feeling cheesy...

feeling cheesy: on monday we made a surprise visit to daddy in the cities. This was probably the last time we could do that for a little while, since school is starting soon. We decided to go to Chuck E. Cheese for some food and a little fun.

Check out some of our "fun"...

(julie, does this song remind you of anything?) tick-tock...
watch out, grandpa...there are some future hunters coming your way!

giddy up!

livia intently riding the "horse game"

i love sophia's face on this one!

don't "bug" me, i'm having a good time!

deck-tacular...

deck-tacular: it is official! we have finished staining and inlaying pavers into our deck. Here are some pictures so you can see the progress! this is what the "garden" and lawn looked like before we purchased the house in 2007
this is after we stained the fence and put in sand and a play set into the "garden"

these are the pavers that bobby inlayed in the deck where the hot tub used to be...
the hot tub never worked- :(
(1/2 stained deck)

oops! someone stepped in the stain! who could it be?

this is a picture of the backyard before we purchased the house

this is "after" we stained, put in the pavers, and placed rock around the deck

what a difference, huh?

you can actually see that the deck is still wet from the stain

livia's lovely day...

livia's lovely day: livia and i celebrated our 4th annual "mother/daughter day" on tuesday. we decided to stay in hutchinson and have some fun here: mini-golfing, manicure, lunch, and a movie. we had a lovely day! 2010
2009

2008

2007

getting ready to mini-golf

this is usually where livia would start her putt (notice the water on the green...there was some rain the evening before)

nice technique!

livia getting her fingernails "done"

look at those nails and the pretty diamonds!

lunch at mcdonald's and then time to play in the playplace

ending the day with a movie, "despicable me" and some treats!

it was a great day!

woods wee-union...

woods wee-union: we drove to winthrop this afternoon to visit with some of the woods family. My dad's sister, Betty, is home from California, so the family decided to have a small ("wee") get together this afternoon. We had a great time visiting with family, eating, and taking advantage of "country living" ;). the girls waiting for the goldfish to nibble on their fingers
livia tried and tried to catch a fish...no luck!

hanging out in the hammock...

taking a walk with grandma...

trying to get out of the sunshine and beat the heat

sophia and daddy checking out the farm

bringing us flowers

livia on the tree swing

(there used to be a tire swing on this branch when i was livia's age)

sophia's special day...

sophia's special day: sophia and i had our first "mommy/daughter" day today. It has been a tradition with Livia to go on a mommy/daughter date one time in the summer before school begins. This year Sophia and I visited A-maze 'N Farmyard, ate at McDonald's (Sophia's choice), and went out for ice cream together at DQ. Sophia was so much fun , and I look forward to more of these "dates"in the future.sophia in front of the barn with her goat feed (in an ice cream cone)

can you tell sophia liked all the cut-out signs?

in front of the horses (later, she had a pony ride on the brown horse in the background)

taking a jump in the hopper

holding her ducks

moving her ducks to the other side with water

retrieving her duck and trying it again

roughin' it...

roughin' it: it has been WAY too hot and humid here to get outdoors in the evening time. So, we decided to pitch the giraffe tent in the living room and have a little fun! This is what I call roughin' it... the girls in their sleeping bags
the giraffe tent takes up most of our living room

i did it!

i did it: livia PASSED her level 1 swimming test yesterday. i was a little nervous while she was taking her test, but she did great! She was so proud, and of course, we were too! Take a look... can you see where they check the box if she passed?
what a proud little girl...one of many accomplishments we will be "bragging" about as she grows ;)

summertime...

summertime: on sunday, my mom, bobby, the girls and i packed up our bikes and headed into wayzata. We visited the Nuremberg Gardens on Lake Minnetonka and hit the bike trails on the Bakers Reserve. It was a lovely birthday (the only exception would be that Livia's bike broke in the middle of the trail) with my family! I am so blessed... livia took this picture of her favorite flowers at the garden
grandma and her girls

livia took this picture of grandma and her sidekick, sophia

looking out on lake minnetonka