Our State Fair is a GREAT State Fair!

We really enjoy going to the fair, but sadly haven't been since we've had kids.  It just gets a bit trickier-and you can't stay as long, which means you can't eat as much!  But since it was the day after Torin's birthday, we were inspired for some reason-and my sisters wanted to meet us there.  So we went!  'Randomly' (are life's circumstances actually random?) ran into someone I went to high school with. (Nell, if you ever read this, your call didn't come through, so I don't have your number!)  Fun way to start out the day, that's for sure!  This was Lachlan and Torin's first time, and I think they enjoyed it.  We watched the U of M jugglers for a while, and Lachlan has been trying to juggle ever since.  He's got a ways to go...We also went to the Miracle of Life building and saw all sorts of adorable newborn animals.  Lachlan was able to drive a simulated tractor there.  He didn't understand that he needed to steer so as not to crash into the corn, so he ended up crashing into the corn and oh did it startle him!  He jumped off his seat, I think.  It was pretty funny.

Eventually all our party was there, so it was time to eat!  We had the usual: Mouth Trap cheese curds, nitro ice cream, veggies on a stick, candy bar on a stick (shared with 3 people-don't judge!)  And of course, the bottomless cup of milk.  This was Torin's first taste of cow's milk.  What a great place to try it!  And I think an Auntie even gave him some chocolate milk.

Busted!

 

Torin, you're messy!  But did you like the milk?

'Yeeeeeeaaaaaah!'

We remembered that our Aunt was working at a booth that day, so we went to go find her.  Found her!  She was at the apple booth, and gave us a taste of the 'Sweet Tango'-the hottest new apple of the season.  As she was cutting it up and telling us about it, another party was stopping, thinking that she was giving away free samples!  Well she was, I guess, but not to the public.  She was kind enough to share.  : )  And then she had a bone to pick with me: what's up with the blog?!?!?  She was looking and waiting, and there was nothing new.  Sorry, Aunt Joanie!  Here's 2 in one night for you!  : ) Love you!  And thanks again for the delicious apples-nice contrast to everything else we were eating. 

Lachlan loungin and enjoying his Sweet Tango apple

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Fun to see you, AJ and Aunt Joanie!

Until next year, we will have to wait for more of the amazing this to eat at the state fair....I hope I can wait that long.  I guess I will have to.

Love ya, mean it!
Be here now.

Look who's ONE! (and 3 months, 3 days)

Well I hope you weren't holding your breath from the last post-I told you not to!  This post is dedicated to our sweet sweet boy, Torin-sorry this is so late, but I am glad that you don't know the difference right now!

Here's the story of his big day(s):
Our last day in WI Dells was actually Torin's 1st birthday, September 4th.

Night before the big '0-1'.

We packed up and headed out after we sang Happy Birthday of course.  On our way out, we stopped by a waterfall for some birthday pictures, once again ate at the train restaurant, and stopped in at the Disney Store, where the helped Torin celebrate.  And then we drove many hours to get back home. 

The next day, we continued to celebrate!  The morning was spent at the State Fair (stay tuned!) and then Torin's first family birthday party.  He had a blast!  Not sure what his favorite thing was: the opening of the gifts or the eating of the cake.

First gift

Some spectators

Well, it looks like he likes the book!

More spectators

Umm, not yet, Sweetie!

holy big bear!

Ok so story of the cake: we are not cake experts, like some other lady I know!  : ) Luke had this gorgeous thing in his head, but perhaps took a few risks in the baking process.  We tried to layer it, and it was just missing something, so we added cookies, and realized it kind of looked animalistic.  And I would like you to guess what animal it is!  ; )  Then we added the ONE candle for his birthday, and, well, take a look at it when it's all lit up.  Perhaps not the best role model of an animal...

See what I mean?

He was appalled at the smoking creature--really he wanted the candle.

'Ok, I'm all better now'

'Oh this is just so yummy!'

To our dear Torin, what a joy you have been to us this past year (and then some!)  We are so grateful and so blessed that we are able to raise you and love you and show you God's love.  We pray you will be an honest and truth-seeking man.  We love you!

Love ya, mean it!
Be here now.

Wisconsin Dells!

After the wedding on the farm, we had just enough time to do some laundry and get settled only to pack up again and head to Wisconsin Dells!  This was the first time that just the four of us were going on vacation.  That means we were totally in charge of everything.  If I forgot to pack something, I couldn't rely on anyone else having it.  All things considered, it went pretty well!  There were some things that we thought 'let's do this differently next time' (can't quite remember what they are...oops!) but for the most part, we made do with what we had and what our schedule was.  We were about 50 yards away from the pool and playground.  Score!  So we were in the pool pretty much every day.  Lachlan loved it.  Torin dealt with it.  We wanted to see if Lachlan would wear those blow-up water wings so we wouldn't have to carry him the whole time we went swimming, but he wouldn't have anything to do with them.  Well, we got a work out, then!

Look, Ma!  No hands!

We were excited to go biking while we were here.  Luke got a new bike this summer and since the two of us just can't go, we also purchased a bike trailer for the boys.  Our goal was to bike to the 'lake'.  More on that later.  We sunscreened up,

snacked and watered up, and head on our way. 

He was so excited to show off his helmet and sunnies.

Hooray!  Let's go.

The way to the 'lake' was quite lovely (minus Luke's chain getting stuck).  We were on the road, but it wasn't too busy.  The boys did great riding together.  By the time we arrived at the state park where the 'lake' was, it was getting pretty warm, but we made it!
And now we would like to present the 'lake'.

Now perhaps I am just spoiled with the lakes that we have here in MN, but this is more like a pond!  And half of it is covered with green gunk.  No one told us we were headed to the pond.  Oh well.  It was an adventure!  We had a nice break from biking and hung out at the playground they had.  I put Torin down, and before his butt had even touched the wood chips, he had some in his mouth.  And since it had sprinkled the night before, they got all over his face.  Mix that with some cracker crumbs, you have a typical 1-year old crawling boy face.

Where's Torin?

Peek-a-boo! 

Lachlan enjoyed watching the shenanigans of his brother.

Before we biked back the four of us sat on a bench, and we realized that there was an echo.  I said 'Hello!' and after the word was out of my mouth, then you heard the echo 'Hello!'  Talk about a real echo!  This was Lachlan's first time experiencing an echo in nature.  I think one of my favorite part of being a parent is watching your child learn.  Watching them learn.  We could see him try to understand what an echo was.  He tried it out, he listened to what happened, he asked questions about it.  After we said 'hello' to everyone in our family (aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents) and a few other things, we all left the words 'I love you, Jesus' to ring out and vibrate across the water and the trees and the sky.  Thank you, Lord for that beautiful moment.

Luke did an AMAZING job pulling the boys to and from our condo.  I helped out by adding words of encouragement now and then, supporting any breaks he needed to take, and then finally pulling the boys on his bike up the last hill.  Goodness, that is tricky!  Good job, Dada!
We hit up Buffalo Phil's for dinner, which had a toy train come right by our table to drop off our drinks and food.  They also had macaroni and cheese.  This was Lachlan's favorite restaurant of all time. 

Oh my goodness!

I asked for a side of corn for Torin.  Little did I know that it was still on the cob.  That didn't stop this little guy.

He was sad when it was all done.

We of course went on a Wisconsin Dells Duck ride.  All four of us enjoyed ourselves.  We loved the scenery.  Luke and I tolerated the corny jokes from the tour guide.  A lot of groaners, but still quite enjoyable.  Being able to experience it all together was probably the best part-seeing the excitement in the boys' eyes and on their faces was priceless!

We rode one of those

From land to river

Awesome sandstone

Someone was mad and threw the piano over the rock

Lachlan loved the ball in the water!

We spent a day downtown Dells, hung out at the resort place, and the day we left was Torin's 1st birthday! (Next blog.  Don't hold your breath, though...)  Spending this much time together was so enriching.  It was great to be so focused on the boys and just be us. 

Storytime before bedtime.

Lachlan lined these up.

This store had so much 'noise' in this corner.  The ice cream was yummy, though.

Lachlan was really into the racquetball

Our sleeping arrangements.

Getting the camera ready for our family picture.

Still getting the camera ready for our family picture.

I want to go to there.

Ok, can we just talk about how great this picture is?  This was only the 2nd try and there is no photoshop-ing! (I wouldn't even know how to do that...)  What a way to end a family vacay--all smiles!

Love ya, mean it.
Be here now.
(Did ya miss us?)  ; )