8 Years

We went to Centennial Lakes Park again this year for a picnic to celebrate our anniversary. It was a perfect evening of eating Five Guys, running around, rolling down hills, laying in the grass, swinging & shoulder rides. Thank you Gabe making this such a wonderful life together.

Music in the Park

The kids had a great time seeing Uncle Rylan & Aunt Elizabeth on their visit. We had a fun afternoon together at Centennial Lakes Music in the Park. It took Campbell a little bit to warm up, but Elizabeth got her dancing.

Uncle Rylan patiently feeding Blake tiny pieces of a fruit strip.

 Stopping to smell the roses.

River Walk

We met Grant, Dede, Ry, Elizabeth, Rachel & Matt for a delicious dinner at Pizza Luce. Campbell fell asleep on the drive & amazingly stayed sleeping as Gabe carried her into the restaurant and slept on his lap until the very end of dinner. (It was quite a big day with Splash Pad in the morning and a play in the afternoon.)

 Blake thought he was pretty funny when he kept putting his bowl on his head.

I can't believe it's taken us this long to go exploring along the river. The views were amazing! It was a perfect summer night shared with family.

Willie Wonka

Campbell & I met our friends K, L & C for another great play. Thanks to K's photoshop magic, we have a great picture that looks like it was taken while the play was going on. We'll definitely save our friends their spots for their return from their big adventure. The boys will be old enough to come along by then so we better get some more seats!

Happy Bday Gabe!

The kids were very excited about Daddy's birthday. Campbell helped me make a cake & picked out the Dora wrapping paper for the gifts. We had a nice dinner together as a family & then thanks to Angie coming over to watch the kids, we actually got to GO OUT to a movie!

Dipping Our Toes

We met our friends K, L & C at Lake Rebecca Park for a picnic. I got terribly lost going out there - thanks for nothing Google Maps, maybe this is a sign that it's finally time for a GPS? But it was worth it, the kids had a great time.

Blake's tongue cracks me up. Don't worry, he does it all the time now, not just for pictures.

The boys. It makes me a bit sad to think these little guys will be old...like 4 or so when our friends return from their big move across the pond. We'll definitely miss you guys!

The girls *just* dipping their toes.

Siblings

As soon as Blake saw Campbell this morning he trucked on over to her & gave her a hug. It was perhaps the sweetest thing I've ever seen. Although it did cause Campbell to lose her balance so she fell backwards - pulling Blake down with her and then she hit her head on the wall.

Fathers' Day at the Lake

Gabe spent most of the weekend working on trying to get the water pump running & making a little house to enclose it. 

Chatty Campbell was exhausted, but still was talking in this picture.

Happy Fathers Day! Blake made Gabe a tie with hand prints & Campbell made a card complete with little cuts on it (she's learning to use scissors & loves to add that finishing touch). We *let* Paul dig a trench for his Father's Day present and John *got* to work on electrical. We really appreciate the help from everyone!

On the way back home we stopped and let the kids stretch their legs. After a little posing & running around, the kids slept the rest of the way home. Good thing we have such good little travelers, otherwise we wouldn't be making the long trek every weekend!

Land of the Loon Parade

We enjoyed another year of eating breakfast & watching the Land of the Loon parade from Uncle Garet & Aunt Anna's house, right on the parade route. It was the first parade where Campbell understood how the candy thing worked, it was really fun to watch her get so excited about it.

Splash Pad

We've ventured to the Splash Pad several times already this summer. Campbell is a pro running through the fountains and Blake is just learning the ropes. He's usually seen sticking his tongue out and trucking around carrying his shovel.

Campbell-isms

Some entertaining things Miss Campbell has said lately:

• Gabe was talking to me while playing with Campbell & she said: Dad, you can't do 2 things....Mama can. I thought this was hilarious and very observant, if I do say so myself! True to the stereotype, I am better at multi-tasking.
• Another ego boost for me (I'm going to look back at these when she's 16): You're a genius, Mama!
• Giving a toy to Blake: There ya go 'lil fella.
• I told her I was going to make her favorite sandwich & she said: Whatcha say so that's my favorite sandwich. (She means, 'If you say so'.)
• And my favorite of the bunch. We were at the cabin and we kept having to haul buckets of water from the lake (this is before Gabe got the water running). She pulled out a facet from Gabe's work supplies and said: I want water that comes out of this.

Children's Museaum

We ventured to the Childrens Museum this weekend. The kids love it there. So many fun things to do for kids of all ages, even Blake had a great time. He was giving himself big open mouth slobbery kisses in this mirror, which YES, is gross considering all the potential germs, BUT it was so hilarious, I just had to get a picture.

2nd Allergy Appointment

Blake had his second appointment with the allergist today. Even though eggs is now added to the list of food that Blake is allergic to, I left feeling better than I did after the first appointment. I think it's because I've had time for it all to sink in. He's already not eating soy, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts & shellfish, why not just add another thing to the list?!? 

Some interesting statistics the doctor shared with us. 90% of kids outgrow their food allergies by age 5, which I'm hopeful about. Although it doesn't quite go along with some of the information I've read online (like only 9% of kids outgrow peanut allergies), but I guess only time will tell on that. If only he could outgrow some of the allergies it would be awesome! With Blake's elevated (normal is 0-12) total IGE level of 105 (tells that he has a tendency/predisposition to be allergic to things) there is a 80-90% chance that he'll develop hayfever & a 50% chance he'll develop asthma at some point. But again, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. 

We see the doctor again in a year unless Blake has some type of reaction, then we would see him right away. Someone who has kids with food allergies told me that it's re-defining a new normal. So that's what we're in the process of doing, I guess! Someday this new way of eating will second nature.

Public Debut

Today we ventured to the mall and Campbell wore 'real' undies vs. the 'practice' undies (pullups) she's been wearing for a while. It was a successful mission. I think she only had 1 accident the whole weekend at Nana & Papa's and no accidents since we've been home. So I decided this morning to break out the 'real' undies (again). Campbell was super proud showing the camera her Dora undies as you can see from her pose in this picture. (She's had some awesome bedhead lately as you can also see.)

Blake Update

Blake has been doing new fun things lately. I'm really excited that he's started signing - more (clapping his hands together) & all done (waving his hands up and down). He knows what the sign for milk is and I think he's done it a few times. He is (kinda) saying some more words: wawa (water), ah da (all done), ba (ball), da (that, duck or dog), da or da-dee (Daddy), tea (tree), ma (monkey and sometimes Mama). Just today he kept saying cheese for the pretend camera Campbell was using to take our picture. It sounded something like 'eese.'

He has learned to climb up on the couch, which is not good because he likes to get down head first. He's starting following some simple instructions like sometimes he'll sit for me. He can put the circle & square into the shape sorter. He's pointed to a dog & a duck in a book when I ask him where they are. He's started giving open mouth drooly kisses, which are the sweetest thing ever. He still looks like a drunken sailor walking around with his big baby belly and skinny legs, but he sure can get around.

He's usually found with a remote control or a ball in his hand and sometimes both.  And earlier tonight I found him with his feet a good 6 inches off the ground climbing up the sheer face of the entertainment center trying to get the remote control. ARG!

Week at the Cabin

Gabe had last week off & we spent all 9 days at our cabin. I watched the kids and Gabe worked all day and into the nights with not many breaks. With help from his dad and Jim, by the end of the week we now have running water! Which involved getting the pump set up to draw water from the lake, setting up the pressure tank, running the drain pipes, hooking up to the septic, installing the bathroom floor, running the water lines and voila - there is water running to the kitchen sink and a toilet installed upstairs.

Although there were some challenging moments with the kids (Campbell testing her limits with me and Blake being miserable and not napping much with his top eye teeth coming in) we had an awesome time. It went by so fast & we can't wait to go back.

It was a marathon of a trip to the lake on Saturday. We left at 9 am and didn't get to the cabin until 6 pm. We stopped in Forest Lake to pick up a mattress, North Branch for some pipe, Melrude to visit Ginia-mom & Papa Stan and to check out some wood. Plus stops for gas (the car really sucks the gas when pulling a full trailer), eating and diaper changes - I lost count of how many times we stopped.

The gate we got from Craigslist paid for itself in the first 5 minutes of use by keeping Blake out of the construction zone. He didn't seem to mind being caged up with so many toys to play with.

Campbell's boots kept coming off while she was playing in the muddy trench. 

Campbell said she was 'mud skiing down the muddy mountain' and was singing the 'I'm cool, cool, cool, watch me now' song from Backyardigans.

Washing rocks in a bucket ended with Campbell washing herself in a bucket.

Soothing soak after an afternoon of playing in the mud.

Blake hasn't gotten the electritcy and water don't mix lesson yet. And yes, he does have Christmas PJ's on.

Cousin Luke reading to Campbell. She cried when he had to leave.

Campbell averaged 2 ice cream cones day at the cabin. In my defense, there wasn't very much ice cream in each cone.

The barge came on Friday and brought 6 truck loads of fill (2 barge loads). They filled in the pipe that hooks up to the septic and did some leveling of the front to get water to run away from the footings. This picture doesn't really do it justice of showing how massive the barge is (it has two 250 horse motors on the back). Blake was enthralled with the Bobcat going back and forth with the dirt.

John & Jim working on installing the upstairs toilet.

Campbell took naps every day at the cabin (which is unheard of at home). It's hard work playing in the mud all day! So she got to stay up late & we had several nights of S'mores.

A few mornings it was super cold in the uninsulated main room. This morning it was 49 degrees inside & Blake was shivering eating his breakfast, but warmed up once he got his Carhart on & his own personal space heater set up. As you can see, he didn't seem to mind.

Blake helped Daddy install the pressure tank.

For some reason Campbell took off her pants while she was playing outside one day and  I just couldn't resist. Sorry grown up Campbell, but I don't think there's anything more adorable than a little baby butt.

I suppose there should be at least 1 picture of Gabe working in here. 

This is my favorite picture of the weekend. Blake LOVES to drive the boat & he takes it very seriously. We were cruising along at about 25 miles per hour & notice Gabe's hands. Starting young is how those Amundson boys learn to drive a boat so well!

We ended our vacation with a kid-less weekend shared with our good friends. As usual when we get together, we had a lot of laughs. Some memorable moments from the weekend - the torrential downpour during our pontoon ride, the drunk old guy falling over the railing onto the potted plant at the Landing (NO he wasn't part of our group), the Mayfly invasion at the beach, and the funnel cloud spotting while we were on the pontoon.

A HUGE thank you to my parents for watching the kids all weekend. I know it's a lot of work - hopefully you've recovered!