We had a nice lunch at Gigi Sally's house one afternoon - lovely that Jani & Esmay came too :)
cutie :)
Genna & Max enjoyed waving Gigi's flags
Gigi & Genna :) :)
later after a nap, we joined Alex at a gigantic park by his house
next morning, sibling cuddles :)
working on crafts with Grandma
Awesome dinner out at the Northern. We took the boat across the lake then just walked up to the restaurant!
Max loved the cups they put his milk in :) just like a big boy!
and thankfully they had an outdoor area with a bean bag game
the kids just enjoyed running up and down the grassy area
Genna noticed this chair that had the area's lakes on it - very cool
fun to go home on the boat too!
Hello ducks!
Lovely that Normal joined us too!
a different evening at home, Genna set up this 'picnic' area with coloring for herself, Alex & Max
We all had a great time :)
Max's 2nd Birthday!!! We went to Como Zoo to celebrate
such fantastic primate enclosures
the seal show was great too
they liked the giraffe's too
and the pretend ones
tortoise! (Genna kept correcting us when we said turtle :)
puddles, animals, best day ever!
and finishing the day with a train ride - chooo chooo
conductor Genna
Back at home - SO happy with his big Elmo present from Grandpa & Grandma
birthday cupcakes! Made lovingly by Genna, Grandma & Mariah (decorated by Genna of course!)
and licking the candle. A fabulous second birthday celebration :)
time for water skiing! G tried it on slalom
G getting a ride with Grandpa on the jet ski
I got up hooray (on 2 skis - but it was my first time water skiing in like 11 years!) First lap I tried to drop a ski and wiped. Second time I dropped and stayed up. Just like riding a bike - felt GREAT!
the beach audience :)
Coming into shore. I let go early to make sure I didn't come anywhere close to the people on shore. Not sure why I plugged my nose though lol!
Max LOVE LOVE LOVED using a stick to poke frogs in the pond. He did it every day. I'm surprised he never skewered one !
Big boy can do everything by himself! NO WALK! Ok - but you have to hold my hand too!
my friend Beth came to visit which was lovely - this is her youngest boy Blake playing with Max
Tommy playing marble works with Max - he LOVED having big boys to play with!!
Trying a peach drink Beth brought - lovely!
Genna relaxing with a snoozing Grandpa
SO great to catch up with her!!! Felt like old time :)
her boys are SO sweet too - G & M really liked them
The next day we went out to lunch with Gigi Sally, Jani, Julie, Al & Caleb
They were thrilled with the lovely bday gifts from Gigi Sally
saying hello to Caleb
Max isn't great at sitting still though. He kept grabbing the hand of Grandma or Jani to take him 'OUTSIDE!' To see rocks of course!
after Max took a nap, we headed to the beach in Forest Lake
it was shallow and very clean - a lovely beach
posing with her new backpack
back at Gigi Sis's house - hooray
getting ready to watch Grandpa set off a few final sparklers he found in the garage
FUN on the playground too
The next day we drove to Wisconsin to see my best friend from school Stacy
The kids LOVED her daughter Finley's trampoline!!
Me, Soloman & Stacy
Max never wanted to come out
Until it was time for a fun ride around their property!
and a stop to feed the chickens
cutie girls :)
enjoying their drippy ice cream outside -they were SOOOO happy!
Then before we left we went down the road to see their animals at her husband's parent's farm - first up the pigs!
Max cooling down the pigs with the hose
SO SO great to see Stacy :) :)
Her husband Taylor helped round up the donkeys
So great to see Stacy and meet her lovely husband & kids :)!!
then we drove up to Joni & Kevin's place - first up a tractor ride!!!!
talk about fancy!! it's air conditioned in there!
next up, lawn mower
he let her steer - it was hilarious! she had a blast
talking to Kevin
busy making necklaces with Joni
poking frogs
went out to breakfast with my friend - had to take a picture of it - yummmm
another evening out with friend - I had frickels - deep fried pickle slices you dip in ranch - OMG yummmm
reading with Aunty Megan :)
Out to lunch - coloring with Gigi
such a lovely lunch :) We love these guys SOOOOOO much
out for a walk with Kevin - to look for rocks OUTSIDE! of course :)
another fun day at the lake
one last water ski before we go!
he kept pointing saying he wanted a ride, but noise of it once he got on terrified him. So just sitting on it was fun instead :)
getting the lantern Marcus got for Genna ready (it was too windy for them to work on the 4th)
a last breakfast out with friends. I didn't get any photos of my friends - but I did get the food! This was a Mexican breakfast - yummm! SO lovely to catch up with my friends too
while I was out, Mom & Mariah took the kids to Fawn doe Rosa, a deer park nearby
they had goats too!
they had SUCH a brilliant time!
deer kisses!
petting a baby goat - awwwwww
bunnies too
and a raccoon!
cuddles with Grandma
and ROCKS!!! lol
our last night we went to the harness races - they LOVED the big tractors
he waved at the tractor drivers for every lap and they always waved back - he was thrilled :)
they even got to pet one of the horses before it started!
a REALLY fun night :) :)
back at home that evening - checking out the glow toys she got
last morning in MN - Max was up early - but had a blast running around OUTSIDE!
giving Brock 'pat pats' - he really enjoyed having Brock around - such a gentle dog
A fabulous trip. SO many great memories. SO relaxing. SO nice to see and spend time with family & friends :) :)
