Happy 40th Anniversary!

Last week we threw a surprise party for my parent's 40th wedding anniversary. Actually, my sister and her family threw the party, and we pretty much showed up for the fun. Because they were married in 1970, we made it a '70s bash and everyone was decked out in their best '70s dig. The surprise turned out great, and the party was a lot of fun. Thanks to my sister Shawnta and her family for such a groovy time!

SURPRISE!

You have to pull in the cool '70s pics for a '70s party.

Check out these hippies...

Kari and Mel... feelin' groovy.

Of course we had to get in on the fun, too. I think I like that shirt, I'm going to wear it more often.

So how do I whistle on a blog?

Peace, baby.

Deadhead?

Here are the inseparable two again.

Elin's first experience with face make-up. I guess we have some work to do.

My Grandpa and Great Uncle Tony, with my Uncle Tony in the middle.

Shawnta and Mike.

The gang.

Lexi is full of dancing and cheers, and does a great job!

My cousin Kristin and husband Andy.

Me and my little sis'

Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Mike.

Lots of good food, including this dessert table. Chocolate, of course, makes every dessert table better.

And, of course, the couple of 40 years.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. We all love you!

Summer Camping!

I'm a bit behind on my blogging, so I'll be catching up in the next few days... several events to share. First, summer camping with the family! This is the first time we've been camping with my parents and my sister's family- great time! We went to Kettle Moraine State Park and spent a few days camping, swimming, fishing, and of course eating. No pictures of the "hurricane" that came through one afternoon, only to say that I was glad our camp site was still standing.

Loaded up and ready to go...

...and I really mean loaded up!

This was our stomping ground for the weekend.

"Roger that... we're ready for the next tent, back it up a bit... easy does it..."

Cousin Sadie and Elin were inseparable.

My Dad and I brought our bikes along... how could we miss the opportunity?

And, of course, a little pickin' and grinnin'

Two beautiful cranes wandered by our path.

Mmmmm... nothing beats old-fashion dutch oven cooking. I'm still an amatuer, but I'm learing.

Just enjoying the shade on a hot afternoon.

This game was a hit with the kids, and we only had to get the balls out of a tree once!

We visited a nearby swimming lake twice... it was a popular spot since it was so hot out. April found a comfy seat.

Papa and Sadie.

Mama and Lexi

Ha! I beat my sister to the picture.

Lunchtime! The kids always come running for lunchtime. It seems like a much busier time as an adult now.

Like I said earlier... inseparable.

Papa and Dylan.

Nate and Dylan fishing... we didn't have much luck that day.

Mike and Dylan... not much luck here, either.

Dylan on the monster truck.

Breakfast time- pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Why does breakfast always taste so good when you're camping?

The troops (minus Dylan).

And here's the gang just before we left. It turned out to be a great weekend, especially for our first family camping trip. I can't wait to do it again next year!

Vegetable Stand

Nate has wanted to do a lemonade stand, a limeade stand, a boat building stand and it goes on. Today we compromised on a veggie stand. I let him have all the produce he wanted as long as he picked it. After two hours of picking and sign making he was ready. Here are some pics of the fun. He had two customers, (thank you for coming!) and was quite pleased with the entire process. Perhaps we will do it again sometime.

He decided to pick beans. For some reason he just sat down in the middle of them. I can tell I have picked enough this year - I shrugged that his bum was on my plants and went to get the camera.

His amphibian assistant.

The sign. It took a lot of work to keep that in place with the wind.

1st Day of 1st Grade!

Our little boy is not so little any more. He is going to a "big" school. Here are some pics before and after.

All packed up and ready to go!

Here is one picture without the thumbs up.

Pretty cool guy.
Are you sure he has to go mom?

Let's go E.

Nate gives a "thumbs up" after his first day in his new school. What's up with the pose?

Too many tomatoes

After giving away as many as we could, we made some salsa with all our tomatoes this year. We forgot to take any pictures, probably because we had gloves on from the jalapenos and crying from the onions. I wouldn't have gotten it done if it weren't for my friend Andrea coming and chopping! I found a great blog with food storage etc. tips. Here is the link to their salsa recipe.

You Know

Elin is at a pretty funny stage. She is giving out lots of advice. I have no idea where she got that from . . . ;) Her newest vernacular is "you know." Here are some examples.

Sebastian likes those treats, you know.

You know mom that was not nice.

'Cause I like those, you know.

The car is green mom, you know.

I like soup, you know.

and on and on and on you know.

More Zoo!

We had a fun family outing at the zoo the other day. It was rather hot as you might be able to tell from the pics. Here are some pics of all the fun.

Here are Nate and Elin feeding the animals.

Some rather large tortises.

Penguins - above water.

Penguins below water.

This is totally cool - you get to feed the giraffes and pet them if they are in a good mood.

While the kids loved the zoo - they were totally enamored by the train. They had to tolerate a few boring things - like the wolves and big cats before we they got to go on the train.

Here are the happy train-riding faces.

Elin's Zoo Trip

Elin got to go on a field trip to a zoo recently. I just got some of the pics of her - here are my two favorites. Miracle of miracles she even agreed to wear shorts (read not a dress) because there is a climbing park at the zoo.

Elin is an animal lover just like Jason. The mean cat in my mom's neighborhood followed her around and she said, "Oh hi, nice kitty . . ." and proceeded to pet it like nothing else. She just is quite natural with animals and the animals like her. Maybe she can really talk to them . . .

This is really the zenith of the trip for Elin. She missed the first field trip because she was sick and was so disappointed she didn't get to ride the bus. Well, second time around she finally made it on a school bus. She was thrilled for days - what a smile, huh?