ahhh...what a day : )

Ahhh, I am blogging at 3pm...what does that mean?? It means that I had the day off, the kids went to daycare, I cleaned the house, like I used to clean prior to children (VERY CLEAN!! like move everything out of the room, sanitize and put everything in its spot clean), I ran errands, Rick picked up the kids at noon and took them to grandma and grandpas for tonight then to papa and maamas tomorrow night, Rick left for a softball tournament until Sunday night and I have nothing to do at 3pm on a Friday!! Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and kids but there is something to be said for being left alone for a few days...in a spotless house : ) I would have gone with Rick but I have to work this weekend. It is raining right now and I am going to do something I haven't done in years....get a movie (from one of those red boxes, if I can figure it out ; ) and curl up on the couch...possibly nap if I feel like it. Well, that is, after I finish this blog post.

It has been very busy around here as summer is winding down and we start planning for fall. We celebrated with Taylor for her 3rd birthday!! She is such a cutie!! How did I get so lucky to have such a great godchild? I love watching her become a little lady. It was HOT out that day and the perfect day to have a beach party!! All the kids brought their suits and had a blast. Somehow, with all my picture taking, I didn't get one of me and Taylor : (

Happy "princess" birthday Taylor!!!

I joined a book club!! I friend invited me to join and I thought, why not. They don't even care if you read the book or not it's just a night out trying different restaurants in the area and having good conversation. Our next meeting is at Antons and we are reading Little Bee. I am also still playing sand volleyball at Ducks in St Cloud which by the way if anyone is looking for a nice place to play next year...I highly recommend it!

We took a night off from having supper at home and packed a picnic supper to eat at Munsinger Gardens. It was one of my favorite evenings of this summer!! I got to practice my love of photography and the kids got to feed the ducks that you are not supposed to feed ; ) The gardens are beautiful and I am sad that we weren't able to make it to any of the music in the park days this summer. We will have to put that on the list for next year.

We took a trip to Como zoo last weekend...it was way TOO HOT!!! We would sweat just sitting there. Rick came up with a good idea for next year....May!

I love the gorilla!!!This day was too HOT even for ice cream...it melted as fast as they could lick it!!

With all the storms that have been brewing up we decided to let the kids make the most of it and run jump and even lay in the puddles. I remember as kids doing this and having so much fun so why not get a little dirty and laugh so hard that your belly hurts. I even took part in the fun...but I didn't sit down : )

My hometown festival, Barley Days was also last weekend. It was kind of a cluster since for one, it rained during the parade and two, Rick was hosting/playing in a fast pitch softball tournament in Freeport that weekend. The kids had fun but we didn't stick around long.

CHEESE!!!

ahh, mom...another picture? : )Every Barley Days I look for things you can only see in a small town to keep me entertained.

Open case of beer on a parade float!!I took this too early...I should have waited 10 min to take this picture. There was candy EVERYWHERE!! People ran to take cover and the streets looked like confetti.Jana, Taylor, Raegan & I stayed as long as we could handle it. Look at the water running by their feet!!
A day at the farm....Drew helped maama dig potatoes for us to take home and we checked on the pumpkins maama carved their names into.

We skipped the Benton County Fair this year and went to the Stearns County Fair for something different.Rick and I took the kiddos on the ferris wheel...they loved it.Drew didn't want to leave machinery hill!!!!!!!!I love this picture...Drew, Rick Raegan and my dad

Last but not least!!!!! Happy 40th Anniversary to Ricks mom and dad and Happy 39th Anniversary to my mom and dad!!!! We took them out to eat at the Territories golf club to celebrate a few weekends ago and had a great afternoon at our house to follow.