Laura's Day with Oma

As a last hurrah of summer vacation, Pam offered to take each of the kids out for a special day. When she asked Laura what she would like to do today, or where she would like to go, her only response was "a bookstore." Ok, easy enough! After breakfast today, they went to the Mall of America, and lucky for Laura, she got to go to more than just a bookstore.

On the way, Laura read in the car, as she always does for car trips longer than 2 minutes.

Laura is always right at home in the middle of a Barnes & Noble.

Then they went to Build-a-Bear, where Laura got to bring home a new pink unicorn named "Star."

And you can't go to the Mall of America without stopping at the American Girl Store, where Laura picked up a new pet cat for her dolls.

Whenever Laura is with one her grandparents, she makes them take her to lunch at Burger King (since her parents won't go there).

Laura capped off her fun day with an ice cream bar. After all that fun, Laura said she had enough excitement and came home.

Tomorrow is Karl's big day with Oma, so stay tuned for the next update!

The Great Minnesota Get Together

As per our yearly traditon, we got up before dawn to head down to the State Fair. Our fair festivities always begin with the Milk Run, which is nice because then I get my workout out of the way and can eat guilt-free the rest of the day!

This year I ran with Jason, Angie, and Mike. I was very nervous going into this one because I've been sick and haven't been able to run much this month, and it always takes every ounce of athleticism I have to keep up with these three. It was a tough race for me, but every year I've somehow run it faster, so I must be doing something right!

Jason, Angie, Me, Mike

This was our cheering section: Lamiae (holding Baby Justin) and Matt with Colin, Laura, and Karl.

Matt was glad to have Lamiae around to help him watch the kids during the race, especially since Karl and Colin cannot help but wrestle whenever they are together.

They worked out a deal where Lamiae would be in charge of Justin, and Matt would watch the other three. Lamiae thought she had the easy job until Justin started crying as soon as the race started!

He quickly settled down though, and was fast asleep in her arms when we finished running.

Here come Jason and Mike!

And here comes Angie (with some random guy)!

And here I come, so glad the finish is in sight!

The kids are very good about waiting hours before actually getting to do anything at the fair, but this is how we've always done it, so they don't know any other way. I wonder if they realize that other kids don't have to sit through an early morning race just to visit the fair. I think one day they'll learn to love the Milk Run, especially when they get to run in it!

Here they are after the race, waiting for people to drop stuff off at the car, before we can FINALLY have some fun.

After the Sky Ride, we went to the Giant Slide. Laura worked up the courage to do it for the first time this year and she loved it! The little person you see coming down the slide here is Karl:

The first fair food we bought was mini doughnuts.

Then it was off to the rides!

Look how brave Laura is!

This was Matt's favorite ride because he like the mermaid.

This is what the fair looked like as we tried to navigate around with two kids (who are too big for strollers so we had nothing with which to push our way through!).

We stopped at the education building to look at Cousin Aly's award winning artwork (it's the picture of the girl with a blue ribbon attached)!

One of highlights of the fair for Laura is the pancake on a stick, served with all the maple syrup you can eat!

Whew! What a day! Good thing we only go to the fair once a year!

Minnesota Zoo

Today was a great day to spend at the zoo with Angie, Jason, Colin, and Justin.

Can you see the little turtles lined up on the log, basking in the sun?

Karl got ahold of the camera for awhile. This was one of his pictures.

On the Monorail (Laura had been waiting all day for this!)

Holding Justin is a great way to get my baby fix.

Karl rides a fish at the playground while Baby Justin gets some lunch.

This was a big draw at the playground at the zoo: a giant mosquito.

Karl and Colin in the giant spiderweb.

We decided to get a snack before we headed home, and Karl insisted on getting this giant lollipop. I knew it wouldn't be a good idea...

Saying Goodbye to our Favorite Neighbors

For the last 3 1/2 years Jim and Connie have lived across the street from us, and Laura and Karl have taken full advantage of hanging out with their cousins Josh and Luke. Karl would often check the window to see if Luke was outside, and if so, he'd go flying out the door calling behind him, "I'm going out to play with Luke!" Whenever we were away too long and needed someone to let the dogs out, all we had to do was call Connie. Whenever our lawnmower broke, I got to use Jim's riding one. During the school year, we always knew that when Josh and Luke came out in the morning to our driveway, it was time for Laura to go out and get in line for the bus. And they kept such a nice yard!

So today was a very sad day, when we had to watch the moving trucks pull up to their house, the movers working quickly to load up all of their things before taking it to Wisconsin. Jim, Connie, Josh, and Luke had a quick lunch with Mom, Dad, the kids, and me before following their belongings to Osceola, where they'll have more space and fewer neighbors. We're glad that they're only moving 45 minutes away, but it won't be the same around here.

Last night Karl and Luke spent some quality time together before the big move.

Laura, Karl, Luke, Josh

It was heartbreaking to see Karl watching them leave. All day long he kept going to the front window, saying, "Why'd they have to move? Now there's nothing to see outside this window!"

Jim and Connie, we wish you all the best in your new home, but we're missing you guys already!

The Last Week at the Pool

The Rush City pool closes this coming weekend, so we're getting in our last-minute swimming for the summer. Yesterday, the Minnesota Meissner cousins got together to play at the pool, and today Karl and I spent the afternoon there.

Karl, Laura, Aly, and Emily

Since today was probably the last warm and sunny day for the week, we probably won't be back to our favorite summer hangout until next year. I have a sneaking suspicion we'll be hitting a few indoor waterparks this winter though...