an update

whew!  these past few weeks have gone by so fast I haven't had time (or energy, creativity, etc) to sit down and write about it.  We've been busy busy busy!!  Here's the condensed version of what's been going on around here.

On July 2nd Chris and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary.  Wow, 5 years!  It seems like it has gone by so fast and at the same time I feel like we've been married forever (which is a good thing).  To celebrate we took a weekend trip to the twin cities. We stayed with our fabulous friends, the Blanchards. 

We spent one afternoon on their boat - it was Brooks' first time on the water and he loved it, of course ... my little water bug.

On Saturday night Kellie watched Brooks while Chris and I hit the town.  We spent the evening on Grand Ave in St. Paul, our old stomping grounds.  It was fun to reminisce and enjoy an evening to ourselves.

And Brooks LOVED their dogs.  He loves all animals, but he had soooooo much fun playing with Cassie (above) and Dallcye.

The following weekend (July 9) was my birthday.  I took the boys out for ice cream during the day to celebrate.  They didn't argue :)  I tried to teach Cole how to "lick" the ice cream cone instead of smashing his face into it ... I wasn't so successful as you can see.

The bummer part about my day was that Brooks was crabby crabby crabby.  Ugh.  Didn't he know it was my birthday??  We braved going out to eat (a poor decision on our part) and well .... let's just say we'll be finding a babysitter next year.  But I did end the evening ona  high note with homemade apple pie.  My dear husband (who does NOT bake) made me a pie for my birthday - isn't he great!

We learned a few years ago that it's not smart to put a wax candle in a warm apple pie.  So this year we wrapped it in tinfoil first.  Happy birthday to me!!

Then on Monday July 12, Brooks and I hit the road to Green Bay.  We traveled with a friend and her two boys who also has family in Green Bay.  We were there a whole week - the longest time I've been away from Chris and Brooks from his daddy.  'll post more pictures from our trip later, but here's a few of my favorites.

cooling off on a hot day

Riding with Grandpa Dave at the wildlife sanctuary

4 generations

Snuggle time with Grandma Marty. 

We had a fantastic time and it was hard to say good-bye.  Brooks loved spending so much time with Grandma and Grandpa - and I think they enjoyed it too :)  I just wish we didn't live 9 hours away from them.  But it was good to come home and see Chris.  I sure missed him.

And in case you didn't hear ......

.... we now own a mini-van.  Yep, we did it.  Remember all those things I said I'd never do?  Yeah, owning a minivan is one of them and I'm eating my words, once again.  So tease all you want, but it is very comfortable to drive and it's much easier getting my 3 boys around.