Little Oinkers

Between the two boys today, they ate an entire box of mac and cheese at lunch.  It's always a hit, but apparently today it really hit the spot.  I wish I could eat like that and not have to worry.

I Spy

Today, my mom, the boys and I headed to St. Cloud for an afternoon of shopping.  After a successful trip and supper, we headed back home.  Hunter was exhausted and wanted to take a nap.  There was no way I was going to let that happen because he starts preschool tomorrow morning and if he took a nap, he wouldn't be tired enough for bed.  So, my mom came up with the idea that we played games in the car.  Perfect!

The first game was A-Z.  We found all of the letters and were done in about 7 minutes due to going through a large city.  That game lasts a lot longer on the Interstate through North Dakota.  After that, we switched to I Spy.  After taking multiple turns, it was my mom's turn again.  She said, "I spy something white and fluffy."  Obviously it was the clouds, but to our surprise Hunter shouted out "YOUR HAIR!!"  We couldn't help but laugh and my mom was not offended by any means.  Funny how kid's brains work sometimes.  Oh, and he eventually figured out that she was talking about the clouds.

"Ampa's House"

My dad lives only 5 minutes away or less from our house and it is amazing.  If I ever want to run errands on my own I can usually drop the boys off at his house and get things done a lot faster.  And the boys love it over there.  If we pass by without stopping, I usually hear about it.  Sometimes we even have to turn around just to say "Hi!".  Every time we drive by Brody is in the backseat yelling, "Ampa's! Ampa's!" 
Today the boys were at my dad's while my sister and I went into town.  They had a blast running around, playing, getting treats from grandpa, so on and so forth.  And as always, they didn't want to leave.
Tonight I was giving the boys a bath and I was telling Brody that we get to go and see Hannah tomorrow to get his and Hunter's hair cut.  I pretended to snip at his hair and make it fun because he doesn't love getting his hair cut.  It's not is least favorite either and he is usually ok if we put a sucker in his mouth before we even begin.  I must say though, he is a lot better than his brother was at this age.  Anyways, I get done explaining our plans for tomorrow and his reply was, "I on't ant Annah.  I want Ampa.  Ampa's house."  Wait, it gets better.  He turns, looks at Hunter and says, "Hunter, you want  Ampa too?"  He must have thought 2 vs. 1 on not getting a haircut and going  to Grandpa's would change my mind.  The only thing I could do was laugh.
We shall see tomorrow if he is disappointed that we don't stop by Grandpa's on our way into town to cut the long over due hair off.  Thank goodness Hannah has a bowl full of suckers waiting for us.

Crabby

Yesterday I was pretty certain that World War III was going to break out in our home.  A day of arguing, tears, tantrums, tackling, biting (that's Brody's signature attack move...ugh), stealing toys, you name it!  I couldn't wait for the day to be over.
I put Brody down.  Phew!  One kid down for the night.  Wrong.  He cried and cried and then cried some more.  Finally I caved because I knew there was no way he was going to fall asleep.  He knew he won that battle and was so proud and happy and ready to play.  Hunter was exhausted but "not quite ready" to go to bed.  Every little thing was setting him off.  And I couldn't put him to bed now because I had Brody to deal with. 
Finally I turned to Hunter and asked him, "Hunter, are you crabby?"  He told me he wasn't.  But the best part was Brody turned and looked at me, gave me a pouty face, made those big brown eyes look sad/upset and said, "I'm crabby too.  I'm crabby too, Mom." 
The perfect ending to my crazy day!  I couldn't help but laugh!  It's the little things that can turn the day around :) 

Busy, Busy, Busy!

If I could sum up our summer in one word it would be "busy"!  But I like it that way.  It let's us do fun things and makes the periods in between Craig's rotations go by faster.  Always a plus.  Our August has been very busy.  Here is a run down of what we have done:

August 1st-5th: Hunter had VBS at our church.  He loved it and it got him excited to start school this fall!

August 3rd:  Went to the American Idol concert at the Target Center with one of my best friends, Kiley.  We had a great day of shopping, eating downtown and going to the concert.  The concert was great with so much talent!  And I got to see my favorites from the season. :)  It was a fun show!

August 7th: Craig's cousin, Meghan flew in from Arizona.  It was great to see her again because we only see her for about a week every year.  Not enough time, so we make the most of our time together.  While she was here, we decided to take a road trip to the North Shore and show her a different part of MN. So, August 9-11 we went to the Duluth, Lutsen, Grand Marais area.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our trip up north.

 Love my boys.

 The boys and I at Gooseberry Falls.

 The whole group! Hunter, Meghan, Melissa, Brody, Heidi, Henry and me!

 Can you believe my 5 year old took this picture?  Impressed?  So was I! Hiking around Gooseberry Falls.

 Brody, me, Hunter and Meghan riding the Gondola at Lutsen.

 Brody on the shores of Lake Superior in Grand Marais.

 Throwing rocks into the lake.

 Hunter and the lighthouse keeper at Split Rock.  He asked him a bunch of questions about his job.

 Brody rock climbing on the shores by Split Rock

 Hunter being adventurous!

Meg and me at the Rose Gardens in Duluth.

On August 13th, I attended a going away party for Kiley before she left for law school.  Yes, she's very smart and in three years if you need a lawyer, I can hook you up.  We had a great day on the lake hanging out and finished the evening at the Garfield Street Dance.  On the 15th, I went to Grand Forks to help her finish moving in and watch her nephew while she went to an induction supper.  On the way, I said good-bye to Meghan when I dropped her off at the airport in Fargo.  It was a sad day of good-byes.  Let's just say a fear tears were let out that day.

See...I told you it's been a busy August!  And I'm only half way done.  Not kidding.

On August 18, we hit the road to the great state of South Dakota.  We were there until the 24th.  Here are a few highlights from our trip:

 After many billboards advertising Wall Drug, we finally made it!!  My cute little cowboy and Indian at the Wall Drug Backyard.

 The family in the Badlands National Park.

 We got off the main road through the park.  Best decision ever.  Ok, maybe not ever, but it was that day.  We came across this herd of bison in the road.  We didn't rush them!  Just your average traffic jam in South Dakota.

 Crazy Horse Memorial.  One day it will be finished.  When?  Who knows.  Still pretty neat to check out.

 Bear Country USA.  What a neat place!  And the best part was that Hunter thought we just took a random road that just so happened to have a bunch of wildlife including a lot of bears.  I think it'll be sad for the day he learns how to read.  All of the excitement of things get sucked out.  Ok, not really, but next year, he may know that it is just a tourist attraction and not just a random road.

 Brody's first train ride!  We rode the 1880 Train from Hill City to Keystone and then back.  Brody loved it for the most part.  He even fell asleep on the way to Keystone.  Half way back to Hill City he was ready to get out of his seat and walk around.

 Hunter loved it too!  He was really quiet and took in the scenery around him and enjoyed the ride.

 The "boys" in front of the train.  It was getting ready for it's next trip so we watched the engineers get water into the engine and prep the train.

 My favorite family picture from the trip :).  Needles Highway.

The family at Mount Rushmore.  I guess Hunter is now Abraham Lincoln and Brody is wondering who the heck that guy is that my mom stopped and is now holding our camera taking a picture. 

 Hunter's a little model!!  Along Spearfish Canyon Scenic Bi-way.  Such a pretty drive with some great waterfalls!

 At the bottom of Roughlock Falls.

 Devil's Tower, WY.  A really neat place.  If you are going to hike around it, make sure to bring good shoes, water, and know that there is a sign marking the half way point when in your head you are convinced you are at least 2/3 of the way around.  It was a hot day and the longest 1.3 miles of my life.  Strap on a 30 pound kid to your back.  But totally worth it.

 Not a bad view for a picnic!  And a cute kid too :)  I know, I'm biased.

 No, we did not force Hunter to take this picture.  He saw them and kept asking if he could take his pictures with the cowboys.  Which is funny because anytime WE would want to take a picture of him he would pout/whine/complain...you get an idea of what we dealt with.  He looks a little nervous, but I think he enjoyed the guys in Deadwood.

 Pretty sure we heard the question "Are we going to the Corn Palace today?" about 5 times a day.  Originally our plan was to stop on our way out, but due to some rain we passed thru Mitchell and stopped on our way back.  Hunter was excited to finally see the world's only Corn Palace.  And it was neat.  We went inside and saw how they transform the palace year after year and come up with a new design.  And Tanya Tucker's band was warming up, so we had some great music to listen to.  Oh!  And the best part was: air conditioning.  It was about 95 outside that day and the sweat would just roll off your forehead.  Yuck.

And our final stop before parting ways was Falls Park in Sioux Falls.  Our view from the observation tower.  The tower that I climbed while carrying Brody thinking that Craig and Hunter were just a little ahead of us.  Only to find out they took the easy way up and rode the elevator.  Why didn't I think of that??  Especially since it felt like 100 degrees inside of the tower with zero air movement.  I was about ready to pass out.

Well, now you can see why I have been MIA this month.  But hopefully this catches you up with our life and you understand.  Hope you all are having a great summer!  Enjoy it while it lasts because before you know it we will be dealing with S***....Yeah, you know that ugly four letter word.

Sleep Deprived

I think I have it figured out as to why old people sleep all the time.  When you are a parent, you miss out on countless hours of sleep and you make up all of the lost hours while you are older.

Just wanted to let you know that I'm not ignoring blogging, I have just been super busy running here, there and everywhere and haven't had the time or energy to put into blogging.  But I promise, I will be back.  Not that you really missed me, but for those of you who do enjoy the fun stories about the boys and whatever else I want to talk about, I will be back...

But for now, I think I'm going to get a couple things done before I head to bed and hopefully have a good night's rest.

Dressing for the Occasion

Hunter loves to dress for the occasion lately.  If he knows he is going to be playing baseball outside, he wants to wear his Twins shirt and shorts and knee high socks.  Oh, and don't forget the hat!  And if he is going to play two days in a row, he will literally go in the dirty laundry and find his clothes.  Gross.  I usually try to persuade him to wear something different.  Sometimes it works, sometimes he wears his dirty clothes. 
The other day he went farming with a friend of ours.  He had a tough time debating about which John Deere shirt he really should wear.
Or how about the other day when he went with his dad to help Grandpa get all the shingles off of the roof and clean up from the storm.  He put on work jeans, a white t-shirt, and a flannel button-down.  Thankfully it was in the low 70's when they were out so he wasn't roasting, but he told me if he got too hot, he could just wear the white t-shirt because construction guys do that sometimes.  And to complete his construction look, he brought his hard hat with.
I love that he is in the land of make believe and believes he can be anything he wants to be.