tennis and gymnastics

Maya was with us this past week for one of our "vacations" with her. While Dave and I were working, she got to do tennis lessons in the morning and gymnastics camp in the afternoon. Maya has been excited all summer for her tennis lessons. Since I have Wednesdays off, I was able to see one of her lessons. Unfortunately, I somehow injured (old injury that keeps coming back) my back while I was watching her.

Dave's Mom took me to Urgent Care after she dropped off Maya for her afternoon of gymnastics. It was quite the day. I stayed home from work on Thursday because I was too doped up on pain killers to be functional by any definition. Dave's parents were a temendous help last week with everything! On Thursday, Maya and the rest of the gymnastics campers put on a mini-show for friends and family. Since I was home in bed, I didn't get to see it. Fortunately, Dave's Mom took some pictures for us to see.

MN State Fair

We took the family to the MN State Fair on Saturday. It was a beautiful day...not too hot, not too cold. Michael loved the bus ride there. He was so happy to be free from his car seat. He stood up the whole time and made all sorts of happy noises. When we took the bus home from the fair, Michael and I got a front seat. He was so happy to see everything rushing past him. Maya enjoyed petting all the animals and seeing all the cool topiaries. (I'll post pictures of those in another post later.) I was shocked to see an inflateable Pan Am plane for puchase since the airline hasn't been operational for many years! I thought about buying it, but decided a picture would be much better. Dave took lots of pictures, and you can see more of them on his flickr page. We all watched the final round of judging for the homebrew contest. The results aren't posted yet, but as soon as we know how Dave's beer did I'll let you know.

Check back in a day or two for another post with more MN State Fair pictures.

crushing rocks

I just found this picture on Dave's flickr site and wanted to share it with everyone. This is Maya in the backyard ready to crush rocks. She loves to see what is inside of the rocks. Over Memorial Day weekend this year, she went to Crystal Caves near River Falls, WI with Dave and Grandpa Mike. When she got back Maya told us that she wanted to move to WI and become a gemologist.

You can see the hops and tomatoes on the right of the picture...you can also see our weed garden...it has been a big project getting the area under the tree ready to plant. Next year we hope to have the whole thing planted with veggies and hops.

10klf pictures

Uncle Curt camped in VIP while Dave, Chris, and I camped in Lake Sallie. It was a long walk so Curt took Dave's bike back and forth.

We cooked some of the best food on our campfire! We were grubbin!

Dave hard at work...or is that hardly working???

This is our campsite the night before the festival started. There was no open space after the festival got going...but we enjoyed our quiet campsite for one night at least.

This is the walkway under the highway that took us to the main concert bowl.

All in all, we had a great time. It was really hard for me to be away from Michael for so long, but he was in good hands thanks to Grandma and Grandpa H and Grandma and Grandpa B. You can check out both Dave and my Flickr pages for lots more pictures.

Daddy's Shirt

Dave's parents gave us some of his old clothes after Michael was born. Michael now fits into this one...with more to come as he gets bigger. Michael's wardrobe just got more colorful!

Oh, and the barn that Michael is playing with in this picture is his new favorite toy. He figured out that if he opens the doors of the barn he gets to hear a song and see a little light show. He loves it!

So busy!

Things have been so busy I haven't even had time to edit or post any pictures. I figured it was about time I did something on this blog. Summer is winding down, but we still have a few adventures left.

Next week Maya is going to do tennis lessons in the mornings. She is very excited. Dave and Maya have gone to the tennis courts a few times this summer to play for a while. Every time they get back, Maya can't stop talking about how fun tennis is and how she can't wait for lessons. She has decided that she wants to get a new "tennis outfit" for next week. I think she has too many clothes the way it is...

Maya is also doing an afternoon gymnastics camp next week. The theme is the Olympics. All the gymnasts will take a team photo and learn routines thoughout the week. At the end of the week, they will be performing the routines for family and friends. It sounds like a great camp!

Michael is a nutty banana. He is standing up on furniture (or whatever he can get his little hands on) and walking around. I have to remember not to blink or I'll miss something and he'll be running out the door! I can't believe how fast he is growing up! Before I know it I will be planning a birthday party.

Michael and Maya have the funniest conversations in the back seat sometimes. Maya will say things and Michael will just start giggling. It's hillarious to watch. I have really enjoyed watching the two of them bond with each other. Maya is such a good big sister, and Michael is just crazy. He's going to learn a lot from her.

I'll post some pictures up here soon!