Colin and Kahri's Wedding (8/12)!

My younger brother, Colin, got married this weekend in Oakes. A WONDERFUL time was had by all! Our entire family was in the wedding; I was a bridesmaid, Cary, an usher, Brendan was the Ring Bearer, and Halle, a Flower Girl. The kids looked SO cute, and did such a great job! Both walked down the aisle unassisted, and Brendan stopped at the end to give Uncle Colin a big hug! I cannot wait to see the pictures the photographer got - as it was, we didn't end up with any snapshots of Halle in her adorable dress - she was always on the go, then was gone for about an hour napping! We got plenty of video of everyone, however, to remember the day by!

Here is Brendan with Kahri - she looked gorgeous!

Brendan with Colin and Kahri - giving his new Aunt a big kiss on the cheek!

Brendan absolutely LOVED wearing the little tuxedo - it was his "special suit" - and he looked so handsome!

The reception and dance took place immediately following the wedding at the Angry Beaver in Oakes.

After dinner was over, we made Brendan cooler by removing his jacket, tie and shirt - he made quite the hilarious little "Chippendale"!

Brendan and Cam doing the "Hokey Pokey"...


Brendan dancing with Uncle Colin during the dollar dance...
Kicking up our heels to the music (I'm the one in the pink dress holding Halle)...

Cary and I...

Cary and my sister, Erica...
My cousin, Jacinta's husband, Matt, and myself...
My mom (after changing out of her wedding attire) dancing with Jake (one of the groomsman)...

Congratulations Colin and Kahri! What a great night!!

Our Vacation...part 2!

Vacation Day 2 brought us to the North Shore Railroad, a train that travels along the shores of Lake Superior on a site seeing adventure. There are many tours to choose from, and we chose a 90 minute excursion that took us to Lester River, and back. The air conditioned cars were wonderful. Here, Brendan shows off his new dorky grin he does when we ask him to smile (he's sitting in the air conditioned car waiting for the train to leave the station)...


The train also features a large open-air car, where we spent most of the ride...

The two munchkins side by side, enjoying the ride...
Friday night we had dinner at Holly and Steve's house with family and friends. Brendan was fascinated by Steve's State Patrol squad car. Steve made his day by allowing him to get into the car, push a few buttons, talk through the megaphone, turn on the lights and blare the siren!

Since we didn't have time to tour the train museum (where the North Shore Railroad boards) on Friday, we went there on Saturday morning. They have TONS of actual trains there for viewing. Some of which you can climb up into! Here Brendan is stading inside a locomotive...
And, here he is looking out the window of the same locomotive (sorry the picture is so dark!)...


His excitement over the day is plain to see!


Halle lounging in her stroller, posing in front of a huge snowblower...


Next to the Depot is a Children's Museum, so we spent a little time there, as well...

Next up: Colin's wedding (8/12)!

No work, all PLAY...

...makes for one GREAT week! Cary and I both took last week off from work, and had a wonderful time together, and with the kids.

The week started off with much excitement, as Monday brought a visit from Grandpa David and Grandma Connie...

Grandpa David and Grandma Connie babysat the kids on Tuesday night so Cary and I could go on a Larson Allen charted Paddlewheel Boat on the Mississisppi River with his coworkers...

Then to a bar afterwards (we stayed in a hotel in Brainerd)...

Thursday morning, it was off to Duluth...first stop, the zoo!

The Lake Superior Zoo has a train that goes around the premises, so of course, we took a ride...

With temperatures soaring to 100 degrees, it was all everybody could do to stay cool...

After sweating buckets at the zoo, we wanted to do something, anything, on the water. We ended up going on the Vista King, an hour and a half boat ride that goes out into the bay, and along the shores of Duluth. It's a narrated tour and was very interesting.

To be continued...

A visit to Grandma Carol's...

The weekend before last we ventured to Grandma Carol's house for a visit and some fun in the lake...

...some good eats...(here Brendan removes the corn husks from sweet corn - quite the helper!)
...and some much loved fun with Grandma Carol's "super cool" Lego village...

The view of the lake from Carol's living room...it's beatiful!

Check out her eye!

Here are a couple of pictures of Halle, the day after being bit by a mosquito right above her eye...looks awful, doesn't it??! She got bit Thursday evening, the 20th, while we were taking a walk in our pasture, and woke up Friday morning with her eye swollen competely shut.

She was quite the trooper, though, and didn't fuss or cry but took her limited sight in stride...



And here she is 2 days post-bite -- still swollen, but definately better! We couldn't believe she could have that reaction to a mosquito bite! Crazy!

Fun in the sun...

With temperatures soaring to over 95 degrees today, and not a cloud in the sky, the beach was definitely calling our name! We hit one of the area public beaches and had a great time cooling off in Lake Belle Taine.

The water was perfect, warm and calm...Here, Brendan shows off his new "flotation swimsuit" - it looks goofy, but works great!
Halle loved kicking back in her floatie...
She looks so cute in her little swimsuit!

Silly girl! She loves the water, and had a ball swimming and walking along the beach...
What a great day!