We've been busy lil buggers

Wow.  July is totally slipping right past me!  It feels like it should still be the middle of June.  Did I miss a month somehow?  The summer goes by way to quickly!

Well, let's try to play a little catch up!  We've been traveling.  To Des Moines, Galesburg and home again and then I took a girl's trip to the Dells.  And next week Charlie and I will be heading back down to Des Moines.  Seems like we are gone more than we are home lately and that's okay b/c it means we are busy out having fun and making the most of the summer!

So what else have we been up to?  Well, in our free time we've been:

Coloring

Playing in our tunnel, popping out the end and saying "ta-da"!

Practicing our couch gymnastics

Snuggling up on Brayden

Napping

Enjoying the lake and boating

Perfecting our "tans"

Dancing

Celebrating

Playing in our new sandbox (thanks Dada!)

Making sidewalk art

And hanging w/ the neighbors

What could be better?  We've got it pretty damn good.

Cheers!
Kel

(I'll try to get back to more regular posting, but no promises.)

Fun Summertime Outings!

Charlie and I had a very busy weekend!  While Wade was off riding in the MS150 she and I kept ourselves entertained!  Luckily we had great, but hot weather! 

We started out the weekend Friday morning at the zoo with the Muellers.  Charlie really seemed to enjoy it a lot this time around.  Although she still hates goats for some reason and wouldn't even let me attempt to bring her into the cow barn.  She screamed bloody murder!  But she LOVED the aquarium and all the monkeys.  And Greyson and her are just too cute together!

Turtles!

Saturday we packed up a picnic lunch and headed to Lake Calhoun beach to hang out in the gorgeous weather w/ the Mohs and Muellers (minus Travis who was riding w/ Wade).  It was perfect weather for the beach!  Charlie only got into the water twice and that was because I picked her up and made her try it out.  Each time she'd say "no, no, no" over and over and walk right back out of the water.  Oh well, maybe next time.  She still enjoyed herself digging in the sand and playing w/ sticks (what is it w/ sticks? Those and rocks are the worlds coolest things according to Charlie!).

Beach babe

Charlie & Greyson

After the beach Charlie was beat and so we headed home for a nap and then went to a nearby park once she woke up.  It was a busy and fun day!

What a ham!

Sunday we kept things around home.  It was SUPER hot and windy out and the wind did not cool you down.  It just made it feel like you were getting blasted by a heater.  So we went to Old Navy and had some lunch and then played out back waiting for Wade to get home from the ride.  We started out w/ bubbles which she loves but they didn't last long.  Charlie has been enthralled by this dirt patch we have in our back yard for quite some time now and once again she ventured towards it to play.  So I coated her in sunscreen and a hat and diaper and nothing else.  It was so hot and I knew she was going to get super dirty so why cause myself the extra laundry?  She dug right into the dirt and next thing you know she is COATED.  Wade came home and after laughing at her appearance we set up a sprinkler that she walked through a bit before finally bringing her in and cleaning her up for dinner.  She had a blast in that dirt.  Who'd have thought?  It's basically like a small sandbox so it seems Wade will have to look into building her one soon b/c we're eventually going to seed the dirt patch.

BUBBLES!!!!

WOW!!!  Cool!!!

My little dirt ball!

Her new favorite activity: diving over the side of the couch. We have to be ready to catch her!

Then we went to dinner at Roat Osha w/ Bob, Amy and Steve (some other friends who completed the 150 mile bike ride with Wade).  A great way to end the weekend: superb Thai food and tasty drinks.  No room for complaints here!

Anyone else do anything fun over the weekend?  Gotta love summer time!

Cheers~
Kel

Spoiled lil Charlie

We traveled down to Galesburg last weekend so Charlie could celebrate her birthday with the rest of her family that couldn't make it up here for her party.  We took her out for her 3rd boat ride and she loved it again.  She's a water baby for sure!

Then she got another smash cake to tear into.  This time it was white cake instead of chocolate and she seemed to like it just as much.  Sugar is sugar right?  She definitely needed another bath after that!

I got to go golfing with my mother in law for the first time in 2 years and I did pretty good for not having played for so long.  It was a lot of fun to get out there!

We got back late Monday night and are recuperating from all the activity! Up this weekend is our kitchen remodel! We ordered new cabinets over 2 weeks ago and they finally came in last week so now we have to tear out the old ones to put the new ones in. I can't wait! I will post pics but just so you can see how badly we need it, here is a picture of what the cabinets looked like when we moved in

And here is a pic of what it currently looks like since I painted it a couple years ago.  I swear the only thing holding these cabinets together are the thousands of layers of paint on them.  They are bad!!!  There is also NO counter top space to work with.  The cabinets we currently have are hung too low and stick out too far.  The new ones will be hung at the appropriate height and go all the way up to the ceiling so that we'll be able to use the counter space underneath them.  We also are going to relocate the sink to be at a diagonal in the corner so we'll have a long piece of counter top to be able to cook on.  (Not that I cook a lot.  Ha!)  We also ordered a tall pantry type of cabinet for next to the stove and an over the stove cabinet that we will hand a wall mounted microwave under.  So that will give our small kitchen more room as well.  I'm totally stoked to get this done.  It's way overdue!

Bring it on!!!

Bittersweet

This last weekend we took a long drive down south to Arkansas. In the drive down I saw more mullets than I had in the past year of my life. We also referenced the movie "Deliverance" on more than a dozen occasions. Basically we were in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by inbreds. Could be quite scary at times. But we were down there for a good reason. (And I apologize in advance for anyone who lives down there but you've got to admit, about 75% of the people down there are quite the sight.)

As some of you may recall, my grandpa passed away a year ago in April. We had him cremated and per his request we were going to scatter his ashes over my grandma and uncle's graves down in Arkansas. However, last April I was very pregnant so we decided to wait until later this summer when Charlie was bigger to head down there and scatter his ashes.

We headed down to Des Moines last Thursday night to cut our long drive up a bit. From Des Moines to our destination it was about 9 hours, add on the 3 1/2 from Minneapolis to Des Moines and we've got one hell of a haul. We were nervous as to how well Charlie would handle being in the car for so long but luckily our nerves were unfounded. She did GREAT. We rented a 12 passenger van and all easily fit in there along w/ lots of toys and a portable DVD player so Charlie was always entertained.

Once we reached our destination we hit the pool for a bit, met up w/ my dad's cousin, Mike and his wife, Debbie and got some dinner before crashing early. What is it about long drives that totally wipe you out? I don't get it.

The next morning we headed to the cemetery w/ Pap's cremains. It was bittersweet. He was finally home with his wife and son. It felt good to do but also re-opened the feelings of loss. He was so close to getting to meet his 1st great grandchild. I know he would have loved Charlie.

Not all was sad though. We took a drive through Fairfield Bay which is where he lived for several decades and we talked about memories we had of him and being down there. We'd been driving down there to see him my whole life. That's a lot of memories! We finally ended up at Greer's Ferry Lake which is not only absolutely gorgeous but huge! We rented a pontoon boat, like we had so many other times w/ Paps and took it out on the lake for 3 hours. Charlie loved the boat and the weather was perfect for an afternoon out on the water.

It was a fun afternoon to celebrate Paps and our love for him.

We finally made it home last night and we are wiped. Charlie slept for 11 1/2 hours straight and Kobe was so tired I picked him up and he sagged like a rag doll, so no fireworks for us unfortunately. Besides the illegal ones we picked up in Hillbilly, Missouri on our drive home. :)

Charlie was not impressed w/ the gigantic sparkler. She was however impressed w/ Kara's sunglasses. Maybe next year... :)

Later~

Kellie

Good news, everybody, we're extending arts and crafts time by four hours today.

Last weekend was lazy and it was a good thing we didn't have any traveling plans b/c I got sick. Summertime sickness blows. You are tired and grumpy and just want to be able to enjoy the weather but don't feel up to it. Prior to me getting sick though I did get to go do something I've never done before! I got to see how the pros do it.

That's right. My good friend, Drew came up to town and lucky me, he had an extra ticket to the PGA. We saw Tiger, Ernie, Vijay, Zach, Phil, Vang and all those guys who are so awesome at getting it in the hole. :) I must say that Tiger is a lot bigger in person than I thought he would be. Hunka-dunk. It was a very cool experience and I'm glad Drew took my ass along! Thanks D ~ You rule!

Since I sat on my sick ass ALL day Saturday I was feeling a wee bit more energized on Sunday and joined the hubs and some other friends of ours on a day long motorcycle cruise through Western Wisconsin. It is really gorgeous all along the river and we had a great time in beautiful weather riding and stopping for some beverages along the way. It's a great way to enjoy a lazy Sunday!

This weekend takes us to the wonderful state of Illinois. Wade will be racing in Peoria while I will be maxin and relaxin w/ the families. My parents, sis and Todd are all joining us at my MIL's abode. We'll be cruising the lake, golfing and oh yeah, drinking. Can't leave that out! :) So here's to hoping the weather is grand b/c my goals this weekend are:

• To tan my stomach (which hasn't seen the sun yet this summer)


• Hope that I learned something from the pros and my golf game miraculously improves


• Wear my new bathing suit that I purchased (with your input!)


• Drink until I can't feel feelings anymore! Yay!


• Spend some QT w/ the fam and relax, relax, relax!

So my internets friends, what fantabulous plans do you all have going on for the weekend? Anything fun?