Thursday, July 20, 2017

July~All the "National" Days!

Have you been keeping track of all the "National _____ Day" days that have been happening in July?  I feel like there have been a LOT of them.  We've tried to celebrate when we know of them:

Happy National Mac & Cheese Day on Friday, July 14:


Happy National Ice Cream Day on Sunday, July 16:


And Happy National Hot Dog Day on Wednesday, July 19:
(p.s. no time to stop and smile at the camera -- apparently she was "starving") LOL!


Off to search for some new "national ____" days to celebrate!

July~High School Reunion

Also in July was my 20 year (WHAT?!) high school reunion!! We headed back to Worthington for the events.  Ella lost a tooth at Grandma Deb's on Friday night, so the tooth fairy made a trip there!  (she lost the top left incisor)



While in town for the reunion, we were able to watch Chase play some baseball!



Took a tour of the high school to see what's changed in the past years....



And the main event was Saturday night - snapped some pictures before we left!


 

The reunion was in a barn!  I snapped this random poor quality picture on my phone on the way back from the restrooms (thankfully they were working toilets!!) TMI probably, but I was concerned about this. 




It was a great time and fun to connect with friends and have some laughs! I didn't take enough pictures, there was just too much other stuff going on and honestly, kind of awkward to get photos with people you haven't seen in a long time, but I did get pics with the inner circle of friends!  :)

Meanwhile, Ms. Ella was THRILLED to spend the evening solo with Grandma Deb!


4th of July!

Oh hello ~ it's been a few weeks! Here's a look at some of our summer happenings in July:

Fourth of July.  We stayed in town this year, so we tried to do some stuff to keep busy.  We spent time at the pool at Lifetime, watched fireworks on the 3rd at Canterbury Park in Shakopee and then laid low on the 4th hanging out at home and watching fireworks on TV. LOL!  Ella made a sweet star spangled visor to wear with some star shades at daycare, so she sported those most of the weekend!


We ate red, white and blue popsicles!


Baked up a batch of homemade brownies and we decorated them in a
patriotic ode to the American Flag...



Oh, and I made the best no-bake pie!  DELICIOUS!  Vanilla wafer crust, vanilla pudding prepared and mixed with a can of strawberry pie filling, topped with whipped cream and berries! 
A huge hit at our house!


Again, in the visor and shades and now wearing the official 4th of July attire!


I also got a cut and color which was super fun - new salon, new stylist but turned out great!


Fireworks on the 3rd were redneck style with chairs in the back of the truck. 
Ella thought this was pretty cool!


 LOL on our attempts at the family selfie!




4th of July - I wanted a good picture with the flag....
but, didn't really get one





Sparkler anyone?




HA!

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Early Summer Randomness ~ Father's Day

So, it's summer (officially today!) so I thought I'd recap a few things so far. 

One, we joined Lifetime Fitness to have more pool access this summer.  I hope we also use it more for workouts too, but so far, that's not really happening....

First night enjoying the pool! 


Heading out to our first official workout day at Lifetime!

Second pool day!

Second workout day!

And, that's about it for pictures about Lifetime. :)  Ella's started swimming lessons there too, so we are certainly getting there quite a bit.  Just need to get into a better routine of going during the week!!

Father's Day weekend, Jay was out of town Friday and Saturday fishing up north. 
They had a good time before the storms blew in!  
Sunday morning, we headed to Jay's favorite coffee spot - Starbucks. Ella got in on the action too with some coffee-free deliciousness...




Ella didn't want to buy a card this year and they made a cute shirt and tie project at school, so that also acted as the card.  It looks great!

Ella gifted Jay a growler of cold brew coffee and also a kit to brew cold brew coffee at home. 
We'll see how that goes - it's still in the box right now!  :)
After gifts, we headed out on an adventure to The Home Depot.  Jay's favorite pastime. LOL!

Happy Father's Day!

Remember the Summer 2017 motto: Memories don't make themselves!!  

Birthday Party #2

We celebrated Ella's 8th birthday with family the weekend after school was out.  Attention shoppers, it was a Shopkins themed party this year!  



 We had a taco bar for lunch, served with fruit and taco dip.  It was popular!


I found some cute labels online to use for the various taco bar items




Some random decoration pictures - we used our photo booth props for decorations too!

 Sneaky wedge...

 Kooky Cookie...

 The traditional balloon bouquet picture (with some sass this year!)



 Delish Donut and Poppy Corn!



 I used the Shopkins "faces" on some of the appliances and the soap bottles,
since the Shopkins are actual items we use everyday!


 

Gifts this year included Shopkins items, clothes, two (2) new CD players!, gift cards and money.
She was thrilled with everything!



 

Dessert this year: Shopkins cake, ice cream, popcorn and licorice!
Perfect sweets for a hot summer day!



 8 candles this year!!




Photo booth time!  All the guests took pictures with the birthday girl -
This year we used Shopkins props (duh!)




 



Then we got a little silly....

 


The next morning an insane storm blew through the Twin Cities,
so we waited it out and then headed out for some breakfast pancakes!!


Another fun birthday in the books!