family

Who knew some people never change?

We had the opportunity to visit my sister a few weekends ago. My parents were also there and my Aunt and Uncle came for the visit as well. I hadn't seen my aunt since I was Taylor's age (which was quite a while ago). She hadn't changed a bit and neither had my uncle. It was great to see everyone and we had the chance to celebrate my niece's birthday as well. Always great to get a chance to see family.

Taylor and her cousin Christina

My Uncle Rudy, sister Cheri, me, and my Dad

Uncle Rudy and Aunt Barb

Pure excitement for the great ice cream cake we were about to eat!

corn maze

Who knew a corn maze could be so complicated?

So we went to a corn maze on Sunday with a few friends...I'm thinking, "Ok, a turn here and there, maybe a dead end or two - no big deal." Wow, I was not prepared for how complicated and amazing this corn maze turned out to be. It's a good thing we purchased the 'optional' map for $1. There were 3 adults and 5 kids and it took us at least an hour and a half to get from start to finish - and we cheated by using the map halfway through.

We started out by taking turns deciding which way to go at each crossroad. We let each person make a choice and did this for a while. When it started to get later and later, we decided to start using the map...and eventually at every crossroad one of the kids would say, "Which way now Kevin?"

We had a blast and really enjoyed ourselves. As you can see from the map of the maze below, the farmers that created it did an amazing job. We definitely had a great time and enjoyed working hard not to get lost in the field of corn. The kids loved it also - it was as if they had never seen corn before in their lives. They couldn't pass a cob on the ground without stopping, picking it up, and yelling "Corn!" Guess it's more fun when it doesn't come from Kroger...

The 'enter' and 'exit' are on the far right on the map...just imagine how small we would be standing at those points and you start to get an idea of how big this really was...

new template

Who knew my template could just disappear?

So, I'm not sure what happened to my template (background), but apparently it's been gone for over a week now. I dug and dug, but couldn't find my template again (I'm still investigating though). Since I couldn't find the one I already had, I spent way to much time getting this new template up and running...and it still needs to be tweaked...I'm not sure I love it, but I guess it's growing on me...

Guess the new template is better than the white background with no side bar I was running with...

binder zoo

Who knew one of the coolest zoos ever was only an hour and a half away??? We do now.


So yesterday, we went to the Binder Zoo with Ann, Adam, and Wroxy. What a great time that was! It was like being on a safari - all the animals were so close and they were all out in the open. It was the perfect zoo day because the weather was great, all the animals were cooperating, and it was an amazing place to visit.


There were so many great things there, but the highlight for me was feeding the giraffes.
Yes, we actually were able to pet, and feed multiple giraffes! That was pretty amazing.

sniff...

Who knew that once Michigan football started, it could actually hurt your insides? Sniff...

Was a tough game to listen to, read gamecast for, and get text messages about (since it wasn't televised - that's why I moved to Michigan, to be able to watch all the games on TV).

I haven't given up on the boys, and still expect great things...going to be a LONG season though...

michigan football

Who knew waiting for Michigan football to start could actually hurt your insides?

Just thought I'd mention the fact that I'm totally flipping out at the fact that Michigan football season is 3 days away. It's the one thing I rarely miss and park myself in front of a TV for on a regular basis. I have been waiting patiently for it to start up again, and am very excited to get it going...although I'm sure J hasn't missed it at all...

Nothing else, just thought I'd throw that out...

happy birthday taylor

Who knew kids keep growing up - even if you don't want them to at all because it makes you feel really old and then you start feeling like everything hurts and you just want to go back in time because being older isn't as fun as you thought it would be and then you realize you have a ton of responsibility and you wish you could just watch cartoons and eat cereal?

So I now have a 9 year old - yes, 353 days until she is in double digits. It seems like just a few weeks ago she was only 8...

Last weekend we had her Michigan birthday party at High Velocity Sports. We had 3 inflatables set up and then had the rest of the soccer field to run around. We had 7 kids and 5 adults (including all of us) so it was a lot of fun. I was clearly over the height and weight limit for the jumpy things, but it sure didn't stop me...what a fun time...and man, that took a lot of energy out of all of us. One of the kids came up to me after 20 minutes and said, "Man, we have to do this for a whole hour?" No worries, they figured out how to hold up.

It was a great place, they provided snacks (chips and pretzels), pizza, and drinks (lemonade, sprite, and water). It was a good time and I know Taylor had fun. It was good to see so many of her friends again.

The whole group.

The party room

Taylor and I at the top of the Titanic
Lake, Wroxy, and Taylor
Tate, Lake, Taylor, Wroxy (front) - Owen, Daniel, and Meagan (back)
Taylor eating the green chip they found...

Titanic inflatable slide
Castle inflatable jumper
Castle inflatable maze and slide

Party room before the chaos began

round 2

Who knew we would have so much fun in Minnesota that it would take 2 posts to contain the pictures?

Dakota (Jeff and Jodi's Dog)

Jeff showing the stops on the train from where we were to downtown.

My once in a lifetime bowling claim to fame...2 strikes in a row...
Jeff and Taylor schooling me at basketball - this was at Gameworks downtown.
Jeff and I putting out fires...we saved many lives that day.

home sweet home

Who knew I'd still feel like Minnesota was home after all these years?

We just returned from a visit to Minnesota for a wedding and had a blast. J and Tay drove out on Tuesday (8/14) and I flew out to join them on Thursday. We all drove back together on Monday - including Nadia who wound up in Rochester, MN - but that's another story...

We were EXTREMELY spoiled by our friends while there and had stuff going on constantly. They always make us feel like celebrities when we are there and go out of their way to make it feel like home. We stayed with Jeff, Jodi and Dakota again which was great. We were also able to hang with basically everyone I know and love in Minnesota.

Thursday was Taylor's birthday and we were running as soon as I landed. We went straight to the Mall of America for lunch and then played miniature golf (Jeff, Jodi, J, Tay, and I). We had a good time and really enjoyed 'ooohhing' at the great shots (mostly by Jeff) and laughing at the terrible ones (mostly by me). For dinner, Jeff and Jodi had an amazing surprise for Tay - they had set up a party at Chuck E Cheese for her - and everyone showed up! Bryan, Pete, Stephanie, Mason, Mason's girlfriend, Joe, Chris, Jeff, Jodi, Kevin Hoffman and Payton joined us for the event. They even had balloons and a Kim Possible birthday cake to go with the pizza and soda. We played TONS of games and the whole group worked to get as many tickets as possible. By the end of the night, we had close to 1200 tickets for Taylor to redeem - most I've ever seen - and we had a blast in the process.

On Friday, we had lunch downtown (on a side note, I miss downtown Minneapolis SOOOOO much - it was great to get down there even for a little while) and rode the light rail from Bloomington to get there. We met Bryan, Pete and Stephanie at Gameworks for lunch and bowling. Jeff, Jodi, J, Tay and I stayed after lunch (the rest had to go back to work - ha!) and played a bunch of video games together - once again having the time of our lives. We had the rehearsal for the wedding Friday night as well as dinner together with the families and wedding party.

Saturday was the wedding - raining all day, but didn't matter, it was great anyway. It was good to see so many people we hadn't seen in a while and we are so happy for Kev and Nikki.

Sunday we had lunch at Cheescake factory (I know, so many amazing events crammed into so little time) with Jeff, Jodi and Bryan. Man, talk about a TON of food. We then drove down to Rochester to visit with Ben, Becky, Bailey, Phoebe, Abbey Mae, and Micah. It was so great to see them, and also to get a tour of the house they are almost finished building. We also met up with Nadia while there.

Monday it rained the entire trip home - but the trip was uneventful - other than missing a few tolls with our new i-pass...I'm sure they will catch up and charge us even if it wasn't totally working yet.

Anyway, trip pictures below - thanks to all in MN that once again reminded us how much we miss our friends, and the place I grew up.

Taylor and Becka

Jeff and Jodi

Bryan wearing Pete's coat

Jeff wearing Payton's Power Ranger helmet
Jeff doing his runway walk

Bride and Father

Taylor and one of her bestest friends

Us and them

Pete, Stephanie, Joe and Bryan

The Groom...