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... :)

Dawson's First Corn on the Cob

He was getting so excited to eat it -- it was so cute! He wasn't sure how to do it at first as he just tried to bite into it on his plate and then we had to show him that he can pick it up :)

Dawson really likes sitting on his potty -- he hasn't gone potty yet, but likes to sit on it. So, he was sitting on it last night and kept getting up and running around with no diaper on, etc. I told him he was done and I brought him into his room to put a diaper on and he freaked out (he's becomming an old fan of diapers) and tried squirming away. I told him he then needed to go sit on the potty and not get up. So, the little stinker, sits on the potty and puts his shorts on...probably thinking if he puts his shorts on, he doesn't need to put a diaper on....hmm...sorry, not the case. But it was worth a shot on his behalf :)

4th of July Weekend

We had a great 4th! On Friday, we got up and went to the strawberry patch for the first time in my life. It was awesome and a really good experience. We did catch the last day of strawberry picking at this patch. :) I think Kylie ate more strawberries than she picked and Dawson, not a fan quite yet. He didn't want to pick and just wanted to get out of there...lol. He was willing to "try" a strawberry, but it was very sweet and he threw it onto the ground. But we got our ten pounds of strawberries, went home and I actually made jam -- and it's REALLY good! :) We had a bonfire on Friday night (woke Kylie out of her bed and she did some sparklers and ate some smores).

On Saturday we got up and went to Avon, MN. My friend Alicia's dad lives on Upper Spunk lake in Avon and we were invited to attend their tradition of going to "Dad's" house! :) We had an absolute blast and the kids did too. They were able to just run, jump, play in the water and just have fun! We learned that Dawson loves fishing. He did not want to get off the dock -- we finally had to tell him the fishing pole was broken so we (Dave) could have a break.

Then on Sunday, we just hung out most of the day. Went to Cabela's in the a.m. to get my cousin's baby a cute little camo outfit and hat and later in the day I went up to Princeton to visit Sara and Den's little guy, Clayton! What a handsome little man! :)

Dawson's Hair

Take a look at our little man's hair -- it is absolutely crazy! This was purposly done to stick straight up, but normally his hair is so curly and crazy anyways, we just had to enhance it a little bit!

Father's Day 2009

We had plans to meet Dave's friend Kevin and his wife Val and their son Tyson at the Minnesota Zoo on Father's Day. Unfortunately, our little man was sick and had quite the fever! He was by no means himself and of course, our first instinct was strep since this is what I had last week. We did manage to go to Russell's for brunch, which was FABULOUS, the kids never eat much, but we sure did enjoy it and they have LOTS of choices to choose from. We then headed home and later in the day we had a chance to stop at my parents house to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day and had dinner there. The kids, especially Dawson, from not feeling well, were exhausted and tired. It was super hot outside, so that definitely added to that fact. If we knew Dawson was going to hold up throughout the day, we would have went to the Zoo. We miss our friends (but will be able to see them this weekend when we travel to Albert Lea)!

When Dave was opening his Father's Day gift, it was in a Spiderman bag (the best part) and Kylie was like, you're going to love it, and as Dave was taking out the tissue paper, she's like, "its a Harley Davidson jacket"...lol. No surprises in our house! :) It was a "windbreaker/rain coat" in which I thought would have been a good coat to run around town with. Well we ended up taking it back and exchanging it for a different coat, which in turn, I really do like better and definitely know that Dave likes it better too :) So it all worked out perfectly!

I hope all of you Father's out there had a fabulous Father's Day :)

Kylie's first time in swimming lessons

This has been the best $32 I've spent in a long time. She absolutely LOVES swimming lessons. The first time in the water was a bit scary and she wasn't sure how to get into the pool by herself, wasn't confident enough to hang onto the side of the pool or anything. But she's come a long ways in the week and a half she's been doing it. By the end of last week (3-4 days after being in lessons, she was jumping off the side of the pool) and as of yesterday, she got to jump off the diving board (with a life jacket on of course)! But she's doing great and I'm so very proud of her :)

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Dawson loves this show!! Kylie was outside playing with her friends and Dawson was bored (they have learned to entertain themselves quite well)...so we read some books and let him watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the computer. It was just too cute and he got a huge kick out of it!