The Great Minnesota Get Together

We went to the State Fair on Friday and Sunday with the kids. Here they are watching a cow being milked.



Tractor time!



Can't go to the State Fair without getting a corndog!





Steve loves to relax and catch some of the free concerts at the fair. Once you make it to a concert area and are within a reasonable time frame of catching a concert so your 2-year old and 4-year old don't have to sit and wait forever, you are kind of committed to whatever is playing. We found a seat 15 minutes before Neil Dynamite played at the International Bazaar, and weren't sure what to expect. M kept telling us he was going to dance while waiting for the music to start. Turns out, this group did all Neil Diamond covers and M must be a big ND fan, because I've never seen him move like this at all. Ever. I was crying I was laughing so hard, and he was quite the entertainment for all the concert-goers. The picture just doesn't do it justice. Of course, big sister doesn't like it when he gets all the attention, so she joined in with her own crazy moves.



Back to the fair again Sunday, this time early in the morning as I ran the Milk Run 5K. This race starts in the fair, then winds its way through the neighboring streets, and back to the fair. My friend Julia ran with me and here we are bright and early, before the race.



Steve got the kids up early to come and watch. Supposedly I'm in this crowd somewhere crossing the finish line. It was very crowded and Steve didn't catch me until it was almost too late.



The best thing about the Milk Run is you get a free malt for running. Plus the nifty shirt I am sporting. Julia placed first in her age group (thus the plaque) and her sister Kristin also ran with us. Good times!



Steve took the kids around the fair while I changed out of my stinky clothes. They did lots of fun things. D insisted in pulling the wagon with her brother in it.



They went to the Little Hands farm. At the end, you can choose something to take home. D chose a can of corn so we could eat it together as a family. M chose a bag of chips and promptly ate the whole bag.







A picture with the gopher.



We knew the kids would only last so long at the fair as Steve got them up two hours earlier than usual to make it there for the race. M told us exactly when it was time to go home. He got a wee bit crabby and decided to make the wagon his own personal bed.

Sillies

Last weekend, we decided to ride our bikes on the Gandy Dancer trail in Danbury. We put the kids in the Burley and did about a 9 mile round trip. It was a nice day out and the trail has great scenery. We will probably get a year pass next year and try to use the trail more often.

Here we are on a bridge overlooking a river on the trail.



D decorated herself with stickers.



D has been in princess mode lately.



And M is still learning how to put a shirt on. He's getting there.



Almost immediately after convincing her brother to put on a Cinderella dress and Snow White shoes, M decided he wasn't going for it and tore the outfit off. So, she decided to have one of her stuffed animals join her and Princess Puppy was created.



M preferred to play with the kitchen toys.

Soccer

Monday night was the last night of soccer for D. They played a game with kids vs. parents. Steve got to play with D while M and I watched. Each kid got to make a goal. Here is D making hers. (BTW, Steve scored four goals on the kids...oops!).



GOAL!



And here's D getting her participation award.

T-Ball

D reading her book to Luna.



We played with some moon sand this week. That stuff is m-e-s-s-y! That will definitely be a once in a while toy.





Here are some pictures of D and her "blue" teammates for t-ball.





Here is the whole team with the coaches.



Here's the tree that fell down during the storm Thursday night at the cabin.



Here's the before...



...and after with the tile in the bathroom. Now we just need to grout it.

Sauk Rapids Visit with the Cousins

We found our sprinkler ball and took it out for the first time this summer for the kids. They just loved it!



Warming up after a run in the sprinkler.



On Sunday we went to the Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater. These are the "before" shots...before M tripped and fell and landed on a park bench, giving him a nasty black and blue cheek and black eye. Ouch!





Tuesday was Kid's Day at the Shoreview Farmer's Market. They had free pie, a puppet show, and crafts for the kids to do. Too bad it was 90 plus degrees outside. I was just dripping wet less than an hour there.



Steve took the kids to the St. Anthony Village parade Friday night. They got a ton of candy!



They had a great time at the street dance, too.



On Saturday, we went to my sister's new house in Sauk Rapids for my niece's birthday party. We stayed after the party and went swimming in their community pool. Here is M modeling his new goggles.



The boys had a great time playing together.



D loved the orca whale.



And the birthday girl saved and released a little frog she found at the pool. He was cute, and very hoppy! It was hard to get a picture of him.



Next stop...the Benton County Fair. Here are the cousins posing in the cut outs.



M didn't quite grasp the concept.



They had a little garden where you could "dig" up potatoes.



There were a lot of animals to pet...goats...



...bunnies...



...and more bunnies...



...and sheep.



This is just plain hilarious.



All of the cousins got flavored honey sticks.





Now M is getting the hang of it. Cute cows!



We stopped at Cabela's on the way home and the kids had a blast at the target range.