Moving to Wordpress

Well, I've decided to move the blog to Wordpress.  This move might be scary to some of you (don't be scared grandparents - you can do this!!!) but I assure you, it will be okay.  All the old posts have been moved.  You can still find things on the new site.  The pictures and text will no longer be jumbled (it was driving me NUTS!!!!!).  And the comments are awesome here.  I can actually respond BACK to you!  NO WAY, right!?  Blogger can kiss my bunnies!  I'm outta here!  Here's the new link:

 

http://lifeonalake.wordpress.com/

 

All you have to do is go there and bookmark it.  Also, you can sign up to get email updates whenever a new post is created.  Please do so.  And by all means - COMMENT!!!!!  This is the main reason why I'm moving!  So we can have comments and discussion of comments!!!!  If there is something that is not working right - let me know.  Its gonna be a work in progress for sure!

 

 

Thanks everyone!  SO LONG BLOGGER!!!!

 

Warrior Dash 2011

My friend Liz, my sister in law Renae and I competed in the Warrior Dash this past weekend in Minneapolis.  I only have 3 pictures, so savor them!

Here we are running up a ginormous hill.  The course was at Afton Alps, so imagine walking UP a ski hill.  Now imagine running UP a ski hill.  TOUGH.

This is the fire jump at the end of the course.  Dylan was worried about this part for me.  He was watching the news with my mom while I was gone and saw that it was raining in Minneapolis.  This made him happy because he thought the fire would be out then and I wouldn't get burned.  Thanks for the concern, D!

And finally, here is Renae and I at the finish line.  We're comparing mud coverage.  You HAD to swim thru the mud because there was barbed wire over the top of the mud pit.  Take note of how our tanks are hanging down to our knees because of the weight of the mud.  You could either stay a "mud person" or go and get hosed off by the snow making machines spraying water.  We chose to get hosed off and it was pretty brutal.  Brutally cold.  Brutally powerful.  And to be honest, kinda ineffective.  But better than being covered completely in mud for the ride home.

All in all, this was really fun.  And we're definitely signing up again next year.  We're hoping to recruit a few more peeps too, so start training for hills everyone!  We gotta beat our lame time of 57 minutes.  Seriously - the hills!  Oh the hills!

 

Christmas in July

We're getting back to business as usual around here.  Which means nightly boat rides and swims.  Its definitely the hottest weather we've had all summer so we're trying to make the most of it.   Winter is unfortunately just around the corner for Minnesota.  Booooooo.

She didn't want to get in right away for some reason.

Changed her mind once I was getting in.

Not water boy - we had to really talk him out of the water this time.

He loves being towed slowly by the boat.  Me, not so much.  Hurts my back after awhile.

He's always so delighted though, so its hard to say no.

Yesterday was July 25th, so we had a few Christmas in July activities.  I put together a scavenger hunt for them.  Dylan "read" the directions and Avery carried the bag to carry their treasures.

We had to break to put on hats b/c the horse flies are STILL SOOOOO bad here.  Hats help a little but not much.

He's wearing my Warrior Dash hat and a new shiner he got yesterday from horsing around on his bouncy hopper thingy and ramming into a chair.  Totally goes with the hat.  I told him he was definitely a Warrior.

They had such a good time with this.

Finding the final treasure.

Sweet!  A box of cake mix!

And here is the Christmas in July cake!  I made the espresso chocolate frosting that I made back in February for Eric's birthday.  Seriously good stuff.  Give it a try if you are in the market for a cake soon.

I realize there are 3 pictures of her in a row here, but her smile was so bright because she was so excited about her "budday tate" part 2 (she was CONVINCED it was all hers and that it was her birthday again) that I just had to post all 3 of her.  Seriously cute.

She's not naked, she has shorts on!  Tried to take the mess to a minimum on her shirt.  So I figured this would work well.

 

Merry Christmas in July!

Cass Lake 2011

Sorry for the delay on this post!  We got back from Cass and had a wedding to go to and then I went to Minneapolis to do the Warrior Dash (I'll post pics when they put them online - or at least post a link to pics).  So we're finally getting back to a normal schedule again now.  So - I give you - CASS LAKE 2011!

Boozers.

Another boozer.  We had to though.  The weather was skitzo!

We totally planned this coordination. ; )

Need your baby to nap?  Throw em in a bike cart and voila - NAP!

Seriously - the weather was wacky.  It was the hottest week of the year in Minnesota and don't get me wrong - it was hot at Cass too, but there were strangely cool moments too.

The babies were braver than the bigger kids when it came to tubing.  Perhaps they are too young to know better.  The older kids are just smarter.  Easton is included in that group.  He refused to tube!  Thatta boy!  Way to use your smarts!

Not this one tho - she loves to tube!  And FAST too.

We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on the 18th.  Had our usual morning mimosas - our tradition so far.

And here we are standing in the spot we got married (roughly).  Its now covered in water as you can see.

Dylan tried water skiing for the first time this year.

Got up on his first try!

Super Dylan!  I couldn't believe it.  Actually, yes I could.  He really is able to do a lot for a 4 year old I think.

He only went down cuz he started to get nervous about going any further with the boat motor and the fast speed, etc.  I think by next year he'll be over that part of it and he'll be a skiing machine.  Much to my dismay as the nervous nelly mother.

A gorgeous sunset that got me a few extra mosquito bites.  We all got more than a few this trip.  They were BAD this year.  The infamous SWIMMERS ITCH also made an appearance this year.  Previously, Eric had referred to it as a "myth" but it is a "myth" no more.  Cuz he got it, Dylan got it, Avery got it and a few others too.  There, it has now been documented here.  He'll still try to deny it I bet as I did not take a picture of their legs.  Tho, Avery's bumps are still visible so there is still time to provide proof!

Cousin picture time!  Reed ducked down so he's not pictured.

The first annual "Chase the Blues Away Margarita Party."  Everyone was kinda crabby that it kept raining and raining and raining that day.  It was 120 degrees with the heat index in Minneapolis this day, but we were wearing sweatshirts and pants.  It was seriously bizarre.  Especially since we too, were under the high heat index warning.  Never happened!  We're thinking this will be an annual party as the drinks were awesome!

So awesome that some people double fisted.

Messin' around at Cedar Island.  I was worried about my beverage!

And finally, our yearly family photo at Cass Lake.  Another good one!

That was well worth the wait, wasn't it?!