Summer Parks & Bugs

I haven't blogged again much the last couple months just can't find the time anymore.  But wanted to share some of the favorite things we have been up too on the weekends and nights.  Chase was huge into bugs this spring/early summer.  He got a ton of stuff for his birthday and he waited patiently this spring for the bugs to come.  We kept telling him come a couple months they will be everywhere and all different kinds. Well I think he got sick of waiting and isn't the bug boy he was a couple months ago but still likes to pick up the strange looking ones and make his mom run away. 

Below are some of his bug finds.

Butterfly he caught and put into his cage.

Another shot of his butterfly which he had to take the cage to bed with him.  Needless to say this butterfly didn't get water. So RIP butterfly.

His Ant Farm he got for his birthday.  Gross!! They ate that green gel stuff that was their food. Some how they got mold inside and all started dying.  So RIP ants!

In the rain looking for bugs with his gun and gear!



Chase collecting worms.  Don't you love the smile?



One rainy day I decided to make some bugs that I like.  Chase enjoyed crafting them too.

The Summer of Parks!!

Early on in the year I decided since we don't have a great back yard we are going to take advantage of this great metropolis we live in and go to different parks.  Now the TC is known for having some great bike trails and parks so we have lots to chose from.  We have stuck to our area so they either are in walking, bike, or quick car distance away.  Brayden has no fear at the park so it's a great activity for the 2 of them to do together.  I even enjoy some of the equipment but since Brayden is such a whiz at the park I can even find a bench and sit down for a couple mins (rare).  Below are some pictures of the outdoor fun we have found.

 

4th of July!!

With 4 of July being on a Wed this year and us just getting back from a week long vacation it meant staying home for the holiday.  We all had Wednesday off and that was it.  We hauled our stuff up to the Rislov's for one night of fun in the back yard.  They have the pool up and since it was 95 degrees it was needed.  It was kind of funny because even being in the pool it didn't really cool us off.  I didn't get many picture of us since one of us has to be with Brayden at all times for peace of mind and his safety (and that person is mostly me).  Plus when he was napping I enjoyed my time in the pool with a floaty and a beer for adult swim hour.  I did manage to snap this picture of the Rislov's new toy.  It's for the kids but us adults all tried it out.  In this picture that is Chase at the end of the slide.  The other picture I did snap was of the boys trading Pokeman cards.  We have no idea how to play this game but Chase has gotten really into them this summer. Turns out so are most young boys. 

The weekend before the 4th we headed down to Hastings to stay with Grandma Char/Grandpa Randy for a pre-4th picnic.  They also had a pool set up to help beat the heat.  Here is a picture of Brayden's favorite thing to do.  Go in and out of the garage using the doggie door. 

We also found time on the weekend to hit up the SLP Rec center.  The boys loved this place and so do I.  Brayden loved jumping off the edge even if it was into the zero entry section.  Chase loved all the different water things.  Plus they loved the sand area when we needed a break from the water. 

The boys and I made some 4th of July themed cupcakes too one day.  Brayden isn't a huge sweets guy but he kept saying "yummy"!

Finally I had bought the $10 fireworks from Target and Chase kept bugging us every night to let them off.  Here are a couple pics from the wonderfully cheap fireworks display.  He was so excited. 



Chase and Russ doing sparklers.



Bray's Big Boy Room

After Brayden started to crawl out of his crib last winter we turned the crib into a toddler bed for safety reasons.  He soon was outgrowing that too and decided it was time to get him a bigger bed and bigger dresser for his clothes.  Since he has a bigger room than Chase we went with a full bed.  We found the bedroom set at HOM furniture.  It looks a lot like Chases with the book case headboard and drawers underneath but just a bigger size and different color.  I went with a sports theme for the bedding even though he's not as biggest sports fan as Chase.  Very boy though.

Now that we found the bedroom set the next thing was to repaint the room.  Since I had neutral colors in the room from when I did it 4 years ago I wanted to make it look more like a boys room.  I kept it easy on Eric and let him kept the red stripe around the room and just made him paint above and below it.  We only had to buy 1 gallon of paint too because we had left over blue from Chase's room that would match his new bedding.

 Here are pics below.

Lots of big boxes came to the house.

Our small front yard was covered in boxes and packaging.

Brayden enjoying his new bed. (kind of)

This was the only pic I could find of the room before the latest paint job.  This was done before Chase's arrival in 2008.

Chase helping out with the painting this time around.

   

Of course Chase wants a new bed now too.  Here was the first night he wanted to sleep with Brayden but they were too excited to sleep together.

Here is an after picture. I haven't hung up all the pictures yet.

The other side of the room with his new dresser.

Isn't he a doll?  He uses the head board to climb on and jump onto the bed.  Typically Brayden!!

Summer Vacation 2012

This year for our summer week away from home we went to a Gull 4 Seasons resort in Brainerd.  Eric's dad decided to book a whole week instead of just a long weekend.  The place had 5 bedrooms so it worked well for all the family to come and go.  Of course the weather is always an issue.  This year we had a couple rainy days and the bugs were bad.  So we had to plan our events around that but managed to still do a lot of different things.  Brayden got to go to the movies for the first time.  He lasted 20 mins before he wanted to get down and run. So on his first trip I took him out so it wasn't a full trip to the movies.  We did go-karts, mini-golfing, boat riding, turtle races, parks, shopping, throwing rocks, swimming in the pool, played video games, and of course fishing.  Chase and his cousins played a lot of Old Maid, Crazy 8's, and Go Fish to pass the bad weather bye.  Brayden tried to escape the place a couple times but with many eyes on him never got to far.  His favorite thing to do was throw rocks and the beach had plenty of those so he was in heaven.  We enjoyed the week away and much needed time with the boys and family. Wish we had more weeks each year to get together!!

Many pictures below from the week of fun.



Eric and Chase's 1st ride on a jet ski.



Brayden doing his thing every day we made a trip or two down to the rocks. 

 

The cabin we stayed in.





One of many bugs Chase found.




A train in Nisswa waiting for the Turtle Races.



Chase's Turtle






Brayden's Turtle



Chase's turtle almost won than took a turn away from the line.

Brayden on the mini golf course.

 



The crew mini golfing!!



And play all the video games you can.

When on vacation eat all the ice cream you can.

 

The Boys on the lake.




Chase found some rides along the streets of Nisswa.  

 
The A&W Bear and the Turtle out and about.

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Brayden loved the A&W Bear he would hug it and laugh at it.

Chase on his own go-kart track.  He loved it just got in the car and away he went.  He got to go around the track for 5 mins which was a long enough.





Feeding the resort ducks.

 

Feeding the ducks.





Chase winning at card games with his cousins.

   

Sunset on Gull Lake!!