This and That of Summer

This summer has been so mild but you still have to have a water fight every now and then.


The super moon of July. I have never heard so much hype over the perigee of the moon as I have this summer- but astronomy is awesome so I'm cool with it.


When one lays down on the ground, it is a blatant invitation for Grey to lay on top of you.


When your dad's a prestidigitator, sometimes you get cards shot at you.


And you like it!


Fun for everybody!


And just so you know, you don't have to wait until October to have a little ghost fun.

Sean's 29th

On Sean's birthday, he mystically and magically and miraculously had the day off. So we had to pack in a lot of fun. He started out opening presents and set up his very own hammock. It's family sized and awesomely comfortable (when not being mauled with six elbows). A few days later, he told me, "I'm trying to decide the best present you've ever given me. It's either flying an airplane or the hammock." Seriously? This is pilot comparable? Whatever you say, Mr. Relaxation.


Then we visited the Como Zoo


It must be nice to have a built-in beak blanket.


Monkey.


Monkey hangs.


Caged monkey.


Lemur (a nickname for our Liam)


mus-DASH


That's one slick seal.


Can you see all three?


You'd almost want to cuddle with it if you didn't know better.


The giraffe is leeeaning just over that electrified fence to get that fresh grass.


I caught this one at a bad moment.


So I got him at a better moment.


I saw the sign saying "please do not climb" as they were halfway up. Still took the picture. (are these really not here for climbing?)


Back home, a little hammock snuggle again.


Followed quickly by a hammock nap.


For dinner, we tried the Sea Salt Eatery- delicious! There was a folksy band who invited the the kids up to play along.


Grey making sure he's doing it all right.


In action!


The Sea Salt Eatery is right next to something fun. What might it be?


Minnehaha Falls!


"I just want to see!"


We took an amble around.


This is the same fall we saw frozen in the winter. Much narrower when thawed.


We finished out the night with a game of Pandemic. That's one good start to a new year! Happy birthday, honey!

Straw Berries

We picked strawberries! It wasn't even on my radar until a friend (usually when I say "a friend," it's Shara. Though not always) posted a photo of her family's adventure. And she told me the season was closing the next day! So next morning, we went!


The tractor ride was probably the kids' favorite part of the whole experience.


We were shown our row of plants and got to picking.


Or in Grey's case, eating.


Honestly, they were all kind of helpless when it came to finding strawberries, no matter how many ways I showed them to move the leaves aside. So they mostly waited for other people to fill their basket.


And magically, a basket load of berries!


Then I used our overabundance of strawberries as an excuse to make cheesecake. I'd call that a success!

The Park, Revamped

You know how I've praised Minnesota for having parks everywhere? And how we have a four playgrounds within walking distance. Well, I was being a bit rose-colored in my description. Really, one's a school park that we have to avoid during school hours, another belongs to a church that I feel kinda weird using (and it's kinda just like a multilevel deck, anyway), and another is a rather ghetto playground by a water tower where half the equipment is unusable.


The last one was just a bit old. The playground wasn't bad, there were just more "dangers" for little kids. But we'd still play there.


But a family raised funds to redo this park in memory of their daughter who passed away. The park was redone while we were in Florida and we were anxious to see what it was like.


Guys, it's awesome. Everything about it is great for little kids.


Okay, not everything is for little kids. Oh how Grey wishes he could climb like his brothers.


I think we've been there more in the last month than all of last summer.


Doesn't that just look like fun?


Hey, everyone can swing together!


Or a relaxing swing alone. Three cheers for the new park!