33 Weeks!

7 weeks to go! Check out my big belly!

Brendan's 1st Day of Preschool

September 4th marked Brendan's first day going to preschool! He was so excited!

Walking into the school - backpack on and ready to go...

In front of the sign...
Once inside he settled in right away and began playing with some playdoh...

Starting with his very first day, he's LOVED going to school. They have lessons everyday, and he brings home a project or two each evening. And to add to the fun, he rides a bus to and from school every day, which he finds pretty cool! It's a great experience for him!

Brendan's Big Adventure!

August 11th: Grandma Carol, Brendan and Cameron head west to begin their big adventure...

After hours of driving they crossed the border into....Montana!!
They camped all along the way...

And most of the campgrounds even had swimming pools!

They saw beautiful scenery...

And had SO MUCH FUN!

They saw bears...They sat on benches...

They "rode" buffalo...
They stood near crazy fallen trees...

They visited a dam...

And they went to Wyoming!

They also went to Yellowstone National Park, went whitewater rafting, visited Devils Tower, and much, much more! It was an amazing trip for Brendan and one he will never forget!

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!