Boating

So much for not spending enough time with our good friends!  Sunday morning, Hoa called and invited us to go boating on the St. Croix River.  David had reserves, but the kids and I had no plans - so the four of us went!  The weather was beautiful and the company was great.  Hoa's sisters and their children were on the boat too.  Plenty of playmates for Gemma, Spencer and Gianna.  

Hoa with her adorable niece Maggie.

Our captain.

Gianna loving the water.

Spencer was splashing the kids.

Sisterly love!

Friends

David and I had the pleasure of spending not only the day at the fair, but we returned in the evening to meet up with friends and see a concert.  Hoa and I have been best friends since we were in kindergarden.  We now have five children between us, so the time we spend together is little.  Tonight,  we were able to spend a few hours together enjoying music (Def Leppard and Heart) and some great company.  Here's looking forward to our next outing!

Waiting for the sun to set.

Looking rough, but having fun!

Friends having a blast!

State Fair

Today we went to the MN State Fair with mom.  Here are the previous visits - 2008, 2009, 2010. (Really, mom likes to take the kids to the fair and she needs David and I to chauffeur!)  She told Gemma and Spencer they were able to bring a friend.  We arrived at 9am and stayed until 4pm.  The kids were great and ate lots of yummy food.  Here are a few photos from our fun day!

Water Park

Yesterday we drove to the country to spend the weekend with Edmee and Howard. The plan was to swim in the afternoon and then just relax at the house. Sounds like the perfect weekend plan to me!

We've been to the water park once before and the kids had fun. But now that Gianna was older and Gemma was tall enough for the big slide, we knew that they'd have even more fun.Gianna loved the little water slide. She must have slid down that thing 100 times!
During a water break, the children humored me with a photo.
Gianna and titi Edmee.

David and I were there too!

During the water break, Edmee took the kids to the snack shack. Gianna chose cotton candy.

And she loved it!

Gemma had a drumstick.

Spencer had chips, but apparently I wasn't fast enough to get an "action" shot!

When the break was over, Gianna decided to work on her back floats. I have to say, she's doing a great job!
I love this photo of Spencer. He looks so cool and at ease as he is getting ready to slide into the pool.
My timing was so off with Gemma on the slide. This was the best I could get. I tried about five times and would inevitably take the photo at the wrong time. Sorry, Gemma. : (
Here is another great one of Spencer - looking at me just as I took the photo. Pure luck!
Gemma decided she wanted me to take photos of her jumping off the diving board. Again, my timing was off, but I had fun watching her!
Gianna and daddy. We spent about 3 hours at the water park and then went back to the house for some yummy steaks on the grill. For dessert, we made s'mores at the fire pit and enjoyed a relaxing evening of talking and laughing.

Thanks for a great weekend Edmee! : )

The Runway

We are so in trouble!!! : )

Museum

Today we went to the Children's Museum. Since we have a membership, we make frequent visits. It's a great and easy way to entertain the kids.

Today Gianna decided she wanted her face painted. The Spark Cart is almost always available when we are there, but usually she has no interested. Gemma on the other hand loves it. Today, Gemma was able to use her artistic abilities and transform her little sister into a cat!
While the girls were working on their art-work, Spencer was right across the hall playing with the ginormous blocks. He created this ramp and was quite proud of it. (He's not a fan of the face-painting)
Gianna was so patient and stood so still while Gemma "painted" her face.
You can see Gemma's concentration. She really did a great job! She is such a wonderful big sister and playmate to Gianna.
Here is the final product! Gianna wouldn't look directly at me, so this was the best I could get. I thought she looked adorable. Gemma did a great job.
Being the great big sister, she let Gianna have a turn at creating.
Gianna was very careful and took her time. She used LOTS of colors!
Gemma wasn't too happy with the final product. So we cleaned her face and then she created her own face painting.
She did the rainbow and sun, and I did the daisy. Gemma was much happier with this artwork!
After face-painting, we played with some big blue blocks and Gianna did a fashion show.
After exploring several exhibits, we ventured outside to the rooftop.
Gianna and Spencer enjoyed painting the rocks. We had a great visit to the museum. Usually we stay about two hours, but today it was over three! The kids had fun and burned a lot of energy! That's what I call a great outing!

Family Weekend

This past weekend we drove to Crookston, Minnesota to celebrate my great-nephew's baptism. Since the entire family was together my mom wanted to have family photos taken. I don't have copies of those yet, but I took some at the church while we were waiting.

I neglected to take photos of Maddox - the babe being baptized - and of Vaeda, the newest member of the family and maybe even the cutest.

So here are some of the photos I did manage to take.

Emelia, Abe and Gianna.

Amarra, Emelia, Abe and Gianna. Abe doesn't look so thrilled with all of the girls!

Gabrin.

Andrew, mom and Brandon.

After church we came back to the hotel to celebrate. The kids couldn't get into the pool fast enough.
Gianna loved her floaty.
Spencer, Brandon and Gemma relaxing in the hot-tub.

Gemma and Spencer.

Even though we spent what felt like a million hours in the car (five hours on Saturday and close to six on Sunday), the kids had a lot of fun playing with all of their cousins.