State Fair

8:00 starts the day off with min-donuts

Nori rides the giant slide with Papa Bill

Aunt Ellen corales her twin

7,000 calories and counting

the only vegetable of the day

at least it was dipped in butter

a little bee education in the Ag Builidng

Discovery of the day: chocolate waffle on a stick

Did I mention the chocolate waffle? Divine.

She does a mean goat call

babies stick together at the Miracle of Life barn

Cows are cool. With fruit smoothie, score one for fruit.

baby lamb love

All you can drink milk

unwinnable

6 hours later, time for naps

Bluesday Tuesday

Grandpa Steve and his girls

I am not even bummed about that fact that I packed Nori a cute little bento box lunch with her sandwich cut into a tree shape and she did not even notice until I was unpacking her full lunch after school. She was delighted to bring in her snake skin for Show & Share.  Speaking of after school, Grandpa Steve & Auntie Ellen came with for pick up and we all went out for dinner at the Blue Door. Grandpa was telling Nori about what they would do the next time she was in Winona and it went exactly like this:  "We will take the truck out to the dump. It's pretty smelly out there. We can watch the goats and pigs eat trash. Then we can go to the DQ". Nothing makes me crave an Artic Rush more than some good dump action.

Grandpa brought me some hot pink Kensio tape for my aching hips which seem to have come down with a case of bursitis. The minute I turned 24 my body quickly started to deteriorate from the feet up.  I can't sleep well, have not showered, and am walking around with ice packs tucked into my shorts -- I look like Pat from SNL only more androgynous.

Jake is out of town so that means we get to put as many bubbles in the tub as we want and Nori gets sleep in my bed tonight. On the downside, there is no one to cook for us or do the dishes.

We had to buy gramps a new shirt to get rid of this orange fiasco

Even Henny thinks its hilarious

the snake's skin Gramsie found

Heart garland for our friend's dad who had his arm amputated

oh yeah, baby!

our mom LOVES us

Nori quotes Grandpa Steve with an "oh yeah, baby!" whenever there is something she likes such as the Wild Kratts or chocolate dipped strawberries. Speaking of dipped fruit, I am addicted to frozen chocolate covered bananas. I tried making my own but the store bought variety can't be beat! Henny has started to hum and sing...she can even carry a tune, unlike her old bat of a mother. New words include "all done", "baby" "up", "go" and "beer me". It is such a privilege to be the mom to these wonderful little creatures. I also enjoy being their 24 hour a day servant.

The girls & I shopped on Grand Ave on Friday looking for birthday gifts for our beloveds. It was a fun and productive girl date. On Saturday we went Alesso' Dance Studio on Grand to sign Nori up for ballet and tap lessons and buy the proper footwear. I am really excited for her to begin dancing! We then celebrated Makenna's 4th birthday with a a Sound of Music party complete with bratwurst and lots of doe a deer, a female deer music. It was also Gramsie Holly's 59th birthday on Saturday so the girls and I took her out to The Mall of America including Build A Bear, a carousel ride, and supper at Rainforest Cafe. Hmmm, sounds more like a kid than a gramsie birthday, huh? Welcome to my life.  We also baked her a chocolate cake which she frosted with her own special recipe chocolate frosting. It was really great to celebrate with my mom and have here with us! Jake spent most of the weekend a tennis tournament and I am (not) devastated to inform you they lost and will not advance to Nationals in Tuscon. Maybe next year (Lord, please no)! Funcle Charlie and his lady friend Sam stopped by to hang out today, too. Every Funcle needs a a good woman to keep him in line.

bubble butt

So you really fed my mom Taco John's every single night? That explains a lot.

Skelly can tap

Foosie Sue working on her blog

like the zoo, only more expensive

Happy Birthday Dear Gramsie....

feet are the best toy

I glow in the dark

"Oh my god, it looks like neon gecko stripper working at a theme restaurant on Mars" Michale Kors Project Runway

2nd visit ever to MoA

3 points and the old mom gets to ride free

Meet Violet Seltz

musical chairs Maria-style

We love you, KennaBear!

I don't know how clowns do it

at my house...

La-Z-Girl recliner

It says here that a Mama Chicken is also called a...HEN?!

there would have been more bubbles but the Dish Soap Ration Police intervened

playing mermaid in the suds

nudie booty book club

we smell like tent

my hobbies

Dear Public Diary,

Remember when people used to write down their private thoughts and detailed accounts of their days in a tiny notebook with the words DO NOT READ!!! written on the front and then locked it in a mental box and stashed it under their bed so no one would ever, ever read it? Just imagine how much juicier those entries must have been compared to all the boring crap I blog about today. I miss the good stuff.

Due to the threat of West Nile virus and general laziness, urban camping is making a comeback which explains why we grilled and camped in the backyard this weekend. It was pretty rustic so Baby Foose & I slept in the house like civilized ladies, but Jake & Nori roughed it on the air mattress in the tent all night. Sure, there were the regular challenges of trying to find enough kindling to start the fire with twigs from our lawn but lucky for us we never rake, so we made it happen. We told scary stories about a witch with spiders in her mouth and kept an eye out for coyotes.  Aunt Ellen visited on her break between camps.... she just got done with summer camp and will soon move out to Washington to work as a  Maverick at Holden Village (I once wanted to go Girl  Scout camp and stay in a tree house, but I would have had to sell one million boxes for cookies.  I probably would have cried and insisted on coming home after an hour anyway).  We also had friends over for coffee, breakfast burritos and pastries. We finally met Ross & Yesika's new baby boy, Octavio, and got caught up on the details of Justin & Sandi's upcoming wedding in Willamette Valley.  Nori was OBSESSED with the baby, which made it hard for his mom to feed him and get him to sleep. Henny preferred to play the drums on his head.  Have I mentioned she is very musically inclined?

finally, a padded room

wilderness weirdos

they have the same eyes

ferocious wild animal

you can prevent forest fires

on the trail

goofball

sisters vs. wild

little girl on the prairie

Tumblebees 2012 from Megan Seltz on Vimeo.