Splash Pad fun

The Oak Hill Park Splash Pad is even more fun on a cool day. The kids and I met some friends there last week on a somewhat cool morning. I was only about 75 degrees - and that kept a lot of people away, but not us! At one point it was only Katie and Will in the water. Another reason the Splash Pad is one of our favorite FREE summer spots.

A special Saturday post

Happy Birthday to my good friend, Shelley!! She has finally caught up to me (in age)...we used to give her grief for being a young one in class....now it's not so funny anymore. :)

Did I tell you that Shelley has wrangled me into a 5k in September? She didn't have to twist my arm too much, but it's easier to rationalize being "dragged" into something like that versus actually admitting that you WANT to do it. :)

Thanks to Shelley's 5k I have been training a few mornings now and I think of her every time I have to drag my butt out of bed at 6:30. :)

Happy Birthday!!!

Some afternoons...

...are actually just this nice. :)

Rochester Gathering

Last weekend some college roommates of mine got together at a park in Rochester. It's actually the 2nd annual picnic together....we did the same weekend last year too! Everyone had such a good time, the weather held out - even though it was a bit windy for a while.

We have a great little "gang" of kids - they all got along so well together, played baseball together and even hijacked a random little kid's jumping-rocket toy together. It was so fun seeing everyone and I'm sure we'll be doing it again next summer.

Geez - when Laurel and Jamie eat....WATCH OUT!

Katie loved Cameron because he was still in a cuddle stage.

There's 4....who are we missing? Oh yeah, Will - he was in the bathroom with Julie.

No, he wasn't actually using it.

Will Pladsen, Noah Margolis, Katie Pladsen, Cameron Hagensick, Karlie Hagensick

Allstar Weekend....on a Wednesday

Today the kids and I journeyed to the Mall of America to see the band, Allstar Weekend. Who is Allstar Weekend? Chances are, if you are over 18...you've never heard of them. They have a few songs on the Disney Radio station that we listen to in the car, and Katie seems to know them by heart. So, when I saw they would be making an appearance at the mall....on a Wednesday....at noon, I figured it was just our speed, and I was right.

Our actress

In my opinion, this deserved an Oscar or a Tony, or whatever.

Thou Shall Waterslide

Katie has been at Music Camp all week. Our church puts on a children's camp, and for 5 days the kids rehearse, learn songs, and put on a show at the end of the week. Katie has 2 lines in the show - and sings a tri with 2 other little girls. I watched them do it at a nursing home this morning and it was SOOO cute. :) I'll have video later.

As you can see - it isn't ALL hard work. I think the 11th commandment is something about a waterslide...

Allamakee County Fair

Last weekend we traveled back to IA to take in the County Fair in our hometown. It had been a few years since we'd been able to get back for it. Just so happened to work out this time.

The midway is smaller than it had been in years past, but that's the kind of thing that is almost bound to happen in small towns. The food wasn't as good as I remember either, which is more disappointing. But, the people seem to stay the same, and that's comforting in it's own way. There's always bound to be someone you run into that you haven't seen in a while.

Katie and Will went on a few rides, played a few games, and got lots of little trinket freebies. A local bank also has a cash grab game where you get into the "cage" and grab as much money in 30 seconds or so. Whoever has the high total for the day wins something. Katie wanted to try it, and she did great - grabbed $22. In her age group, the high total was $53, so we didn't win, but it was still pretty fun.

Happy Birthday Will!

Over the weekend, Will turned 3! As you can tell, I'm a little late posting his "Happy Birthday". Actually we celebrated his birthday a few days early because we were going to be out of town all weekend. So by the time his actual birthday rolled around, it wasn't a big deal.

I wasn't in the mood for cake, so Will agreed to chocolate chip cookie bars instead. It still worked fine - and was actually a lot easier.

Like our Batman tablecloth? .25 find at a great sale. :)

After supper and cookies we opened presents. Will got a garage with some cars, a train, a movie, a bingo game, stamps, some workbooks, a bunch of other books, and of course clothes.

And (this year, anyway) we gave Katie a few little things too.

Katie has always wanted a trophy. So I found a plastic one and used stickers to say "best big sister" Luckily, she thought that was pretty cool.

4th of July festivities

We had a pretty busy holiday weekend. It started on Friday with a little "mommy time". I met my friend Shelley at the Mall of America for a movie date to see Eclipse. (No laughing at me, now.)

Saturday morning John went to the driving range for some "daddy time" while the kids and I visited friends in Eden Prairie for a play date. It was HOT Saturday, so what better time to go to a pool party with some friends? We have some friends that live about 30 minutes north of us, and they have a beautiful pool and patio area in their backyard. We didn't make it there last summer so it was nice to relax and catch up with them.

It's quite different taking a 6 and (almost) 3 year old swimming. The last time we were there Will was 1. In some ways it's so much easier, in other ways it's a bit more stressful.

Will spent a LONG time talking to their dog, Missy....or was this one Minnie????

At one point we realized he was gone - he was following the dog around the house. She had such little legs, Will had no problem keeping up.

At the parade Sunday afternoon.

I swear I never saw the guy in the background....I'm sure he was ok. :)

Ugh. Holidays are exhausting.

But no matter how tired, there was no way he was letting go of his candy bag.

Why do my posts skip days at times?

Because competition for the computer is stonger than ever!

Katie's first hostage

At a neighbor's garage sale last week, Katie and Will each got a bug house. She and John went outside to see what kind of a bug they could catch.

10 minutes later, John had her a butterfly.

She found flowers and grass for it, loved watching it. After a couple hours, we had to let it go because a storm was coming and thought it deserved a chance to find some shelter out of the rain. (Besides our living room.)

Just in case...Will's is ready to re-catch the butterfly.