The MOA and our annual computer crash

We went to the MOA (Nickelodeon Universe) on Tuesday with third-cousin (is that right?), Amiya and new pal, Aiden. The kiddos had lots of fun and for the first time ever we ran out of time on Evan's three-hour unlimited-pass wristband!I think Aiden's face is priceless in this photo!

We also made sure to visit the butterfly garden. Evan is still a bit afraid of butterflies but is starting to get used to them.

"Mom...what are these two butterflies doing?"

A SAD SITUATION:

Every year around this time we lose a hard drive. It has become tradition, it seems. Unfortunately, I have not learned from our track record and have still not purchased a portable hard drive to backup my photos.

On Sunday when our computer showed us the "blue screen of death" I almost started to cry. I have not backed up any of our photos or videos for the past 10 months! As I mourn this loss (and kick myself) I am also thankful that I have taken the time to blog and post photos of Evan while he grows up. Even though the blog converts our photos into practically unusable formats at least we still have something. I would be inconsolable if we at least didn't have this blog.

So, while a new hard drive is being installed in our computer I will be using my lunch breaks at work to blog...and I will be asking for a portable hard drive for Christmas. Or maybe before then, just in case!

Quick! Let's pack in some more Summer before Winter gets here!

It was really nice out last weekend so we went out for some cones and Blizzards at DQ and headed out on the Missisippi for one last time before retiring the boat for winter.

Yet another trip to the MN Zoo

I took a day off last week to bring Evan to the zoo one last time before the winter gets here. The new crocodile exhibit is really cool!All of the animals were out and restless.Even the Minnesota State birds were out... I'm so proud of my little archaeologist! I hope Evan grows up to be a paleontologist or something...and that he takes me along on digs. I miss Archaeology!. A careful excavation of a Mammoth femur...Almost there!This beaver was frantically trying to claw its way out of its tank.We rode on the monorail for the first time! It was pretty exciting.Plus, it gave us a great view of the bear enclosure. Here are some of the animals from our home zoo. How many cats can you fit on the top tier of a cat tree? Three. Barely.

A colorful day!

I took a vacation day yesterday and thought it would be fun to begin the morning with a craft project. We had some stale noodles in the cupboard that I thought would make fantastic painted "beads" for a necklace. Evan concentrated hard while he painted! Watch out for that tongue...you'll see more of that later. All finished! Evan was very proud that he strung the beads himself.

And, of course, Jonas also wanted a turn at modeling our new jewelry. (Well, not really, but Evan made him do it.)

3...2...1...Blastoff! Aren't airplane rides just the best? Spread your wings...vrooooommm!

Later in the day we took a trip to the Science Museum of MN. I would have had lots of awesome photos to post on this blog...but I forgot my camera in the car.

After spending the morning mixing paints together and the afternon at the Science Museum, Evan developed an interest in colors. I thought it would be fun to have a mini Color Theory lesson in the bathtub.

I gave Evan three small bowls of water with food coloring in the primary colors - red, blue, and yellow. Then we experimented by mixing them together and making other colors - green, purple, and orange. (There's that concentration tongue again!)(And again!) Then it was a free-for-all! Of course, Evan ended up mixing them all together (who could resist!?) and made a greenish brown. He had so much fun that we emptied out the bowls and did it again!

Oh, and Happy 4th Anniversary to my sweetheart, Jeremy. Jeremy surprised me by hand delivering some flowers to my work. Unfortunately, I was in a meeting and missed him. When I called home to thank him Evan told me "Daddy is cooking you dinner tonight! And we bought you wine and you get to go to a movie!" Jeremy had taken the night off of work to surprise me, but Evan spilled the beans! The next morning when we got up Evan asked, "Mom, you and Dad got married yesterday? And you went to a scary movie?"

Me: "Yep, kind of."

Evan: "Oh, that's cool."

Labor Day Weekend

We have enjoyed some amazing sunsets this weekend - Friday and Saturday I happened to have my camera with to catch a quick shot out the car window.

Today we headed to Dave and Kay's for a Labor Day family picnic. Their house and yard is absolutely amazing - Kay is a Master Gardener and owns her own landscaping business. Unfortunately, Jeremy had to work overtime today but Evan and I had a great time catching up with everyone...and Evan got to meet his second-cousins Eli and Otto! The three boys had a blast together and were the source of many laughs for us adults. Despite the scattered showers we had a blast admiring her flowers, watching the birds and finding bugs and caterpillars.

Pinata time!

CANDY!

Great-Grandma Jan was nice enough to fill up bubble pipes for the boys for most of the afternoon.

Dave and Kay's driveway is perfect for racing - so that's what we did. (We had to burn off some of that pinata candy energy!) Even Grandpa Bruce joined in for a round. We had such a great time and are already looking forward to the next time we can all get together again!

Last night Evan got a surprise from his Grandma Barb: A parking garage/gas station from Aunt Pat for his matchbox cars! Jeremy and his cousin Greg played with this for hours when they were little and Pat had it safely stowed away in her attic. Barb thought it could use a paint job and I was happy to oblige. It was actually in really great condition but the paint was starting to turn chalky and flake off.

Here it is before:

And after:
Yep. This is how I like to spend my Saturday nights. I can't wait until Evan is old enough where I can keep my paints handy and not locked up in the closet all of the time!