Random Pics

Random pictures from the past couple of weeks. Sorry about the quality - these were taken with a cheapie camera as my digital accidentally got left at home!

First up - we went on a mini vacation a couple of weekends ago, stopping at the Charles Lindbergh State Park in Little Falls, MN, where the kids enjoyed some lunch...

While in Little Falls, we stopped at the local zoo. Here is the picture Brendan took of prego-mama near a wooden bear... Halle petting a baby bunny...
Brendan looking at a calf...
...then feeding a donkey...

And here are a few pictures taken at the local county fair - the kids had a great time on the rides. First up, Halle and Brendan on the airplane ride...
Then taking spin on the motorcycles...

Picking Raspberries

We have approximately 1 million wild raspberries growing on our property, and on Sunday morning we headed out to pick some so I could make homemade raspberry jam. YUM!

The kids love picking them, but tend to eat everything that they pick, so their buckets were rather sparse and their tummies full after a couple hours of berry picking...


Look at all of them!
Not only are they gorgeous, but delicious!

Our busy weekend!

This past Saturday, Larson Allen held their summer party at the North Central Speedway in Brainerd. We gathered together at the speedway on Saturday afternoon for games and a picnic before the races.

Children were also invited to attend - and ours had a great time!

Here, Halle sits with her new friend, Alaina...

Game time! First up: Kick the ball...

Followed by the water balloon toss...
It's finally time to head inside for the races...

Brendan poses outside the speedway with a very special race car (it's driver suffered a heart attack after his heat race the previous week - he survived and his friends and family held a benefit during the race on Saturday night to help defray medical costs)...

Inside the air conditioned booth, watching the cars race by!
It was "Kid's Night" and each child received a checkered flag...

Here they come!

Because it was Kid's Night at the Speedway, following the heat races the driver's lined up on the finish line and the children (and parents) were invited to come down and meet the drivers and get pictures and autographs signed. It was such fun!
One of the driver's even let Brendan sit in his car! Wow!
And to make a great day even better, Brendan was one of the lucky kids to win a brand-new bicycle during intermission!
What a great day!

Halle's Haircut

I took the kids in for a haircut tonight, and after some hemming and hawing, decided to get Halle's hair cut - as in, C-U-T. It turned out adorable, and makes her look like she has an actual style. We'll grow it out as she get older, but for now it looks much thicker and lays really nice. Here are a few before pictures (she's being silly and has a sticker covering her mouth)...



And here is the new do! Doesn't she look cute?

It's adorable from the back, too...

Let's go Camping!

This past Friday night Cary decided to set up the tent in our yard so the kids could enjoy sleeping under the stars. The kids were more then happy to help assemble the tent.

It's gettin' there!All done!
Then, on Saturday we took our camper to a local campground for the first time this year. We had a blast!

Here are some shots of the kids being goofy at the picnic table at our campsite...

Then we took a walk to the small swingset located in the campground...

The kids and I pose for a pic...