Sunday, July 22, 2007

Summertime Pics

A spider web that Taylor & I found Friday afternoon on the slide, in the front yard


There's something that was left out of the last post. I found more pictures last week, and realized that the pictures from Back to the 50’s hadn’t made it on the site. It took place just about a month ago & it is something fun for those of us who live near the fair grounds. There are 10,000+ cars from the 1950’s (and older) that flock to the fair. Our neighborhood usually ends up standing on Snelling Ave. Friday night to watch as most of the old cars come streaming out of the main gates and burn their tires for us spectators. There tends to be one spot on Snelling & Nebraska where some teenagers will throw down bleach and encourage the rubber burning – and it works. The white smoke flies and we all make a lot of noise to show our appreciation. We have also started to see some cars that throw large fire out of their rear pipes, too! Not a lot of pictures this year, but they are still fun.

Back to the 50's 2007

We were finally able to get pictures of what the kids are up to this summer! Taylor’s tennis pictures are from a tournament that she was in last week. She was able to play her heart out and win 4th place in her division! She may be called in this week to fill in for the 3rd place winner because they may not be able to make it to the divisionals since it sounds like they might have to go on vacation. Go Taylor!!

Taylor Tennis 2007

Ian is on the green team this year for t-ball. He is showing a lot of interest in hitting the ball (right-handed!) and playing in the dirt while he’s in the outfield. His throwing skills are also coming along nicely, but mostly he’s just having a really fun time.
Ian t-ball 2007

We didn’t get any pictures of swimming lessons yet, we’ll have to do that during the upcoming week.

And then there was the fun we had with the neighbors this week when the kids each got a little stomp rocket set. We figured that these $3 toys would keep our two kids busy outside for a couple of hours, and stomp rockets don’t require any batteries. We were wrong – but it in a good way. The neighbors got in on the action and there was a stomp war to see who could make the rockets go the farthest.

Stomp Rockets

The weather here has been really pleasant, but we are supposed to be getting some heat and humidity in the coming days. Just since I started typing this post the humidity has begun to climb.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Summer Fun

Thank you for putting up with my having to put the blog on hold for a few weeks. My summer A& P course has turned out to be highly demanding, and our time has been spread thin. I have been keeping up on things that the kids have been up to since May, and we have a ton of pictures to share.

The end of the school year for both Taylor and Ian was filled with the usual excitement and joy that summer time can bring. I was able to capture Ian’s last day just down below, and Taylor has a good number of pictures that she took with a disposable camera, so I don’t have those up. Most of Ian’s pictures are of him and his best friend, Julian. Julian’s parents have decided to have him go to a different school next year, so I took quite of few of the two of them together.

Ian's Last Day 2007


That very next day after school let out brought us to what has become an annual event in our house – Como Town! The kids and I spent the entire day there and we took a few pictures, too.
Como Town 2007


There was also the neighborhood lawn mowing event that was brought on by one of our neighbors who bought a riding lawn mower for his cabin. We all thought it was the coolest thing ever, and our neighbor Kris decided that she would try mowing her lawn with it since it should only take about half the time. It really was funny!!
Neighborhood Lawn Mowing Experience


Ahh yes, and then there was the rainbow that Taylor and I got pictures of. These were from about a month ago (6/7/07), and we had a blast taking these just over the neighbor’s roof and on the parkway.
Rainbow 0607


The Fourth of July was a blast. We spent the day in St. Anthony Park where the kids decorated their bikes and rode in the parade. Then, my brother and his family joined us for some hot dogs on the grill & some kid races. Kane was adorable (as always) and Jen taught us that smores can actually be made over a charcoal grill! Love you guys!! Check out the pics on Rob's site.

I know this is a short update given the amount of time that has lapsed. The kids are in some fun summer activities right now – Taylor has tennis lessons every morning (she has a tournament this Tuesday), Ian has t-ball every Monday evening (he’s on the green team this year), and they are both taking swimming lessons on Tuesday & Thursday evenings. The swimming is going very well for both of them – Ian finally passed level 1 (third time’s a charm), and Taylor has now advanced to level 4! We will be taking pictures this week of them doing their summer activities & I’ll be sure to get an update posted next weekend. Thanks for checking in!

**Favorite quote of the week: "You've got gunk on your os coxae!"**