The 4th of July

Well, July did not start off to be the best month of the July. It was hot and muggy just they way I like summer, but it was also an emotional roller coaster. The Monday before the 4th I got a phone call telling me that my Uncle Jim had had a heart attack and was in the St. Cloud hospital. Then on Thursday they took him off of life support. So, we packed everyone up and headed to Brainerd. The service was not till Wednesday, but my family has a big get together on the 4th. They all meet for the parade and then head to my uncle John's house for supper. This was the first time in a REALLY long time that I have been there for this event. It is nice to be able to see hang out with my family, since my dad has passed.

We arrived early enough that we were able to hit the water before we headed downtime for the parade.Devin even went down the big slide!!!

And he loved it!!!!
My uncle Jerry goes and saves a big section of a parking lot and sets up tents to add shade. Most of what you see in this photo is all family.

More family!

Again

Alexis waiting for the parade to start.

Austin and Devin playing with trucks and waiting for the parade to start.

On Tuesday we headed to a lake house of a family friend and spent the whole day playing there. This photo I took to the County fair and got a Blue Ribbon and a Reserved Champion Ribbon.

Devin and I playing by the water.

Devin making sand angels.

Firetruck ride

It is parade time and Devin got to ride in the firetruck with the Groe's and Coxworth girls. We rode all the way over to Bricyeln in the firetruck. Here Chloe, Devin and Bella are sitting in the back.

Chloe and I waiting for the parade to start.
Mandy and I waiting for the parade to start also.

Devin rode the whole time up front with Sean and played with the Walkie Talkie!!!! He was in heaven.

Look at me, Mom!!

Devin and Mandy on the ride home.

Devin and Chloe both sitting in the front on the way home pushing buttons to make lots of noise.

Strawberry Picking

This year Ben, Devin, I, my mom, Pat, Robin, Alexis, and Austin all went strawberry picking. We had very good luck picking and I believe I had around 38 pounds of strawberries. Which made wonderful jam and were great to eat. When we were done we headed to Jackson to see my grandma and grandpa. Before we headed out for lunch, Devin and I headed to the farm to pick rhubarb. Tim showed up and we went for a ride in the ranger and then Devin got to go for a ride on the 4-wheeler. And by looking at his face, can you tell that he was having a good time.

While driving around the farm we looked at the cows and I even spotted an old sled and wash bucket. I am going to clean them up and use them for props.

He went to Pizza Ranch and all of the kids sat with my mom, great-grandma and great-grandpa. I think they were pretty excited about having all of the kids at their table.

Afterwards we went to Pat and Robin's house for a little pool time since it was starting to warm up a little.

IT ended up being one big water fight.

Good Times

On just some random weekend night or this could happen any night of the week. A group of us decide to get together and have a cook out! IT is fun to be surrounded by good friends.

Father's Day

I know that it has been a really long time since I have been on here, but man July was crazy.

For Father's Day we headed to Rochester to spend sometime with Ben's mom. One of the places that we hit was the House of Bounce. Devin had a great time there.

Chloe's Horse

Last Sunday Chloe was in the horse show and Devin and I went to watch her. She did an awesome job in Lead Line and won First Place!!!!! I may not know a whole lot about horses, but I could tell that she has improved and that she was sitting nice and straight and still. To me it looked like she was in complete control of her horse. While Chloe was showing Devin told me he wanted to ride a horse. So when she was done Mandy put him right up there and boy was he excited. He loved every minute of it and wants to do it again.

Mandy took them for a little walk and Devin was as happy as a clam!

Then it was Sean's turn to lead them around!

Memorial Day

We had a nice and relaxing weekend. We went to Mankato to do a little shopping on Saturday. Sunday we stayed home and played inside and outside when it wasn't raining. Then on Monday we just played outside all day. We all enjoyed the sun and the warm weather (yeah 90 degrees!!!)

Devin had to get his gun out and do some shooting.

Rode around on the gater. Many bike rides (both his and one of us taking him out), scooter rides, and just plan running around.
Can we say that we are one happy boy to be outside.

After naptime we headed to DQ for an ice cream cone and to hang at the Green Giant for a little bit.

Devin had to bring his scooter with.

Riding down a hill.

So much fun!!

Then we got out the water toys once Ben got the yard down. Devin had so much more fun in it this year then he did last year.