Boys at Play

Boys play….well, differently. There are no quiet days of playing with doll houses in their rooms. No lazy afternoons spent dressing up the newest Barbie or a cute little American Girl doll. Oh no. Not in this house.

 

Boys play weird. They play rough. They play loudly. They play until exhaustion and they laugh the whole time they are doing it.

 

I have spent the last two hours with all the windows in my house closed up tight because I could not hear myself think due to the yelling and screaming coming from the pool this afternoon. Allow me to set up the scene……

 

 

The Big Ones are in the pool. They are in two teams, including members outside the pool, and they are trying to catch the ball being thrown into the pool.

 

 

The Wee Ones are outside the pool, also in two teams that include members inside the pool, and they are catching the ball being thrown to them, and throwing it back into the pool.

 

Basically a BIG game of catch.

 

 

Wrangling occurs when the ball is thrown because they fight over the ball. Each time. And then cheer and yell while they watch their team members grappling for the ball.

 

 

Here are the Big Ones:

 Watching the grappling.

 

 

 

 

Cheering the grappling.

Amazed with the grappling.

 

And now prepare yourself. The Grappling…….

      

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes the ball falls short and then there is high speed running, skidding, and THEN grappling that occurs…….

 

   Are 7 year-olds supposed to have arm muscles like that?

****** as a side note, can you tell in the above picture where our neighbor’s yard starts and where ours ends. Yeah, it’s really annoying the mess they have back there. *******

Are 10 year-olds supposed to be this dreamy?

 

 

 

So, as I apologize to my neighbors that may have wanted to take a nap, read a book, or possibly just relax on this lovely afternoon, all I can say is…….I love summer.

Peace out.

LB

Chicago with TP and PP

 

I got to spend the whole weekend with……….

 

I know. Jealous, aren’t you.

It’s the second year Mike and I met Tammy and Paul in the heart of Chicago. It’s a weekend filled with all kinds of indulgent things like; room service, fancy dinners, fancy cocktails, and sleeping in. It’s wonderful and I hope it’s a tradition we continue forever.

Highlights of this year’s trip included:

#1. Meeting up with our high school friend Lisa and her hubby Brian.

 

Lisa and Brian have four kids (including a set of 1 year old twins) all under the age of 5 so it was SO AWESOME that they agreed to meet us in the city. It meant lots of driving and them getting home late (and babies don’t sleep in, ya know!) but we had such a great time and it was so fun to see them.

#2. The architectural boat tour.

I had done a short historical tour of the city a couple of times but this tour was leaps-and-bounds above that one. We learned so much about the buildings of this amazing city and, although it was a ton of information to take in, I highly recommend this tour to anyone that visits.

#3. FOOD!

We ate at:

 Shaw’s Crab House

Pancake House

Carmine’s (for Italian)

Just like last year, we never ate a bad meal. You leave every place stuffed and happy!

We had such a great time. It was hard to say good-bye but I am going to IN to see them in a month so at least I have that to look forward to!

We head to WI Dells for the fourth of July so I have lots more packing to do this week! I have decided it’s lots easier to pack when you don’t have to think about the kids. Ha!

 

Sorry for such a short post (unusual for me after a vacation), but I hurt my wrist mowing lawn and moving the trampoline last week and typing it’s much fun.

Hope you all have a super week~

LB

Father’s Day

 

Happy Father’s Day!

We are spending the evening with my mom and dad having a fish fry. Lots of chicken on the grill for me.

Thank you to my dad for being such a huge part of my life. I know I can always count on him and I know he wants good things for me and my family.  I especially love how much he loves my kids and husband.  He “complains” when he hasn’t seen my kids for a few days and I think the best week he spends each year might just be the week he spends with my husband in Canada fishing.  I did not grow up with grandparents being a part of my life and I  am so glad my kids have so many great memories of spending time weekly with theirs.

 

Happy Father’s Day to my awesome husband. You are completely and totally devoted to our family and I couldn’t be half the mother I am without your support. We make a great team! Thank you for choosing us over any other activity, thank you for providing memories for our kids that they will always have, and thank you for being our biggest cheerleader.

 

 

 

 

I have to give a shout-out to our step FIL, Dave. He has become such a huge part of our family in such a short time. Not only has he made Cindy happy (which was enough for us!), but he has been so sweet to our kids and came to every game and concert both the kids have had. I would dare to say that he spends more time on his “new” grandchildren than he does anything else (he’s got 7)! He makes the yearly trip to Canada fishing with my dad and Mike and has created this “new normal” for all of us in this family. Never could we imagine it being so great!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you too to my father-in-law. We miss you terribly and although you are not here physically, your presence is felt. I hear your voice in your son all the time and could never repay you for the lessons you have taught him about being a good man. I know you would be proud of your son.

 

 

Wow! After completing this post, who knew my boys would be blessed with such great role models in their lives. Fortunate indeed!

Much love,

LB

Weekend

Nothing like starting the summer off right! We celebrated two milestones with friends and family this weekend.

Friday started with a lovely visit from our friends Tammy and Paul! Tammy moved to IN to be with Paul and I miss her terribly! It was so nice to have her here in my very living room and just spend time with her. Mike had surprised me earlier in the week and had called a local restaurant in town where Tammy has a favorite drink. He asked what kind of alcohol was in the this drink and bought all the necessary ingredients. He even bought glasses (it’s a martini) so we could drink in style. She got me hooked on this drink too about a year ago and so I was looking forward to these drinks just as much!

The kids played, we visited, and it was such a great night. I so wish we lived closer to them.

Saturday started out with my nephew Matthew graduating from high school. He is on to North Dakota State University next school year and we are very proud of him.

Lisa (his mom and my sister), Matthew, and my other sister Carrie

Noah, Mitch (graduate’s brother and my nephew) and Connor

My mom and I

My dad and Carrie

The weather was cold and rainy, but it was good to see everyone and eat lots of yummy food.

Then we went to our good friend Tammy and Paul’s wedding reception. Tammy and Paul got married this past February in Indiana in a private ceremony with just them and their two girls. They held a reception in the summer so they could celebrate with family and friends.

I racked my brain to come up with the perfect gift. Originally I was going to take pictures of places in Owatonna and have them framed as a memory of home for Tammy. However, that didn’t seem like much of a present for Paul! So, then I got to thinking…..they met on a lake up in northern MN where both of their parents had cabins (one parent still does). I started to wonder if I could find a picture of that lake.

I searched and searched online for a picture. I thought I might get lucky and maybe even find a store near that lake that sold pictures of it. No luck.

So, after about a week I decided to contact some local photographers from that area. I asked them if they were interested in going to this lake and getting a few photos for me. Luckily one of them wrote me back and she was so excited to do this for me! She thought it was such a neat idea and within four days I had 8 pictures of Lake Gilmore in my hands! Granted, I had to do quite a bit of editing (this woman usually takes pictures of things for ads and newspapers so the pictures she sent me were a little bland for my taste).

Before

After

I wanted them to open them in front of me because I wanted to explain this story of how these pictures came to be and also explain that this was THEIR lake.

I didn’t need to. Paul recognized the lake immediately. I couldn’t believe it. Turns out the woman took the photos almost on the property Paul’s family used to own, Pretty darn crazy. I think they liked them. I hope they do!

 

So the weekend is over. I am exhausted. It has been such a great time, but my house and laundry are screaming my name! I am looking forward to slowing down a little but I don’t think it’s going to happen soon. Monday I have ordering/lunch with my co-workers and play group planning party in the afternoon. We also have therapy for Noah and will be running every hour-on-the-hour all day. Crazy and nuts. Can’t wait for a day to just rent movies and plop on the couch with the kids for an afternoon!

Hope you all had a super weekend.

Peace out,

LB