Out Back

We've been spending a lot of time outside this summer. I love having the water table on the back patio.
Nora loves to take this little yellow cup and water everything in the backyard, including her brother.

Ronan loves the hose, especially when the water is on.

Ronan will sit with the sprinkler forever!

Blind Pilot

This year for our anniversary Jeff got us tickets to see Blind Pilot play at Edgefield. Jeff has been a fan of Blind Pilot since they were featured on NPR a few months ago. We've been listening to their music all summer so it was great to actually see them perform live. They were just the opening band for the Decemberists, so they weren't on for long. It was an early concert and kids were welcome! We had a great time. All of us enjoying the show. I was actually in the early stages of getting sick, but I still had a great time.

Ronan does this adorable thing where he belly flops onto the ground and then just looks up at you like he's the cutest thing you've ever seen. He's right.

The boys!

Penguins

I love this picture of Jeff and the kids looking at the penguins at the zoo. The reflection of Ronan is great!

Jameson Square

We went to Jameson Square for the first time this summer last week. The kids both loved the water. I can't believe that Ronan is running around the water this year! We'll have to get back out there again soon.

Olson Family Garden

This is our garden! I had Jeff build the plot for me on Mother's Day weekend. This was my first real attempt at a garden and I can't believe how well everything has turned out.

I planted pumpkins, peas, carrots, (onions that never sprouted), and three different types of tomatoes.

We also have strawberries growing out of the wine barrels. Nora loves to eat them!

Of course our hops are wonderful as always. We actually made some beer with last year's batch.

Bath Time

My kids would stay in the bath tub for hours if I let them. Ronan loves when the water is running.

Nora loves playing with Princess Ariel in the bath water.

Dinner Time

Some one needs to clean that kitchen in the background.

Disneyland Video

Jeff was on a roll tonight. He also put together this great little video of our trip to Disneyland.

Camping Video

Jeff just put together this little video from our camping trip in May. The beach was beautiful, but very windy. We camped just a short walk away, over the dunes and there was no wind there.

Baby Lenny

A friend of mine from college, Stacey, lives in Minneapolis. It's great to have a friend in town when we go to visit Jeff's family. She recently had her first baby, Lenny, and we got all the kids together at Jeff's parents place. This is a horrible picture, but it's the only one we have!

Como Park

On Friday Jeff's parents took us to Como Park. Jeff's dad was so excited to take Nora to the zoo! It was a perfect day and the kids had a great time looking at the animals and going on rides!

This is a picture we took of the kids with their grandparents right before Jeff's dad left to go back to the cabin.

Ride 'em cow girl! Nora loved this ride.

So this may have been my favorite part of the entire trip. I insisted that Ronan go on the ride with Nora. Since adults weren't allowed to go, I asked Nora to take good care of her brother. She ten wrapped her arm around him and left it there the entire ride. I have never seen her be so nurturing to her brother. It was the most adorable thing I have ever seen.

This is from the end of the ride. Nora was soooo tired, but it was way too exciting to take a nap. She didn't even sleep on the ride home.

When we first got to the park, Jeff's parents took Nora around while we watched over Ronan. I made sure he got to go on a ride with his Mama!

Great Grandma Blanchette

On Thursday we went to Jeff's grandma's house for lunch. It was great for the kids to spend the afternoon with their great grandma, and even more special because Jeff's cousin, Sara, brought her baby, Meghan too! Meghan is seven months old and adorable! Nora loved having a baby girl around!

Grammy was holding her great niece, Meghan.

Nora loved snuggling with Luella.

Luella wanted a special picture with her two grandchildren and all her great grandchildren.

What a lucky great grandma! This was the first time that all the great grandchildren had been together.

Cousin Kelly

Jeff's cousin, Kelly came to the cabin to spend a couple days with us. The kids really love her! Nora thinks that Kelly is just about the coolest person in the world. She was so excited that she got to drive in her car. Kelly was a life saver for us. She was so helpful!

Nora loves snuggling with Kelly!

Pattison State Park

On our way home from Duluth we stopped at Pattison State Park. There was a beach area that we knew Ronan would love.

Some other children had dug out this pool. Ronan was so excited to play in it. You should watch the video to see how happy this little boy was in his mud bath.

Ronan loved swinging above the water.

Ronan just kept crawling in and out of the water. Then he would sit and pick up the mud and drop it, pick it up and drop it, pick it up and drop. It's time for a sand box at our house.

Duluth, MN

On Tuesday we left Nora with Grammy and Jeff's cousin, Kelly. We took Ronan to Duluth for the day. It was really nice to be able to spend the day with him because it's never happened before. We were able to spoil him with attention like we did when Nora was our one and only. I think Ronan missed his sister.


We had lunch at Grandma's and then walked around town. We had the largest ice cream ever- which Ronan loved. Then we found some street water fountains and let Ronan play in the water. He's even more of a water baby than Nora was!



We walked out to a light house. Jeff kept reminding me that we were at the largest fresh water port in the world.

Park

We found a little park in Webster.

Grammy pushed Ronan on the swing. This was after she ran into town to get me a mocha. Talk about a great mother-in-law!

Nora snuggled with Lenore in the shade.

One of my favorite pictures from the trip. Ronan loves to hang from a bar. It's such a strange sight to see such a little boy attempting his first chin up.

Grandpa took a turn pushing Ronan too.

Great Grandparents

Nora and Ronan are so lucky to have great grandparents! Jeff's dad's parents came to the cabin for the day.
Nora snuggled right up with Lenore.

And Wayne too!

Great Grandparents Olsons and their great grand babies.

Four generations of Olson men.

Boating on Yellow Lake

We took the boat out on the water for the afternoon. We parked in a shallow part of the river and let the kids out in the water. At first Nora was scared to let her feet touch the ground, but after a daddy- daughter talk she was running around.

Nora loved driving the boat in her grandpa's lap.

Nora fell asleep in her Grammy's lap. I don't think there is anything better for Grammy than holding a sleeping baby.

Our family pictures might not be picture perfect but they are pretty accurate- that sound count for something.

Jeff's dad helped Ronan stand in the water while he splashed and splashed and splashed.

We picked up this little raft to help Ronan stand in the water. Ironically he didn't really like it and Nora loved it. She would run so fast through the water that we could hardly keep up with her.

4th of July Video

Jeff just made a quick video of our trip to the Midwest. We really had a great time and I'm sure you'll be able to see that the kids really loved the trip.

Wisconsin Cabin

We spent the past week visiting Jeff's family in Minnesota. We arrived on the 4th of July and went straight to the cabin in Wisconsin. It was Jeff's first time there since the new cabin was built and he was very impressed!
The first night we were there we went out on the lake for some fireworks. The kids wore outfits that Jeff's parents had gotten for them while they were in Hawaii earlier this year. Ronan had a hard time with the noise so we went in, but Nora loved every sparkle she saw. She kept calling them pinkalicious and purplelicious. She's already talking about next year!

One of the best parts of the cabin (besides being on the lake and all) is the deck. We spent a lot of time out there playing with the kids. We would drink coffee in the morning there and wine in the evening. Kathy found a suitcase full of old G.I. Joe toys from when Jeff was little. I couldn't believe that my kids were playing with tanks and guns!
We brought an I Spy Bingo game to the cabin. Nora is starting to play some games now and the Olsons love to play games. We brought I Spy because of all the I Spy quilts that Grammy makes. This picture is from a game Nora played with her grandparents.



I know you can't see Nora very well, but she's poking her head through the beams from the loft down to the living room. I don't know why we didn't take any pictures of the actual cabin, but from this picture you can see that it is filled with natural log work. It's pretty amazing.

Missing Camera

I'm basically in a state of panic because our camera has gone missing. We thought that we just left it at home while we were in Minnesota. Unfortunately, when we came home today we weren't able to find it. I've looked everywhere! I know it's not the end of the world, and I'm really not missing too many pictures- but I want my camera back!
We lucked out in Minnesota when we realized that our video camera takes still pictures. They are horrible quality, but something is better than nothing. Hopefully they aren't too bad.