Grandparent's visit

Bryan's parents drove in (from Rochester, NY) for a short visit. They brought our nephew Gregory with them which made our kids completely happy! We so enjoyed having them stay at our house for a few days and then they moved over to David and Trisha's for a couple of nights before making the long drive home.

That's a rhubarb crumb cake from Bread for Breakfast on the table. We are still eating rhubarb from our "garden" - we only have rhubarb and mint really. I cannot get rid of the mint - it spreads like crazy and how much mint can one family use?!

Gregory wanted to see the zoo and the Mall of America so despite the July heat, we walked the 2-mile loop at the zoo and saw the new Russian grizzly coast exhibit as well as my favorite, the bird show. Because of the hot weather, all of the outside misters are on which was the kids favorite thing too see at the zoo! They were all completely soaked by the time we left.

At the MAll of America, all of the kids went on some of the rides in the 7 acre amusement park in the center of the mall. The three oldest braved the swing and the ferris wheel while the little ones rode the train. Max used to be completely afraid of rides, so I was glad to see him brave them with Gregory!


One of the nights they were in town, we have David and Trisha and the boys over for a BBQ. The kids ate outside on the deck together and generally made a mess and had a great time! They were particularly fond of the fudge bars - I love these photos of them!

Another night, we drove over to David and Trisha's house for dinner. It dawned on me as all of the cousins were playing, that Sophie was the only girl in the bunch. She brought some books and spent most of the time reading outside on the play yard!

I preferred to hold sweet little baby Matthew and watch So You Think You Can Dance on their clever TiVo. I want one, even though we do not have cable. I guess I'll stick to watching the You Tube clips!

Here is my attempt at getting a photo of all of the cousins in one spot. Guess who's kid was being the biggest twerp? This is seriously the best shot!

What a strange way to get into the newspaper!

The article about Twilight came out today in the Star Tribune - you can read it here. Don't you wish when you gave an interview, you could write it all down and proofread it before letting anyone publish it? Oh well, I am very excited about our evening out tonight and anticipate a long night of reading!

Happy Birthday!

I am the queen of missing birthdays, but here is one I remembered - sort of. I did not manage to get a card to her, but Ebeadean was over for card class the week of her birthday so I made her a birthday cake to celebrate. Hey, a cake is better than a card any day!

Twilight Catch-Up

As the fourth and final book in the Twilight series is coming out on Saturday, I am going to do some Twilight catch-up. I love these books and starting tomorrow (or maybe Wednesday), I am reading all three books again before book four is released. I got a call today from a reporter from The Star Tribune today asking to interview me about the "Twilight Phenomenon" (thank you Kristen). I spent about a half hour at least on the phone with her trying to explain why as a 35 year old mother of three, I devoured this young adult vampire fiction and yes, became a bit obsessed with all things Twilight. I just think it is a wonderful story that just completely captures that magic and tension of first love - ok, that and the fact that Edward is seriously drool worthy.

So, did everyone see the ET weekly cover?! Let's all say it together - ewwwww and bleck! I don't think I have ever seen a worse cover! They made beautiful Edward look like an ugly, creepy, dead vampire that just crawled out of his grave (note the dirt under his nails) with a strangely out of place belt buckle, and plain Bella looks nothing like the Bella in the books. Shame on you Entertainment Weekly!

This shot inside the magazine is much better.

There is also another photo inside of the Host Tour at the MOA in which you can see my friends Kelly and Julie and NOT me. I was standing right next to the two of them and yet I missed my shot at fame. Oh well, I'm truly not bitter.

This is the Edward we want to see Entertainment Weekly. I had my doubts when Robert Pattinson was cast because he truly has some geeky looking photos on-line, but I am a believer now. Don't get me started on the casting of Rosalie.

On Friday night, we are having a Breaking Dawn release party and are headed to the movies, dinner and then Barnes and Noble at midnight! Here are the invites - hope to see you there!

My last post about the 4th, really.

The wrap up our 4th of July celebrations, we had Susan and Kelly's families over for a big BBQ! Susan brought over their super-cool water slide thing and I set up our not so super-cool inflatable pool that has a slow leak, and the kids had a great time running between the two of them. We were so exhausted by the time we had eaten dinner and talked for several hours, that we decided to skip the town fireworks and watched those we could see out of Max's upstairs window. We had a great time and it's always so nice to have friends over to celebrate together!

4th of July - Watch out! More Day-Glo!

We spent the afternoon of the 4th at the Eagan Band shell where Sophie's dance company performed. Sophie was able to do both her tap and ballet routines again while Bryan and I and the boys watched from the lawn. I am glad she was able to perform again and frankly, I was glad to see her use those costumes more than once!! The boys really enjoyed the show as we did not take them to her original performance because the tickets were so expensive!

The 4th of July - that just happened - right?

We had a busy day on the 4th. We started the day at the Eagan parade. The kids sat down on the curb to watch the show and to be closer to the people throwing candy and handing out stickers. Bryan and I were content to hang out in our chairs reading books in the shade (we have learned that that the parade can be a bit slow at times!).

After the parade, we ate our picnic lunch and then made our way over to the carnival. They had some rides and food vendors and we shared some ice cream while we walked around. We let the kids each go on two rides. Sophie and Calvin chose this roller coaster. Calvin was really excited when he got in his seat and then as soon as the ride started he was TERRIFIED! Do you see him hiding in the seat next to Sophie?

I guess he looked frightened enough - there was a lot of screaming - that the attendant stopped the ride to get him off and then started it again! Sophie loved it!

Calvin seemed to like the fun house better though he had to be convinced to come down the slide at the end.

Sophie's done with soccer too!

Sophie's season has wrapped as well and she is also signed up for fall soccer with starts in August. Sophie had a great year and loved being on her team. She pays attention most of the time - when she isn't turning her shirt around and laughing with her best friend Jillian! Yes, I am aware that her hair looks ridiculous in these photos. I was having a bad mommy day and only had a huge rubber band in the car to pull her hair out of her eyes!

Here is her team.
Sophie is extremely proud of her soccer trophy and keeps it on the table near her bed!

We are done with soccer . . . until August

Spring/Summer soccer has finally some to and end - it's a good thing too as the mosquitoes are a bit fierce this summer and those 7:30 games were turning into torture sessions!

Here is Max with his team at the last game. So serious.

This is Max's friend Matt who was on his team. It was nice to have his parents at the games to talk to while the boys played soccer - or fooled around in the goal - whatever the case may be. Max is still passionate about defense and has yet to really expand his skills into offensive playing. He is very serious about soccer though and seems to enjoy playing so he is signed up for the fall season. He had the same great coach he has had for several seasons and he won an award for his "powerful kicks" - a soccer ball emblem with a band aid on it.

This is Matt's brother Sam. He and Calvin bonded over thier love of Calvin and Hobbes and spent several games laughing over the comics together. Sam is really good with kids.