Movin' on Up

At the beginning of March my Nanny bought Grafton an Oscar fish because he drew her a picture of a fish for her birthday.

At the time he fit nicely in the 3 gallon tank she bought for him, but five months later he had definitely outgrown it!

I was seriously considering finding him a new home (which made me sad because he's a really friendly fish & we'd grown attached to him) but it would have cost over $500 to get an appropriate tank, pump, lid, and all of the other stuff to accommodate his growing size.

Well, I know God definitely cares about the little things we care about because some friends of ours heard of our predicament and offered to give us a 45 gallon tank that had been sitting in their garage!

It was the right size for Levi Oscar Bubbles (that's his full name) and it fit perfectly in the space where we wanted to put a fish tank.

We still had to purchase a pump, lid, some stones, and the decor, but it was less than half of the cost of a tank and stand.

Levi Oscar Bubbles has upgraded from a studio apartment to a penthouse and we are all enjoying him much more! Although, I'm sure not nearly as much as he is enjoying his new space. :)

Minnesota.... July 9th-11th

Seeing that our trip was quickly coming to a close we decided we had better get some shopping in! My mother-in-law, sister-in-law and myself took the kids and headed to Nisswa. We started out by having lunch and then split up so we could hit the stores we wanted.

I told Grafton if he was good at lunch I'd take him to the toy store, so he was dying to get something as soon as we were done. We went to a cute little store called The Gumdrop Tree and spent most of our shopping time there. After talking him out of some scary dragon toys that he wanted, he finally settled on a safari Playmobile set.

The only other shopping I did after that was picking up a sign for Vince that said "If it weren't for the last minute I wouldn't get anything done!" that he put on his desk at work.

That evening we went to dinner at Culvers and then spent the rest of our time playing with the kids in the front of the house. I even let Grafton go on a slow 4-wheeler ride with his ten-year-old cousin Regen.

The next day was the last full day of our trip. We figured we'd better make the most of it and spend some time on the lake. My niece Ramzee was my tubing buddy and we were able to go on a couple of rides on the water.

Deklan didn't due any tubing himself, but he was able to pretend while he was on the porch.

During my last few moments on the water I was able to look around and enjoy all of the greenery, peacefulness, and reflect on what a great trip this had been.

The morning of the 11th we woke up early, got ready, and finished our packing. We did make time to have a good breakfast at the house and were on the road by 10:30.

It took us over 2 1/2 hours to get to the airport and Deklan spent a decent portion of that time crying before he finally fell asleep. When we arrived I had two sleeping boys, a stroller, diaper bag, purse, backpack, and two LARGE pieces of luggage. I was very thankful that Vince's sister's family was there to help me because I could not have handled that on my own.

We arrived at the airport almost 4 hours early which was bittersweet. It was nice not having to rush, but it made it a long day. We were able to grab some lunch, I let the kids run around, we did a little shopping, got some drinks, and the kids ran around some more.

The kids did pretty well on our 3 hour flight. What helped me greatly is that my niece Regen sat with us and she entertained the kids.

Once we landed and were heading out of the security area, Deklan started running and saying "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy......" until he was able to jump in his arms. We were all happy to see him!

When we arrived home I realized I'd missed it more than I thought..... There's no place like home!

Minnesota.... July 5th-8th

After our busy 4th of July we spent the next day relaxing on & around the water. Vince, his dad, and I took the kids on a boat ride that didn't go so well. Deklan was mad about his life vest and Grafton was afraid of the speed of the boat, so that was the only boating they did for the week.

I was able to spend some time laying out and reading my book which felt so good! That evening some friends came over and we went out to pizza and finished with Coldstone Creamery for dessert.

On July 6th we spent some more time on the water. This time the kids and I got in the lake and tried to catch minnows (which we were unsuccessful at) and then we put the paddle boat in the water and Grafton was able to go on a ride with his cousins.

Later that afternoon Grafton and his four cousins went to Paul Bunyan Land with their Grandpa and Auntie Vanessa. Grafton loved it except for the haunted house at the end.

On July 7th Vince had to head back home. :0( This was the first time he's left us early on our Minnesota trip, but it couldn't be avoided. While his sisters drove him the 3 hours to the airport, I stayed home to give Deklan a nap and everyone else went to the turtle races. Even though no one in our family won, they all had a great time!

On July 8th Vince's dad, sisters and myself took the kids miniature golfing (Deklan stayed home with his Grandma to nap). I was amazed that the golfing kept Grafton's interest the entire time, and he even scored a hole-in-one!

That afternoon as we were preparing to say goodbye to Vanessa and her kids (they had to head back home) we actually got to enjoy some rain. I joked that this was the first time my kids had seen an umbrella.

The weather cleared up pretty quickly and we made our evening run for ice cream. The boys started getting a little restless so we walked the grounds and I was able to get some adorable pictures of them.

Even though we'd been without Vince for two days at the point, we were all holding up pretty well!

Minnesota.... July 4th

Vince says there's two seasons in Minnesota.... Winter and the 4th of July! I have not yet had the experience of a Minnesota winter, but we do love spending every Independence Day there.

Since the 4th fell on a Sunday this year we started our morning by getting ready for church. While we were waiting to leave I let the the boys play outside for a few minutes. Deklan absolutely fell in love with the plasma cars (which he calls them bikes) and I let him take it down a hill that was too steep. He ended up crashing on his side and getting a big bruise and scrape on the side of his head.

We were already running late for church and this made us very late! By the time we got there worship was over and then Vince ran into his former youth pastor in the foyer. He never even made it into the sanctuary.

After church some good friends of the family came over and we grilled rib-eye burgers and visited. The kids happily played in the backyard and were even able to feed some squirrels and ducks.

Later in the evening we headed to the nearby resort to watch fireworks. We love spending the 4th there because we lay our blankets on the grass of the golf course, listen to live music, and the kids can run around and play while we wait for them to start.

As soon as the fireworks started Deklan panicked and kept saying, "no lights!" I rushed him out of there and we watched the show from inside the lobby.

After everyone got back to the house (and there were 15 of us staying in one house at this point) we snacked on mud cake and put the kids in bed.

I was able to finish the evening by reading my book and watching some HGTV..... It was the perfect way to end a great day!

Minnesota.... July 1st-3rd

We spent the first 11 days of this month on our annual trip to Minnesota. Because I took so many pictures and we did several different activities, I'm going reflect on this trip by grouping it into a few days at a time.

We arrived in Minneapolis on July 1st and went my sister-in-law, Vanessa's (pronounced Vaneesa) house. Her family moved to their current home four years ago, but this was the first time we were able to see it! Grafton fell in love with his cousin Riley's extensive Lego collection and the fact that he could play Lego Indiana Jones on a large projector screen in their basement. As for the rest of the family, we took a leisurely walk around the neighborhood, visited, and got settled in.

On July 2nd I went somewhere I had never been before........

In case you didn't know, Mall of America is the largest mall in the United States! When we first walked in we saw the huge Lego store and I thought we might never leave.

Mall of America also has a new aquarium with the world's largest collection of jelly fish. I skipped out on the aquarium and went to the American Girl store, but Vince took the boys and they loved it!

July 3rd we left Minneapolis and headed the 2 1/2 hours to Brainerd to spend the rest of our trip at my in-laws home. Uncle Ronnie made the trip with us and was a big help with the kids.

Grandpa Brown promised to take us to ice-cream every evening (there's a cute ice-cream shop at a neighboring resort that we go to). Seeing that we don't go on any main roads to get there, he even let Grafton drive!

After our long day of driving, unpacking, playing outside, and going out to eat, Grafton and his cousins Regen and Ramzee settled into their grandparents bed for a little television before going to sleep themselves.

This was a great start to our vacation!

Eclipse

Tuesday evening after Bible Study a few friends and I headed to the theatre to wait for the midnight showing of Eclipse!

Eclipse was my favorite book in the series and the movie did not dissapoint. It well worth the long line and lack of sleep.

I had to chucle at my sister, Rachel, and great friend Asheley. They are the die-hard fans in the group and even wore matching "Marry me Bella" shirts over their pregnant bellies.

The next movie is not coming out until November 2011 so I guess I'll just have to watch Eclipse several times to hold me over until then!