Little Hole Big Lake Fishing Tourney

Dave and I and Kylie and Uncle Ryan went to the Little Hole Big Lake Fishing Tournament at the end of February! Kylie definitely did not fish much, she was more interested in seeing what everyone else was doing :)

Singing the National Anthem (Kylie and Mason on the left)

Mason and Kylie

Even though he wasn't catching anything -- still having fun! :)

Off the ice we go -- Kylie's legs were tiiired...lol.

Dawson's first time playing in the snow :)

Maybe I can get in to the groove of bloggin again...

I'll start out by introducing you to our new addition Miley! Miley is a 1 year old kitty and we love her dearly -- she's great with the kids and Kirby. Kirby doesn't mind her whatsoever! :)

Sick :(

In October, Kylie and I both got really sick :( I ended up with some sort of the flu (high temps, etc.) and a nasty respitory/sinus infection/who knows what else and was out of work for 4 days. Unfortunately, the following week, Kylie ended up with the same thing, high temp, coughing, really tired and the list goes on. She was out of school/daycare an entire week! Poor peanut was just miserable. It took a good 7-8 for it all to pass and for her to actually be up to par to do something. But as for her energy level as well as my energy level, it took a good 3-4 days to get through. Since, we've all been healthy though (knock on wood it stays that way!).

Wow, it has been FOREVER since I've posted!!

I feel like I'm missing lots that has happened, but since I haven't posted in so long I'll just touch base on a few of the bigger things :)

Dawson turned 2 on August 16...and had a big birthday party will all of his favorite friends, including Mickey Mouse!!

He LOVES bike helmets! :)

His new ride!

This things got some tork!

In September, Kylie started Kindergarten every other day all day in Big Lake. It was a huge adjustment for her and for us, but I think we're getting better as time goes by! She really seems to like it...one of the things she said she doesn't like is gym class because when she runs around she gets sweaty! :) But she comes home everyday with a new song, it's so much fun! Here's a couple pictures of her first day at school :)

Waiting for the bus at Sheila's

She was so excited to ride the bus!!!

Bye Mom (yes, I totally teared up!) :(

Our first family vacation

Last week/weekend, we took the kids to Wisconsin Dells for our first family (of 4) vacation! We went out there with my parents and stayed at the KOA Campground. My parents brought their motorhome and we rented a kamping kabin. It was a one room cabin with a double size bed and bunk beds and just enough room for our suitcases, Dawson's pack and play and one of our coolers and some other little stuff. But it was perfect for what we needed it for! PLUS, it had air conditioning...which we were very thankful for as it was the hottest its been in a month.

We got out there on Thursday afternoon and Kylie was dying to go to the Deer Park. So we got settled in a bit and then headed to the Deer Park. It was so cool and Kylie did real well and loved hugging the deer. Dawson on the other hand, was perfectly fine around them, but he thought it was funny to chase the deer, in which they didn't like, they'd take off the other way! But Dawson thought it was just hilarious...of course he was crossing the grounds in which he wasn't supposed to be too!

As we were driving back, Kylie saw a rollercoaster that she wanted to go on...of course, we stopped and checked the height requirements and she was tall enough and I ended up going with her. All I can say is, "I'm glad I have a head left." That rollercoaster whipped you around like no tomorrow...I was laughing so hard though that I couldn't keep my own head in control as I had my arm around Kylie trying to keep her from getting whip lash...but it was fun and she got off and said, Wow, I won't go on that again, but it was fun!

We made it back to the campground and had a bonfire and the kids both had an ice cream treat and we went to bed...we were all tired from the long drive over.

On Friday, we got up and walked town a bit and bought our tickets for the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory and Tommy Bartlett Show and the Original Ducks. Kylie got a really cute tie die shirt and got to pick out her own iron on decal to put on it. :) We did end up going on the Ducks that same day! It was a ton of fun and the kids really enjoyed it. The one thing that was not good is the smell...it's nasty! The engine smokes like crazy from going to land and to water. But it was a really cool trip and both the kids really enjoyed it!

On Saturday, we took off right away in the morning to Noah's Ark Waterpark. All I can say is, "what a blast" we had!!! Kylie surprised us in many ways...she would go on rides that Grandpa wouldn't go on, but shhh...grandpa's a chicken! :) We did get Grandpa to go on a few things though -- I did receive a few pics as well. We had so much fun though. We then went home and Kylie of course, wanted to go swimming, so Grandpa took her to the pool at the campground and we all got ready because that night we were headed out to the Tommy Bartlett show! We did the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory prior to the actual show and the kids really enjoyed this as well. When we arrived at the Tommy Bartlett show, Dawson was exhausted and didn't want to sit still. He struggled throughout the entire show...but we made it to the end. It was hard to get photos during this time as it was dark...but what an awesome show!

Sunday a.m., we got up and Dave and my Dad had packed a lot the night before, but we packed up the remainder of our gear on Sunday a.m. and headed for home! It was nice to go home, but it was a TON of fun in the Dells. Definitely on our list for next year :) On our way out of town, we stopped at The Lumberjack, which is also known as "Paul Bunyan". It's an all you can eat food place. You only get a choice of certain foods and that's it, but it wasn't to bad, we all got full anyways!

Here is a link to our photos! Obviously, these are all of them, but what a blast we had -- we'll definitely have to do this again :)

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1794244007/a=26588602_26588602/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Vikings Training Camp

Dave and I had the opportunity to go to the Vikings Training Camp in Mankato on August 7. We took the party bus from Salida's Depot down there and had a ton of fun! Dave started drinking at mmm....7:30 a.m. Crazy I know! But, we made it down there and it was raining of course...so they played indoors. Come to find out the indoors facility was full and they weren't allowing anyone else to go in. So we were trying to be sneaky and stand by the doors where people come out and then we could sneak in...well that didn't work. So finally they said to line up outside the locker room and the players will come out when they are finished. So did just that and ended up getting some pretty good photos -- it was fun! :) **These are just some of the photos** Unfortunately, I wasn't to good about recognizing them not being in uniform either!

Dave drinking his beer ;)

Their bikes they ride back to the dorms

Ben Leber

Bryant McKinnie -- BTW, he wears a size 18 shoe!! I asked! :)

Jared Allen (to good to even wave)

Dave and Grant -- at the pavilion where we had our picnic after practice :)

We've had a busy last month...

Kylie has started soccer at the end of July and loves it. It's two nights a week for one hour -- that one hour gets to be long, but after we started games last week, it goes much faster! I actually got suckered into coaching Kylie's team this year. Good thing friends of ours is also playing and we got rearrange the team a bit so Kylie and Rose could be on the same team and Rose's dad is helping coach which is great! Kylie has a hard time with me coaching at times...but she's getting better and I can honestly say is a great soccer player! Sometimes is a bit aggressive, but she's doing great! I'm hoping to get a video of her playing soon.

Kylie has also switched dance studios over the summer and took a couple summer classes -- the first one was three weeks 1x/week - Leaps and it was a good class...I definitely see potential with that class and it keeps her going a bit through the summer and then the second one she just finished last night and that also was a three week class and it was Hip Hop! Awesome class and definitely more Kylie's style. We'll stick with doing Tap/Ballet/Jazz this year and see what she wants to do next year and we may include Hip Hop as well -- below is a video of Kylie learning some moves :)

Kylie can officially ride her bike WITHOUT training wheels!

This is one happy Mom and Dad reporting!! We have been waiting for this day and thought it would never come.

We have been practicing with Kylie on her "little bike" in the grass the last week and she's done well. Last night, she was at friend house (about 5 houses down) and Dave picked her up and brought the bike with and she rode it home!! I was able to witness it and couldn't believe my eyes! I was the giddiest Mommy in town -- I was SOO excited! My little girl can officially ride her bike without training wheels! It was soo exciting!!

We were able to get it on video as well as a few pictures! In this video -- towards the end, she puts her feet up on the middle bar of the bike -- trying to get fancy ;)

GREAT JOB KYLIE -- Mommy and Daddy are SOO proud of you!!

Fun, busy, but somewhat laid back weekend!

On Friday, Kylie had her friend Madison sleep over and we took the kids to A&W for dinner...which we've never been and it was actually very good! :)

On Saturday, Dave was planning on bringing his bike into the shop to get repaired, unfortunately, it wouldn't start :( That was not a good start to his day! Hopefully, we can get it into the shop this week to get it fixed, so I have my husband back...this broken bike thing isn't going so well at our household.

We went to Anoka to pick-up my ring at Gould's (which BTW, it's beautiful!!), soo happy, I'm finally married again and then we noticed Anoka was having their Riverfest, so we spent some time down there and walked around to all the little booths. It was fun!

Downtown Anoka -- getting her face painted

Dave then dropped me off at my aunt Terri's house and my cousin Rhonda and I went to lunch with Auntie Terri at the Olive Garden. It took us three times to figure out where we wanted to eat!!! It was hilarious and we had a blast!!! Then I came home that afternoon, we set up the pool for the kids and the neighbor boys came over and played with Kylie for a bit. That evening, we had dinner and a bonfire with the neighbors, Brad and Mindy, at their house. It was fun -- we haven't done that in quite some time and we had a good time! :)

Those sparklers let off a lot of smoke!

Dave blowing smoke out of his ear (as always, hehe!) :)

Caden and Kylie (and you can kindof see Declan on the left there)

Then on Sunday, we were L-A-Z-Y and Dawson wasn't feeling well (sick with his nasty cold) and could have probably slept all day. We woke him up around 10 a.m.

Kylie though, that girl is up at 6:30 everyday, no matter what! We went to Walmart to get groceries and Target to get diapers, and DOH! the parade was going on in Monti AND I94 was shut down due to the gas tanker turned over, so traffic was herrendous!! But we managed to get it all complete. We came home, ate lunch and then decided to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for a bit...Grandma took Dawson while we took Kylie to see the new Ice Age movie. She loved it -- what a cute movie! It would have been great to see it in 3D, but we weren't sure how Kylie would do with that and the glasses for an hour and a half. My little big brother finally decided to move out of Mom and Dad's, so we got to witness his "goodbyes" to Mom and Dad...I bawled my eyes out! I'm so happy for him though :)

Overall it was a good weekend -- we didn't get the lawn mowed and we didn't get the house clean, but what's new... :)