End of Summer! Sniff, Sniff....

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!!

July 2014

Another month of summer has passed us by.  

In the beginning of July Grandpa and Grandma came to visit for the 4th of July.  Drew did some fishing with grandpa.

 During that visit we did a big canoe and kayak trip in the Rice Creek Chain of Lakes.  It took us almost 3 hours from beginning to end.

Drew and I had a blast camping with the Espinosa Family at William O'brien State Park on the St. Croix.  We had the most fun biking on the trail to the ice cream shop in town.

Drew and I did a 1 mile hike through the park, and I lost my phone.

 We had tons of fun when the McIntosh family came to visit in the middle of July.  We did lots of swimmng at the house, and of course some more bike riding.  We took a day trip to Stillwater and made a visit to Teddy Bear Park and spent some time checking out Lumberjack Days.

Towards the end of July Drew and I went along with dadddy on his work conference.  We stayed in 3 different hotels.  Two were in Racine, and one was in Milwaukee.

We spent the last part of the weekend visiting with the cousins at grandpa and grandmas.  The neighbor brought over his goats for the kids to visit.  It sure was fun watching the goats run!!!

Grandma Nita Visits

Grandma and Mike came to visit for 9 days.  She brought Drew some gifts.  His favorite was his "Drew" doll that he could dress and undress.  He had fun playing with him.  Mini Drew has been resting near his bed for the last month. 

One day Mike spent some time helping Drew make a hacky sack, and airplanes.  Drew sure did like that time constructing things with Mike.

Grandma did some fishing with Drew too.  They both caught fish one right after the other.  Between them and John, they caught enough to do a fish fry before Grandma and Mike left.

During their visit they were able to see Drew at his t-ball practice.  Drew and his friend Andrew had more fun playing in the sand, than playing t-ball.

Saturday, the 14th, was Grandma's 70th birthday party.  All of the Truesdell boys came over with their children.  One of the highlights was getting all of the kids into the canoe for a paddle.

We even had a pinata for grandma and the kids.

On Father's Day we hung around the house, and captured a photo of John and Drew in their Lutgen Strong t-shirts in support of John's aunt Chris and her fight with stage 4 melanoma.

June Trip

Yep, we are still having fun in June.

Nala and I got out for a hike up Gibraltor Rock, and then had a nice visit with my friend Rachel.

We stayed with Grandpa and Grandma for one whole week.  We did some biking, hiking, and exploring.  Drew did his annual treck up the tower at Blue Mounds State Park.

We celebrated grandpa's b-day on June 3rd.  Drew spent most of the morning wrapping up gifts for grandpa.

We also went to visit the dam in Sauk Praire.  Drew was pretty tired after that but he did have a nice hike up the CC trail at Devil's Lake.  He made it almost to the top barefoot.

On one of the rainy days we went to the Children's Museum in Madison.

After the museum we stopped at the Vilas Zoo.  Drew got to spend some time with Henry the lion.

When we weren't out exploring Drew drove the lawn mower around as much as possible making paths.

On our way out of Blue Mounds we stopped at Ihmer's farm to see his cows, and have a photo taken with Daisy.

We did an over night camping trip at my friend Melissa's house in Burlington.  Charlie helped Drew take down the tent the next day.

On Friday we had a play date with Tami followed up with an afternoon of fun with Drew's friend Ben.  Drew was so tired he fell asleep on Ben's couch. 

Friday night we stayed at Yogi Bear park in Caledonia.  Drew did lots of crafts, and had some fun meeting Yogi Bear and Boo Boo.

Saturday was the annual Pseudofest party at Jamie and Steve's.  The highlight for Drew was wrestling with Jason, and the late night dance party.

When we returned home we spent the afternoon cleaning in preparation of grandma and Mike's 9 day visit.

Recap of May 2014

May was such a busy month!

Drew finished up his ninja class in Forest Lake.  For his first class he wore his ninja turtle pajamas.  He lost interest in the class by the end.  For the time being he isn't going to be a little ninja.

Drew still has lots of fun dressing up.  He saved all of his pirate gear from his friend Ben's 4 year old b-day party.  The parrot from Lucy came in pretty handy for his outfit!

The Wargo Nature Center had a fun class for the preschool kids.  We looked for bugs, did a few art projects, and played outside pretending to be butterflies.  Drew was really happy that I stayed with him!

It rained A LOT in May.  Drew and I had to go to Fleet Farm to buy rain coats.  We decided to take an "Usie" when we got home.

John and Drew started work on the a bathroom project.  Drew had fun using his tools alongside his dad.

Ben sent a Wild Kratt's outfit for Drew to play dress up with at our house.

While Drew and John went to help Grandpa Russell with his garage sale, I stayed back and cleaned the house.  It was a great Mother's Day present!

Drew and I did a little exploring on Mother's Day.  We took a canoe ride over to the YMCA campground, and of course took another "Usie."

Drew had a sports sampler class during the month of May at the YMCA.

Drew also decided to give himself his first haircut.

We did get out to the beach, and Drew was very excited to see a field of dandelions.

This is a piece of driftwood that Drew found in the lake.  He decided that he would use it for his snack breaks.

 Grandma Andrews and Drew made lots of flags when they came to visit in May.

The Espinosa boys came over for a play date and dinner.  Drew and Andrew are getting to be good buddies.

 The training wheels came off and Drew rode off without any trouble....until he tried to stop.  He wasn't quite sure how to stop without the training wheels.  Needless to say, the wheels went back on shortly after.

Drew's friend Viktoria and her mom Becky met us at Fawn Doe Rosa for a fun filled day running away from geese and deer.

Drew had the idea to make a raft, and his dad pulled it off for him.

The first sunset of the season from the pier.

My bleeding heart gift from Drew.

Nala's summer cut.

Carla Ripp's retirement party at Pleasant View Golf.