Penelope and Max

Mike and Lamiae made a quick trip to San Antonio, so Penelope got to have her cousin Max stay with us for a few days. Max and Penelope are two of the laziest dogs in the world, so they get along very well together. Max quickly got used to the routine of laying around all day sleeping, just like Penelope.

Max is thinking, "Geez, what a weird looking dog!" while Penelope thinks, "Could he be any uglier?"

"Yes, I DO need this whole entire bed for myself! Besides, you snore."

Max moves in for a quick kiss while Penelope does her best to ignore him.

The odd couple.

Chisago County Fair

It's county fair time in Rush City, even though our weather makes it seem more like football season. Today we made the obligatory trip to the fairgrounds to look at the farm animals, eat corn dipped in a bucket of butter, and, for the first time ever, we let the kids ride on some of the creaky rides (usually we just say, "those rides are junky; we'll ride on the nice rides at the State Fair instead!" but that didn't work this year).

This is the latest installment of our project called "subjecting our children to the horrors of scary rides."

Later we met up with Pam, Fred, Tanya, Jeff, Aly, and Emily to watch the parade.

Then we had a candy picnic at Pam and Fred's house. Laura had to go home and brush her teeth after eating all that candy (good thing she got some toothpaste at the parade!). Actually, the kids didn't eat that much, but I ended up feeling sick with a belly full of Tootsie Rolls.

Robots and Rockets

Karl started a new class this week at the Science Museum, called "Robots and Rockets." When I picked him up from the first day on Monday, he couldn't stop talking about it. He was still talking when we met Matt for lunch.

On Wednesday, he got to bring home the robot he designed. This robot's name is "Water." It's designed to test the soil around plants and flowers and water them if they need it (see all those hoses?). "It's so you can have a beautiful garden, Mommy!" Karl also reminded me that this robot is not real. "It doesn't have batteries or anything. It's just to let you know what it would look like."

Laura's Dream Day

It started with a hearty breakfast of maple syrup...

...then we all headed off to St. Paul. First we dropped Karl off at his "Robots and Rockets" class in the Science Museum, and then Matt dropped Laura and me off at the library while he went to work for a couple hours. Laura's jaw dropped when she saw it; it's a little bit bigger than the Rush City library.

She quickly got comfy with a pile of books while I got some writing done.

When Karl's class was over, we walked across the street to pick him up, then the three of us walked to Matt's building to meet him for lunch. Karl pointed out all the things you can see from the 29th floor. "..and way back there you can see the Lino Lakes water tower!"

Karl loves Matt's building because it has a revolving door, which is one of my phobias. On our way out to the car, Matt forgot something in his office so he went back up to get it while we waited downstairs. Karl tormented me the whole time by going around and around in the revolving door. It was hard to watch.

Soon we were off to the Mall of America. First stop: The American Girl store, of course! Laura got to pick out another doll we had promised her (it's a long story). She chose a "Just Like Me" doll (which she promptly named "Laura"). The first thing we did was bring the new doll down to the doll beauty shop, so she could have her ears pierced. Now the two Lauras look exactly alike! (Except Laura didn't wear earrings today because we took them out last night for soccer and forgot to put some in today. Shoot!)

Next, we went to Lego Land for Karl. He got a Lego keychain. (What? You don't think that's fair? Well, he seemed ok with it! Don't worry. He has his big days too.)

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon riding at rides in the amusement park.

This ride was NOT fun... although the little girls next to them seemed to be enjoying it...

We even ran into a couple celebrities.

Our last stop was Barnes & Noble, one of Laura's favorite stores in the world. On the way home, Laura read to Laura.

And finally, since I'm busy working on this blog, I forgot to put Laura to bed, so she just got tucked in and it's after 10! Wow, what a great day!

Karl in Mid-Air

Today we spent some time at the pool with Pam, Fred, and Aly (who, along with Laura, is staying overnight with Oma and Opa tonight). Laura spent her time the usual way, alternating between playing in the shallow water and reading (she always brings a stack of books to the pool). Karl and Aly spent a lot of their time jumping into the deeper water. Since Matt was with us today, he was able to get some great action shots.

Aly was not to be outdone by Karl's jumping.

Soon they were getting fancy and jumping at the same time.

Sneak attack!

Of course, Karl also went down the big waterslide a few hundred times.

Laura has no problem doing her own thing. She was not about to be pressured into jumping into that deep water! Ahh, summer!

A Sandstone 4th of July

Yesterday we spent the afternoon and evening at Mike and Lamiae's house. Mike was kept busy the first few hours by taking people on tours to see the cattle, look for agates, check on the beaver dam, and to marvel at the usefulness of a forest mulcher.

Matt and I went on the tour with Mom and Dad.

Lamiae and Mom

Mom and Matt

I'm amazed I got the kids to stop for one second so I could take a picture: Colin, Laura, Damon, Karl, and Luke

After the tours were over, and after we ate Lamiae's yummy sloppy joes and potato salad, it was off for a pontoon ride. It's quite a walk to get to the dock, so we drove there. All the kids piled on to the six-wheeler, with Josh at the wheel! Good thing Connie climbed in at the last minute to supervise! (Although Josh turned out to be a great driver!)

Karl and Colin out on Miller Lake

Laura with Grandma

It was the perfect evening for a boatride!

Mom, Laura, Connie, and Josh

Karl even got a chance to drive the pontoon!

After our boatride, we came back to the house for ice cream cake. Baby Justin was happy just to play with plastic cups.

At last, it was time for the fireworks! Here is a typical reaction from the kids. Every year, Mike's fireworks seem to get more elaborate, and this year's show did not disappoint! Between our fireworks, the neighbors' fireworks, and the Finlayson fireworks that we could see from where we were sitting, it was a very sparkly night!