Fun Times at Home Depot

I started taking the girls to the monthly Home Depot workshops (first Saturday of each month).  Pretty impressive ordeal that HD puts together.  Several hundred kids and some very cool, kid friendly projects. This week, they got to make a Fire Department rescue plane and then when they were done, they got to paint it (the color of their choice - or at least whatever dad could mix together with red, white, yellow and black).  Afterwards, they got to tour a fire truck outside, sit in the back and front seats and hold on to the hoses.  Pretty good little Saturday morning activity.

A Serious Cleaner

One of Winston's favorite 'toys' is our dust-buster, well, at least until it turns on, then he runs like a scared little animal.  Today, after his normal eating routine, where he finishes, then throws all of his food to the floor, he ran to the dust-buster and got it turned on. Scared him at first, but then he had a blast vacuuming up all his food.  I guess throwing food is forgivable if you are willing to clean up afterwards.

Re-Tell Day at School

This past Friday, Veda's class had a Re-Tell session where the parents were invited to class while the kid's talked through their stories.  They had made little posters and stick figures to act out the play.  The stories were Rosie's Walk, Three Billy Goats Gruff and Henny Penny.  As you can see, Veda is in a pretty large Kindergarten class this year with Miss Williams, lots of kids at Kenny Elementary...

Picture Day at School

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Vancouver 2013

This past weekend, we took a little trip up to Vancouver with Kel & Chris for a weekend getaway.  It was also the 3rd time Kathy & I have been to the Vancouver International Film Festival.  We were able to take in a couple movies, one starring Robert Redford, called 'All is Lost' and another about big oil in Africa, called 'Big Men', produced by Brad Pitt.  Lots of eating out at nice restaurants, shopping and wandering around the city, despite some pretty rainy weather.  Always nice to get away for a few days and glad we could share one of our favorite cities with Kel & Chris.

Oktoberfest in Mpls

Adele's Entourage

Adele has been spending a lot of time with her 'friends' and her 'sweeties' lately at home.  It's lead to some high maintenance behavior, which can be challenging whenever nap time, sleep time or travel time happen.  She travels with a minimum of 8 animals (anywhere from small beanie babies to large breed dogs).  Lately, she's been carrying a backpack and 2 purses, just to help transport.

Minnehaha Falls

Impromptu photo shoot by Uncle Ryan at Minnehaha Falls.  Kathy deemed the walk down to the waterfall area as 'too dangerous' but I think she's probably happy with the end result.  At least I only got a few eye rolls during the process...

Pics from Uncle Ryan

Here are some great pics from Uncle Ryan's last visit to Minneapolis.

Reading with Nana and Bull

Waiting for the Blueberry muffins

Iowa vs. Iowa State

While it wasn't the game result I was looking for, it was a great day tailgating and hanging out with old friends in Ames.  We are hopeful this will become an annual tradition again (after too many years missing out on college football).

Late Summer Fishing Trip to Wisconsin

I was lucky enough to head up north to Heyward, WI with my friend Geoff Paine this past weekend for a day of fishing (while Kathy watched the kids).  While the bite was pretty slow, it was nice to get a good day of fishing in on the lake.  Maybe next time it will be muskie fishing in Clear Lake?

Summer is Winding Down...

It's been a great summer down in Clear Lake with lots of live music and great sunsets.  Kathy and I were able to make it down for one last concert on Sunday of Labor Day, before Clear Lake starts to wind down Summer 2013.  Very appreciative of all the hard work and hands on effort that my parents have put in to make it a big success.  Looking forward to a great 2014 in Clear Lake (and some much deserved time off for my parents)...

Summer Fun

We had to put sweatshirts on for the walk to school this morning. Seems odd considering Veda's classes were cancelled last Thursday and Friday due to heat. Winston and Adele started their new fall schedule at Fraser today... Fall is finally here. Here's a re-cap of our crazy fun summer.

Our neighbor, Anna, was our summer babysitter and spent every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with the kids. Tuesday and Thursday Adele and Winston were at Fraser and Veda was busy "camp hopping" from week to week.

Summer 2013:
3 Vacation Bible Schools (in Iowa City and Minneapolis)
Creepy Crawler Camp
Fairy Tales Camp
Bear Hugs Acting Camp
Construction Camp
Farm in the City Camp
4th of July week in Clear Lake
Iowa State Fair
Two trips to Iowa City
Ladies night at the Package Tour concert
Lots of walks around Lake Harriett and visits to Bread and Pickle
An awesome visit with the Soffins from California
Veda's 5th birthday celebration
Daily trips to the park and pool for Winston and Adele
A visit from our friends Kim and Kai from KC
Mom's trained for her 10k race in October
Veda's first sleepover with her friend Ava
An adults only weekend in Clear Lake
Tuesday night date nights for Mom and Dad
And plenty of popsicles and sweet corn!

Creepy Crawler Camp

S'mores at the lake

St. Louis Park Pool

                                              Mom's night out at the Package Tour;)

                                                     Backyard sprinkler fun

                                                   Bread and Pickle at Lake Harriet

Music in the park in Coralville

Just one of our many trips to "The Cone" in Clear Lake

Clear Lake Randomness

Winston's first rides at Mall of America

Ava gave Veda a "Best Friends" necklace

Story time with Nicole

Tea Time at the State Fair

Friends in Clear Lake - 1st Annual Trip

Adele being Adele

Arts and Crafts at the Iowa City Farmer's Market

Adele doing Yoga with the College kids in IC