Wayzata Parade and Minnehaha 9-11-11

Today the Minnehaha was offering $5.00 rides, so we finally got the kids out on the steamboat they so often see from a distance across the lake. 

The boys watch as the Minnehaha approaches and they get excited to board! 

Then we headed down to the parade a few blocks.

Alex sat in the wagon during the whole parade and people would just drop candy in the wagon for him!

The large group of westie's were dressed like Kings and Queens!

These horses turned toward us and got a little close for me!

Evan stood next to the wagon during most of the the parade

The parade was over:-(  Time to head back to the car. 

New Playground!

 For the past month we have been watching them construct a new playground at the elementary school close to our house.  Friday they finally took down the fence.  Monday we went to check it out.  A sign posted at the playground reminds parents that this playground is for 5-12 year olds so we should use caution with our children.  Alex could do most everything.  A little baby showed up that was about 18 months old and this is definitely not for her.  The slides are really high and as you can see Evan scaling this climbing wall..and that was the first thing he did.  He will go to Kindergarten in 2 years and he'll master this playground by then!

 Alex walks through the tunnel!

 Evan balances on the wobbly balance beam.  Alex wasn't able to do that one!

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 It is a Little Tykes brand play system and I was pretty impressed.  It kept them busy for over an hour before they were ready to go.

 They have these odd ball things with holes in them that you can sit in.  I wonder how many kids pile in during recess!?

 We stopped at the old park by our old house on the way home and the boys played for a few minutes.  Eric managed to get this picture of them together in the car. 

Labor Day Weekend!

Monday Evan was helping Eric whip some weeds(notice the eye protection) and he had to come in to use the bathroom!

Alex was playing with his trucks inside!

Sunday Night The Lafayette club had fireworks at dusk.  We took the boat out so we could watch them.  We tied up with Evan's friend Andrew and his family.

The boys were eating pizza on our way to watch the fireworks!  Evan ended up watching them on my lap and Alex hung out in the cabin watching Toy Story 2 on the iPad.  Not sure why he didn't want to watch them, but at least he kept himself busy!

Monday was my Birthday!  After nap time we took the boat to Maynard's for dinner.

Leaving Maynard's Evan got out the bubble machine! 

A Trip to the Minnesota Zoo

Friday Evan's daycare was closed, so we ran some errands and then went to the zoo. We had to check out the dolphins of course and see the show! Semo says HELLO! Did you know Semo is the oldest living male in captivity? He is 47 years old! You wouldn't know it watching him zip around the pool showing off for the crowd and playing games.

Dolphins where are you?

Allie and Taijah often swim together in the pool. Taijah is just over a year old and is still quite a big smaller than her Mom and Dad.

Lazy bears chilling out in the sand!

This bear was pretty active. We were hoping she would go in the pond and go for a swim but she didn't.

These camels had the right idea. Evan wanted to come back to see the camels hoping they had moved, but they were still sitting in the sludgy pond. I wonder what would happen if they put a pond like this in the desert? It looks funny to see desert animals in the water.

They recently opened a penguin exhibit at the zoo, so Evan and I really wanted to see it. I was a little disappointed, because it was smaller than I thought it would be. They moved the entrance to the zoo and put the penguin exhibit where the old entrance was. Some of them were pretty active following kids in front of the glass. Most of my pictures turned out blurry.

The Great Minnesota Get Together!

Today we took the day off and went to the Minnesota State Fair! It was Senior Citizen day and I was a little worried it would be very crowded and there would be not a park bench to be found, but the 90 degree temps kept some of them at home! We were there just over 6 hours which is double the amount of time the boys lasted last year. Alex managed to take an hour nap in the stroller. Evan didn't nap and by 4:10 he was showing signs he really needed to head home! We got him some milk and some Sweet Martha's cookies and we were good to go.

I took him on the skyride!
We got some midway tickets and the boys had a blast going on a few rides! We rode most rides before 1:00 pm and they were discounted one ticket.
Alex passed out about 1:30 right on schedule! Several people noticed how sweet he was while he was sleeping! Probably wishing their own kids could nap like Alex and extend their trip to the fair!


A big Motorcycle!

I took them on the big Ferris wheel! Eric tried to get a picture, but the sides were so high you could barely see the boys. They wouldn't allow them to sit on my lap, so they just sat on either side of me and held my hand.
Alex after a little shut eye!


We watched some horses lining up outside the coliseum. They were going to have a rodeo for high school aged kids. Evan wanted to go watch, so we parked the stroller and took a seat for awhile. It was out of the sun, but it was sure hot in there!
I think Alex liked the tractor grating the dirt prior to the rodeo the best!
You can see how fast they were going as they try to lasso the calf!
This was the first car they went on. I think Evan went on this one 3 times!
Alex wearing my sunglasses on the way home as we stopped at Costco. He didn't want to give them back to me. I think they are a little big:-)

Evan passed out in the stroller on the way to the car. He had a Great time at the fair!
Evan has started taking pictures with our camera. This one of Alex in Evan's room is not too bad!

Misc Stuff

Apparently I haven't downloaded pictures from the camera for awhile. I downloaded them tonight and there are pictures of empty rooms from our old house and a few pictures from right when we moved into our new house.

The second night we were in our house Eric and I made dinner together in the kitchen. We toasted with some Champagne.

Made some cashew chicken for dinner! Delicious!

Ate on the deck.

While we were making dinner one night the boys pulled the cushions off the couch and watched some TV on them.

Mindy came over for dinner a couple weeks ago and she is a kid magnet! They absolutely LOVE her:-)