summer

A collection of 300 posts

family

mn state fair

Man... I forgot how much I love the state fair until we were on the bus ride from the parking lot to the gates. We got a late start this afternoon, so we didn't get to do everything... but I think we hit our biggest favorites. Garlic fries, mini donut

kids

monarchs

Our monarch caterpillar finding got off to slow start this summer. Our first one hatched this week. I tried to get a picture of Olivia releasing it, but it took off before I could get the photo. We have 6 chrysalis, and 2 caterpillars left.

kids

snake discovery

Emma has been very interested in snakes lately. A couple weeks ago I was Googling places you could hold or touch snakes and came across a place called Snake Discovery 30 minutes from our house. She saw me looking at their page and told me they have a YouTube channel

family

summer finale

I can't believe how fast this summer went by. Monday the girls have open house and get to meet their teachers. Next Tuesday they start school. We certainly packed a whole lot of fun into our last camping trip of the summer. I love this waterpark campground, but the weekends

kids

summer days

There won't be much to post the next couple days because this is all we will be doing. Plus some time at the petting zoo, ice cream, arcade, candy bar bingo and maybe even a little paddle boarding.

kids

throwback thursday (august 25, 2021)

family

waterpark camping

Our last camping trip of the summer is at one of the girls favorite campgrounds. I'm pretty sure it is Braden's least favorite of all time, but I agree with the girls... I love it here. The donkeys next to the goats started making a ton of noise when the

around the house

r.i.p spots

Before we left for Texas both Emma's fish and Olivia's fish got a vacation feeder. The feeders said they were only good for 7 days, so on day 6 my friend came over to check on the fish and drop another feeder in there. That was Thursday. All was good.

kids

throwback thursday (august 18, 2021)

family

heading north

We snuck in an extra day in Texas and started heading home this morning. This time we took a different route through Dallas. We had a lot of places we wanted to visit on this trip. Usually we can't get to all the places on our list, but somehow we

family

monarchs

It wouldn't really be a summer roadtrip if we weren't traveling with monarch caterpillars. I looked all summer and couldn't find a single one. The night before we were leaving for Texas Olivia and I found three at the barn. Turns out the three were really six plus two eggs.

family

schlitterbahn

We got there right after it opened. Stayed all day in a cabana. We left after it closed. We were all too busy riding waterslides to get very many photos. Grabbed dinner at Buc-ees on the way back. Both girls fell asleep for most of the 2 hour car ride.

family

throwback thursday (august 11, 2021)

family

austin

Today's adventures took us to Austin. We visited family, ate Mexican food, swam at Barton Springs, played video games and watched the bats. It was a solid day. We checked off everything we wanted to do on our one day in Austin. Tomorrow we rest.

family

blue bell

Blue Bell Creamery. One of my favorite places to visit while we're in Texas. The last time we were here was 2018.

family

welcome to texas

The last time we were in Texas in 2019 I really wanted to go to Waco to visit the Magnolia Market at the Silos. We didn't make it during that trip, so this time I was hoping we could finally make it there. Eh. Turns out it wasn't really that

family

we're not in kansas anymore

This morning we got an early start. It didn't take us long to get through the rest of Iowa and into Missouri. After Missouri it was on to Kansas. I try to find fun places to stop along the way. Sometimes they're great, and sometimes they're not... but you never

family

away we go

This week was our big road trip week. We've been wanting to go to Yellowstone for the last two years, but it is difficult to get in at any of the campgrounds near the park. This year I scored a site at a campground right outside the park! All summer

kids

throwback thursday (august 4, 2021)

family

emma is 9!

We celebrated today with a trip to PetSmart to purchase a betta fish. Dinner at a hibachi restaurant. Opening her new paddleboard. Cake with friends.

family

leprechaun days

Our city does Leprechaun Days the last week of July every year. There are tons of activities all week. We were supposed to be camping part of the week, but ended up cancelling so we were able to do all our favorite activities this week. First up... Blarney Stone Hunt.

kids

throwback thursday (july 28, 2021)

kids

zoo day

I can't remember the last time the kids and I have been to the zoo. Emma had a full day planned with her friend, so Olivia and I went to see if there was anything new. The beavers recently had five babies. We got lucky to catch two of them

family

cabin weekend

Our friends invited us to their cabin in Wisconsin for the weekend. We did a lot of boating, eating, drinking, swimming and ice cream eating. Emma also did a ton of paddleboarding. She loved it so much that we're getting her one for her birthday. I was pretty surprised by

kids

blueberry picking

Another fun summer activity.