Bismarck 10.2008 (part 3)

I parked the Bug and walked here first.

A view of the tunnel. I remember driving in that tunnel when I took my drivers test, but they don't let people drive under there since 9/11.

Michael and I ran up the steps of the Capitol "Rocky" style and then I took this picture.

State Library

The flags at Veteran's Memorial

Bismarck 10.2008 (part 2)

Michael and Cole both got up EARLY on Sunday morning. Cole is very entertaining for Michael. They're becoming good buds...

My little babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and tied to a chair...thanks Grandma!

Michael and I got bundled on Sunday morning to go for a photo tour of the Capitol Grounds before getting back on the road to the Twin Cities.

A self portrait before heading out to take pictures. The next Bismarck post will have pictures from the Capitol Grounds....stay tuned for Bismarck 10.2008 (part 3)...

a visit from our friends from Iowa

Our friends, Sean and Jackie, visited us for a weekend in the middle of September. Sean and Jackie were married the same year that Dave and I were, and their son Robbie was born two weeks after Michael was born. The boys played together really nicely! Maya ended up spending the night at Chelsea's house while they were over, and the adults brewed some Pumpkin Ale after the boys went to bed. It was a really fun weekend. Now, we are trying to plan a weekend that we can go down to Iowa to visit! Hopefully soon!

bismarck 10.2008 (part 1)

Michael and I went to Bismarck last weekend while Maya was at Melissa's house and Dave stayed home to work at the YMCA and get some projects done.
I'll post the entire Bismarck set on my flickr page. There is a link to it on the left hand side of this blog or else here is the link now
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tela_j
Enjoy!

We stayed at my Grandma B's house. Michael enjoyed being able to explore a new kitchen with lots of new and exciting cupboards to open and get into!

Grandpa B got to goof around with Michael

All of the kids sitting at the dining room table. I cooked dinner for everyone on Saturday night.

I spent a lot of time talking to Grandma B and my cousin Jen. It was really nice to hear what was going on in their lives and share some of the things in my life.

Grandpa B is a grumpy bear in the mornings!

Stay tuned for more Bismarck 10.2008 postings!

scanned photo

I'm the baby...
Originally uploaded by Tela J

Here is a picture of me and my siblings from 1982. Dave scanned this in for me recently. Thanks Dave!

swinging with mama

Michael and I love to swing in the backyard. He's silly and likes to hang upside-down...

some cute pictures

Maya thought it was fun to decorate Michael's face with Bushel Boy tomatoe stickers!

Maya's first ride on the Harley with Grandpa H

Maya made a very elaborate marble chute. She keeps her bedroom door closed all the time now so that cats don't tear it apart...I thought that was a good idea.

messy boy

Michael helped me weed the driveway. I cannot believe how many weeds there were!

bathtime!

Just a cute picture of Michael in the bath...in our NEW bathroom!

afton apple

At the end of September, we picked apples and raspberries at Afton Apple. We picked Haralson and Sweet 16 apples. I'm going to be making lots of apple pies! The kids played at the playgound area and saw some cute animals. I asked Maya who should be the butt of the cow for the last picture. She said, "Michael because he's a stinky poo." I thought that was a pretty good answer...so that's what we did!

grandparent's day

Sept 7th was Grandparent's Day. We brought Michael to my parent's house the day before, and Dave's parents came out for brunch on Grandparent's Day. All in all, it was a relaxing weekend. Michael always enjoys spending time with all his grandparents!

trip to Woodlake

Michael went on his first trip to the neighborhood nature center in his backpack carrier on Sept 5th. He had a lot of fun grabbing leaves and checking out the ducks that were sticking their butts in the air while they fished for duckie food. In the second picture, Michael has his eyes in the sky watching planes like most of the pilots I work with. Uh oh! I hope this doesn't mean I need to pay for flight school one day!!!

kids in the hammock

We've had a lot of fun in the hammock this summer. Here are a few pictures of the kids in the hammock - plus one picture with Dave.

Maya's Backyard Campout

I probably should've posted this closer to the actual time it happened...but better late than never, right?!

Maya had a backyard campout with Chelsea the first weekend of August. They both had a ton of fun. Dave made a campfire for them and everyone enjoyed s'mores! Maya and Chelsea didn't want to sleep outside alone, so Dave slept in the hammock in the backyard. Dave loves his hammock...and for a good reason. It's incredibly comfy for sleeping!!!

In the morning, Michael and I went outside just as the girls were waking up. We all played around in the tent and the hammock. We'll be spending more time camping in the backyard next summer I think.

MN State Fair (cont)

Well, our beer didn't win this year, but we got our score sheets in the mail yesterday. We found out that we took 2nd in our flight...so that was encouraging. We had good comments from the judges and some other ideas for improvement. Next year we are going to submit more beer and probably some other things too. I had no idea that you could submit baked goods like that. My wheels are spinning already for things to enter.

Here are a few more pictures from the State Fair. Maya had a blast jumping on the tramp...she did flip after flip after flip after flip. Michael mostly just kicked back and relaxed in his stroller. He got sick of the stroller for a while while we were looking at all the animals so Dave carried him around for a bit. Dave took a bunch of other pictures from the State Fair. They are all posted on his flickr site...link to the left. Keep checking both of our flickr sites for more pictures than this blog can hold.

For those of you that don't know me well, I do not like large crowds...but they didn't really bug me too much this year. We got our bucket of cookies and all you can drink milk...we were were all pretty happy about that:) All in all I'd say it was a pretty good year at the MN State Fair.