Monthly Archives: August 2024

What a week. The boys were at a cabin with my mom all week, so Nate and I called it our DINK week. For those that don’t know that term, it means, Dual Income No Kids. That was us. For the week.

My mom and the boys had a blast at the cabin. They were right on the lake, the weather was gorgeous, there were plenty of snacks, and much to do. We weren’t sure how long they would last before they got homesick, so this was an experiment. They were supposed to be gone Sunday-Saturday, and they made it until Thursday, which was pretty good. My mom sent regular photos, so I was able to follow along on their adventure. It was very quiet at our house and I didn’t have to do laundry or make any meals or snacks. It was fantastic.

I took one photo during our week- the first night, when Nate said, “we should have puppy chow” and I made a giant bowl and we ate that and drank cocktails. One night we ate a charcuterie board on the couch for dinner! We ordered thai food. We went out to drinks on a patio and dinner with our DINK neighbors Andy, Heather, Aaron and Melissa. It was all very relaxed.

A customer who bought cookies from me made a random post in the neighborhood facebook group, and as a result, I got a TON of new orders. So I was busy baking while the boys were gone.

By Thursday, the boys missed us a lot and so they came home (sporting new snazzy matching shoes). I really enjoyed our child-free week, but I missed them so much and I was happy to have them home. Thursday and Friday were casual days- a trip to the batting cages, lots of playing with toys, video games, scooter-ing, and early bedtimes.

The boys will both be playing lacrosse and so on Saturday, we had to go and get all their gear. Luckily, our next door neighbor Aaron played lacrosse and so he gave the boys a lesson in throwing and catching. They are both very excited for practices to begin.

Sunday has been the day we’ve been looking forward to for weeks now- Augustus’s birthday party AND the Sorenson’s corn boil.

Corn boil was first. I know I’ve said it before, but my neighbors can cook! We had a delicious lunch and hung out (not for as long as I would have liked, but what a great start to the day!).

Finally it was time for the birthday party. Poo Augustus has been SO patient but so so excited. He’s asked every day for 2 weeks if it was his party yet. The theme was Plants vs Zombies, which is a book series and a video game. Gussie and I have been reading all the books this year (there are 25 I think) and everything was based on the books.

We had super fun treat bags that included chocolate brains, “popsmarts” which are a brain flavored treat for the zombies (in our case, poptarts), zombie squish balls, slime, and stickers. I also had a big planter filled with stuffed plants and zombies as prizes. We had a three layer cake covered in zombies and brains.

The kids started with a little project, which was using little planters and they filled them with chocolate pudding and crushed oreos (dirt) and then added their “pea shooter” spoon.

I had 3 theme games- the first was using marshmallow shooters to shoot at targets I had hung all over the yard. The targets were pictures of zombies. Eventually, the kids just shot marshmallows at each other and the yard was filled with mini marshmallows.

Next up, we headed to the front yard to walk the tight rope. Once each kid got to the end, they got a balloon that they had to pop and inside was a clue. Every kid popped a balloon and then they sat together to go over the clues (which were 10 different pictures of random objects).

Once they had their clues, they returned to the back yard to find those 10 items that were hidden around the yard. Once they collected them, they had to follow a diagram I had made to build a sun vacuum. In the books, Zomboss (the leader of the zombies) builds a sun vacuum, but it explodes and their parts go everywhere. The good guys rush around trying to collect all their pieces before Zomboss can rebuild the machine.

I had a very loose design from the book. I attached everything with velcro and little hooks. Everything was color-coded. The kids followed the diagram and assembled it very successfully! Once they did that, we awarded their prizes and then had birthday cake.

After cake, it was time for the run around and be insane portion of the party. The kids were sugared up, excited, and ran wild for about 20 minutes until parents arrived and we handed out treat bags and sent everyone on their way. Success!

The party ended, but, like this entire summer, it wasn’t the end of the fun. Sam and Abby stayed and the 4 kids went right into the pool. Kelly, Silas, Nate and I sat and had drinks, then we ordered pizza and had dinner in the backyard. After dinner and more cake, the kids played a little longer, but then it was inside for showers and early bedtime. They were exhausted!

We have 2 more weeks of summer fun and while I never want summer to end, I am looking forward to a little less nonstop fun and a little more routine. But until then, 2 weeks of summer ahead!

August has arrived and summer is not slowing down.

This week the boys were at Hamline University for All Sports Camp. They got to choose 4 sports and then switched between them each day. Both boys were in baseball, basketball, soccer and swimming. They also got to eat in the University dining hall, which included pizza every day, unlimited pop, ice cream and the independence to choose whatever they wanted. They definitely enjoyed sampling Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew and all the pops they’ve never been allowed to have. They also enjoyed the sports and it was a really well-run program.

On Friday night, we had a barbecue at my house and I only took one photo! Jason, Michelle and their boys were in town from Texas, so we had a nice little family gathering! The weather was perfect, the food was good. Aaron and Melissa came over from next door and Danny attempted to teach the 3 of us to double under (which is jump roping when the rope goes under twice for each jump). We also had birthday cake and presents because it was Augustus’ birthday the next day.

Jackson and Sawyer are 22 and 20, but were drawn to the slack line ninja course and ended up playing with our boys for over an hour. I wish they lived in Minnesota! It was such a wonderful night!

On Saturday, Augustus turned 7 years old! I can’t believe how much times flies. We started the day with birthday pancakes. And then it was time to spend the day celebrating my cousin Deena who had her first (of 2!) weddings. Deena married Chris, who is Hmong, so they had a Hmong wedding and in September, they will have a Western wedding.

Once again, the weather was gorgeous. Deena and Chris were beautifully dressed. There were drinks and appetizers BEFORE the wedding began. The wedding was in both Hmong and English. It was a lovely and special day. But after the ceremony, that’s when it got more interesting.

Chris’s family was the warmest, most welcoming, fun, inviting group of people I’ve ever been around. They were so kind and absolutely wouldn’t let us sit back and not party with them. They initiated MANY rounds of drinks, which led to Nate, Danny and Jason, as well as Jackson (for the first time) taking multiple shots. A large group of people took birthday shots in honor of Augustus, so, yes, my 7 year old learned to take shots (with coke).

We had such an amazing time. I love my family and we just don’t get to spend enough time together, so that was wonderful to begin with. But Chris’s family were unbelievable hosts and I am so excited to see all of them again in September.

By the time we left the wedding, I was exhausted. It was such a great day, but I am an introvert and I was tired. We got home and ate some leftovers from the night before and I was ready for bed, but no. Nope.

Aaron and Melissa had their nieces over for the night. Earlier this summer, they visited and really hit it off with the boys. So they were so excited the girls were back. We all ran next door to help put up the tent, and then the kids all got in the pool. Shortly after that, one of Melissa’s friends came over and brought her 2 kids, which just added to the fun. The 6 kids ran between the pool and the sauna and then Aaron hooked the Switch up to the projector and it was time for outdoor video gaming.

Next up, Melissa brought out PILES of candy and bags of popcorn, and all the kids snuggled into chairs, a hammock, on pillows, and at 9pm, we started an outdoor movie. Candy, snacks, movie, staying up until 11pm- could summer get any more fun?! I don’t think so. I was deliriously tired, but just having the best day/night ever.

Sunday morning, the boys slept slightly later than the usual 6am, but they were up and ready to go.

8:50am text from Melissa- “Waffles are ready and the fire is hot! Come over!” You don’t have to tell me twice. What a way to start the day!

The original plan was for me to drop Augustus at my mom’s house at 9:30, but waffle s’mores were quickly followed by pool/sauna time, so we had to alter the day for more fun.

Nate and Xander went to a Twins game (we had to make up for him missing our when all of us went while he was at camp). Eventually, I dropped Gussie at my mom’s house.

My mom has rented a cabin for the week and the boys will be staying with her until Saturday. Nate and I will be living the child-free life and I’m a little anxious as I’ve never been away from the boys for this long, but I am going to try to relax.

Xander and Nate has a great day at the game (Xan got a free backpack!) . And my mom and Augustus texted me right away to let me know that the cabin is awesome! It’s going to be a quiet week for me and Nate, and an fabulous week for the boys!

Our second year of Camp Juliet was a huge success. This tradition started 3 years ago when a group of us camped in our backyard and had so much fun that we decided to actually go camping last year. This year we were back and better than ever. 21 of us headed to Silas’s parents’ cabin to spend the weekend hanging out. It is becoming one of the absolute highlights of my year.

We had a pre-camp tie dye party earlier in the week and I felt such joy seeing everyone arrive in their new shirts! Even Boyd (the dog) had a fancy new bandana to wear. Stephanie designed the logo (the outline is the shape of Mac Groveland on the map) and I am just tickled every time I look at it.

We had 21 of us (Eric and Sarah were missing when we did group photos but they were there too!).

We all arrived in the early afternoon on Friday. The kids were in the water within minutes of arrival while the adults got tents set up, coolers unpacked and very shortly afterwards, were also at the beach with drinks in hand.

This year, we decided to have a “choose your own adventure” board and the kids worked QUICKLY to get as many stickers to check off their lists. They wanted the prize I promised to anyone who completed it (unfortunately, I waited until Sunday to hand out prizes).

Kelly and Silas had a brand new “hot dog” that we inflated and the kids were obsessed all weekend. On Sunday morning, Kelly, Melissa and I rode it and I finally understood why that was the first thing out of the boys’ mouths every morning- it was incredibly fun. The kids swam, spent hours catching fish in little nets, fished with actual poles for a while, caught frogs and built houses for them, ran around like wild children of the woods. The adults relaxed, swam, ate good snacks, drank good drinks, and laughed a lot. Grown ups helped whichever kid needed something and kids didn’t shout “mom!” the whole time, instead, took advantage of a plethora of helpful adults to hand out snacks or untangle fishing lines.

On Friday night, we ate hot dogs and a pot luck of one million amazing foods (my neighbors all know how to cook!). Then we boated over to a nearby bar for some drinks, a little bit of karaoke, and kiddie cocktails for the kiddos. We were quite a spectacle, 2 boats of people in matching tie dye shirts.

We put the kids to bed in the tents and then sat around the campfire until way too late at night. Sean had made several brackets for us to argue about- think of a typical basketball bracket, but instead of teams, it was categories like appetizers, cheeses, 90s movies, etc. He had pre-made the brackets, so we got to vote (and debate and in some cases yell) Snickers vs. Twix, or Cheddar vs. Brie, or whatever category it was until we had an overall winner. So fun.

On Saturday morning, each tent could be heard having the same 6am conversation- “it’s super early, try to go back to sleep” followed by “can we go tubing yet?”. Kids were RARING to go.

The kids were in the water right away, while the adults sipped coffee and gradually woke up. Some people went for runs, some of us went for a long swim. Silas took the kids on the hot dog.

There is a super cool sandbar that we went to last year. This year, I found inner tubes on sale at Target, so I stocked up! We loaded up the tubes, dragged the kids on the hot dog, and headed over for an afternoon of relaxing, frisbee, drinks, floating, and chillin’. After we had been there for quite a while, the sky started to get a little dark, so we headed back to the cabin and did a mad-dash clean up- bringing chairs and everything else into the cabin in case of rain.

Once we got everything secure inside, we all headed to a little restaurant nearby to get pizza for dinner. The rain didn’t let up, so when we got back, I brought out an emergency stash of lego kits (I was prepared in case either of my boys needed quiet time away from everyone) and most of the kids piled in one room to lego. Toaster oven s’mores were just as yummy as over a fire, and we had plenty of other treats as well. Eventually we put the kids to bed (even in the rain, our tents all held up nicely, although I think it helped that we all had air mattresses that kept us off the ground and completely dry). We stayed up late playing games and relaxing- it didn’t matter that we were in a circle of chairs inside, rather than around a campfire.

On Sunday morning, we did more tubing, swimming, a campy craft project, and all agreed that we might need to extend camp by another day next year. It was just too much fun to only have Friday-Sunday.

July has been a nonstop series of fun things. Xander got home from camp on July 3 and so we ended up having a pretty low-key 4th of July. It was a rainy day and so we spent the day playing games and hanging out, then we had a pizza and movie night and the kids were in bed early. Sometimes in the midst of an insane calendar, you have to pace yourself, even if it is a holiday.

Our second week of July was spent at YMCA Camp Northern Lights for family camp. This is my FAVORITE week of every summer. We were unpacked and on the beach in record time this year (I think it was less than 30 minutes from when we pulled in to when the boys were in the water).

Water trampoline, kayaking, paddle boarding, staying up late, all camp soccer, art barn, age group time every day from 9-12, s’mores, family board games, ice cream at the camp store… we were busy but also relaxed.

Not my best planning ever, but when family camp ended, we had one day at home before leaving for Door County. The boys spent the day with Grandma Debbie at Como Town. I am so grateful for my mother- I literally don’t know what I would do without her. I was very relieved to have a quiet, uninterrupted day to unpack, re-pack, clean, and prepare. It was a quick turnover, but the next day we were off to Door County, WI.

The Door Co Triathlon has been on my vision board for a few years now and I finally signed up and was ready this year. .25 mile swim, 18 mile bike, 3 mile run. I didn’t have nearly enough time to train and had never actually biked 18 miles going into it. But I told the boys that I was going to do my best and show up and do the hard thing and that’s the important thing. I think sometimes society puts too much value on winning and being the best. I like to succeed and I would love to win a triathlon. But what happens when that’s not the case? Does the person who comes in last place deserve as much celebration as the winner? I think so.

I want our boys to understand that showing up and doing your best IS the win. I went into the race not knowing if I would be able to even finish (18 miles seemed like one million). I completed the swim in 8 minutes, the bike in one hour and 30 minutes, and the GRUELING run (by that time I was exhausted and it was also about 90 degrees outside) in 40. Not the winner, but not the last either and truly, I felt like a gold medalist. I was really proud of myself.

After the tri, we spent 3 more days relaxing and having fun. Regardless of what we did, the boys just wanted to wrestle with Nate and I in the hotel pool. That is their favorite activity in the world. So we spent a lot of time tossing little boys in the air. We also went to the beach, picked cherries, tasted artisan cheese, went to a distillery to taste local bourbon, did some shopping, ate lots of ice cream, relaxed with drinks, and ate amazing food.

We got home from Wisconsin and had a few quiet days at home, and then we had a weekend of neighbor fun. On Friday night we went to roller disco in the park, which is a free event in downtown St. Paul. It was hot and roller skating is way harder than I remember from childhood. Augustus was NOT having it. But I had a blast. After that, we went out to dinner with the whole crew and found a new pizza place that was completely dead (shout out to downtown St. Paul for living up to its reputation for being empty on the weekend). We had amazing food and drinks and let the kids stay up way too late.

The next day was the annual Zach Floyd Memorial Bags Tournament (he’s not dead, but no longer lives on our block. He made a very nice motivational video that we all watched to kick off the day). The kids alternated between sprinkler trampoline, playing bags and wandering around to different yards to hang out. Several people have compared our neighborhood to living on campus at a college. There’s always something going on, always someone to hang out with, and you can just sort of wander from group to group, yard to yard for the whole day.

The tournament started at 10:30 and continued with a potluck/BBQ lunch. Around 5:30, Nate and I brought the kids home to eat dinner, relax for a while and change into PJs, because at 7:30, we dropped them at Kelly and Silas’ house (which is across the street from Sean and Rachel’s house), so that they could watch Harry Potter with Sam and Abby, while all of the adults participated in a different games tournament that Sean had invented. We started with the lime toss (stand in one backyard and see how far you can toss half of a lime), followed by horse (the basketball version), ping pong, and more bags. By about 10:30 when we went to retrieve the children, I was EXHAUSTED.

In no particular order- July was also busy with baseball and soccer ending, lots of swimming and a trip to the batting cage to practice hitting.

We had a neighborhood tie dye party to prepare for Camp Juliet (last year we tie dyed shirts at camp, but everyone wanted to be able to wear them while at camp, so we dyed shirts a few days before camp). The kids decided to have a “kid carwash” and wash out cars. Last time they did that game, they used handsoap out of my bathroom and just dribbled it all over my van. But this time around, they had the hose, rags, and actually scrubbed my van. As payment, we all walked to the ice cream shop for treats.

Xander and I took my mom to see the musical Six at the Ordway. It was a spectacular show! The boys went to football camp and got to spend a day at the Vikings training camp. Melissa, Kelly and I went out to lunch at WA Frost for a decadent “ladies who lunch” kinda day. Gussie posed in front of “his sunflower” (at the school plant sale, the kindergarteners sold milk cartons with Mexican sunflower sprouts. Melissa bought one and grew it in our alley!).

It was a very busy July.