Taste of Summer

74 degrees on March 16th?!  We'll TAKE IT.  The last few days have been very warm here.  It starts out chilly...

But by afternoon, the peeps strip off their jackets and shoes and have at it.

I'm very surprised we still have ice.  2 years ago the ice was out on March 17th.  And it was so warm this winter, you'd think it would be about out.  So far, no luck.  The next few pictures are for Lingy.  Do you think we need some rain???  Yikes!  The lake is usually up to the tires.

See all that mud...yeah, usually covered by water.  Ummmmmm

Its very attractive to potential buyers.  HA.  And an added bonus - it smells lovely.

The kids have been swinging constantly.  I was struck down my the flu (I think??) and had a fever for most of the day on Wednesday thru early Thursday morning.  These swing pics were all I could manage.  They had no jackets or shoes on.  I was wearing 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, a heavy sweatshirt with socks and shoes.  Fevers SUCK!

They're so cute when they hold hands.

And I also like it when he pushes her so I don't have to. ; )

Then today, was the warmest day so far.  74 degrees!  It was totally time to break out the shorts!!!

And it was time to open and close the screen door 500 times - one of Avery's favorite summer activities.  She's getting started early this year.

We also worked on a bit of yoga.  Ya know, like you do on March 16th with a frozen lake as your backdrop!  Did it last year and its likely I'll do it again next year too!  Avery was adorable trying to copy me.

I did this....and then.....

This happened.  And that was pretty much it for his outdoor time.  He was NOT happy.  The mere SIGHT of blood sends him into a screaming panic.

So maybe we'll get more pics tomorrow when the high is once again supposed to be 74! : )  Happy early summer!  hahaha

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!