I’m so proud tonight for 2 reasons:

1.) The tomato plant continues to grow and has a whole bunch of tomatoes on it! Here is some proof:

It's getting pretty full and tall!

Some of the bigger tomatoes!

Some of the little guys!

2.) Adam has now had 2 swimming lessons where he participated and had fun! I was able to grab some pics at Thursday’s lesson:

Adam's in a class with 3 girls.

Practicing floating on his back

Practicing swimming with his teacher, Becca!

We have been meaning to get Adam signed up for swimming lessons. He loves the water and loves playing in it! He loves to jump in off the side and splash around. He’s comfortable in the water. He doesn’t use a life jacket or water wings. He’s been to numerous pools including the one at the community center.

I found a class that meets twice a week, in the evenings, for 4 weeks and signed him up. Tonight was his first class. I thought I had him all prepared. He knew I wouldn’t be in the water with him, but I would be near by and he knew he would have to listen to his teacher. I was wrong.

We got to the class and found his teacher. He froze. He would not get in the water!! I was by Adam and we were watching the other kids have fun during the class. I was trying to convince him to get in and join the class. No luck.

Then Taylor walked by. She is another swimming instructor that didn’t have a class going on at the time. She said she could try to convince Adam to get in. Boy did she have her work cut out for her! She tried everything she could think of! I went to put my feet in the water to show Adam how much fun it is. Nothing. She offered him candy after the lesson if he got in. Nope. She brought over some toy trucks that they could drive over to the edge and put in the water. Nada. Finally, not sure how, but the idea of all 3 of us putting our feet in the water sounded like a good idea to him. I put in my feet first, then Taylor, then Adam finally walked over and put his feet in! Taylor took him and they joined the class. He still didn’t do much, but at least he was in the water. At the end of the class, the other kids went down the fun caterpillar slide, but Adam didn’t want to do that either! He has gone down that slide lots of times so I don’t know why he wouldn’t do it tonight.

We have class again on Thursday and he says he’ll do better and get in the water right away. Stay tuned……

Thank you, Taylor for you patience and extra attention you gave my stubborn boy!!

That’s right! I haven’t killed the tomato plant yet!!! Amazing!!

It’s getting pretty tall and bushy! Check it out:

Go tomato plant, go!

June was cold, cloudy, rainy, not nice. I was concerned cuz I knew our BFFs were planning to come visit in July and I didn’t want them to be too cold! They live in the desert of Phoenix. In the past, they have come to visit between Christmas and New Year’s, but we decided it would be much more fun if they would come during the summer because we could get out of the house and actually DO fun stuff!

Becca, Brent, & their little dude Brady arrived to our house on Thursday afternoon. We played in the back yard for a while, then grilled up a yummy supper of pork chops and (my favorite!) tin foil potatoes. Delish! We walked to the park after dinner and played with the boys for a while. Then it was back home and tuck them into bed so the parents could indulge in a few adult beverages! Here are some pics from our first afternoon/evening:

Playing on our swing set

Playing at the park

Becca and I enjoying a couple drinks and a few laughs!

Friday we went to Lake Minnetonka Regional Park for a while in the morning. It was a beautiful day and a great time at the beach! Brady and Adam had a blast playing in the sand and we were all able to go for a few dips in the water:

Adam and Brady playing in the sand

Becca and I lounging

This is the only picture from the whole weekend of all 6 of us!

After the boys had their naps, we went out for supper, then back home for a bon fire! Adam and Brady found a bunch of frogs in the yard and had a blast playing with them. Then we cooked up some s’mores! Yum!! After they were in bed for the night, we burned our Christmas tree!! It was cool! We lit it in 3 sections and we probably had flames 15 feet high!

The boys cooking

Christmas tree in flames!

Saturday we woke up and went to the Minnesota Zoo!! Another beautiful day to be outside! We saw the dolphin show in the morning, then wandered through the zoo for a few hours after that. We stopped for lunch at the restaurant in the farm area. The boys had so much fun and it was great for us to watch them interact with each other and the animals!

Adam and Brady checkin out the leopard

They wanted to hold hand while they walked. So sweet!

After the zoo, the boys napped, then we were off to the lake for a boat ride!! We love being on the boat and wanted to share it with our friends. Brady was a little nervous, but he was a trooper. It was another fun outing!

Adam and Brady ready for the boat ride!

After the boys were in bed, the parents played with the Xbox Kinect! It was pretty fun!! Here is a shot of Becca & Brian doing a running race. It was a lot longer than they had expected and they were wiped! It was hysterical to watch!

Go! Go! Go!

Sunday morning we went to the Pancake House (of course!). Then we stopped to play at the park for a while, then played in the back yard for a while.

Looking for more frogs in the yard

Driving the Jeep!

One last self portrait at the park!

They left at nap time so Brady could sleep in the car. Duluth was their next destination to visit family!

Thank you, Himebaughs for another wonderful visit!! See ya in Phoenix in the fall!!  🙂

It all started with redoing Adam’s new room (we’re still waiting for his furniture by the way…). We decided the guest room could use a headboard/foot board and new comforter set. I decided to get some curtains too while I was at it. And since I was online ordering a comforter set for the guest room, I figured our room could use a new set as well…..and some curtains too, of course! And Brian was anxious to get something on the windows of the family room.

I would like to thank overstock.com for the bedding; Kohl’s for the curtains in the guest room and our room; JCPenney for the window treatments in the family room; and Mr. Guy (no idea what his actual name is!) from Craigslist for the great headboard/foot board at a super great price! Here are the results:

Guest room. New headboard/foot board, comforter and curtains.

New comforter set and curtains in our Master

Window treatments on the large family room window. There is a smaller window with smaller treatment also

It all looks pretty nice! It’s amazing what a few new comforters and sets of curtains will do for a home!

I was off work all of July 4th weekend and it was wonderful! I was able to see my brother and his family and we all hung out at my parents’ and played on the lake. The weekend started out a little iffy. I swear Mother Nature has it in for our family and doesn’t want us to get together! There was the blizzard in December, and tornadoes on July 1st!

Brian had been in Iowa all week and wasn’t getting home until late Friday night, so I decided to head out to my parents’ to see Adam (he had been staying with them since Brian was gone and I was working evening shifts) and to welcome Seth and his family. All was going well until just before I reached Glencoe. I looked off to my right and it looked pretty ‘swirly.’ Then all of a sudden the wind picked up and it was SO STRONG! Debris and trash were flying everywhere. I was terrified. It was like a scene out of a movie. I came upon a weather spotter truck that was pulled over and gathering info, so I knew this was definitely something. All I could think of to do was to just keep driving as fast as I could and get past it! I started to hear a really weird noise from my car. I couldn’t tell if it was the wind or if I had a flat tire or what. So I pulled over to check it out. Luckily, I didn’t blow away! The tires looked fine, so I kept going. I finally got past the awful wind and made it into Glencoe. I continued to hear the weird noise from my car, so I pulled into the DQ parking lot to have a closer look. Tires still ok, so I looked underneath the car and found part of my car was falling off! I must’ve run over some debris or something to knock it loose. Great. 6 PM on Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend, husband still in Iowa. I called Brian and sent him a picture over my phone. I was able to pull off part of what was hanging, and looked to be a cover of some kind so we decided it would be fine for me to finish my drive to my parents’.

Meanwhile, my brother and his family were making their way from Omaha and ran into some storms in SW MN. They weren’t allowed to drive through Redwood Falls because the storm damage was so bad! Eek!! Eventually, I made it to my parents’ and I was greeted by a super excited and surprised Adam! So sweet!! Then Seth arrived a short while later and we were all safe and sound. From then on, the weather was gorgeous for the rest of the weekend!

Brian came out to my parents’ Saturday morning and brought the boat.  My uncle brought his jet skis and we tried out my parents’ new Aqua Cycle. We were able to play on the lake all day! We grilled up a yummy supper and had a bon fire to make s’mores. What a wonderful day!!

Adam and I heading out on the Aquacycle

My dad on his 2nd full day of retirement. He's lovin' life!

Seth and Taylor on the jet ski

Grandpa & the girls on the aquacycle

Grandma made pancakes for all her grandkids!

Sunday was spent playing more outside and hanging out at my parents’. We went home Sunday night and the 3 of us played more on Monday the 4th. We took Adam fishing off the dock in Chaska where he caught a ton of sunnies!

One of Adam's big catches!

We took a dip in the pool:

And after Adam was in bed, Brian and I enjoyed some fireworks courtesy of our neighbors from the comfort of our cul-de-sac!

Then it was back to work for me on Tuesday…..