A Date with My Husband

With Perry on the overnight shift and myself working on his days off, it seems like we hardly ever get to see each other anymore. [Luckily not for much longer! I'm counting the days! 65 left!] Perry's mom graciously volunteered to watch the boys Wednesday night so we could have some much needed time together. 

We didn't figure out a tentative plan until just before we left. All I knew was that I didn't want to do dinner and a movie, like we always seem to do. For one, there was no movie that I was really wanting to see. And for two, I would probably fall asleep during it, like I normally do. So that was out of the question! 

As we left the driveway, we were planning on going to our usual place, Bamboo Chopstix, but halfway there, we changed our minds and settled on the Staggering Ox. Neither of us had been there in a long time. We were well overdue!

The Staggering Ox, for those who haven't been there, let alone heard of it, has these unique sandwiches. I'm not quite sure how they make them, but they are hollow and super yummy! My favorite bread is their dill bread, and my favorite sauce is the Camel Spit. Yum yum yum!

After our low-key dinner, we headed downtown to walk the trail system. When parking our car, we stumbled upon some intramural baseball games going on, so we sat on the hill and watched for a while before our starting our walk around town

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We ended up at the Big Dipper for ice cream. I'm a big fan of their bubblegum ice cream while Perry gets *boring* vanilla bean. I'm pretty sure that's the only kind he will ever eat!

On the way back to the car, we walked along the trail system. It is so secluded from the rest of the city, but yet is right in the middle of it. A very peaceful walk for sure! We stopped at the old train station to check it out. Neither Perry nor I realized it was where the Boone and Crockett Club was located. We peeked our heads in the window and saw lots of, what do you call them? Animal mounts? Bison and geese and bears and such. We're thinking about taking the boys to check it out during operating hours.

Perry wanted a picture *really bad* with his ice cream. I finally gave in. What a goof! It took us nearly the entire walk back to the car to finish our cones. We ended the evening by watching baseball for a bit longer before heading home. 

When we arrived home, Grandma and the boys were across the street with Darryl picking and eating raspberries. They apparently ate *a ton*, I discovered, as they spent a good portion of the night on the toilet. I woke JP up in the morning to get ready to go to daycare. After hearing him toot a few times, I heard a loud rumble which prompted me to ask him, "Was that your tummy bud?" He immediately broke down into tears and said, "No, that was my butt!" Poor little guy! Oh the consequences of having a night off of being mom! :) At least we enjoyed it while we could!

Hunter's New Bike

Ask Hunter why he got a new bike and he'll give you a different answer every time. My favorite was "Because I'm awesome!" However, despite what he says, the real reason being I feel like I can confidently say "HE IS POTTY TRAINED!" Okay, he still has an accident here and there, and we clearly need to work on not dropping his pants in public, but at least he pulls them down!? He's not perfect, but we told him if he could go two weeks without an accident, we'd get him a new bike. It took him 3 weeks. 

Obviously, I am a very proud momma! And he is a very excited little boy! We struggled a little picking out the right bike for him because he's kind of between sizes. He's about 37'' tall which is the cut off between the 12'' bike and the beginning of the 16'' bike. He struggled to get on the bigger one, so we opted to get the smaller one, knowing it'll be out grown by next summer, but *should* be fine for JP...if he can get pull himself together.

 I bought the boys knee and elbow pads simply because I thought they would look so stinking cute in them. And they do. Hunter did great riding his bike! JP...uhh, needs some more practice. He receive his tricycle for his 2nd birthday in February but Hunter claimed it as his own. Now with Hunter having his own bike, JP doesn't have a need to fight him for his own bike now. 

So without further adieu, I show you a video of JP on his trike. This is only one of the many I took that night. 

With all the tipping over that was happening, I finally insisted he put his gloves on so he wouldn't hurt his palms. It lasted for 3 minutes. It took about 5 minutes to get them on... worthless...

Feeding the Ducks at Gibson Park

Hunter and JP have been wanting to go feed the ducks for what feels like forever. And since we don't *technically* have a duck pond here, its kind of out of the question, unless we go to visit Nanny and Papa because there is one half way between here and there. Thank goodness. Gibson Park is almost a "have to stop at place" when we're coming or going!

 So of course we HAD to stop. I met up with an old friend, who has two girls, just about the same ages as my boys. She brought the bread and JP had lots of fun throwing it!

 He made me a little nervous at times though!

 Hunter on the other hand, surprisingly wanted nothing to do with it. He was the one that had been insisting for months that we go feed the ducks. Of course when we get there he doesn't want to. It figures. 

 Little Rylee is so cute! She looks like her mom!

 For the most part, JP was pretty good about tearing the bread apart before he threw it, but I'm pretty sure he just threw these two slices right in. I think he liked to watch the geese fight over it!

 My guess is that Hunter was more interested in the play park than anything. He kept to himself for most of the time though. Before we started playing, I asked him if he needed to go to the bathroom. Of course he said no, he want to go play. Clearly mommy wasn't thinking. So as I'm pushing JP in the swing, I've got my eye on Hunter. But before I knew it, I look over and see him with his short at his thighs, whizzing away on the playground with a few kids going "EWWW!!" And all I could think was "Oh my gosh, that's MY kid!" I think I was more embarrassed than he was...clearly a mommy error. 

 But like I said, he kept to himself. He ran off later to the stage area.

 Eventually JP followed. 

And then followed by the girls. Do you know how to get 4 toddlers/pre-schoolers to  look at the camera at the same time? Say "look at mommy!" Worked like a charm!

There's Nothing Like a Campfire!

There's nothing like a nice campfire to end the day! I haven't sat around a campfire since...maybe last summer, so I was well over due!

 This was the boys' first fire with Nanny and Papa. I think they used to do fires with Grandma and Grandpa but I don't recall being with them for one. 

 Of course, you can't have a campfire with out marshmallows, but we had the works! Smores please! My mom was on Smores duty for most of night.

 Look at these love birds....they must be twitterpated!

 JP made us so nervous around the fire. He's naturally just a clumsy kid so that didn't help me at all. He wasn't too keen on the idea of going out to the fire in the first place, so it took a while to get used to it.  

 Here's the gang! From left to right we have Robin, Matt, Hunter, Nanny Linda, [my dad's cousin's son] Michael, Papa Craig, JP and me on the camera. 

 This may or may not have been his first Smore. It took him *forever* to eat it.

 This makes me laugh. The whole weekend, JP was anti-Michael for some reason. As soon as Michael would come around, JP would cover his eyes and just stand there. It was funny to see. Normally he's just shy around new people, but he's never pretended to be invisible before! Luckily for the both of them, JP warmed up to him by the end of the weekend!

 We all enjoyed watching Hunter blow out his marshmallows. He nearly caught his hair on fire with one of them!

 This is what happens when JP eats Smores! Yummy! I love his tummy hanging out!

 JP and I did a little, or yiddle in JP's words, bit of star gazing while we were outside. We can see some stars from our house, but normally we're in bed by then!

Hunter tried out the star gazing too while chowing down his Smore. JP eventually fell asleep in Nanny's arms.  They had such a long day. They're were rockstars, especially considering there was no naps all day!

Harvest Time!

As soon as we got home from the fair, the boys were off again to ride on the combine. My dad starting cutting [wheat] on Saturday, so we really lucked out! I managed to capture quite a few photos while waiting for the boys to come back. 

 Aunt Bobby took Uncle Matt, Hunter, and JP for a spin in the combine.

 In the meantime, I snapped a few shots of the farm...

 ...and the wheat. 

 I just love this one of my parents!

 Harvest at sundown is one of the prettiest things!

 Robin and Matt goofing around....

One of my favorites! Hunter is taking a final spin with Papa Craig. The combine was apparently his favorite ride at the fair! Hahaha

 Another photo of the farm : )

 Tractor tires and combine tires seem to be a great time ruler for the boys. Hunter used to be able to stand in the tire....not so much any more!

After we all came back in [and were looking at pictures on the computer], the boys decided to attempt to get in the dryer...they stood in the corner for quite some time! Hunter got the corner I used to have to stand in.

Great Northern Fair 2012

We lucked out on the timing of our trip to visit the grandparents. It happened to be fair week! And since we are going to miss the one at home, we had to swing in for a visit at this one! This is their first time going to the fair....and boy did they have fun!

 We began by checking out all the animals. I figured if we didn't do it right away, it probably wasn't going to happen at all. It took them a while to warm up. We saw the chickens and rabbits first but they didn't seem too interested. They were semi-interested in the pigs. Hunter was even brave enough to touch one!

 The steers were semi-cool. I think Hunter enjoys seeing them more when we are at the ranch. 

 Here's Nanny showing JP the lambs. 

By this point Aunt +Robin Patrick  and Uncle Matt joined up with us, so JP became a little bit more relaxed. Both Hunter and JP really enjoyed the lambs!

 Hunter wandered around and patted them every so often.

 But I'm pretty sure JP made a point to pet all of them. 

 By the end of the "animal viewing", the boys were SO anxious to ride on all the rides. This one was JP's favorite. The bus. Every time he got on this ride, he headed straight to the bus. I think he might have only tried one other one out. There was a few times where the bus was full too!  

 It amazes me how going around in a car can be so much fun to little kids!

 Hunter on the other hand, LOVED the firetruck. The little girl is ringing the bell in this picture, but I'm pretty sure Hunter rang it every other time. 

This picture makes me laugh for a couple reasons. 1. JP always insisted on riding in the pick car. 2. When he got in this car, he found a flag on the floor board, which is on the back of that sign he is holding. During the entire ride, he waved his flag, but to us, it looked like someone might have paid him to campaign for her. It was too cute! 

I am a little bummed that I missed out on having a scone this year! Hunter however made it a point to have "a hotdog on a stick" for dinner, also known as a corndog, or ProntoPup to the area residents. The irony? All he ate was the breading... We finished up the rides at about 6:30p and headed home. I could tell these boys were exhausted, and frankly so was I!

Monster High Cake

I had to take a "leave of absence" after the last cake I did....the grooms' cake for Kile and Chris' wedding. That took it out of me for a while! But I'm happy to say I'm back to my cakes!

A few weeks back my assistant [we'll chat about my new job later!] asked if I would make a cake for her daughter's 11th birthday. I was a little hesitant at first because she wanted it to be Monster High themed, and I had never heard of it before. I accepted the challenge regardless! Here's the picture I had to go by.|

Here's what I came up with. I did my best to incorporate everything in the logo.

 I am happy to report there was no mishaps by my boys either on this cake! That might be a first!

You can check out other cakes I've done here, at my cake blog, Simply Delightful Cakes.