Bye Bye Mom and Dad

A great Vacation was had by all!

Last Day In Lancaster

We spent our last day in Lancaster with more of the same: Eating and Playing! Here's Alice licking the beater . . .










. . . . and then later enjoying a spin on that crazy mini-merry-go-round!!

. . . and being silly with Great Grandpa!

Hanging out at Great Grandma's House

We've had a blast hanging out in Lancaster. . . and Alice is being a total RockStar! She completely gets where we are, who is here, who isn't, where Mommy and Daddy are, and she's enjoying herself!! Yay for us that she's not a crying toddler who wants Mommy!! Alice is eating well, sleeping well, and playing and teasing like a Sanner!! :) Here's our trip thus far - pretty much breaks down into two catagories - Playing and Eating: (Don't forget - check back later for pics - I'll post them when I get home.)

Playing


Alice loves Great Grandma's and Great Grandpa's big backyard. She insists on wearing her shoes before going out - and has made good use of her golf clubs.


Mom, Dad, Alice and I went over to Jerry and Jody's to check in on Jody - who just had surgery - and Alice hit the jackpot with Jody's Daycare Playground!


Alice is just like her Auntie Carrie - and loves to check out Great Grandma's photo albums - especially if Alice is the STAR of the book! She points to her picture on Great Grandma's "mantel" and says, "ME!"


Alice has discovered Great Grandma's satallite radio. We have it tuned to the Kids station. Alice has been dancing and drumming on just about any cool sounding surface!


Bathtime has been fun in Great Grandma's utility sink! There have been 2 so far - even tho it wasn't bath night tonight, Alice had been out at the Camp and needed to be scrubbed down - according to Grandma. . . and the end of bathtime (rinsing the hair!!) is the worst experience EVER!


Great Great Uncle Chuck brought the COOLEST Tea Pots home from Saudi Arabia - and Alice has been the sweetest little hostess to anyone who is thirsty.

Eating

Come on - you have to know that we all gain about 5 pounds just by walking through Grandma's door! Alice has fit right in!!


Of course we had Cheez Whiz sandwiches in our hands before we even got all the way into the house - and YES Lonny - we used the banana spreader to apply the cheez whiz to bread!


Great Grandma and Valorie made oatmeal raisin cookies that we at FRESH from the oven with ice cold milk.


For supper the other night we had MY favorite - warm butterscotch pudding with cream on top! YUM!


Today, after visiting Auntie Ruthie and Auntie Viva at the Senior Apartments, we headed up to Dean's Dinner for lunch (and the ice cream that Grandpa promised Alice).


And tonight - because it was too hot to have the oven going - Great Grandpa insisted we all go up to the Drive In for supper. Grandpa had his eye on the Rhubarb Custard Pie (the last piece!) - and shared it with Grandma and Alice. (yes, Alice told Grandma to put the plate "right here.")

So - the usual (and my favorite) things happening up here this week - Visiting, Relaxing, Eating, and Playing! :)

Mom and Dad Arrive

So Lonny and I picked Mom and Dad up at the airport late Thursday night. Mom and Dad even joined me and Alice at Storytime on Friday morning, after which we drove out to Minnetonka to take Lonny out for lunch. Saturday, we took Mom and Dad (and Jaime's family) out to see the house - and we just get more and more excited to move every time we see it!!


After we showed off the new place - Lon and Jaime went out to lunch with her family - while Mom and Dad and I headed up to Auntie Sue's to help get ready for chili dinner. It was a great afternoon spent with family. Grandma and Grandpa were there - and all the boys came up for supper.

Saturday night, Lonny, Jaime, and I took advantage of having babysitters - Jaime got some much needed work done - whilst Lonny and I got to go over to Cousin Jon's to celebrate his birthday with him! (We also got a sneak peak into Michele's big Sunday - congrats Michele!)


Sunday was relaxing as Dad headed up to Lancaster with Grandma and Grandpa and Lon and Jaime started packing to get ready for their trip to Seattle. They are celebrating their 10th Anniversary out there! Congrats Lon and Jaime!

So - late Monday morning, Alice, Mom and I packed up the Scion and headed to Lancaster. The trip was very easy - Alice was a ROCK STAR!!


We've already had a great day and a half in Lancaster - I'll blog more about it later. . .and check for pics - as I don't have the cord to upload here! :)

DAG @ Acapulco

Well, Christy tried to have a DAG gathering at her "new" house in Forest Lake - but we ended up with deciding to just meet for dinner at Acapulco in Blaine. Then they started dropping like flies - and it was just Tom, Mike/Andrea, Christy, and ME! It was still a lot of fun - great to see each other - for some it had been a year, but I hadn't seen Mike and Andrea in like forever! We did decide that we need to do something special for our 10 year reunion next year - for those who graduated on time - it's been TEN years since we got our Masters!! (I gradated the next year - but whatev!) :) So - Christy and I are going to start working on getting the whole Anoka II Learning Community back in touch - and TOGETHER next spring!! Be watching for it!!

Video of "Our House"

Lonny made a great video of our latest trip to the new house! Check it out for those of you who can't wait til September! :)

It's Ours!

The inspection went great today! We close September 17th!

Car Wash Tomorrow

"What happens if I spill Liquid-Plumr® products on clothes, fabrics or rugs?"

One might ask this question if said bottle of Liquid-Plumr® had turned upside down in one's car during the trip from Target to home, and upon grabbing for it something caught and yanked the cover off, spilling potent bleachy-smelling gel all over the front seat of one's car.

This is Liquid-Plumr®'s response to the above question - as posted on their website:

Liquid-Plumr® products may bleach or stain colored clothes, fabrics or rugs.


So very helpful! :) So, I diluted my entire front seat - and dabbed with towels. . yes . . bleaching the crap out of my towels! . . . and now I keep my fingers crossed until I can get to the fancy car wash after summer school tomorrow! (last day of summer school, btw!!)

Alice Mae is Two Today!

Today is Alice's birthday! She had a little lunch party with her little friends (cousin Zach and friends Ada & Mae). I brought mom's potato salad - and Ada & Mae's mom (Sarah) asked for the recipe - it was "just like her grandma's." :) Here are some fun shots from the party:

the "Kids" table


Grillmaster Lon


"Happy Birthday To You!"


going "nigh nigh" with her new "Melmo Beebee" (and new princess pillowcase I made) :)

Beautiful day for a birthday! :)

(PS - what were the fireworks for tonight? about 30 minutes of awesome fireworks at St. Anthony Main (I bet) just now. . . hmm?)

Here I am!

The end of July is in sight and I haven't been filling you in on my wild and crazy fun filled life! :) Ok - yes, it's been awhile (and I can't stand it when YOU don't update - so here goes) :)

July 3rd Party


I brought Alice to Amy-in-Anoka's yearly party. We didn't stay long - but enough to enjoy some yummy treats and to catch up a little with Terry and Judy!



Happy Birthday America!

I relaxed and enjoyed the day. I started off with a trip to the gym and then a massage. - Umm - hello! How have I never experienced this before! New splurge for ME - massage time! :) (Andrea was supposed to join me by getting a facial - but crazy events kept her from getting to the gym - which - probably saved her from some sort of fungal infection or something!)


I had dinner with the Jerome/Olesens - enjoying pool time and another favorite moment between my baby brother and his baby girl.



Happy Birthday Mandy!


Mandy is finally 30! I joined friends in Anoka to help celebrate. . .again - I didn't stay long. . and I guess I missed all the fun - including Brian having to give the cab driver an extra $30 to clean up the mess! :) :)

BeautiControl's Newest Consultants


Damn you Tendrils!! :) Andrea and I made the most out of our wasted Saturday we spent at our "consultant training."

Hanging out with Alice

I'm working more at Jackson this summer, and Alice is in Day Care 3 mornings a week - so I'm not hanging out with her as much as I did last summer - but trust me - I find time to steal her away!

Alice Mae as "Auntie Carrie"


Alice wanted "Lellow" or "Blew" ice cream - and we found some!


Just like Auntie Carrie!


On our way to the Princess Party at our neighborhood library.


Enjoying the twirly Princess dress.





Makes me so proud - she double dipped her fries in mayo and then ketchup!! :) :) Just like Auntie Carrie! :)

I hope to have an awesome end to July! I'll keep you posted (I promise!) :)