An Open Invitation

Our State Fair is the BEST State Fair and you are invited to stay at my house to spend a day (or two or three!) at the Minnesota State Fair eating everything you can. Phew!



Bucket-o-Cookies. Let me tell you, these are so good, so soft, so right out of the oven warm! We have to get some every time. Ok, once you get this, head over to the all-you-can-drink milk (and chocolate!) for $1!

(yes my once 3-month-old needed a wardrobe change.)

Ok, after you've chugged so much milk you wanna puke (because it's hot out). Take a seat...if you can find one.



After resting for a moment, wander around and see if you can spot some interesting people.



Ready for some more food? How about some cheese curds? A staple at the Fair.



Don't like cheese curds? How about a Quesadilla?



Still not your thing? Hmm, ok. Oh! Food on a stick! How about tator tots on a stick?


Or Fried Mac and Cheese on a stick?



Looking for something unusual? The Minnesota State Fair doesn't disappoint! Chocolate covered bacon!

(Not another wardrobe change, we went for a second day!)

For reals, we love the State Fair! Discount tickets are now on sale so if you wanna come up, make your plans! August 26th through Labor Day. Great food, great music, great people watching. So who's in?

Bye Bye Baby

He totally says "bye bye" and wanders off. He's a busy boy these days.

I know you have an answer

I wanna know; what are your favorite songs/albums for a road trip?

Mine are (while Justin let's me play them, I'm not sure they are HIS favorite):

Styx Greatest Hits - I'd never heard of Styx until the movie Big Daddy. The movie was dumb and the line about Styx being be "greatest band of all time" is pretty far off, but I still like the album. It's good car-driving music.

Michael Jackson's Greatest Hits - But ONLY the first cd. NOT the second one. Oh, lord is that one bad. We like to listen to his good stuff. You know, before the 1990's.

Muse!

Anything Weird Al. It's just fun to listen to!

Of course, if I'm in my car, I've got satellite radio so I can listen to anything.

Ok, what are your favorite road trip tunes?

13 Months

(Swimsuit edition!)
I know you're considered a toddler now, but you don't walk - yet - and you're still a baby to me...so, preshus baybee.

Baby Jules, you are hilarious! You can push a car around the kitchen all night, if we let you, crawling through the chairs like an obstacle course. You love to give kisses to any plush toy (and mom and dad) including Scully's toys. You crawl as fast as possible when you want to get away from us. Your new thing is to crawl up on our bed and somehow, you can get down without too much damage.



You and Scully are ok with each other. She plays with your toys, you play with hers. You learned to keep your distance from her while she's eating. But she loves to hang around the highchair when you're eating. You reach your hands down to let her lick your hands. Gross, but it's funny.



Daddy plays "the game" with you where he stands you up and lets go for a second or so. You stand, giggle and fall down. A few times you even took a couple steps towards him. Shocked, you laughed! You have a great laugh. It used to be just a "GEEEE - breath - GEEEEE" but now it's a full belly laugh.

We signed you up for swim lessons. Oh man, were you unhappy for the first 10 minutes but once you got used to the water, you LOVED it! Good thing it's two days a week or else you'd freak out every time.

No more baby food for you! You are a little picky right now, mostly because you wanna play, not eat. But you do eat almost everything we put in front of you. You drink whole milk and are finishing off the last of the frozen breastmilk.



We launched fireworks at Uncle Jake's house for the 4th but you HATED it. So, instead of giving up, we took you to St. Paul's show and you didn't cry at all! Maybe you hated the homegrown show, who knows.



You and dad still hang out during the day. Bike rides to the store or library, sometimes a trip downtown for lunch with me, and much needed naps so dad can get some work done. He really loves being home with you.

You jabber all the time and clearly say "doggie", you have used the sign for "more" and you know the sign for "bath" (which you LOVE to see).


We love you baby Jules!

Goodbye Sillycar

I'm almost there. Just buy me a mac and I'll be the smug douche-bag everyone hates. (Except the people who are ALREADY 100% smug. They just don't know it because they are...smug.)

I bought a hybrid SUV (new-to-me. See, I'm not smug, I bought used!). It gets a little less mpg's than the sillycar did, but I did gain a lot of room. Enough for baby Jules' new car seat to still be rear-facing even when Justin drives. Enough to haul fireworks (that may or may not be illegal in Minnesota), the pack 'n play, beach bag, cooler and chairs to the 4th of July party.

Big enough for teh pimp stroller AND a new bathroom cabinet at the same time!

Justin doesn't want to admit it, but he likes it. I'll admit I love it.