Fair

We met our friends Cameron and Brooke at the Dakota County Fair this year.  Anders got his first taste of peanut butter in the form of peanut butter mini donuts.  In my opinion best fair food ever and the reason I never miss the Dakota County Fair.  Thanks to a random encounter with Cousin Everett, Anders and I got to ride the giant slide.  He giggled and said wee the whole way down and was a little miffed when we couldn't go "more."

South Dakota 2012

We made our annual trip to South Dakota for a family reunion in one day this year.  We spent eight hours driving and eight hours visiting family.  It was worth it to see family we only get to see once a year!

Cousin Aisley taught Anders to play ladder golf.

Grandpa and Anders entertained us with a hose.

Anders got some special attention from Great Aunt Cleo.  Like every year, we left wishing we lived closer and got to see everyone more often.

Road Trip

Kristin and family were visiting from Mexico and somehow the stars aligned where I had a few days off work when her family did not have big plans so The Buddy and I road tripped to Minocqua.

It's a four hour drive so my plan was to leave at nap time and stop to eat and run around when he woke up. However, I  was not aware that between Taylors Falls and Minocqua there are only tiny unincorporated towns.  So with ne'er a McDonalds playland in sight we opted for a park that was equal parts quaint and creepy.

Anders and Jake are only six weeks apart so it was fun to see them interested in the same things, like light switches, wooden ducks and playing outside first thing in the morning until it was time to go to bed.

Sophia was bummed Cameron and Brooke couldn't make it and she had to hang out with the babies but she was so sweet to Anders.

We played at Scott and Judy's, (THANKS!) the park and the beach but our favorite was probably a tie between an awesome petting zoo and eating with the ducks.

Anders is OBSESSED with ducks. So this was seriously like a character meal at Disney for him.

Perk

One thing I love about my job is occasionally they call me in the morning and ask if I want to stay home and I get to go to the zoo with my family. 

It was a perfect zoo day, it rained in the morning so it wasn't very crowded or hot and there were plenty of puddles to splash in along the way.

Getting photo bombed by a dinosaur.

Good Sport

Baby Autumn

Our first time meeting cousin Autumn. She was only about 5 lbs at the time. The same size Anders was when we brought him home. It is crazy to think he was that small. And sad that I already can't remember what it was like.

Cabin Favorite - Play Time

Anders the Viking - year 2.

The very best part of the cabin is to have a week off to spend all our time with Anders!