd Birthday Colton!

I still can't believe it but Colton is 2 already! The past two years have gone by so fast it is almost scary! Anyway, we had a birthday party Monday night at our house and it turned out perfect. The weather was awesome and lots of people could make it! Colton got so much attention and even more presents... we are seriously going to need a bigger house soon just for all his toys. He is one spoiled little boy! Here is a link to a slide show full of pics from his party!

http://apps.rockyou.com/rockyou.swf?instanceid=115361508&ver=102906

Other than his birthday party not too much exciting happening in our world. Frankie and I have both been putting in a lot of hours at work lately so we don't have a lot of free time during the week. And weekends have been full with Graduation Party's! But today Colton and I did get outside and enjoy some sun. We set up his new pool that he got for his birthday and he loved it! And then we set up his sprinkler water toy that shoots balls out and he thought it was the best thing ever.

Last night we were outside playing and we set up his T-ball set that he got for his birthday and he was out hitting some balls around. He is a future Minnesota Twin for sure. He was so good it actually surprised me, I thought he would miss or hit the tee a lot more than he did but he was quite good!

Memorial Weekend!

We spent Memorial Weekend at the campground and we had a blast. I couldn't narrow down the pictures to here is a link to a slideshow of the best ones! Hope everyone had a safe and Happy Memorial Weekend!

http://apps.rockyou.com/rockyou.swf?instanceid=113983790

It's Like a New House!!

We are making progress now! Our house doesn't look anything like it did when we bought it 5 years ago! This picture was taken in August 2006: In the fall of 2006 we put all new windows in the house and redid the roof (insulated the attic - nice save on the winter heating bills and new shingles).

This picure was taken a couple weeks ago:

Last week re finally re-sided the house and it looks amazing. We got a new front and back door and new windows in the garage and of coure the siding! We still need to install the new screen door and finish some the electrical outlets.. and put our house numbers up so the pizza man knows where to find us!!

This picture was taken this morning:

The transformation has been huge and we couldn't have done it without so much help from our families. My dad was the contractor (boss) for all the jobs, and my brother and Frankie's brother were there to help every chance they could. Frankie's mom and my mom were always willing to take Colton so that I was able to help with whatever I could.. which wasn't always a lot!! We still have some work to do including putting up rain gutters and landscaping. And I think we are planning to put a deck/patio in the back, but I don't think that will happen yet this summer. For now are just enjoying our new house.. and I am sure the neighbors are happy too (our house has been kind of an eye soar while we were in between projects).