Zoo mobile

Today, we went to the zoo mobile at the library.  Lauren got to sit by her friend and our neighbor Elle.  She was pretty excited about that!  I don’t have a pic of Jack enjoying the show because he didn’t and he was a stinker during it. :(

Movie time

Today, we checked out the cheap Tuesday movie (it’s only $1!!) Man, you have to get there EARLY if you want a good seat.  We got there about 15 minutes early and were lucky to find 3 seats next to each other.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t find enough seats for our friend’s the Larsons to sit beside us. The movie was RIO (from last year) but my kids hadn’t seen it and we all enjoyed it!

Happy Birthday (party) Lauren!

Today, is the day!  We planned an outdoor water fun day for Lauren’s birthday party.  You know, because it’s always about 102 degrees out around the end of July (and has been really hot all week long.)  Well, not today.  It’s barely 70 degrees and slightly windy.  :( Not exactly, what we had planned, but what can you do?

So, instead of the slip and slide, giant inflatable waterslide, and pool fun we settled for a bouncy house, trampline and games.

There was a lot of fun to be had, and snacks to eat and presents to open.  It was so crazy I forgot to give Lauren her final birthday gift.

There was also a piñata, but don’t ask about that.  I think it may be the last piñata Lauren has.

Happy Birthday Beanitude!

She does look a year older, huh!?

Mommy/daughter night

Tonight, I took Lauren stand-up paddleboarding with me.  She has been asking about it, so I thought it might be a fun pre-birthday thing for us girls to do.  Here she is eating a yummy treat while we wait for our turn on the board.

Here she is, ready to go and in position!!

We got pretty close to this family of ducks.

This was my view while she told me to, “paddle faster, mama!”

At the end, I let her stand up on the board with me.  Then, she wanted to go for a swim of course. Yuck!

Dance camp

Lauren did the feet of faith dance camp again this summer and had a really good time.  She seems to be more into dancing now than previously.  Here are a few pics from their little performance on the last day.

She was up on the big screen!

Party prep

We borrowed a friends waterslide for Lauren’s birthday party this weekend.  Here we are with the Larson’s trying it out.  PS It’s fun!!

First (and probably last) ice cream truck visit of the summer.  They so rarely come to our cul de sac!!

Here I am finishing up the pearls and frosting on Lauren’s cookies.  I meant to write all the little friends’ names on the cookies but decided I had better stick with first initial.  I did manage to get Lauren’s entire name on a few of the cookies.

Tator Days

This weekend was Eagle Lake Tator days.  ECFE had a float in the parade so we decided to take a spin on it as well.  Lauren had a good time throwing candy at people.  Unfortunately, we ran out before the end of the route (and where Kev and Jack were) so we had to hoard a couple of pieces for them so we could have something to throw to them.

Passport day

Here we are at the passport office. The kids didn’t really understand what we were doing and we mean to keep it that way.  We have a little surprise planned for them later this fall.

Here are their adorable passport photos.  I can’t wait to see their little passport books arrive in the mail and get them some visas!!

After the passport office we took a little trip to the park.

Swimming lessons

Today, was Lauren’s last day of swimming lessons.  She did them for two weeks at East high school.  It was really fun for her because she *finally* got to be in the class where the parents don’t get into the water with them.  It was a win for everyone.  On the last day, they allowed us to observe them so these splashes are her jumping in.  I didn’t have my good camera with me, so this will have to do.  The good news, is that she passed and gets to go on to the next level.

Fun days-Sunday

Today, we headed down to the park for the petting zoo.

Jack had more fun giving Kevin “the goat” than petting the goat.  Lauren, ran into a friend from her kindergarten class so they ran around together petting the animals.

Then, we saw they were setting up for the pedal tractor pull and I had never seen one before so we checked it out.  Lauren decided she wanted to give it a try, so we signed her up. She did really really well.  The first time through she made it the full pull length so she made it to the semi-finals.  She would have come in 4th or 5th place (but they stopped at 3rd place.)  Nevertheless, we were very proud of her!

(not so) fun days parade

I got back from my morning run just in time to pack up the family and head down to lower North Mankato for the fun days parade.  We’re very lucky that we know people who live on the parade route who love to entertain and welcome people over to their home.  Unfortunately, this year they were unable to be there due to a death in the family, but still opened up their house and yard to us (and my parents, whose first experience with the fun days parade was…less than fun.)  Doubly unfortunate, it poured and stormed almost the entire parade.  Full on lightning and crazy stuff before it started and then just yucky drizzle for an hour and a half during the parade. UGH, it was mostly miserable.  But, there was candy, eh?

Of course, after the parade it was clear blue skies for the rest of the day. Lauren loved the octopus and Papa even joined her on the crazy airplane ride (it was a bit wild for her, but she loved it once she stepped off and wanted to go again.)

Jack enjoyed the fun house and all of its fun!

Fun days!

Tonight, we hit up the kiddie parade and a few rides at North Mankato fun days.  I have to admit, it *was* fun! :)