Look what's in my garage :-)

9:30 pm Brian texted "I'm close"

Hannah and I went outside to move the car out of the garage.

Hannah: "What are we doing mom? Why are we moving the car?"

Me:  "Not sure honey, daddy just told us to move the car."

I knew but didn't want to give it away

When Brian pulled into the driveway towing this Hannah lost it.

"YAY!  Oh my gosh! It's adorable!"

She wouldn't stop clapping her hands and jumping up and down

We spent the next 60 minutes getting the boat tour and talking about how much fun the rest of this summer is going to be.

Hannah would like to name it "Dolly"

Hailey just says "Aff-ome boat, daddy!"

Hannah is especially impressed with the huge engine and Hailey is excited to take a ride in 'the ship'.

Beating the heat

It was another hot day today.

The girls went to Jackie's and Brian and I went to work.

We will be spending the last part of the week with Kari and the boys so we have a few days at home.

The girls noticed Brody in the driveway next door when we pulled up.

The kids wanted to play together and since it was so warm we decided instead of running around they should swim.  They had no problem with that!

Chocolate Chip Cookie + 100 degrees = CUTEST CHOCOLATE FACE EVER

Day 1

Hailey and Nicolas- WAY TOO CUTE!

Today was the first official day of Kari's vacation.

The boys got out their scooters that we had gotten them for Christmas. 

     

Agustin told me multiple times how cool the scooters were and how much he loved them.

Made me smile and excited that they will have something to play with outside to enjoy their new neighborhood.  All of the kids rode up and down the sidewalk.

 

Bobby and Kristin came over and Hailey was REAL excited to see her 'favorite Bobby'.

I love the way that Bobby interacts with her and it makes me smile to see her SO happy when he is around.  He has 7 neices and nephews of his own so he gets plenty of time around kids.  He assures me it's fine and that she isn't bothering him at all but I can't help but feel bad at times.  After all, she sticks to him like GLUE.

Hailey insisted on holding his hand while we went to lunch.  She turned around to tell me something and Hannah had snuck in close to Bobby.  Hailey saw this, walked in between them, pushed Hannah out of the way and assumed her position.

They are here!

How lucky am I that I get to type that blog post title a few times a year?!

Kari and the boys arrived today!

They will be staying until September 3rd.  Andres and family will be coming sometime in August.

 The kids picked up right where they left off this winter.

The giggles started and within minutes they were locked arm in arm.

Kas rode home with us in our car.  He sat between the two girls in the backseat. 

Me:  "Hey Kas, you ok back there?  Are you squished?"

Kas: "No, I am not squished.  I feel fine."

Hannah chimed in: "You can't be squished, you're just a little guy!"

(as she rubbed his chest- like an old guy would rub the top of a kids head messing up his/her hair)

The kids giggled and talked the WHOLE way to the Parades-Miller townhouse.

Kas:  "Who cut the cheese?"

Jennie and I burst into laughter

We all answered with a 'Not me' (Well, all but Hailey who responded with 'No me')

Kas: "I cut the cheese in the plane.  Maybe it followed me here."

We stayed up until close to 1 am.  The girls and I stayed at the townhouse with them.

Pins of the week

HA! So true!

Spending more time on Pinterest and finding more great ideas!

Love this for a meal planner or weekly family calendar- MUST DO

Golden grahams, mini marshmallows, mini chocolate chip bars

Year you met, Year you married.

Empty frame with hooks for keys

Cupcakes with Mike and Ike 'popscicles' on top- so cute!

Me booty eat me undies

Most mornings Hailey needs to be woken up.

She has always been a good sleeper and has always enjoyed going to bed at night and waking in the morning.  Rarely a fight out of her.

First thing on the agenda each morning is a trip to the bathroom to go potty.

I carry her to the bathroom and she folds in half.  Too tired to stand on her own unsupported.

I prop her up agianst me and set her up on the toilet.

When she's done, we wipe and then I stand her up again to pull her pants up- she giggles.

"Mommy, me booty eat me undies"

Sure enough I had pulled her undies up too high and her booty was getting a snack.

Finally in!

A few months back I finally got the call.  "HI Amy, this is _____.  Your name is next on the wait list for a spot in the parking ramp."

Today was the first Tuesday that I was out most of the day at meetings and came back to work to have a spot waiting for me.  No time spent driving around the lots.  No time spent driving around the side streets.  It took all of about 2 minutes to get in this lot, park, and walk to my desk.

It was wonderful!  It's the small things....

Groupies

    

Loriann and I went to the American Idol concert tonight.

We first had dinner at the Pourhouse downtown.  We had jalepeno cheese curds, buffalo chicken wontons and shared a Monte Cristo wrap- whoa- that food was delish!

The concert was what you would expect for an American Idol concert.  The singing was good, the band was ok, the backdrops and lights were ridiculous (childish-like).

During most of the show the whole place was seated.  We wanted to stand up so badly but with so many kids around it felt wrong to stand up and be in their way.  It was weird to be sitting- almost like the crowd considered this a 'show' instead of a concert.

Phillip came out near the end and the crowd went crazy- finally on their feet.

He sounded great!

When the concert was over we walked to the front of the stage to check out our seats for the Jason Mrax concert (coming up in Sept).  We have seats on the floor, row 14- it is as close as it sounds! (so excited)

When we left the Target Center we saw a group of people hanging out near the tour buses, all holding our their t-shirts and concert programs as if they knew about a secret meeting where the Idols would be.  We had nowhere to go and nothign to lose so we decided to hang out for a bit. 

About 20-30 minutes later we heard a wave of screams- PP (Phillip Phillips) had scurried onto the tour bus.  LA and I looked at each other and giggled, thinking we waited for that?!

A little while later, more screeches from the crowd and then a flurry of programs filled the air and iPhones were lifted and started snapping pictures.  Sure enough, one at a time the Idols came out to sign autographs and take pictures.  We ended up seeing all of them except for PP and Heejun.

My pictures of Jessica, Skylar and Erica didn't turn out so good.

The weekend comes to an end

What a great weekend!

Earlier this week my sisters and I prepared the weekend menu ahead of time so we could all do our shopping before we arrived.  We knew what the plan was for every meal and everyone had their list so we knew that we would have everything covered.  It was different being there and for once having things feel more organized- when lunchtime came there wasn't a discussion about what we were having, we just made it and ate.


We spent most of our time outside. The kids played in the lake, we took a boat ride, we had a bonfire.

From 98 to 69 in 60

We have been having a run of some pretty hot days.  Today was one of them.
Lucky for us we were headed up north to the cabin.  Good idea?  Not sure yet.

The plan was to leave around 5:45 and meet in Pine City at Pizza Pub around 7:00.
When we left the house it was close to 100 degrees.  We knew that it would cool off as the sun went down and being on the lake it always feels cooler.  We have the lake to cool down if we need it and the cabin is air conditioned if it gets ridiculous.  Worse case- we are 75 minutes away and can head home at anytime.

Each mile that brought us closer to Pine City was delivered with a drop in temperature.  By the time we pulled up to Pizza Pub, the temperature was 69 degrees.  To some it felt freezing but to me, it felt great. 

Our home for the next few days

Where did it go?

I was having so much fun with my 31 Things class.  I was seriously having fun with the journaling and putting together a page each night was giving me an outlet that I deseperately needed but my motivation/inspiration has gone. 
These last couple of weeks it's been so hard to keep up.  Maybe it was just a symptom of trying to do too much or maybe it's the weather or maybe it's the fact that my mind is constantly getting a workout that after the kids go to bed I have needed the downtime.  Maybe it's due to the fact that my fingers(that want to be typing), my legs (that want to be running) and my eyes (that want to be reading) are driving my head crazy so it's decided to go on strike.

Whatever it is and whereever it has gone, I hope it returns soon.  It is never fun to play catch up...

Happy 4th!

Sometimes the pictures are just enough....

Oops- she didn't quite make it

Hannah: "Mom why are there so many fireworks today?"

Me:  "Because it's America's birthday and we are celebrating."

Hannah:  "Well, is America going to go around and tell everyone thank you for all of the celebrations?  Cause if he's not then it's not really his birthday."

Where in the world do they come up with this stuff....

Fourth of July treats- thanks to Pinterest