A weekend of weddings and parties

We went to a wedding on Saturday where the bride and groom had set up a photo booth. They had lots of costumes to choose from - Evan had a blast!

And on Friday we had a Going Away party for Uncle Alex who is moving to Vegas next week. We will miss him - hopefully he will be back for Christmas!

Fall...is coming!

We are so fortunate to have three different parks within five blocks from our house. We always have somewhere "new" to go!

Aren't belated birthday presents great!? Just when you think the fun is all over, the FedEx guy brings you a fun surprise! Evan was super excited to open his gift from his Uncle Kelby!

And it was a great gift, too! A "Cars" themes color-changing detail shop! It was so hot outside that we had trouble getting the "cold" water cold enough, but we soon got the hang of it (one we found some ice cubes!) Evan played outside with this for three hours - I think that may be a new record!

Weekend with Emma and Annie

We had the pleasure of seeing Emma and Annie two days in a row this past weekend. On Sunday we attended the Red Wing Photo Club picnic together and on Monday Annie and I both took a vacation day to bring the kids to the MN Zoo. At the picnic we had a photo scavenger hunt. Three of the items were 1.) "Reflection," 2.) "Unusual Perspective," and 3.) "RED." Below are my entries.

On Monday we went to the zoo for Family Night at the IMAX and to see Barney. Below Emma and Evan are waiting patiently to see their favorite purple dinosaur!

As soon as the show started they made their way down to the main level to dance and sing along with Barney. They were both so excited!

Later we visited the zoo water park and walked around the animal enclosures. Emma is so photogenic - in every photo I have of these two Emma is smiling at the camera and Evan is doing anything but! What a goon.

Oh, the wonders of being three.

We went to the IMAX movie "Amazon" after the zoo. The poor kiddos were so tired that they both fell asleep during the (very loud) movie. Evan drooled all over my arm and only woke up when I strapped him into his car seat. It was a very long, but fun, day! Thanks Annie and Emma for a great time!

Fishing with the boys

I went tubing down the Cannon on Saturday with some girlfriends while Jeremy, Rodney, and Evan took the boat out for some fishing. They had lots of luck catching fish - and Grandma and Grandpa even stopped by in their boat and joined in the fun. As an added surprise, Jonas decided it would be a good idea to jump out of the boat as it was passing Colvill Park in the no-wake zone. He swam to shore and followed the boat until Jeremy was able to dock it, but it gave everyone quite a scare.

Evan goes to camp!

Today was Evan's last day at the YMCA's "Wee Backpackers" Day Camp. Since Evan has never been to daycare and will be attending Montessori in the Fall, I've been jokingly referring to it as "Preschool Boot Camp." It has been anything but - Evan had a great time! Throughout the week Evan learned songs, played games, drew in his Nature Journal and had lots of fun with his camp counselors and fellow campers.

The "Me Flower" craft that Evan made for me.

Evan and his "Wee Backpacker" buddies singing "I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee." Anyone else remember that one? I can't wait until he's old enough for Camp Pepin! I can still remember most of the songs.

Its so blasted HOT out!

It has been an unseasonably HOT, humid, and wet August so far. The flowers in our backyard all seem to like it, but its making us humans melt!

Even the River City Day's Parade was muggy and hot - but we still had fun. Evan likes to pretend to read using my glasses - here he is "reading" the parade program.

Of course, we've been on the river or at the pool every chance we get!

Evan has been into dinosaurs lately. He told me last week that a bruise on his leg was from a "pterodactyl." This week, at the beach, he found a rock that looked like a "Dinosaur Tooth Bone."

Unfortunately, also due to the hot and sticky weather, Rico has developed some mats in his fur that can't be brushed out without hurting him. So...I decided to shave him into a Lion Kitty. It didn't turn out so well. If a groomer had sent him home like this I would have asked for my money back!

As you can see, there is still a rather furry chunk on his chest that I didn't shave. When I got to that part Rico decided that he had had enough. Poor kitty.

Happy 10th Birthday Noah!

Noah turned the big one-oh last week and the Dahl's had a party on Sunday to celebrate. Evan had a blast playing with all of the other kids and Jonas got the chance to come and run around with his brother.

Below Evan wearing Jeremy's hat "just like Noah!" Evan loves everything about Noah and really looks up to him. He wants to do everything "just like Noah!"

"The DADS" vs "The KIDS" in a friendly game of backyard baseball...well, kind of friendly. The Moms had to come and play umpire because the Dads were hitting too many home runs and kept tagging out the toddlers. Final score: 7 to 13, KIDS WIN!

And...

Happy 5th Birthday to Jonas and his "big" brother Axle! (July 26) For those of you who don't know, Jonas and Axle are from the same litter. We almost came home with Axle instead of Jonas, but he bit Jeremy so we took Jonas home instead. We had a backyard campfire that night and when Justin and Katie saw how cute our new baby beagle pup was they went back the next day and brought Axle home to join their family!

Phew - July is a big month for us! Happy Birthday to all of our boys!

Evan's 3rd Birthday Party

It has become a tradition for me to make Evan a "Birthday Shirt" each year for his party. This year he wanted everything to be Thomas the Train, so I thought it would be fun to make a shirt with that theme. This is the back of it - can you find the Birthday Boy?Great-Grandma Eileen, Grandpa Wayne and Auntie Karla came over to celebrate before the party. As usual, Baxter found Karla's lap. He is absolutely in love with her!

Evan was very excited to get a soccer ball from Aunt Karla!

THE PARTY:

It was a beautiful day! It made me realize how thankful I am that Evan was born at the end of July (and not December like me.) We started with the kiddie pool (with a new slide from Grandma Barb!) and then beat the snot out of some homemade pinatas. For the record, Jeremy and I each made one out of paper mache and his was much better! Candy and toys!!! Evan requested a strawberry cake with chocolate frosting this year. I apparently thought it would be fun to get up at 6am and make a strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting from scratch...I think for my first try at making a cake in the shape of a castle it wasn't too bad!Make a wish!"Reading" the cards with Dad. Evan getting some help from his pal, Noah.

Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate Evan's birthday with us! We are truly blessed to have such great friends and family.