MN Week 6 (Sat)

On Saturday, Greg and Sharon spent the day with us at the resort.  My mom made a delicious lunch, we talked and laughed, and went over to see the new house they are building.  Jace loved being able to walk through the walls and Rylee loved the cute roofers... and she's not even 10 - what am I going to do?!  Lol!  Then we went for a pontoon ride on Serpent...

and the kids entertained us with some spectacular jumps.

These two have so much fun during their MN summer!

MN Week 5 (The Rest)

Even Jace and Ben got brave and rode the hotdog.  Then we squished all 5 kids onto the three person hotdog.  It was so cute!  Maddie rode in the front spot and Rylee hung onto her life jacket.  Jace rode in the middle spot and Ben held on to his life jacket.  Nick rode in his usual spot in the back.  They wiped out a lot.  It was so much fun.  Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera on the boat.  Darn it!

The 5 of them went again later in the day.  Anthony was on the boat with his camera so I don't have any pics yet, but I'm sure he got some good ones.  I did a couple as they prepared to leave.

If you noticed the deer fly on Rylee's arm in the photo above, you will understand why all the kids are screaming and flapping their arms in this pic.  To say they all don't like bugs is an understatement.  :)

Whoo hoo!

And then it was time for the annual cousin photo shoot (but a much shorter and simpler one than in years past).  It's too bad the lighting wasn't the best, some of these photos were so cute, but hard to see in the shadows.

The boys...

Cousin goodbye hug!

MN Week 5 (The Girls)

Friday was the cousins last day.  Boo!  The kids got together for one last hurrah (or should I say hotdog?) on the lake.  The girls were the first ones out.  They are becoming such accomplished hot dog riders that it's getting hard to tip them. 

A wave finally knocked Rylee (and then Maddie) off.

Cuties...

Then Maddie fell off first.

I teased them that it was like riding a bull...

...so they decided to show off and go one handed!

One of the best wipeout sequences I captured:

See Rylee's foot in the air?!

I love Maddie's reaction too.  :)

Look, mom, no hands!

We call these two "sister cousins" because they are so close.  

They look like they could be sisters too.  :)

MN Week 5 - Part 1

Sat - The kids were sad to see Jon go, especially Rylee, and she wanted to get up and see Jon off to the airport.  He told her not to since we were leaving at 4:45 in the morning.  The little stinker set her alarm and got up anyway, but we had already left.  Luckily, we were only down the road about a mile so Jon turned around and gave her one last hug!  :)

When I knew I had to take Jon back to Mpls, I asked Sara if she would like to "get up at the butt crack of dawn" and go with me.  To her credit, she said she would "love to!"  Literally, those were her words.  :)  So we drove down, dropped Jon and Rio off, and ate breakfast while we waited for the stores to open.  We shopped a few stores, hit Ikea, and then spent the rest of the afternoon in Edina.  We ate at a sidewalk cafe and went into a "thrift" shop that apparently means something different in Edina.  If you like Louis Vuitton bags for $3000 and butt ugly dresses covered in martini glasses for $1200, this place is for you!  We stopped at DQ on the way home (it's becoming a thing with me) and then Sara hung out with the kids and helped me sort perler beads - long story!  Suffice it to say, she is a great "sister."  The waiter even thought we were sisters.  He asked me, "Do you know what your sister will be having?"  :)

Sun - cousin lake day

Mon - we dropped Jace off so Rylee could go to dance, then we went back so she could swim 

Tues - I took Megan and Max with us to the waterpark.  Jace was a little hesitant at first, but then he he loved all the water slides.  And unlike the other three, he didn't seem to tire of walking up the four flights of stairs to get to the top!  Lol!

Here are some blurry cell phone pics.  Either my camera sucks or I am just too shaky to take good pictures.

Later that night, the kids and I met Sara for movie night (Incredibles 2) and dinner at Olive Garden.  We are loving our Tuesday night movie nights.

Wed - cousin sleepover day at Grandpa Chips

My mom and I did a little shopping that day and then we grabbed dinner with my dad.  While we were there, I got this text from Maddie: "I just knocked Rylee's tooth out with a ball."  Luckily, it was her loose, Nanny McPhee, snaggletooth!

Maddie was dropping a rubber ball from the top floor laundry shoot down to a waiting Rylee, and it bonked off her tooth.  Then Rylee pulled it out.  Jace had a great time and came back with all his teeth.  :)

Thursday was a lazy, post-sleepover day.  Gaga, the kids, and I did manage to sneak in a trip to Ruttger's and the Mustard Seed.  We donated so much stuff when we first got here that every time we go, we look for items that were ours.  We usually find one or two things.  The kids always like to get a grab bag toy for 25 cents.  This time Rylee actually got one of her donated stuffed animals back!  We decided she must have been meant to keep it.  :)

MN Week 4 (Part 3)

Thurs - Jon went golfing with the crew, while the rest of us slept in.  My mom, Rylee, Jace and I went to Ruttger's and Mustard Seed for some shopping and relaxation.  Then it was over to Chip's for lake time and dinner.

Friday was Jon's last day.  Boo!  We spent the day with the cousins and crew, and then came back to the resort for dinner.  Jon took the kids on a wild raspberry hunt.

With their bounty and next to one of the apple trees 

we planted last year (Rylee's tree "Cris").

They had a pinecone fight,...

...the kids rode the hot wheels around,...

...and Rylee learned how to drive the golf cart.  

She gave everyone rides, including me (even though I am not pictured).  :)