Klay Family: Spin, Spin, Spin!

We kick off the blog post with a garden update.... our garden seriously kicks butt. All of the early rain has made our crop plentiful. We help Mom by weeding the garden and picking produce. Here are some pics of our crop.

This "old" stone was from Mom and Dad's first garden in their first "real" home (13 years ago). It is old but adds character.

Raspberry Bushes~I picked the first ripe berry and ate it in front of Cooper. Don't ask how that went.

Cooper picked the first ground cherry, quickly ate it, then spit it back out. It wasn't nearly ripe enough... I win.

Ground cherries~ they have an unique and acquired taste, kind of like wine (not that I would know).

We have made fajitas with our peppers and prepared 2 large batches of refrigerator (bread/butter) pickles from our cucumbers.

Clearly, this isn't something we eat, it is just a very happy and adorable plant on our patio table. It is called Lemonade Petunias :)

With warmer and drier days lately, we decided to do some backyard camping with Daddy. We loved camping last year at a local state park but our parents convinced us that camping in the backyard is SO much easier and just as much fun. They were right!

We snuggled in for bedtime stories and slept under the "SUPER MOON" that night. Between Cooper's headlamp and the moon, it was almost like sleeping in the middle of the day.

Can you tell how excited we were?!?!

Our camping adventure was a success. We came into the house around 6:30 the next morning ready for a nice warm breakfast. Mom was refreshed after a night of uninterrupted sleep in a bed ALL to herself. Win-Win.

The next day was the last day of the fair and we were excited to go. We couldn't have picked a better day of weather to attend. It was sunny, but not too hot. We met up with Caden's classmate, Trevor, and his family, as well as some of our other friends that day. We went on some of the kiddie rides, like the motorcycle one above.

We quickly transitioned into the big kid rides....Alien Adventures (spinny, gravity ride), the Tilt a Whirl, and the cage/spinny thing that nearly gave our Mom a heart attack. Thankfully, all of those spinny rides didn't make us sick.

See Trevor in the orange shirt in the top corner and little me, next to him to the right.

And this is what nearly put Mom into cardiac arrest... see Cooper, top left corner, TINY kid next to the tall boy in the blue/gray shirt... yep, he was tall enough technically but should have never been put on the ride (Daddy thought it would be fun, Cooper begged to go too, and Mom was getting lemonade). Dad won, Cooper was happy and Mom was frantic.

Back to "normal" kid rides

At the end of the day, I wanted to go in this hamster ball and run all over the water. It was super fun. Cooper was taking it easy at this point, so you won't see him in one of these things.

We had a fun day at the fair... the rides were awesome, we were brave and we can't wait until next year. Mom and Sheila (Trevor's Mom) captured our adorable friendship and excitement with this photo above (holding hands).

We said, "goodbye" to Dad as he left for his fellowship week in Washington DC. This was his 2nd round of the fellowship; he has just 12 months and board exam to go:) The focus of his week was the economy, so he met with WI state representatives and had an amazing experience. We sure did miss him but are so happy he was able to advocate for WI hospitals and experience politics first hand!

Just like our Dad, Cooper and I are fascinated by history. We really enjoy reading about Abraham Lincoln, probably because he died so tragically and he built cool log cabins. Dad took this photo of the Lincoln Memorial as well as the Washington Monument and texted us photos throughout the week. We were feeling jealous but also excited for a hopeful visit next summer.

While Dad was away, we stayed busy. We went to the cities to visit family. Grandma was home from Africa, so we stayed at her house, went to a waterpark together, and had yummy s'mores. Grandma and Grandpa Jamie are home for a few more weeks, so we look forward to spending some more time with them before they head back to Africa.

The following day, we met Papa and Grandma Sharon, Uncle Jim, Aunt Karri and Jimmy at Como Town for another full day of spinny rides.

Our first stop was the good ol' carousel. It is 100 years old this year. Mommy CLEARLY remembers going on many carousel rides at Como Park with her family during her childhood.

We took Jimmy under our wing and showed him all the fun rides Como has to offer....

Train ride (caboose=yes!)

Firetruck/Hose Ride

Frog Hopper (Jimmy was too worried to ride this one)

Mom didn't even ask us to do this photo op, we are just naturally trained.

Spin, Spin, Spin.... see Jimmy's head?!?! He kept on flopping around. I think the below picture is a good summary of how the ride went (big boys smiling, Jimmy not really sure what to think).

We got our drivers' licenses on the road course. I passed no problem, but Cooper's junky cadillac (or maybe it was Cooper) didn't seem to be working so well. He was beyond upset. Thankfully, he got a sympathy license anyhow.

Time to spin around some more

I took this photo with Mommy's camera of Papa and Grandma Sharon. I must say it turned out great!

Before we left Como Town (rides), I begged Mommy to zipline with me. She wasn't thrilled as she said childbirth has changed many things, her equilibrium being one of them. She was a trooper and went anyhow. We both screamed like little girls and loved it.

We couldn't leave Como without a few animal sightings. Good news! No gorillas escaped the day we visited. Apparently they went for a little walk the week before. Can you imagine finding an ape on your front lawn?!?

Como is just not a complete visit without a stop to look at the seals and to purchase a wax animal from the Mold-O-Rama. Those things are amazing and wonderful. Cooper and I are in awe about how quickly these things pop out of that machine.

Daddy returned from Washington DC with some great souvenirs... Abe Lincoln hats. We look like a mix of Abe and the pilgrims. Either way, we were HAPPY to have Daddy home and HAPPY to have such cool gifts. We do wear these around home and outside in case you are curious.

Mom welcomed Daddy home and then had a well-deserved night out with high school friends. They went to a fun Italian restaurant in Mpls and got "caught up" with each other's lives. For family who are curious... Meggen starts at the MN Supreme Court in August, Tricia is a Realtor in Arizona, and Sara lives in the cities and continues to own Champps (it now has a new name). All are married with 2-3 kids each. Crazy how responsible they all are (and you were worried, ha!)

We were home for a day and then returned to the cities because all the "grown up" kids gave Papa tix to the Twins game for Father's Day. They had great seats, but had to keep their eyes peeled for foul balls. Thankfully, no one was nailed, they enjoyed each other's company, and survived 90+ heat.... it was a scorcher! While they were at the game, we spent time with Bennett, Kyra, Uncle Ben and Auntie Erin at their house (sorry, no pics!)