MN State Fair

Ed took the day off today in case we wanted to stay in IL a little longer after the BBQ...but Dusty and Julie had a wedding yesterday afternoon out of town, and it's always nice to have a little time at home before getting back to the grind!

 

So we decided it'd be the perfect day for the fair! Hoped it wouldn't be so busy on a Monday during the day...not the case! And it's been super humid the last couple days and today was no different. But we still enjoyed ourselves! Checked out the tractors, mowers, diggers, etc...

Has some Sweet Martha's cookies....but downsized from the bucket we got last year. Also in our bellies at the end of the day was a gyro, curly fried, root beer float, soft pretzel and cheese, draft root beer...and I think that is it. When you consume too much food in a short period of time, it's hard to keep eating.

 

Kids watched a puppet show...

And we did a few rides...but not very many. And on our way out we managed to catch the fair parade! Then it was home to cool off!

 

bright and early

Nothing like some old school Nintendo and truck playing before 8am on a Sunday!

So cute to see the boys playing together. Hudson is getting too big too fast.

After early play time, we packed up and headed out for breakfast before hitting the road home!

Glen Ellyn BBQ 2015

Have to start out the day with our Hoggystyle t-shirt pics! So excited they took me up on a colored shirt this year! Especially since it rained ALL DAY...would've been a wet white t-shirt contest otherwise.

Despite the rain...we all made the best of it, and did awesome overall. And the rain didn't keep our team away either! The best dish was a pork butt biscuit, best sauce and of course ribs. Friends of Kelley and Bob's bought the team a bottle of Cristal (like the real deal) to celebrate. Honestly...I will take the cheap bottle any day! Clearly we don't know good champagne.

Ed's position for prepping bought him a soaked back...not sure why he ever wasted time with the poncho.

Team Hoggystyle! 

The kids were pretty well entertained too...minus having to yell at them to stay out of the rain when it was pouring...it was a fairly dry day. Minus feet. I wore sandals, but the rest of my family wore tennis shoes and had the wet wrinkly feet by evening. Eddie's feet actually hurt they were so wet and wrinkly. But they played games, got their faces painted, and had some dippin dots.

Finally they announced the winners just after 6pm...and of course it started raining just as this started. Bob took Rowan up on stage with him for the 1st Place People's Choice award!

The kids drowning after a day in the rain.

So ready to be done!

Results:

1st Place People's Choice Sauce

4th Place Best Dish

7th Place Best Sauce (judges)

Ribs...to be improved! (somewhere in the 40's, out of 57 teams)

 

After the BBQ we headed back to Dusty and Julie's to change into some dry clothes...ordered some pizza and hung out. On the road home in the morning!

LS to GE

We spent the night in Lyndon Station last night...and were up and on the road before 8am this morning to head to Glen Ellyn! I don't even think we were there an hour before the kids were begging me to take them to the park. So we headed there for a bit before lunch!

We had lunch and hung out and waited for Hudson and Julie to get home before heading back. The kids taught Hudson some new tricks. Mostly how the sand feels between your toes...and in white leggings! That is what shout is for!

Otherwise we taste tested and prepared for the BBQ tomorrow morning!

they have arrived...

Rowan's glasses!

bandana and buds

Gizmo was at the groomer today and came home with this lovely bandana! Ed loves it, NOT!

We do love the soft clean pup that comes with it though!

And I braved a double playdate today! And it went quite well. Another attempt to distract the negative mojo that we have with other kids these days was to bring over some fresh friends to play with. Sad that we waited until August to do so, but the rest of summer was just so busy it didn't happen. Rowan had Savannah over and Eddie had Emmett over. I thought the girls and boys would do their own things with their friends...but they all played together, and it was a success. We walked over to Oneka park to play for a bit too! Success all around.

cool weather=indoor fun

The weather today is nothing like August...pants and sweatshirts all around. So we decided to pull out the Easy Bake oven and the kids made some mini pizzas for lunch. Was also a distraction for Rowan from the girl drama and tears lately! Ugh...she is too young for this!

painting project

Rowan and I arrived home from Pickerel around 2pm today...and Ed put the handles back on my painting project and put it in our room! This is actually a sewing cabinet we got from Nana...it was her grandma's! It is the perfect height for under our television in our bedroom where we have been using a tv tray for the last year. Finally got it redone and in use! Looks great!

Pickerel and boys day

Rowan was up early with me again today to head to Pickerel WI. We made the road trip to help Grandma Pam and Aunt Karen finish going through Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's belongings and setting up for a rummage sale for next weekend. My mom has been trying to sell their house for 2 years and finally has something in the works that will hopefully close in early September. So she has spent the last several weekends up in Pickerel getting things moving for selling and throwing and what not. I'm pretty good and throwing things away and organizing, so I offered my assistance, and Rowan wanted to join.

 

So we arrived about 10am, worked on the house until about 5pm, then changed and cleaned up and headed out for dinner.

While we were away...Dad and Eddie had 'boys day'. The plan was to eat pizza for every meal, play Wii, take naps and eat more pizza! Well...they were pretty successful. Gizmo wasted no time jumping in Rowan's bed...maybe he missed her already? Dad and Eddie brought up the train table and put it in the living room. And to go with their pizza they got orange pop and cookies...oh and Eddie talked Dad into DQ for dessert too! Sounds rough!

 

Tennant, Target, Porterhouse!

Rowan was up bright and early and headed to Tennant with Dad for Kids Day!

They arrived before the Kids Day kicked off, so she got to play in Dad's office on the computer and his white board. Then they day kicked off. She got to do many fun projects, got breakfast, made a friend, and made her dad proud.

While they were playing at work, Eddie and I had some fun of our own. The kids received gift cards from Great Aunt Karen for some back to school clothes...and they were on sale at Target, so we headed there to do some shopping! Both kids got some great things to start out there back to school shopping.

After Target, we got a call from Dad and Rowan wanting us to meet them for lunch! So we enjoyed a quick lunch at Culvers per Rowan's request.

 

When she got home she had a much awaited package from Grandma Pam from American Girl. She has been waiting for it all week. It was replacement items from returns from her birthday. Julie is a lucky doll thanks to Grandma Pam....Rowan too I guess.

Then it was time to shower and get ready for our Anniversary date night at the Porterhouse. Kayla and her friend Maddie watched the kids for us. Our dinner was amazing. We had a gift certificate for the restaurant too, so we went all out and tried filets with lobster for me and shrimp for Ed. Afterwards we headed to the Blue Heron for a couple drinks, then home to relieve the girls before heading over to Jess and Brians for a couple hours.

 

Rowan's eyes!

As we were heading out the door for Rowan's eye MD appointment, there was a box hanging out of our mailbox! Dad ordered Rowan some pink safety glasses to wear for her Kids Day at Tennant tomorrow! She is so excited to go to work with her Dad tomorrow.

We had a successful eye appointment with answers today for Rowan too. It all started at her well check a few weeks ago when doing an eye evaluation with the basic eye chart Rowan's left eye wasn't quite as stellar as her right, so they recommended further evaluation.

 

So today they did the basic eye chart and measured her eye and what not...and it showed some asymmetry between her eyes with her left being a little 'slower' but her right eye has been making up for it. Turns out that all babies/kids are born farsighted...and it usually corrects or comes back to 0 by age 6-7. But Rowan is still slightly farsighted and is already 7...and has the asymmetry. They ended up dilating her eyes with my approval to see how her eye would measure when it wasn't able to 'correct' itself due to dilation. And of course it turns out the numbers are a little worse than originally expected. Generally they 'treat' or 'prescribe' for number greater than 0.5...which is what her left eye was prior to dilation, after dilation she was +0.75 on the right and +1.25 on the left. Numbers that if you ignored and didn't treat would be considered negligent according to the eye doctor. She may only need glasses for a couple years and her eyes could improve...we will see. And she only needs them in the classroom, when reading and doing homework, etc. Not all the time. So these are the glasses she picked out, we are waiting for them to come in. Should be in before school starts.

9 years ago...

I married my best friend!

And then 2 years later we had this little nugget, who lost her 4th tooth today! No more snaggle tooth, or front teeth for that matter.

I thought we were of the understanding that we not spend a ton of money on our anniversary...but apparently we didn't discuss that together! I received flowers and chocolate covered strawberries in the mail today! I know the way to Ed's heart is through is belly, so I made steak and chicken kabobs for dinner and we got a cake. And of course the kids can't visit Grandma's Bakery without a cookie! Great day had by all I think!

And it wouldn't be a family night without a little Mario Kart on the Wii. This is what our Anniversary nights and date nights have turned into!

 

slumer party

Tonight is the second night the kiddos have asked to sleep together. The night before last they slept in Eddie's bed, tonight in Rowan's! It is sweet when they get along and like each other.