Driving the Jeep

On Sunday, Jeremy taught me how to drive his jeep!  I had one previous experience driving a manual, and well, we're not going to talk about that any further.  This time was totally different!  It was so much easier than I thought it was going to be.  So much fun!

In awe that I could do it!

Jodi's turn

Landon's turn

Happy wedding day Dave & Lindsey!

On Saturday, we attended the wedding of my cousin David, and his new bride Lindsey.  It was such a beautiful day, and we had a great time!  Even when it's not your wedding, the day goes by super fast and you don't have enough time to visit with everyone, especially when my family is as large as it is!

The reception was held at a golf course, in fact the church and the golf course share a parking lot.  It was only appropriate for the wedding party to arrive via golf carts!

After a wonderful meal, we all headed outdoors to enjoy more of the beautiful weather.  The kids had a blast chasing around these tiny, tiny toads.

We also found time to sneak in some family photos!

These are my girl cousins

Let's try this again...

And we can't have an event without a traditional "Lynn Sister" photo.  My cousins who all have the middle name Lynn.

My sisters

And, my whole family

And, just for kicks and giggles, a fun photo taken by my adorable nephew!  Ha ha!

It was a great time, and congrats again to Dave and Lindsey!

Cookie order

This week we were busy working on a cookie order.  Our cousin David is getting married this weekend and we did cookies for his wedding rehearsal.  Hope they like them!

Congrats David and Lindsey.  Can't wait until the wedding!

All packaged up and ready to go!

Happy Anniversary to me!

Seven years ago today, I married my best friend!  It's hard to remember the details, but the details don't really matter anyway.  It was a perfect day, and the last seven years have been wonderful! 

Happy Father's Day!

I hope all you Dad's out there had a wonderful Father's Day!  A special Happy Father's Day goes out to Jeremy.  He is such an amazing Dad, it is no wonder Landon idolizes him.  We let Daddy sleep in this morning (and yesterday morning!), and then we gave him his homemade Father's Day card.  More from the heart you know!  Landon was so proud, he actually re-gave it to Jeremy several times today.  Landon and I actually Jeremy his Father's Day present a few months ago.  He got a new camera before he went jeeping in Indiana back in March. 

A big Happy Father's Day also goes out to my Dad.  He is such a wonderful Dad and Grandpa.  We love you very much Dad!  We've thought a lot about Jeremy's Dad Tim today as well.  Everyday we wish he was here and could meet his grandson.  We think of Tim often and his spirit is always present.  We love you all!

Ball with the cousins

On Saturday morning we headed over to my brother and sister-in-laws.  Us girls had a cookie order to work on - stay tuned!  After we finished with the cookies, it was time to get outside and enjoy the sun.  We haven't seen the sun in what feels like forever!  The kids took advantage of the weather and brushed up on their batting techniques...

and bike riding techniques.

Can you believe this 3 1/2 year old is riding without training wheels!

Hair cut

Today was Landon's first haircut that he didn't cry through!  Another sign that my baby is turning into a little boy.  Ok, maybe Mom is in denial, he is 2 1/2 after all, he's been a little boy for a while now.  In all seriousness though, he did great.  On the ride to the salon, I was doing some serious bribing.  "If you're a good boy you will get a sucker."  We met Jenny (the owner of the salon) on our way in.  She asked Landon if he was ready to get his hair cut.  He said yup, and as we walked away, he said, "I ready for a sucker."  Whatever it took, he did awesome!

The before and after.  I held true to my bribe promise and gave Landon a sucker.

Strawberry Jelly

I headed over to my sister-in-law Cathy's this morning to can strawberry jelly.  This was a completely new experience for me, but I loved it.  I will definitely be doing some more canning this summer!  We used some strawberries out of my Dad's garden and ended up with twelve half pints and seven pints of jelly. 

Cousin bonding

Yesterday afternoon and evening we had the privilege of hanging out with my niece and nephew, Eryn and Nolan.  Landon and I picked them up late afternoon and headed to Decorah.  I gave them the choice of going to the State fish hatchery to feed the fish, or go to Phelps Park.  Eryn said, "Why can't we do both?"  Good point, so we did! 

We headed to the fish hatchery first.  I gave each child a plastic cup and $0.50 to buy fish food.  It was interesting to see how each one of them chose to disperse their fish food. 

After a good hand cleaning, we headed to the park!

The kids got to play and run, and play and run.  Parks are so much fun!

After burning off some energy, we picked up a pizza and headed back to our house.  The boys played some more and Eryn had a good time playing fetch with Elke!  Then it was time to unwind before Randy and Cathy came to pick up the kids.  Everyone got their jammies on and settled in for the Chipmunk Movie, or as Landon calls it, "Monkey Chips."  I honestly could not make this stuff up if I wanted to!

We all had such a good time hanging out!  It must have wore Landon out, because he slept in until 7:15 am.  I can count on one hand the number of times he has slept that late.

Summer weather

Here were yesterday's temperatures across the midwest.

Here outside Fort Atkinson it reached 86 degrees with dewpoints in the 70s.  I don't mind this weather one bit.  Don't get me wrong, I do love my air conditioning though.

This weather is my ideal workout weather.  Kind of crazy I know.  I feel like I get more bang for my buck, you know?  I do the same amount of work and shed more calories. 

After work yesterday, my sister came over and we hit the gravel roads for a couple miles.  Aaawww, bliss!  Humid weather = amazing workout.  Even Landon enjoyed (shirtless mind you)!

Mosquito update

Yesterday, Jeremy and I took Landon to LaCrosse to meet with the allergist.  Immediately upon walking in the room, the Dr. explained that there wasn't going to be much that she was able to do.  They could do a blood test and find out exactly what biting insect Landon is allergic to, but the end result wouldn't make a difference.  They are not able to do anything for insect reactions.  She took a lot of time with us to answer our questions and even shared some materials that she found online.  She said that it was not likely that Landon would have such a severe reaction that it would become life threatening.  She did write us a prescription for a cream that we could put on immediately after he gets bit.  This would help minimize any swelling that may occur.  Basically, we just deal with it and he will be ok!  The picture above is of Landon and Daddy drawing in the exam room.  Landon was very shy, but did a great job. 

Girls trip to MSP

I packed my bags and headed north this weekend.  Cathy, Jodi and I decided that we needed a little kid free girl time so we headed up to Minneapolis/St. Paul for a little shopping.

We took off shortly after lunch and arrived in downtown St. Paul just a couple hours later.

 We checked in at the Crowne Plaza.  We had a nice corner room with a view overlooking the Mississippi River.  It felt just like home where my nice corner bedroom view overlooks the mighty Turkey.  Ok, not the same at all. ;)

We wasted no time before heading out the door to get pedicures.  Being a non touchy/feely kind of girl, and being extremely ticklish, I have managed to avoid pedis all my life.  I was extremely nervous of all the germs, strangers touching me, etc., but I thought I would give it a whirl.  In the end, it was ok.  I love the end result, but not sure that I love the process.  Does that make sense?  I went with classic red.  Predictable?

 On the way to get our pedis we encountered some Israeli protesters around the capital.  There were cops on bike and horse.  Um, enough said...

By now we were getting hungry, so we got all dazzled up and went on the search for a place to eat.  We settled on the Downtowner Woodfire Grill.  It was about a mile away, so we walked.  Did I mention the weather was perfect?

The inside was very cute and cozy.  I loved the atmosphere.  My chicken alfredo was so so - my sisters steak and mashed potatoes was off the hook though!

The walk back to the hotel was just as nice.  The sidewalks were packed with people and the scenery was beautiful.

Aw, my sisters.  I love these girls!

Saturday brought a new day, and some gloomy weather.  Yuck.  That didn't damper our spirits though.  First stop:  Trader Joe's!  We were all looking forward to going to TJ's, and it did not disappoint!

Grocery shopping made us hungry, so we got some breakfast and then hit up IKEA!

This place was huge!  So much to take in.  We could have spent the whole day in there.  

I will definitely be making a trip back in the future. 

We then started to venture back towards home and did a lot more shopping on the way.  We hit up an outlet mall and the always popular shopping destinations.  In the end, the back of our car was full!

We even managed to bring home a new puppy for Eryn!  She really wants the real thing, but I think this one might come in a close second!