The Kid's Weekend

Last Friday, Kelly picked up the kids for a weekend away at her house! The kid's LOVE their weekends with Kelly and Pat! As we have come to expect, they jump in her yellow car as soon as Daddy gets the car seats in, and they are rearing to get out of our drive. Cheese!

They spent time at the park.

They spent time at the Forest Lake beach.

They got pillow pets for when they sleep at Auntie Kelly's.

They spent time loving on their very dear auntie. Being their nanny for more then a year has created a TIGHT bond with these three!

Thank you Kelly!

While the kids were away, Mark and I had dinner at Heartland in St. Paul and attended my cousin Karin Holt's wedding to Martin (from Sweden). The ceremony in Hudson and reception at the St. Paul Hotel was lovely, touching and memorable with the Norwegian and Scandanavian influences.

Rachel's Baby Shower

This past Sunday Chris and I hosted a baby shower for Rachel, at Dad and Chris's house. We had a lovely time!I ordered these invites from Tiny Prints, and used the colors as the theme for the shower.

I picked up a small photo album from Achievers, added baby stickers and the invite inside, and had guests write a memory of Brett or Rachel as a child, a wish or hope for the new family, or advice for the future parents. During the gift opening I read the cards aloud, then tucked them inside the album.

Of course we ate and drank...chicken salad and croissants from Costco; turkey cherry pasta salad; fresh fruit and dip; hummus and pita chips; pickles, olives, mints and nuts.

Mango OJ mimosas, cucumber water, fresh lemonade, and 'Bou coffee.

Our very special guest of honor - Mother-to-be Rachel

After lunch, I did my best on the traditional baby shower games. Here are Jan and Mikayla guessing the size of Ms. Rachel's blooming belly.

Of course there was an abundance of wonderful gifts for the babe!

Rachel with her mom.

Rachel's friend Emily logging the gifts.

We all had to check out the latest in baby gadgets.

One of my not-so-little babes!

More guests and more gifts.

My cousin Kris and Marissa!

For dessert we served filled cupcakes from my neighborhood bakery.

Perhaps you can tell I am VERY excited to be an Auntie!

Rachel and Brett - You are loved, and the babe is loved.

A very special thanks to Chris who hosted the shower with me and opened her home to us!

Thanks to those who travelled to attend!

Thanks to Michelle, Jan and Carol for helping with the clean-up!

Thanks to my Dad for helping with the prep work!

4th of July - MORE pictures

Marly and Dean on the dock at Brett and Rachel's house. Me - Soaking up the Vitamin D. Yes I will put pictures on the blog even when I am NOT cute!

Marly!

Brett and I getting Dean ready to ski from the boom.

Rachel enjoy a fun summery blended drink (non-alcoholic. Sweet girl mixed up something stonger for the rest of us.)

After hours on the lake, and another 20 minutes convincing Marly she had to get back in the boat and couldn't swim forever, we came back to play croquet.

Dean was a BIG TIME cheater!

Siblings. Andrea and Brett - Rachel and Sarah

After all that sun....we headed home, rested a bit, then walked up the street to see the AWESOME fire works hosted by our neighbor's - The Schmitz. I thought the kids might not make it. Silly me. They started bouncing around just after 9, couldn't contain themselves at 9:15, then insisted on riding their bikes the 6 house distance because it would be faster!

THANK YOU BRETT and RACHEL for having us.

The Twinner's Water Ski - 4th of July

Since the bitter cold of this past winter, Brett has been talking about getting the Twinner's on skis. Mom's response, "Sure you can try... Go for it. But you can't force it, and if they don't want to then we are done."

We have all been talking up the activity for months. So this past Sunday while the boys watched baseball, the girls headed to the lake. I told Marly this was her chance! She was wary, initially said "no", but asked to try once we were out on the water. Brett had borrowed kiddy training skis. She put on the skis and held the rope. Brett gently propelled the boat forward....and she got a face full of water. After sputtering and getting the water out of her nose, she nodded she would try again. This time wise Auntie Rachel re-evaluated the situation, and had Marly hang onto the barefoot poll. She was off and running. She skied around the lake with a smile, before Brett reeled her in, without even a dunk.

Okay... okay... so this doesn't constitute skiing, but we are all proud of her, since she is just a pre-schooler!

Monday, the 4th of July was Dean's turn. Marly cheered him on and encouraged him from the boat.

And he's up!

After Dean's FOURTH request to ride on the poll (and after Marly took another turn) Instruction Uncle Brett said it was time to graduate to the ROPE! It's true.

Dean got ready and Mark held the rope from the boat, which is how the kiddy skis work. (When the kid goes down, the parent releases the rope.) Mom tried to help him from the water, like I did with the pole, but after two attempts, it was a no-go. Dean was NOT giving up though. Brett gave Mark the quick tutorial on driving the boat, Brett took the in-water position, I held the rope...and he was off!

It was amazing. He couldn't stand up, but he went well around the lake with his knees bent. There are no pictures, because everyone was doing their part and unable to grab the camera!

Okay.. Okay.. I am a really proud parent. Mark too! They were both brave, tried something intimidating and scary, and didn't give up!

When they are 60 and still sking like Grandpa David, they can say they have been doing it since they were 4.

4th of July - Boat Parade

Hope each of you had a memorable holiday. We sure did!

After waking up to clear blue 4th of July skies at Brett and Rachel's and noshing on quiche Lorraine, it was time to head onto the water for a slice of pure Americana! Pierson Lake 4th Annual Boat Parade!

Decorating the Malibu!

Thanks for the overnight Brett and Rachel!

Brett searched for patriotic music to play for the processional. This included, "Proud to be an American", "Born in America", Neil Diamonds "America", and Jimi Hendrix "Star Spangle Banner" (which I only needed to hear once...)

Girls in red!

After nearly an hour tooling the lake, we made it around, with the expected chorus of, "Can we swim NOW?"

The rest of the day was filled with action on the water... More posts to come!

Dean's First Twins Game!

Saturday Dean got to go to his first Twin's game with Daddy. A long time back, Mark recieved 2 Caribou seats for this past Saturday. Because there were only two tickets, and I admittedly don't care about baseball besides the excitement of the awesome venue and crowd, I took Marly to the lake instead.

My boys had a fabulous time. They took the train (Northstar Commuter Rail) from Fridley and sat right behind first base. Dean caught a foul ball (or rather one fell at his feet). Little Man ate ice cream, a hamburger, popcorn, cheesecurds, and two bottles of water. It is a good thing there weren't four tickets, because Mark spent nearly $50 with just Dean, and no beer!

Mark sent these from his phone, thus the minature size...

After, we all met up at Vivi Lyon's Dora the Explorer 3rd Birthday Party in south Minneapolis, then headed back to Brett and Rachel's to continue the holiday weekend festivities.

My Dad

My dad rarely e mails me. He has no real reason to e mail his daughter. We talk on the phone and see each other often.

This morning I had a fun e mail from my Dad waiting for me.

A photo with message -

I skied last evening. Can you post this on your blog.

Dad


I am delighted to post this, for sure. My response via the blog -

Sorry the photo isn't larger Dad. Next time send it as a .jpg.

Thanks!

Love, Andrea

P.S. - Brett is our family's ski junkie. He hopes to get Marly and Dean on skis this summer. My Dad would like to get 3 generations up at one time. I feel comfortble predicting that won't be happening any time soon unless Brett straps his babe on himself in late August....

Of course, all of this would be quite post-worthy as well.