Minnesota State Fair

So we made our annual trip to the fair with our friends Josh and Becky and their son Charlie. We ate the usual...cheese curds, corn dogs, cookies and milk, etc. Josh ate more than the rest of us combined, but that's not unusual either. Maggie went on a couple of rides, the bumper boats and on the hot air balloons with Maya and Daddy. Mommy was spared this year. We saw some animals, cows, bunnies, chickens, horses, etc. too. We had a fun time, but were tired and ready to come home at the end.
Maggie rode in the bumper boats!
Maya REALLY wanted to ride in the bumper boats, but had to settle for trying to climb into the big pool on the outside. Maybe next year!
Maya and Charlie chowin' on a giant ear of corn!
Mommy and Mags on the giant slide!!! There we are on the green part in the middle.

After going down the giant slide!!! Weeeeeeee!

All you can drink milk...in honor of Poppy. Mmmmm...Sweet Martha's cookies. It doesn't get any better than that!
Checking out a day old baby cow in the Miracle of Birth barn. We just missed a live cow birth too. But we saw baby pigs, chickens and ducks!
Maya got to sit in the driver's seat of the bus...she thought she was hot stuff on the way home - scared to death on the way over!!!

Then on Sunday, we hit Woodbury Days. Basically it's a bunch of tents with any and all Woodbury and surrounding area businesses. The give away tons of free stuff like balloons, stickers, and we got a carry-along dog dish for Bella. We got ice cream in the food tent and then found a spot to watch the parade. It really was a great parade. There were lots of kids involved with all the gyms, Karate places, dance troops, marching bands, city and county princesses, etc. The all handed out candy and beads and other equally cheap stuff, but the kids loved it. Maya of course like the "bouncy" girls the best, but I think Maggie just liked all the Tootsie Rolls she collected. It was quite hot and we sat in the sun for a good couple hours and were all fried and tired by the time we left. A very fun weekend though!

Olympics and more

Sorry, its been a while since the last update. The Olympics have been on and that has taken up a significant amount of time. Maya is officially obsessed with gymnastics. She calls it "bouncy", but goes to bed asking to watch "bouncy" and wakes up in the morning asking to watch "bouncy". I even had to tape a portion of the gymnastics, just so that we have something in reserves for her. She'll catch a 1/2 second clip flash by on the TV and start yelling BOUNCY, BOUNCY!!!!! It's crazy! Then, she starts bouncing around the living room, dancing, putting her hands in the air and doing her attempt at forward rolls and handstands. It's pretty cute. I think we'll have to sign her up for Mommy and Me! Mags starts her gymnastics class next week. Grandma will be able to see the first one! Yeah!
Ok, here's just a bunch of random pictures taken over the last couple weeks. Enjoy.


This was our Olympic set up. You can see the TV pointing out of the window, and of course, stadium seating!
Maya LOVED Abhi's Elmo suit. I think we've found our Halloween costume!!!
Ok, this is for real! She actually pee-peed on the potty! Then, as Mags and I were dancing around the bathroom doing the potty dance, she fell in. Oops! : )
Mommy finally gave in and let her finger paint. It was not as messy as I had anticipated and she, and Mags, had a good time. Auntie Sidney...this one's for you!!!!!

FANDANGO!!!

Well, Fandango was once again a HUGE success! And I, being the unnofficial chairman and organizer and treasurer, take most of the credit!!! Just kidding. We had a super great time, and we came in $8 under budget!

So lets see...the bouncy arrived on Friday night, rather than Saturday morning, which was a bonus for us. The kids got some extra bouncing in before Fandango even started! Now that's some bang for your buck! Saturday morning started with breakfast at Brian and Becky's. This is the second year of this unofficial Fandango event. We had pancakes, quiche and I made a marvelous French Chocolate Coffee Cake (yes, from scratch) that was a hit! From breakfast the kids went out to bounce, and the adults started to set up coolers, tabels, games and toys. About 2:30, everyone started to assemble in the O'Loughlins garage and the snacking began. At 3:30 Aaron and I zipped off to Famous Daves to pick up the shredded pork which was to be our main course (we were all sick of burgers and dogs). While we were gone, the face painter arrived and started painting faces. She is so quick and does a super job. The kids absolutely loved it. Mags and most of the girls were princesses, and Maya waited patiently for her turn and had flowers on her face. They were so cute! Then they all got a balloon animal, and she did a few magic tricks for them. Cheesy, but the kids loved it. We all ate some dinner and played lawn games while the kids bounced and played in the pools. Around 5:00 the Woodbury Fire Department arrived and let the kids check out the fire truck. They got out all the gear to look at and even let all the kids hold the fire hose and shoot out water. This was definitely the hit of the party! At dusk, we broke out the fireworks...the smoke balls and snakes were the biggest hits, and then the kids were off to bed. We re-assembled after bedtime for a fire in the cul de sac. I think there were 18 people around the fire! There we chatted and finished off the desserts. We are all still recovering from the weekend. Both the girls slept in until after 9:00 this morning and are cranky as all get out! I guess that's what you get after a weekend of non-stop excitement.

The Treehouse bouncy...Kids Only!
Aaron and Sean...let's get this party started!
Everyone on the 'Cove! Kids section of the garage, lots of running around, not a lot of eating!
Maggie with her princess face paint and pink dog balloon animal.
Maya and her flower face and Fandango shirt!
Meghan, Lily and Maya bouncin'.

Somehow this picture got on here twice and i can't figure out how to get it off!!!

Mommy and Maya with the fire truck
Checking out the inside of the fire truck. Brian Z. got on all the gear and the fire fighters let him us the the Jaws of Life and another similar tool on a worn out tricyle. That thing is a gonner!!! Maggie spraying the fire hose.
Fire fighters Maggie and Maya. Maya hated the hat..it was so heavy!

Grammy & Poppy come to visit

Grammy and Poppy came to visit a couple of weeks ago now, but they just sent me these pictures from their trip. We had a great time!

This picture is of course from Teddy Bear park. Poor Teddy got his head cut off! Mags had a tough time here. She slipped a couple of times and skinned her knees. Good thing Poppy was prepared with band-aids!

Two different days we spent several hours at Lake Elmo Park - at the man made lake. There is a zero depth area (not zero depth really, but it only gets about 3 feet deep, max), so the girls can wade and play in the sand. It was very relaxing as Poppy and Daddy kept an eye on the girls and Grammy and I relaxed in our chairs on the beach. Poppy and Maggie made the MagPop river that they are sitting in in the picture.
After a few days at the ranch, we loaded up the car and headed north. We stopped in Duluth to visit the Duluth Aquarium. It was quite expensive for very little aquarium. It 's very small and I have to say, had only a few fish. Moral of the story...keep driving through Duluth. So we headed north again and took the scenic route up to Two Harbors, where we stayed at the AmericInn. Nothing fancy, but it did have a continental breakfast and a pool. We did a hike at Tettagouche State Park (our favorite) to a place called Shovel Pointe. This was some point along the way. It was really beautiful. This picture was taken at Gooseberry Falls State Park. There are several falls you can hike to. Of course, the girls just wanted to throw rocks in them. : )
After we got back we went to the zoo and saw the new Grizzly Bear exhibit which is really nicely done. We were sad to see them go. But Maggie came away with an early birthday present - - a new big girl bike! This one fits her much better, but she can't start by herself and has suddenly forgotten how to use the brakes, even though they are the same as her old bike that she's been riding for 2 years now! Yikes!