August 2011 Recap

Mark's 32nd Birthday (July 30-August 3)

Mark's birthday celebration this year lasted 4 days! It started out with a guys' night out in Sioux Falls with Curt and Jamie having dinner at Outback Steakhouse and some go-kart action at Thunder Road the Saturday before.

Then on his actual birthday, Monday, August 1st, we took a half day off work and spent the afternoon and evening in Mankato, including a free lunch at Mexican Village for the birthday boy, a little shopping, and some pool and visiting time with Dan and Kathi before heading home.

Tuesday we had dinner with Kent, Pam and the kids at Perkins for more birthday celebration, and Wednesday was finally birthday treat day at work!

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

For a full recap with lots of pictures, click here!

Omaha Trip (August 9-10)

The second weekend in August we took an impromptu trip down to Omaha to visit Sarah and Johannes. We left Saturday shortly before noon, spent Saturday evening and Sunday with them before heading back home.



For a full recap with lots of pictures, click here!

Softball Winds Down (August 15)

After a super long summer of softball and Mark playing on 3 leagues, the season finally came to an end August 15 with his final game of the season - on the Windom Men's league.




For a full recap of the season, click here!

Humboldt Visit for Jason's Birthday (August 12-14)

We decided to take a trip down to Humboldt to visit the family, since we hadn't been down to visit since the end of June. Amanda, Michael and the kids were gone, unfortunately, but it was nice having a more low-key weekend with Mom and Jason. It was also so nice to catch up with Josh, Tiff and little Reign on Sunday afternoon, as well as Uncle Kenny, Aunt Joyce and Uncle Gussy. We also wanted to celebrate Jason's 23rd birthday, even if it was a couple days early.



For a full recap with lots of pictures, click here!

Softball Grill Out in Worthington (August 20)

To commemorate the end of the softball season, Paris and Josh invited the team and fans over for a grill out at their home in Worthington.

For a full recap with pictures, click here!




For a full recap with pictures, click here!

Minneapolis with Lisa (August 21)

My friend Lisa was visiting a friend of hers in the Minneapolis area over the weekend, so I made a day trip there to meet her for lunch and a little shopping in Maple Grove.


For a full recap with pictures, click here!

Meeting Baby Dibble (August 25)

My good friend and college roommate, Mandy, had her baby girl, Claire Amanda the morning of the day before we left for our big trip to Alaska! That worked out wonderfully, as I was able to visit her in the hospital in Worthington before I left.

Little Claire is such a little doll, and so so very tiny :) Many congrats to Mandy and Brandon! Can't wait to see more of this little lady :)

Dinner with Mark and Meghan (August 26)

The night before we left for Alaska, we met up with Mark's cousin, Mark, and his wife Meghan for dinner at Don Pablo's. It was fun to see them, as they were just a few days from meeting their little guy, Alex! Meghan was due Monday, and here it was the Friday after, so they were anxious.

She ended up being induced on Monday, and baby Alex was born August 30th at 8:45pm, weighing in at 7lbs 15oz and 21.25 inches tall.

Congrats, Mark and Meghan!!

Alaska Trip!! (August 27-September 11)

The flight to Anchorage was uneventful, and after picking up our rental car at Budget and finding some lunch at Gwennie's just down the street, we headed down to Homer for the first leg of our trip.

While in Homer, we stayed at the Ocean House Inn with a great view! We went halibut fishing, explored Homer Spit, took a water taxi to the Glacier Trailhead, finished at Halibut Cove with a beautiful view, and spent a day doing a short hike, exploring the Islands and Ocean Museum, and relaxing a bunch! We ate at Cafe Cups and Fat Olives and enjoyed some fresh grilled halibut 2 evenings at our lodging. It was a wonderful start to our Alaskan vacation!

I'll have to eventually post a link to my travel blog posts from this trip, but they're not even close to written just yet.

• From Home to Homer (August 27)
• Homer (August 27-31)

Farewell, August and Summer 2011 - bring on the best season EVER! :)

Lunch with Lisa (August 21)

My friend, Lisa just happened to be visiting another friend in Minneapolis, so we made plans to meet up Sunday afternoon for lunch in Maple Grove.

I made it up there around 12:30pm and met her at Noodles & Company (YUM!)


We both had the Pesto Cavatappi (Lisa without mushrooms, and myself with mushrooms).

We visited for a while after lunch, then decided to walk around a bit, making a short stop at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store for some samples.

We decided to drive on over to the Shoppes at Arbor Lakes, where we shopped and visited for an hour or so, before I dropped Lisa back at her car to begin her long drive back home to Wisconsin.





After I dropped Lisa off, I pondered continuing my shopping in Maple Grove, then decided to start my long trek back home. I stopped both in Shakopee and Mankato to pick up a few last-minute items (and to break up the long drive home), and for supper at Chipotle, then made it home for a nice couple mile walk with the hubs :)

Great finds for the trip: full rain gear for only $20 apiece at Scheel's, 2 pair of maternity jeans for $20 each at JCPenney.

Great finds for the nursery: closet organization gear, a 9-cube shelf, crib mattress pad and boppy under-cover thing.

Softball Grill-Out (August 20)

To commemorate the end to another softball season, Josh and Paris invited us to their home for a backyard bbq on Saturday the 20th.

For living in town, they had a surprisingly large back yard! I was totally jealous of the big stone fireplace looking thing back there, even if it doesn't work.

We visited for an hour or so before it was time to eat!






We had to give Easton a hard time for driving a girly car lol

It was a BYOM and a side event, so there were all sorts of selections on the grill.


After we were all fat and happy, we sat back to relax and visit somemore, of course, indulging in some delicious homemade ice cream, courtesy of Mark Thiner!




We had a great time catching up with friends, and enjoyed a bonfire later in the evening.

Thanks, Josh and Paris, for opening up your home, yard and grill to us all!

Lazy Saturday at Home :)

One of the things I look forward to in the summer are lazy Saturday mornings :) Fridays, as always, are busy with work, and boy did I have a doozy this past Friday! I ended up taking a 2 hour nap when I got home, and not because of pregnancy fatigue this time - out of sheer mental exhaustion from thinking so hard all day, writing a program with some complicated logic.

After waking up from my nap, we got ready to go to the fair with friends for dinner. In fact, this past week we've been at the fair a lot! Wednesday we walked down in the evening and shared a strawberry shake; Thursday we ate lunch there with co-workers; Friday night we went with Jamie and Heather for dinner.

Today, however, will be a different story altogether. No fair in our plans (I'm not sure my stomach can handle any more greasy carnie food), but a trip to the local farmers' market to hopefully find some good corn for freezing, perhaps more tomatoes from our garden to make some salsa, and putting on a crockpot full of baked beans for the end-of-the-season party for Mark's FBC softball team in Worthington tonight. Sounds like a great Saturday to me :)

Humboldt Visit (August 12-14)

Mark and I decided to take a trip down to Humboldt to visit for the weekend to celebrate Jason's birthday a few days early.

Friday

We headed down on Friday evening just in time for dinner. We had some leftovers from the week that we brought down: cheesesteak sandwiches for the boys, and stuffed mushrooms for the ladies, along with some sweet corn.

After dinner, and a short visit with Uncle Kenny, we retreated to the living room to visit for a while. Jay Jay and Mark played a little Mancala, and before long we were all getting sleepy and headed to bed.

Saturday

Saturday was a very lazy day in Humboldt. We slept in, had some Pasquales breakfast pizza for breakfast, then sat around visiting and watching TV most of the day.

We ventured out shortly before lunch to pick up a few supplies for sandwiches, then planted in front of the TV again for the afternoon.

By the time dinner rolled around, we decided that we should get out a little more, so we ventured to Fort Dodge for supper at Wendy's and a little shopping.

We stumbled across a firepit at Dunham's and Mom and I explored the little country homestore in the mall before we headed back home with some Redbox movies: Source Code (two thumbs up) and Cedar Rapids (two thumbs down).

Sunday

Sunday morning we putzed around a little, I wrote my 16 week baby blog post, and then we headed to church. It was a really great service this week, complete with a brass quintet playing upbeat jazz hymns and a sermon about giving.

After church, we headed back to the farm where a big pot of hearty beans awaited us, along with some delicious corn on the cob and burgers and brats for lunch. It was a smaller group than usual, with only ONE of the eight kiddos in tow, but we enjoyed it, and then did a little birthday celebration for my "baby" brother Jason (or "Jay Jay", as he is lovingly known by his nephew Caleb).

We couldn't believe how much Reign had grown (and thinned out) as he's just on the verge of walking without assistance! He'll take a few steps at a time. He gets REALLY excited when he tries to walk to Josh and doesn't make it too far, but he'll be there soon!

We visited for a while, letting our lunch settle before having cake and ice cream.

It was nice to have a surprise visit from Aunt Joyce and Uncle Gussy :)

Happy 23rd Birthday, Jason!!