First Choco-tacos

Gee, i wonder why people think they're twins?

Mid-summer Picture Catch Up

Sand Castles

Shiny Jim

St Paul fountain

The family

St Paul Jazz festival

Adopted toad (this one is named "Frog)

Name: Toad

(Toad's not feeling so great right now, but we're nursing her along)

Its a rough summer

Puff came to visit for an afternoon

Good bunny - eat in the lawn all you like. 

They are crazy this year - eating my snapdragons, marigolds and jalapeños!

Brrrr....its cold after a bath

Ellie came for a few days

Ava put up with her fairly well

I used to think Ava looks like a Beagle, but then I met Ellie

Puppies get to sleep on my lap.

Come play, old lady!

Good times on the beach

Building a lagoon

When did my baby learn to carry a baby?

Karate trumpeter

A free week

What to do when the kids are at Grandma and Papa's for the week? Anything you want!!!

Tubing down the Cannon River

Go-cart driving at Pro-Karts and the drinks with friends Sam and Amanda

St. Paul Saints game and staying late enough to see the fireworks!

Raspberry Island in the Mississippi

Cooking together, whatever food sounds good, without worrying about what time it made it to the table (or if it made it to the table - a few times we ate over the sink), without worrying about covering all the food groups. Food like fish tacos, crab legs, jalapeno poppers, asparagus, carne asada tacos, cheesecake, sweet corn...

Cheesecake and beer in the driveway!

Scrubbing 10 years of mildew off the deck and painting a "rug"

Breakfast at Hovies

Coffee with a neighbor friend

Zumba class

Touring the sandstone caves in St Paul

It was so quiet and relaxed. 

Now the kids are back and the chaos and confusion has returned, but also the laughs and fun. Thanks Grandma and Papa!

Tourney memories

Another mom from karate sent me these great photos she took from Laura's tournament last spring. Thanks Heidi!

Exploring around Big Bay State Park, WI

On a hike in the park, we found some boulders. They are great for playing and picnicking on!

(This is my last post about this trip, for reals)

We like the peek of daylight under the rock.

Caves

Caves

Flora and Fauna of Big Bay State Park, WI

An iris, Mom?

A survivor

A zen garden on top of a boulder

Moss with Christmas lights

Blue, yellow and green are pretty

Silly little stalks look like worms to me.

A tree root in the shape of a frog.

Hi there! I hope our toads grow as big as you some day!

Another nice mixture of colors. Good job, God!

Also not pictured, the Squir-munks (we can't agree if they are squirrels and chipmunks, but they are LOUD in the morning!), a raccoon visitor to our campground early in the morning (who had no success except waking us up after knocking around some water bottles. I saw him, he was cute!), a doe and two fawns, a garter snake, 'Shelly' the crow who laughed at us a lot, a sign that said a momma bear and 2 cubs had been seen near our campground (but not by us), and mouse droppings we discovered every morning on our picnic table.