Weeny Roast at the Gorge

We decided to head out to the Gorge for a weeny roast on Saturday night with some friends. The weather was supposed to be good, supposed to be being the key word. After driving down, getting the fire started, the tables and the shade set up, the rain and winds came in full force. We debated on what to do. We ended up taking the shade down, putting the tables and chairs away and were discussing which house we were ending up at, when the rain stopped. Within minutes, sweatshirts were shed and the kids were back in the water having a grand time. I'm glad we stayed because it turned out to be a great evening. A few hot dogs, s'mores on Girl Scout Samoa's and roasted Starburst and the evening was a success. Thanks for going with us guys, we'll have to do it again soon.

Princess Camp

Last week the girls were signed up for Princess Camp over at the college. They were looking forward to it since I signed them up back in May. Some of the activities included:

• learning to curtsy
  
• going on a Princess parade while doing the princess wave
• painting and decorating a picture frame
• making bracelets, tiaras and necklaces
• learning manners like "Yes, Fairy Godmother" and "No, Fairy Godmother"
• decorating a princess cupcake
• watching princess movies
• getting princess pretty (aka-wearing blush, eye shadow and glitter)

For the last day, I decided to make Janae a tutu to wear. I had never made one before, but figured it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. After using way more tulle than was needed, I finished the tutu at about 1 am. I hung it on Janae's closet door so she would see it when she got up. She come bounding into my room bright and early asking about it. Our conversation went like this:
Janae- "Mom, where did you get that tutu?"
Me- "I made it for you last night after you went to bed."
Janae- "Oh"

She came running in a few minutes later.

Janae- "Mom, tell me the truth this time. Where did you really get the tutu? Who helped you make it? Because if you made it yourself it wouldn't turn out that good!"

Have I told you lately how much I love that kid? She makes me feel good about myself on a regular basis. :) The funny part about it all was she didn't realize how funny her comment actually was, and she gets embarrassed when I tell the story. So glad I stayed up till all hours of the night making something she was confident I couldn't do on my own!

July 4th (a few weeks late)

We did celebrate July 4th around here. I have just been too lazy to post it until now. We ate dinner at my parents. After creating some masterpieces last year, (click here for the pics, scroll down a ways), Janae and I were put in charge of dessert. She thought it was great when grandma told here it is now a tradition for us to make the July 4th desserts. We made cheesecake bars decorated like a flag and also some red, white and blue fruit kabobs. The kids devoured them in about 30 seconds, so they must have been alright. We headed down to Veteran's Park, next to the tank, to watch the fireworks. We were only there a few minutes when the girls made friends. They oohed and ahhed over the colors and shapes.

Very True

I found this on a blog and thought it too funny not to post.

BBQ RULES

When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

Routine...

(1) The woman buys the food.

(2) The woman makes the sides, the salad, prepares the

vegetables, and makes dessert.

(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray

along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it

to the man who is lounging beside the grill - beer in hand.

(4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three

meter exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other

manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the

woman.

Here comes the important part:

(5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine....

(6) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.

(7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great.

He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he flips

the meat

Important again:

(8) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

More routine...

(9) The woman prepares the plates, side dishes, salad,

bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table.

(10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:

(11) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.

(12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed ' her night off ',

and, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just

no pleasing some women

I LOVE Summer!

I absolutely love nights like this. Addyson had been in bed for just a few minutes when I found her like this. She is exhausted from a long day at play, one of the many reasons I love summer, no fighting at bedtime.

Minnetonka Cave

We drove up the road from our campground to Minnetonka Cave on Wednesday. Good thing that we took jackets, it is COLD in there! Both girls did great navigating the 444 steps in and the same out. A lot of the steps are carved from rock and not even. Some of the steps were really steep. We went down one set that was 75 stairs and almost straight down. As we got to the bottom, our guide had us turn around and informed us that the staircase was named the Staircase to Heaven. Seeing as we had just gone down them, where was it that we were? The pictures didn't really turn out too well, but the formations were neat to see. My favorite was the one in the bottom left corner, the drinking straws, hollow stalactites.

Bear Lake June 2009

We camped near Bear Lake, so of course we had to take a trip to the beach. It was the day that Grandma and Grandpa came. The girls were so excited to play with Grandma in the sand and water. Addyson couldn't resist giving herself a mud bath, too bad she didn't get to shower afterwards. We all pitched in and built a sand castle. Janae designed it and informed the rest of us on what our jobs were to complete the task. Grandpa spent the day under the shade asleep most of the day.

Camping June 2009

We went camping for 4 days this last week. In the past, we have gone for the July 4th weekend, but decided against that this year. We went early in the week and headed home as everyone else was heading out. We beat the crowds. For the first time since we've been back, it was just us, which was nice. The girls had a great time playing on their "best friend"-Big Rock. They could sit on the rock and watch the main road below. It was especially great to watch for Grandma and Grandpa when they came up for the day. They spent hours on the rock playing and having fun.



We took a drive to a pretty little pond called Blue spring Pond-wonder how it got that name? It was really pretty, the picture doesn't do it justice. Addyson is a little bug lover. She found this butterfly on the ground, one wing smashed and tried to make it fly again. She also found a Caterpillar that she toted around camp for a while. We told her to put it down so that it could turn into a butterfly. She did, or so we thought. She informed me later that night that she had smushed it dead. She didn't feel even the slightest bit sad about it.

I always take pictures of the girls sleeping, even though Scott makes fun of me for it. I can look back on rough days or when they are fighting and remind myself that they are cute and not always trying to irritate each other. :) Besides, that is the only time they don't complain about getting their pictures taken!

I was sitting in camp the first night while the others were out walking, and was surprised to see a raccoon in camp. We didn't see her the next day, but she was there. We went to the lake for several hours and came back to find our bin of food open. The leftover buns and 1/2 loaf of bread were missing. I made sure that everything was closed up when we left, so she must have been smart to get it open. A couple nights later, she came back. We scared her off several times, but she kept coming back. We stayed quiet one time to see what she would do. She climbed on the table and couldn't get into the bins that were bungeed together, so she pushed them off the table to give it a try. Smart animal. We went ahead and put the food in the truck that night. Poor Addyson was so concerned about the raccoon and our food. She even prayed to keep our food safe from it!