August is going by too quickly! The last few weeks our family has been having fun, checking the last few things off our summer bucket list, and celebrating. An important celebration was our parent's 14th wedding anniversary. We are happy and blessed by their love for each other and us.
For their anniversary dinner, we actually were invited to join them. It was a first for them having us along. Since the anniversary was on a Tuesday, they figured it would just be easier (definitely more distracting) to have us celebrate with them! We went to a hibachi restaurant in the area... the fire and crazy chef were very entertaining.
We were pretty much awe struck. We went to a hibachi restaurant in Georgia a few years ago where
I burst into tears when the fire flared up. This time, we loved it, there were no tears, and we asked our parents for one of those cooktops so we could cook like that in our own kitchen.
Papa and Grandma Sharon have been asking us to go boating with them all summer. The first problem was the St. Croix was seriously flooded and secondly, there was a no-wake zone on most of the river. Everything has improved, so we hit the river with some family. Papa gets a kick out of letting the "littles" drive his pontoon.
Grandma Sharon loves all of my questions and curiosity. I seriously talked her ear off the entire ride.
We went during the week, so since Daddy was working, Uncle Jim (who is a teacher and has his summers off too) was nice enough to toss us in the river.
We played at the beach, went tubing (oops, Mom erased those pictures) and enjoyed the nice, warm, and sunny day! We also liked our cans of rootbeer and freezies they brought for the grandkids.
We celebrated the end of 2 weeks of swim class. I LOVE to swim and can swim without a float (still working on technique and endurance). I am a Guppy and Cooper is an Eel. We are taking a break from swim class for a few months and will pick it back up in the winter months.
We went for an overnight to Ben, Erin, Kyra and Bennett's house. On our way there, we swung by Mommy's childhood home in Woodbury. She loved how big the trees were and how beautiful the neighborhood looked. She texted this photo of the house to her siblings and they all responded that they drive by all the time and were there recently to see it too. What a bunch of stalkers/weirdos :)
The adults played a round of golf at the Chaska Town Course. It was probably the nicest course that Mommy golfed on. Auntie Erin and Mommy had fun and snickered at the ranger who kept reminding them that they were 7 minutes behind pace... OK, sure.
Duck Faces
Rub-a Dub... 3 dirty boys went to the tub. While the adults played golf, we had fun with their sitter at the playground and at the house. When our parents returned, it was time for a bubble bath and bedtime.
Uncle Ben and Auntie Erin have a nice playground near their house. Before we headed back home, we stopped to play and burn some energy. Cooper is still working on going across the monkey bars, while I am able to do them easily.
Cousin Bennett is good at monkey bars too!
Speaking of monkey bars....school is starting in less than 2 weeks, yikes! We went to my school to play on the playground and to help us wrap our heads around the fact that I will be a FIRST grader this year!
On our summer bucket list... berry picking. We hit strawberries earlier this summer and it was time for blueberries. Cooper was short on patience this day, so Mom and I mostly picked. After we filled 2 ice cream buckets, we were outta there.
Fall soccer is coming up, so Cooper is starting to practice. This is the first season he is able to sign up and he has his mind made up that he will play goalie. Little does he know that goalies are not allowed in the U-6 league.
Notice he insisted on wearing golf gloves (not sure where he got this idea, World Cup on TV possibly?!?)
The kid is crazy athletic and gifted... he can punt the ball pretty good right out of the air. We might have a mini star on our hands....
Our parents went on their annual Loopy's float with family/friends last weekend. It was a smaller group as everyone is busy winding down with summer activities. Either way, it was a fun time!
Auntie Erin and Uncle Ben drove from the cities to join the fun and this is Mommy's friend Cory...
Daddy and Uncle Ben, chillin'
Mommy's favorite summer drink...Cayman Jack
The girls posed first....
The brothers posed next (not sure why they thought this was funny)
They capped off their night in the huge Leinie's Adirondack chair and enjoyed more drinks (not that they needed it) and bar food (again, not needed).
Grammy took all FIVE grandkids for the night while the adults floated. We had our own fun... we went pontooning, swimming, and went to Somerset Pub for ice cream and the quarter game. Grandkid number 6 is arriving (Matt and Jill will be induced a few weeks early) on Tuesday. We can't wait to meet him or her!
The day after the float, the parents all came to retrieve us. It was a cloudy and cold day but we were begging to go waterskiing before we left. Daddy and I had a little talk on the dock. It went like this, "Dad, I think I can ski by myself this time." Daddy said, "Are you sure, I can help you?" I replied, "No, I think I can do this Dad." So, what do you know, I was on my own for the first time....
1st attempt--- went out the front.....
I got up smiling, so my parents knew I wasn't ruined. I wanted to try again. I was determined to do this.
The boat started (thanks Daddy for causing me to
moon everyone!)
I was doing it! Almost up!!!!
This was "up" for me. I wasn't quite ready to stand straight up, so I rode comfortably around the lake in this crouched position. I was so proud and just kept smiling at everyone in the boat who were cheering me on :)
Hopefully this video clip will work (it has been a while since we posted a video)! I was SO proud of myself. I kept saying, "I am so proud of myself. I am a waterskiier!" Not bad for a kid who just turned 6 years old!
Cooper decided to stay in the boat and not ski since it was so cold. Mommy captured him looking at Daddy barefooting, while holding a ski handle. He mimicked every move that Daddy was doing. It was adorable. We are winding down with our summer activities; we are so excited to have our new cousin join us this week and we have some more family and friends gatherings coming up as well. I wish time could stand still for just a few more weeks......
