Rylee's Bday

                                      

Rylee wanted an expensive present for her birthday so she was willing to forgo a big party.  The funds we saved (plus going halfsies with Gaga and Papa - thank you!) bought her a beautiful pink iPod.  :)

She got some other great presents too like these pjs and these snackeeze cups (there was even one for Jace!).

We had a small pool party with Miller, Mason and Madison to celebrate.

It's hard to believe she is 7 already!  

First Day of School

The kids were excellent on the plane. Jace even napped for a bit. Traveling is so much easier now that they are older.  The iPads help too!

I went back to work a few days after we got back, but the kids didn't have to start school that week so they got to spend their days with some generous babysitters and friends.  First, it was crafts and fun with Diane and her daughters.  Then, pool time and playtime with Jessica and her sons.  (Jessica wins babysitter of the year award because we were in major poop training mode for Jace so she had to take him to the bathroom 7 seven times... in and out of the pool and wet swim clothes!)  After that, it was a day at the museum with Sandy and Madison.  Last, a day with Jon that included sneak a peeks at both kid's schools. 

Finally, it was time for the first day of school!

August - Goodbye MN

So there are two reasons for my lack of blogging:
1) being back to work has really put a damper on my free time (shocker!)
2) my camera broke back when we were at Cedar Crest

So I'll do my best to recap with the few cell phone pics that I have (and with what little I can remember about the past few months!).

The last week was saying goodbye to friends and family.  Here's a pic of the kids saying their final goodbyes to Megan and Max.  It's always hard to leave them!

We also hit the county fair where Jace finally discovered a love for rides.  We ended up buying him the unlimited ride bracelet just like Rylee.  Hopefully this means he will actually have fun at his school's carnival this year (last year he refused to ride anything).

After seeing all the delicious treats at the fair, Rylee asked Gaga to make milk-free funnel cakes.  Yum!

The last thing we did before we left was Rylee's dance performance.  She wore this cute little outfit from her cousin, Maddie, and did a dance/gymnastics routine to "DJ Got Us Falling in Love Again." She did amazing!    

That's what I can remember of our last week.  :)

MN Summer - Week 8 (the rest)

Sat - leaving Cedar Crest, unpacking

Sun - cleaning, relaxing (vacations really take it out of you!)

Mon - Jess, Jerry, Norah and Caleb came for a visit (the kids played, the adults visited), Rylee had dance so the rest of us played in the park, when she was done we took them to see the Serpent (no visit to Crosby is complete without it)

Jace was still too scared to walk next to the Serpent.  It's good to be cautious, right?

The kids had so much fun playing together...

...and I loved getting a chance to visit with Jess & Jerry.  We miss them so much!  Hopefully we can see them in MN again next year!

MN Summer - Week 8 (CC Part 2)

Thurs night - was our fish fry (thanks to our great fishermen), and "Rhinestone" movie night (to commemorate Ted's return to CC) out on the deck.

Fri - breakfast at the lodge, day at the lake...

Rylee went tubing behind the boat with Megan that afternoon and Vern took us for a boat ride afterward.  Then we played games at the lodge, before eating the buffet and playing bingo.

The kids had one final hurrah that night with a late night dip under the Blue Moon.  Dave even paid Max $5 to jump in his in Minion footie pjs.  I said his new nickname should be "Maxaminion."  I crack myself up!  

Sat - was go time (sadly).  I practically had heart failure when I went to wake the kids up and couldn't find Jace.  Then I spotted his little foot.  

Comfy!

Until next year Cedar Crest!

MN Summer - Week 7 & 8 (Cedar Crest Part 1)

Cedar Crest 2015:  so this was our 5th year at CC (not including all the years we went when I was a kid).  The Johnston/Erickson clan decided to move from the motel units to the cabins near the beach/playground so we decided to move to the other side of the motel units to be closer to them.  It was so weird to be in new locations, but it was good overall.  The kids enjoyed the fact that the playground was just down from the new cabins (as did the adults since we could sit on the deck for happy hour and still supervise!)

Tanya and Dave came on Monday this year, but stayed the rest of the week.  And for the first time in Cedar Crest Revisited history, Ted (Heather and Dave's brother) came (Tues - Sat).  It was awesome to have him with us.  Now if we could only get my husband to come!

Sat - the "gypsies, tramps and thieves" headed to DL

The first afternoon/evening was unpacking & relaxing.  

Sun - we started with fishing off the dock...

...where Rylee caught several of these whoppers!

None of them where quite big enough to save for the fish fry though.  :)

After fishing, we hit the lodge for breakfast, spent the day at the lake, and had happy hour/dinner at the cabins.

Mon- breakfast at lodge, day at the lake, dinner and bingo at the lodge.

Jace was a wild man at the lake.  He wasn't scared at all.  As soon as his life jacket was on, he would hit the water and swim.  He even swam out to second dock by himself when the rest of us were still getting our sunscreen on...

...but, of course, it's more fun to swim with friends!

Tues - breakfast at the lodge, girl's shopping day in DL, apps at Zorbaz, happy hour/dinner at cabins.

Wed - breakfast at the lodge, Rylee had a fever so she spent the day in bed watching movies, games at the lodge, happy hour/dinner at the cabins.

Thurs - breakfast at the lodge, day at the lake, apps at the lodge...

To be continued...

MN Summer - Week 6 & 7 (Part 1)

Sat - Rylee got the mystery fever virus that Jace had the week before so she spent the day in my bed watching movies, Greg & Sharon came over for dinner and visiting

Sun - Rylee was still down with the fever so Jace and I met (a different) Greg and his daughter, Ireland, at the park, Howard came for dinner

Mon - Mom declared a clean up day so we all spent a couple of hours working outside and moving patio furniture down by the lake, then the Johnston/Erickson crew came over for a Cedar Crest planning dinner

Tues - was a Megan & Rylee day: the girls did crafts, did a little shopping with me in Brainerd (since we had to pick up Angel from her grooming appt), swam at the community center pool, had dinner, then went for a pontoon ride

Wed - we finally made it to the Crosby park for some play time and checked out the new paint on the Serpent

Jace was too scared to pose with "Kahnah' Bek"

When we got home we were so hot and sticky, we decided to take a pontoon swim on Agate Lake (our first of the summer if you can believe it!)

Thurs - Rylee's last library program, her dance class, & pre-Cedar Crest errands in Brd

Next to Grandma Sandy's dedication at the library (in the children's book section of course!)

Fri - laundry and packing

MN Summer - Week 6 (Part 2)

Wed - after the cousins left, we spent the remainder of the day with Lilly (shopping at Ruttger's, dinner and game night)

Thurs - Rylee went to her library class, then we spent the day crafting and playing games  (we needed a lazy day!)

Fri - the kids spent the day with Gaga and Papa so I could have a girl's day with my high school besties

(Tonya, Sara, Jessie, Me, Leslie)

Sara and I met Tonya in Crosslake for some shopping and lunch at Ye Olf Wharf, then we met Jessie & Leslie in Nisswa for drinks at The Pickle Factory.  After that we dropped our car's off at Tonya's house and continued to on to Breezy Point for more drinks and dinner.  Lots of fun catching up!

MN Summer - Week 6 (Part 1)

Tues - Rylee went out to spend the day on the lake with her cousins, Jace stayed home with Gaga and Papa, and I hit the road with Chelsie (and her dog) for a roadtrip that included a round trip to St. Cloud, and a side trip to Fifty Lakes to see the renovations on her cabin, and a quick jaunt to Aitkin  to drop her son off for his baseball game.  It wasn't exactly the day we had planned, but we had a blast.  8 hours of gabbing with Chels is always a good time!

Wed - took Jace & Rylee to storyhour then headed out for the annual cousin's photo shoot.  I keep thinking that as the kids get older the photo shoot will be easier... yeah right!  Luckily, we still managed to get a couple of keepers.  :)

The cousins were leaving that afternoon, but I had grabbed our swim bag and thrown it in the car just in case.  Of course, when I actually looked in the bag Rylee's swim suit wasn't in there.  

In case you were wondering if an almost 7 year old girl can fit into her brother's 3T swim suit...

the answer is yes!

It was another fantastic vacation with the cousins.  The kids are already counting down until next year!

Embroidery

These are just cell phone pics and I didn't take the time to iron them first, but I wanted to show off our skills!

This is one of the mini's that Rylee made.  She put it in this cute photo album for her cousin, Maddie.  Then we filled it with photos of the two of them from birth until present.  It turned out so cute!

I made two dish towels.  This is my favorite.

This one turned out really cute too.

Such a fun and relatively easy craft.  Plus it reminds me of my Grandma Sandstrom (I have a set of her embroidered dish towels).  I still enjoy plastic canvas too (which reminds me of my Grandma Mooers).  I made a set of plastic canvas coasters for Big Grandpa Bob this summer as well.