It was a fun filled August, just like the rest of the summer. 
Drew and I went to visit the Espinosa family at Interstate State Park on a really rainy day. We tried to get some hiking in, but it just wouldn't stop raining. On the way home from the short hike we stopped at Fraconia Sculpture Park to do a little walk, and then stopped for some mini golf. The sculptures were artsy and fun to see! We had fun in spite of the rain.
After we returned from our trip to Branson Drew asked if he could learn how to play golf. So, we signed him up for golf lessons at Oneka Golf course in Hugo. He sure had lots of fun playing golf. His teacher, Tim, had a good way with the kids. He's looking forward to lessons next summer already!
In the middle of the month we attended Blue Heron Days in Lino Lakes. John did the 5K, and Drew did the bouncy houses. We followed that up with the parade, lunch and petting farm.
Waldoch Farm had their annual Flower Garden tour. The ladies sure had interesting gardens. I thought it was fun learning about the gardens, but they boys were more interested in the free ear of corn.
At the beginning of the summer Drew asked if he could make yarn. Well, instead of making yarn we went to visit a sheep farm, so he could see where the yarn comes from. It was an authentic sheep farm, with guard dogs and the whole bit. We are looking foward to going back in the spring for the shearing.
I gave in and took Drew to the MN State Fair. I really hate fairs, but this one was terrific! We were shuttle to it on a FREE bus. It's rated #4 in the country for best fairs! There was just so much to see that we didn't have time to fit everything in....One of the highlights for me was the live animal birthing section. We were able to see the aftermath of a calf being born.
We waited all summer to go to a Saint's Baseball Game. We wound up at the last game that was to be held at Midway Stadium. If Kati hadn't shown up with Sophia, I don't think Drew would have lasted so long.
One of my favorite things we did this summer was going to the horse races at Running Aces. It was a gorgeous evening, and the overall culture of the horse race was relaxing and entertaining. 
We spent a night at the Musser's place on Turtle Lake. During that time Drew was practicing his one mand band skills by playing his kazoo and ukele a the same time.
My hummingbird feeder proved to be a big success. We had the cutest familly here all summer long. I finally figured out that they have a nest in our big maple tree.
We did our first camping trip on a weekend in MN. It was REALLY crowded, and noisy. We camped at Father Hennepin. Not one of our favorite camping spots, but we still made it fun with hiking and biking.
Labor Day weekend we had the Espinosa's over and we rented a pontoon boat. Obviously the boat was pretty slow for pulling a tube. So slow that we decided to do tricks on the tube. This was def. the highlight of the day! Seeing John try and do a head stand---hee, hee! Nathan asked if this was legal. We had a great fish fry to end the evening.
The last hoorah for the summer was a camping trip with grandpa and grandma at Afton State Park. We wound up not camping because we realized we had to hike in 1 mile to our campsite. We weren't prepared for that!! So, instead we rented a cabin for the night. It had bunk beds which made Drew really excited!!! Minus the diarrhea and not having any tp on our walk, it was a pretty good time!!
