MN Summer Week 3

Sun - had lunch and a visit with Grandpa Chip and Connie, then out to the driving range

Mon - was the start of Vacation Bible School (it was held later in the summer this year, but the kids were so excited for it!), after Rylee's dance lesson we went to the new ice cream store in town that serves all Lactose-Free ice cream!...

... that night my Mom and I had happy hour and dessert with Chelsie, Linda, and Glee at Chelsie's house.  It's always fun to get together with these ladies, gossip, and catch up!

Tues - VBS day 2, library visit...

We like to get a picture in front of Grandma Sandy's plaque every year.

...Rylee's golf lesson, dinner and dessert at the DQ, visit with some of my relatives at Duck's mom's house.

Wed - VBS day 3, afterwards we went to the elementary school to take pictures at Grandma Sandy's bench and play at the park there.

You would not believe all the cool recess equipment 

the elementary kids get to play on.  My kids are jealous!

Rylee still has fond memories of her 1/2 year at CRES.  

Her favorite thing was the tire swing!

When we got home, the kids were so hot that they ran through the sprinkler.  

They love doing this with their clothes on.  It's a tradition.

We tried to get Gypsy to get into the water too.  :)

Thurs - VBS Day 4, aviation event at the library with my friend (and pilot) Jackie...

Rylee won the wild and crazy paper airplane contest.

...That night was happy hour for me with Sara and Tonya, followed by takeout Rafferty's pizza which we ate in Cabin 8 while visiting.  Unfortunately, we didn't think to take a pic.  It was a great night though!

Fri - VBS day 5, Papa and I went to Brainerd for father/daughter chiropractic appointments, then Sara and I spent the rest of the day in St Cloud (she had to bring her car in so we had lunch and went shopping, then had dinner in Brd on our way home) - I love me a girls day with Sara!  

Sat - game day with the Johnston/Erickson crew!

MN Summer Week 2

Sun - Father's Day with Papa

(Apparently we didn't take any pictures, but here he is on the 4th wearing the tshirt we gave him.  It was too perfect!)

Mon - dance, cabin cleanup, resort play, Max's baseball game

Tues - took Max and the kids to see "Secret Life of Pets," resort play, during Rylee's golf lesson I had a drink/visit with Chelsie on the clubhouse deck

Wed - kids spent the day at the resort while I went to Brainerd and had lunch with Chelsie, that night we went to the Erickson's to watch Meg's graduation slideshow (so fun to look back on all those years/memories!)

Thurs - Papa and I ran to Brainerd for some errands while the kids played games with Gaga, then I took the kids to the Serpent Park, Papa and I took the kids to Coach's for dinner

Fri - I took the kids to play mini golf (Jace got a hole in one!), Sara came for dinner, after we sat by the campfire - had S'mores and played games

Sat - Meg's grad party!

Rylee wore her C-I Dance Team shirt that says:

 "Captain Meg's Lil Sis" on the back in Meg's honor.  :)

Meg looked beautiful and the decorations and food were fabulous.

  We love this family!

So proud of Meg and excited for the next chapter of her life at St. Thomas Univ - Go Tommies!

MN Summer Week 1

Sun - unpacking/relaxing

Mon - quick hello with Grandpa Chip & Connie, dance (Rylee decided on jazz and tap this year), a visit with Meg, then we went to Max's baseball game and after the Erickson crew came over for S'mores

Tues - Aladdin movie (me, Meg, Rylee, Jace), Rylee's golf lesson

Wed - Gaga and I ran errands in Brainerd (kids played with Papa), dinner at the new Rafferty's in Crosby! with all of us plus Sara and then game night

Thurs - haircut for Jace, playtime at the resort

Fri - lunch and smoothies with Meg at her work, croquet and play at the resort

Sat - visit with Chip and Connie at the driving range

Jace says he wants to take golf lessons now!  

June - Jace's Birthday

Oh snap - I almost forgot to post about Jace's birthday party.  It's a little understandable since we didn't celebrate it until June (we postponed it due to Jon's knee surgery).  We have a long standing joke about celebrating birthdays for two days in my family, and recently my mom has been implementing the "birthday month" idea, but I think Jace takes the cake by being the first to celebrate his birthday across two months.  Lol!

*Actually now that I think about it, I once let Rylee celebrate her birthday in MN in July and then again in Sept so I guess Jace just figured it was his turn.*

Jace wanted a Dude Perfect party.  Here he is in his DP shirt with the cupcakes and brownie cupcakes I made.  (I don't know why I've never thought to make brownies in cupcake liners before - it was a easy and such a hit!)  The DP guys are all about sports and trick shots so the cupcakes were basketballs and footballs.

Rylee and Madison (boy we miss having them as neighbors!)

Party-goers:

All the kiddos...

Jace and Rylee spent weeks coming up with and testing all the water-inspired games and trick shots.  We worked the games in between regular pool fun and watersliding.  Silly kids!

It was a fun and relaxing party.  Happy Birthday again Jace!  We love you!

FL - The Rest

Only a couple of FL photos left before we get to our MN summer posts.  It feels good to be somewhat caught up on the blog.  :)

We stayed in FL long enough for the kids to go to Motorola's Take Your Child to Work Day with Jon.  The kids really look forward to that every year.  Motorola gives them a tshirt, swag bag, has lots of activities and stations planned, plus the kids get to eat breakfast and lunch with Jon.  Here they are in this year's tshirt:

They had a great day and since I was done with the packing, I had lunch with Lisa.  Win, win.  :)

That night we celebrated Father's Day (which I already talked about).  Saturday was travel day, but we stopped at Ray and Jeanette's first to wish Jeanette a happy birthday.  The kids made her compliment cards too and she cried.  

There was horrible weather in FL so we were a couple of hours late leaving.  Of course, this was the first year that the kids and I didn't book a direct flight.  When we landed in Detroit, we only had ten minutes to catch our next flight.  It took longer then that just to get off the plane!  Luckily, our flight was delayed two hours since they were waiting for pilots to arrive.  Whew!  That gave us time to have dinner before boarding.  My parents, Sara, and Gypsy met us at the airport.  We had a nice visit on the drive home, but it was a long day (the kids were troopers though).  We didn't get to bed until 1 am, but we were just happy to have made it to MN at all.  :)

Mother's Day/Father's Day

The kids both made me some cute things for my birthday and Mother's Day, but I didn't have pictures to share before.

Rylee made me this little jar of compliment notes for my birthday...

... and gave me a little prayer box.  Very thoughtful!

She also write me this poem in both English and Swedish for Mother's Day.

(It's a specific type of poem, but I can't remember the name of it right now.)

She also drew and labeled the parts of a Hibiscus flower on the back.  :)

This was my Mother's Day card from Jace.  He wrote compliments in each of the puzzle pieces.  Very sweet!

We celebrated Father's Day with Jon early (before we left for MN).

Rylee picked out this golfing card.

We got him a "Dad Perfect" (Dude Perfect style) tshirt, but I must not have taken a pic of that.

May Recap - Awards

Some of the end of school awards are given in the classroom now - both kids got Reading Across Broward Awards and AR Hall of Fame awards, but I don't have pictures of that.  Rylee also made A honor roll again...

Afterward she received a big surprise award - the MVP (Most Valuable Panther) award.  They pick one student per grade level.  Our principal reads a letter written by the teacher and everyone tries to figure out who he is talking about before he announces the name.  Jon and I knew she was getting the award, but she didn't.  Here is what her teacher wrote:

We asked her if she had any idea that Mr. D was talking about her.  She said that when he got to the part where he mentioned musicals and plays, she thought - "he could be talking about me!"

Jace got the MVP award last year (the first year our school implemented it) and he nicknamed it the Most Valuable Polich award.  He's also teased Rylee about the fact that he had one... so when Rylee came up to Jon and I, the first thing she said was something about how she had an MVP award now too.  My kids aren't competitive in the least.  :)

Speaking of Jace, he had his last soccer match of the season too.  Here he is with his team and trophy (even though they didn't win any games or even score a goal this whole season).  Lol!  Gotta love the participation trophy!  :)