Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

I'm back.

Did ya miss me?

No.

Is it because you didn't even know I was gone?

Ah well . . .

I came back to over 100 blog posts waiting for me in my reader. I am not going to get them all read, just so you know.

Bet you're just dying to know where I was. If I tell you, you'll just get all jealous and we wouldn't want that now, would we?!

But I can tell you we didn't buy a fat pig.

Nor a fat hog.

I will however show you a few of the pictures I took.

Had a lovely visit and brunch with family in Minneapolis.

Relaxed in Grandpas hammock.

Watched the clouds roll through the late afternoon sky.

Played "King of the Hill".

Hitched a ride.

Read stories with Grandma.

Watched a dragonfly play in the lilies.

Caught up with old friends.

Went to the races.

Managed to get one photo of the four of us together.

Found a comfy spot to watch cartoons.

 Enjoyed a garden in full bloom.

Pontoon boat ride, fishing poles and one on the line.

Flittering butterfly in a field of daisies.

Afternoon spent reminiscing over times past.

Went fishing.

And went fishing some more.

A summer vacation at the lake never disappoints.

Hated to say goodbye.

But home beckoned.

Par-tay!

Last week my in-laws were here to visit and to help us celebrate the boys' birthday's and it felt like one big party all. week. long. and I am exhausted.  They arrived last Tuesday afternoon and the party didn't end till they left early, very very early Monday morning.

On Wednesday we celebrated EM's birthday.

On Thursday we sang Happy Birthday to HT.

Grandma & Grandpa bought him a bike for his birthday.

Grandpa showing him how the brakes work.

HT told his Grandma in a breathless voice when they went for a walk/ride on Friday, "Grandma, I wuv my new bike."  He spent all yesterday afternoon riding it around a church parking lot just east of our house.

On Saturday we invited several friends to Cornbelly's to celebrate the boys' birthday's and man did the kids have fun.  It lived up to its expectations and beyond, every one went home good and tired and I for one know that both my boys slept through the night and didn't wake up till 7:30 the next morning.

It was like a carnival, with rides, games, face painting and more in addition to the corn maze, which we never made it to.  The kids were more interested in all the other stuff.

On the way home after lamenting that he never got his face painted HT told me, "Mama I never seen an ant poop before!"   Yeah me either, pretty sure I don't want to and what poop has to do with face painting I don't know.  I will never understand how this kids mind works.

A caterpillar cake.

Auntie with EM

Alex and HT, laughing at the idea that if you cut into the caterpillar a butterfly would come out.

Opening presents.

The boys absolutely loved this slide and spent most of their time playing here.  They would pile the straw on the end so that when someone slid down they would slide right through it. 

Caleb, HT and Isabella

I wanted to get a picture of all the kids together, but it was near impossible to get everyone back together after we were done eating cake and opening presents.

Papa, Mike, HT, Isabella and Nadew

What a couple of goofs, they wanted to sit on the horse but we talked them out of it.

The boys had an absolute blast.  Who wouldn't when you've got such loving indulgent grandparents, they showered them with loves, hugs and kisses not the mention the birthday presents.  All's quiet here on the western front so to speak, back to the same old, same old routine of our boring everyday lives.  Truth be told I enjoyed them too and wished they could have stayed at least one more day.

Thanks for everything and all that you do for us, we had such a lovely visit and can't wait for next time.


Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. 
Psalm 133:1

We're Baaack

I'm sure you all missed us terribly and we are glad to be home.  Traveling is fun, but its always nice to be home.  We all had a good time at Grandma and Grandpa's.  HT got to play in the sand box that Grandpa made for him last summer down by the lake.  The weather was typical spring weather, fickle.  Sunny and warm one day, overcast and rainy the next.  But we did enjoy ourselves.

We saw a turtle but HT wouldn't touch it or pick it up.  I saw a really big one, it was about two feet in diameter and looked positively prehistoric.  My in-laws tell me that the turtles are laying their eggs and there is one old gal that likes to bury hers in the middle of their driveway, which isn't very convenient.

This is the turtle I saw, look at the size of it's claws in comparison to the gravel on the road.

They got to go on a tractor ride with Papa.  I think they enjoyed it.  HT  wanted to climb on every piece of farm equipment that was there.

I have more pictures to post, but will do that in another post.

Flashback

Did I mention that I love my in-laws.  I really lucked out with them and since my own parents are gone I really appreciate having them in my life.  With true mid-west hospitality they welcomed me into the family with open arms. (If only they lived a little closer, sigh.)

When they came to visit from MN in June 2008 they surprised HT with a swing set.

It took TR and his dad nearly a day and a half to set it up, but it was worth it.  HT  loves it and so does the neighbor, Ethan, he calls it HT's park.

Hum, let me see.

Wait, no I've got it!

Voila!

Before they had it all assembled and all the parts were all over the lawn, Papa put the slide up against the porch steps and HT couldn't pass up an opportunity to try it out.

Deewah!

 I love it when he gets to the bottom, he says whee on the way down, but whines about it when he gets off.  He was (and still is) a little chatterbox and he had a universal query word when he wanted to know something.  It could mean, who, what or lets go over there.  It all depended on the context.

Click here for more flashback friday stories.