July Highlights

 Summer is going by TOO fast!  We have been extremely busy these days, which is fun yet exhausting too.  The weather seems to be hotter than ever as well, meaning we have to come up with ways to play outside and stay cool.  Mommy set up the sprinkler so we could run through it and it quickly became a car wash for our Gator.

 Just checking the undercarriage of the Gator!

We have our own mini-beach in the yard that we mentioned in our birthday blog post a few weeks back.  Here is the photo of our swingset/sandbox area that is complete.  The sandbox is HUGE and offers loads of messy fun (this picture doesn't do it justice but it took a full yard of sand and it isn't quite full!)

 We still play in our sand and water table on the lower deck.  Cooper was yelling "BATH" and we turned to find him sitting in the table.  What a smart problem solver!

While Cooper was bathing, I picked up the John Deere tractor and placed it in my pool to spin the tires and watch the "Rooster Tail" as Daddy calls it (spray off the back tires).  Mommy at this point was shaking her head and realizing the true meaning of having ONLY boys for children.

I went to Camp Veggie Tales for a full week of bible camp fun.  It was held at my preschool and many of my preschool friends were there.  I came home with lots of creations and stories :)  While at camp, Mommy and Cooper stayed busy around town.  They picked blueberries one morning ~Mommy picked and Cooper ate and ate.

Cooper finds ways to amuse himself which is another great coping strategy to cure boredom.  They picked 3 pounds of blueberries and called it a day.  Our house has quickly become the farmer's market this summer!

 Another day, they went to the park with Lucy, Lily and Laurie Jo to walk and play.  Cooper went down the huge slide, which isn't that surprising for our little daredevil.  Mommy had to make up stories about where they went to "trick" me into thinking that camp was SO much "funner!" I questioned this after seeing these photos of delicious berries and my girlfriends.

Grandma Carla's family gathered for a Twins game and BBQ.  There were 25 of us who went!  My parents told me it would be WAY "funner" to go to the Twins game instead of staying at Grammy's house with Cooper.  So, it was a date with my parents which was exciting! 

 We were even recognized on the announcement screen!

 We stayed until the end of the 6th inning, around 8:00 that night and headed home.  The Twins lost but we loved seeing our family!  I also loved the full bag of cotton candy, Gatorade, pretzel with cheese, and bear claw thingy that I used to annoy my cousins with.

 The next day, we went to Grammy's to retrieve Cooper; Grammy said they had "NO" fun at all and that they didn't even get out on the boat...not sure if that she was telling the truth, hmmmmm....  We invited Daddy's cousin, Andy, his wife and their two girls Alexia and Whitley for a boat ride and swimming.  Ben, Erin, Kyra and Bennett are still PATIENTLY waiting for their house in the cities to be completed (a few weeks left possibly) so they were there to boat with us too. 

 Uncle Ben, crazy cousin Bennett and I doing what we do best~ chilling and acting silly!

 A few weeks ago, we went to our local state fair for a peek at the animals, rides, food and interesting carnies/people.  We lasted a few hours before overstimulation and thunderstorms took over.

Cooper was too short for many rides, but we quickly realized that the carnies didn't mind so much and still allowed him on (not a smart idea overall, we know).

 I went on my first real rollercoaster ride (Cooper did not) and it was FUN!  It was a caterpillar rollercoaster that was actually decent in size, speed and drops.  My parents hesitantly watched and were happy to see the big smile on my face as I ripped around corners (and notice that I sat in the front car!!!)

 We insisted on going up on the Ferris wheel, to Daddy's dismay (just look at his worrisome face above).  He pretty much sat holding the center bar while freaking out.  Mommy had to calm him down, keep Cooper sitting, and of course take pictures all at the same time (way to go Mom).  The 3 trips around were enough to see a few landmarks which I quickly pointed out "LEINENKUGELS!"  

He is only smiling to play "cool" as he knows this one would be posted on the blog :)

 We took a last stop at the tractor area so we could see the size of a tractor's wheel, WOW!

 We went on Papa's pontoon mid-week with him, Grandma Sharon and Mommy.  We did well on the river as it was nice and quiet.  Papa even allowed me to drive by myself~ I sometimes think he forgets that I just turned 4 :)

One of the highlights was seeing the lift bridge go up for the paddleboats and larger boats to pass. 

 Mommy couldn't resist adding in their Country Jam experience.  Thanks to Don (our neighbor and co-owner of Jam) he gifted Mommy/Daddy tickets to the outdoor 3-day concert.  This is the third year they have gone.  This year, they actually located him where he quickly took them to VIP as well as meet and greet with Luke Bryan.  Mommy was a silly school girl waiting to meet the country star!  Ironically, Mommy's friend Becky was with them and she told the security guards that her friends were up ahead in the meet and greet line.  She did some sweet talking and what do you know, she got in with her cousin and friend too!  Mommy has a photo with Luke Bryan that she has to upload from the actual artist (hoping it doesn't cost a fortune), so she will post that next time!  Needless to say, it was quite memorable and they feel very fortunate and blessed for the fun time, but especially for our sweet and generous neighbor Don.

 Becky (left) and Mommy (right) showing off their signed cowgirl hats, yee haw!

 Daddy and Mommy go country for the experience :)

 Lastly, we met up at the river on Sunday with Meggen, Pete, Lauren and Abby.  We haven't seen our friends since our Lutsen weekend this past winter.  We decided to use Papa's boat and head out for a day of boating, floating, and fun.  One of the most silly and amazing things we saw on the river was a "Pirate Ship" that actually blew out a cannon (firecracker).  It was something else....

Daddy and Pete took turns tossing Lauren in while Cooper and I floated on noodles.

Cooper wasn't too happy about getting splashed in the eyes, so he found a pair of Abby's water goggles.  Once again, this kid knows how to problem solve!

 We had a nice BBQ on the beach and did some exploring.  Abby was quite the marine biologist finding amazing shell species (who knew the St. Croix was home to some amazing shells?!?!)

Lauren played mother-hen and was proud to share her wealth of information with Cooper and I :)

We struck a final pose before heading back home.  What a fun and exciting July we have had!   If we had one wish, it would be to SLOW summer down.  We hope you are all enjoying summer too...thanks for catching up with the Klays!

A Fun Fourth!

What a 4th of July celebration this year!  We started celebrating the weekend before by heading up to Grammy's house on the lake.  Uncle Matt, Auntie Jill (and our growing baby cousin in her tummy), Uncle Ben, Auntie Erin, Kyra, Bennett, our family and Grammy all squeezed into the house for a fun weekend. One of our usual stops is the pub on the lake.  It's hard to see but the sign behind us says, "Sorry, We're Open!"  We think that is pretty funny. 

 With lots of busy boys in the family (we are begging Auntie Jill for a girl cousin), it was a weekend full of skiing, boating, swimming, and more!

I am a brave little waterskiier out on the water.  I am still using the trainer and not the wooden skiis yet~ maybe next summer I will give those a whirl.

 With long days out on the water and very little time for a long nap, Cooper caught up on his sleep wherever possible including Grammy's 4th of July picnic.

Uncle Matt is a show director and amazing waterskiier so he insisted on going to the local waterski show to see if there was any competition (and no there wasn't as his team in the southern part of this state are national champs).  In case you didn't know, Daddy skiied on the waterski team for many years, even Mommy joined for several years before work, distance, and some nasty injuries were too much. We enjoyed the show, especially some of the exciting falls.

 Uncle Matt and Auntie Jill stayed just the weekend and had to head home as Jill worked on Monday.  Before they left, they gave us a late b-day gift they ordered online...a TALKING dog named "DUG" from our favorite movie, Up.  It is hilarious (SQUIRREL!), fuzzy, and doesn't shed or poop. What a great gift!

Cooper and I fight take turns driving the pontoon on the lake.  With Bennett in the mix (he is one year older than me), we really have to practice patience and manners.  With the ridiculous heat, we spent most of our time zooming on the lake in search for a breeze or else in the water with our toys.

Because it is tradition, we hit the city parade in 100 degree weather.  We stayed long enough to watch the military fly over, the bands (military and high school), saw the Tin Lizzies (Mom's favorite) and had rootbeer, freezies and loads of Tootsie Rolls and candy.

  We lasted 45 minutes of the 1 hour and 15 minute parade, not too bad! Mommy prepped Cooper for the fire engines and noisy trucks. He took her advice very seriously and plugged his ears the entire parade.

The minute we got back from the parade, we hit the lake.  As the week progressed, I started to jump off the pontoon into the middle of the lake. This was another first as I usually waited until we docked at an island so that I could walk into the water.  We also had fun swimming under the pontoon (NO WORRIES....keys were out of the ignition and we were in a calm bay).  Can you see the huge smile on my face under here?!?!

The 4th arrived and Uncle Ben decided to go pyro this year.  He is a bit excited for the endless exits full of firework stands.  The kids enjoyed whipper snaps and sparklers during the day and that night, Uncle Ben went into full firework display mode.  We had a blast (no pun intended)!

 We title these photos of Cooper throwing snappers as "WARRIOR COOPER!"  He was a maniac with these guys.  If they didn't snap when he whipped them, he would race after them and stomp with all of his might.  It was a bit frightening to see that kind of aggression!

 Speaking of our little warrior... he had his 2 year check up before our 4th weekend and he is 36 inches tall (90%) and 29 pounds (50%).  The warrior had 2 shots, one in each leg and besides sticking his lower lip out, he didn't even cry, shocking the nurse and Mommy.  What a tough big boy.

 I think this expression was for my mom as she constantly nagged us to keep the sparklers as far away from our bodies and each other as possible.  Fortunately, no one was burned or even came close.  Whew, another successful year of fireworks!

 On one of our last days, we asked Cooper if he wanted to ski since he seems quite interested in Bennett and I on the trainer and the new slalom skiier, Kyra (age 10!)  Cooper said he wanted to ski, so we put that to the test.....

 See ya Mom!  I am heading out to ski, be back in one large loop.

 Yup, he did it.  Even better than me as I did this when I had just turned 2 but on the ski boom.  He went long line and when they landed, he signed and yelled "MORE!!!!!"  Hopefully by now, you haven't called social services on our family.

 Bennett and I ended our holiday week by fishing on the dock together.  We didn't catch much, just one lonely fish and a bazillion mosquito bites.  I love having my cousins nearby and we loved our fun holiday at the lake!

We hope you had a fun 4th of July too!  If you are up for waterskiing or boating, you can find us at the lake this summer :)  Until next time....