Lately in Windom (August Edition)

I picked up these sandals on the way back from our Indiana trip, and immediately regretted them, since I thought they wouldn't be very functional. Wrong! They are my favorites this summer.

This little guy is legit swimming now with a life jacket on. So proud of him!

Daddy is getting so old that he needs lots of help to blow out his candles.

It was so nice to catch up with these strangers for a bit when they stopped over :)

I can't handle the deliciousness that is monkey bread.

These guys :)

One of the best parts of vacation = PJs until you feel like changing out of them...which may be never.

One of my favorite new summer recipes: Pineapple BBQ Chicken Tacos. YUM!

I LOVE how much these kiddos love their grandparents. We are excited to see Grandma Ruth again in a couple of weeks!

I see this picture and all I can think is when did Cashel get such LONG legs?? He's so tall!!

My boys exploring the Omaha Zoo. What? You hadn't heard we went yet?

This is about as good as it gets for everyone looking at the camera these days.

This kid attacks the pool like a pro! It's hard to believe that a year ago he was scared of it!

Love these guys!!!

These two sure know how to make a mess!

Good times at the county fair!

What a little goofball!

We fear we may be entering the super picky toddler stage of eating with this one. For lunch this particular day, all he wanted was milk and french fries.

Hotels are mostly exciting for the elevator rides on the luggage cart, no?

Seriously delicious fajita lettuce wraps from Boulder TapHouse in Mankato. Fun fact: Mark was super embarrassed that I took this picture and told me to put away my camera.

From 36 to 2, we celebrated a couple of pretty special guys this month :)

Love this picture of our little family. We may not look the most stellar, but I love how happy the boys look :)

And just like that, it's September!!!

Kendrick's 2nd Birthday Weekend (August 28-30)

Our baby boy turned two years old this past weekend, and we had a whirlwind of a weekend celebrating with him.

Friday

The festivities began on Friday evening when Grandma Diane stopped over for supper (Kendrick's favorite: hot dogs and mac & cheese) with a little cake and ice cream. The boys were totally ecstatic about cake! (And Grandma, too)

Saturday

Saturday morning we slept in a bit, then got our things packed up and loaded into the car for our weekend in Minneapolis. We had booked a hotel in Minnetonka and planned to hit up the Como Zoo, but the rest of the weekend was pretty up in the air. We made a quick stop in Jordan for lunch, then made it to the zoo around 2pm. It was packed there, and it was within a few blocks of the Minnesota State Fair, which also was going on that weekend (total fail, Mama!) We still had a great time, though, and ended just as it was getting to be nap time.

The boys were a little enamored with the big polar bear :)

They also thought the Sparky the Seal show was pretty neat, although they were SOOOO ready for naps at this point that it was hard to tell they were excited :)

After the zoo, the boys conked out within seconds in the car, then we all managed to catch a bit of shut eye after getting checked in at our hotel (praise the Lord!) before supper.

We made fairly last-minute plans with Mark's cousin Mark and his family to meet at Super Moon buffet for supper (our first choice actually wasn't having the buffet that evening), then we all made our way back to the hotel for a little pool time.

These little guys sure are a lot of fun :) Their Mommies and Daddies sure are tired! lol :)

It had been a very big day for these little guys, but they were still pretty riled up from all the excitement, so we let them settle down watching some shows: A little Baby Einstein for Kendrick and some Dora for Cashel.

Before dozing off Saturday evening, Mark finally was able to get in touch with his Aunt and Uncle and we made tentative plans to meet the next morning for breakfast.

Sunday

We had a slightly earlier morning on Sunday, so we got our things packed up and ready to go and thought we'd make our way to Perkins for breakfast until Mark got a text from his Aunt saying they'd love to have us over for breakfast that day. So we loaded up the car, checked out and headed their way instead.

We had such a nice time visiting over breakfast, then they asked if we'd like to go on a pontoon ride, and we gladly accepted! It started out a tinge chilly, but turned into a beautiful morning for a ride!

We hit the road after we got back and Kendrick ended up napping until we reached Mankato, where we stopped for lunch and some light shopping. We had lunch at Boulder TapHouse, which was so yummy (I LOVE their fajita lettuce wraps!)

Kendrick got a free birthday milkshake (that Cashel promptly stole from him...big brothers...), but Kendrick totally was on board with a giant metal cup, and had no trouble diving right in.

After lunch, we let the kids roam around the play place at the mall for a bit while we finished up some shopping, then had to practically drag them to the car because they didn't want to leave :) We made it home around 4:30pm, and Mama quickly got to work finishing up the cake (which totally didn't turn out very good, honestly...but DID taste really yummy!) And just like anyone's wildest dreams, we had leftovers for supper ;) (But in fairness, it was leftover mashed taters and Swedish meatballs, so it was actually one of Kendrick's favorite meals)

After supper, Grandpa and Aunt Jessica came over to help celebrate with cake, ice cream and presents. (Grandma Pam had recently gotten sick, so she had to stay back home)

Cashel had skipped his nap and was as such beginning to show his rotten side. He "helped" Kendrick by opening probably over half of his gifts for him. Thankfully, Kendrick was so young that he didn't seem to mind too much.

The ones he DID get to open, though, he LOVED! He got some new fun bath toys, a really fun farm set and fun new puzzles, a ton of books, and a little toy bus.

I'd say the day was a smashing success, and the boys were so worn out from the big day that they were both sound asleep by 9pm (Cashel was out by 8:30!), which was a good thing, because Mommy and Daddy were dead tired and ready to call it a night as well.

So another day came and went and now our littlest little one is two years old. I have a feeling we've got some adventures ahead that we can't even dream of :) May we all survive and thrive in the year to come!