Here is the cutest brother/sister ever! (ok, next to me and MY little brother! :) Alice absolutely loves her "little buddy" - and Lonny3 thinks she's pretty cool too! Even tho he can't say so yet - when Alice is talking - he's totally focused on her! I love that I live next door - and can see these two sweeties any time I want to! I am the LUCKIEST auntie EVER!.
Since Alice's first trip to Ikea was documented on her blog - when Jaime and I found ourselves heading down to Bloomington with Lonny3 - we knew we had to get the camera out. :) Lonny did great - even though it was a record trip thru Ikea - and no major purchases were made. (next time - I'm still drooling over a buffet)
I know I haven't been keeping up with my blog - so here are just a few shots from the second 1/2 of August!
Happy Houseaversary to Us!
We celebrated a year in our house by going to one of Alice's "faves" - Applebees!
BBQ @ Don & Julie's
Alice and I went to St. Paul to join our Nordin cousins in celebrating Jon & Zach's birthdays. The food was awesome - and BONUS that the Ice Cream Truck drove by!
Trip #1 to the State Fair
I went to the Fair with The Cutest Family Ever. The Mauch's joined us - and the best part of the day was the kiddie rides!
Twins Game with Heidi
I joined Heidi for a game - and we found friends across the dome! First we found more Nordin cousins - and then Amy-in-Anoka's family!! Can't even remember if they won. .but this was officially the last Twins game I will ever see at the Dome!
Alice and I headed to Long Lake for a day at the beach. A lot of friends were out and about or out of town - but to our surprise - a very pregnant Aimee (from Jackson) and her girls Ava (5) and Sophia (4) came out to play in the sand, swim in the "deeper deeper" end, have lunch on the beach blanket, and play at the little playground. After all this fun, Alice and I wiped off as much sand as we could, crawled into our hot car, and tried to stay awake for the short trip home! When I hit the lottery someday - I'm taking the whole summer off - and spending it with Alice and Lonny! These days are the BEST!
Fargo, ND
This year's Girls Weekend was hosted by Nancy up in Fargo. We had an awesome hotel, and even tho I didn't even pull out my scrapbook stuff - I had a blast! This is one of my favorite events each year - to hang out with my oldest and dearest friends - to be silly - and to laugh until our sides hurt! I love you girls!!!
Alice and I hung out with Terry and her nephew Jesse (He's almost 4). We went to see Clifford the Big Red Dog at the Children's Museum in St. Paul. We had a blast playing in every room - and topped off the morning with lunch at McDonald's and some PlayLand time!
Alice driving the ferry to Clifford's Island.
Alice liked the water room - not as much as she did last year - but she and Jesse liked racing their boats.
Alice discovered a new area - where she worked on a conveyor belt. She and Jesse worked together here too!
Getting ready to deliver mail.
Storytime with Clifford!
We also paused for some snacks during storytime. . .can you tell what Alice had?
The Habitot room was still fun - it was just different. Alice had no problem crawling up the rope ladder - and also enjoyed sliding down the carpeted ramp!
The All-About-Circles Room
Taking a Clifford break.
. . . back to the Habitot room . . .
. . .and back to the Community room. . this time to drive the bus . . .
. . .and to do some shopping.
Alice made an art project with a coffee filter and a eye dropper . . . 
. . .and then made herself an art project!
And then it was off to McDonald's for lunch! Thanks for a great day Terry and Jesse!!
I had a perfect long weekend. You know - it was one of those that you just can't plan . . . and where everything falls into place? The only things I knew for sure - was that Terry was coming over Thursday night for movies in our jammies - and that I was going to Heidi's for dinner on Friday. So - here is how I spent my weekend:
1. Thursday - Last day of summer school.
I packed up my room in record time (thanks to Joey and Becky!) - picked up Terry - and ran back to El Toro to meet Becky for lunch! (yeah - 6 weeks of summer school - and this is the ONE lunch we were able to do!)
After lunch - we headed back to my place to chillax. Terry got to hold Lonny3 a lot - which both she and Jaime enjoyed! :) We then got some movies (none of which are worth mentioning here) - and then went to Chili's for dinner. YUM.
2. Friday
We woke up to coffee and another movie - but didn't stay inside for long. Heidi invited us to hang out at her pool before Zach's birthday dinner - so after a quick (AHEM) Arby's lunch at a park in Roseville - we made it down to Eagan for some sun.
Dinner was awesome - Heidi fried up some fish she caught the weekend before, made some hashbrowns and asparagus. All was nummy - and again - very relaxing! (we hung out with Heidi after dinner to watch another one of our movies - Confessions of a Shopaholic - the best of the bunch).
3. Saturday
Terry had stayed the night again - so we got up for coffees and tv again. (these are the best mornings!) After Terry headed out - Alice and I headed out for our bi-weekly trip to the library. We found some great books - but knew we didn't want to stay too long - because St. Anthony was hosting their community carnival - and we wanted to check that out too! 
I am SO glad we did! Alice - AND I - had a blast! Alice jumped in a jumper, played skeet ball, played EVERY kiddie carnival game, danced, danced, danced, brushed a baby cow, slid down the giant slide (with Auntie Carrie!), threw a dart to win an Elmo poster, and had a corn dog and pink lemonade for lunch! Whew! What a day! (she was ready to do it again on Sunday!) 
We did pick up DQ for dessert - and to share with Lonny and Jaime . . but I didn't even get a chance to have any of mine - because Heidi and Julie were there to pick me up and bring me to Andover.
Heidi invited me to her friend Todd's son's graduation (because they were going to have karaoke) - who turned out to be Joey(-in-Anoka)'s classmate and wrestling teammate! And yes, Joey was surprised to see me at his buddy's party!
4. Sunday
I kinda thought that I would get up and head up to Alex to have breakfast with Jaymie's fam (she had invited me up to her lake if I had time). . . but I really wanted some chill-out time before heading back to work. So - that's what I did. Hung out with my own family. Our biggest adventure - Lonny and I headed out to an Antique Mall in St. Paul whilst his children napped. Then, we brought home steaks to grill. Steaks, baked potatoes, corn, garlic toast. Best meal to end the best weekend.
