October 2017 Family Photos-

Last October when Sandy Dog got sick, we were so worried he was going to leave us.

So we decided (well I did at least) that we needed some family photos.

None of us looked that good, actually, Sandy and Marcus looked pretty darn good.

But I was sad, so worried about losing our first boy (SandyDog) but I really wanted good pictures.

So we called around to find a place that would let us 

bring along our dog in short notice and we found one

Here is our beautiful little family!.

New Goal!

So Saying I haven't blogged in a while would not be an exaggeration.

I have been busy....

But it truly doesn't justify being so lazy....

It turns out I missed an entire year of Marcus' life

So now I have goal.

By the end of October I will catch up.

You can look forward to blogs on the following topics:

1. Marcus Turns 6

2. Sandy Dog

3. Lake Superior Circle tour

Well that seems like a good starting point.... I hope people are still following...

Happy Birthday Marcus

 

 

Happy Birthday Marcus!

 



 Every year for the past few I have asked Marcus the same questions to see how his responses change over time.  I conducted my annual interview today and I have to say he did say a few things that surprised me.  I love getting to know Marcus as he gets bit older!

1. What is your favorite color?

Green

2. What is your favorite toy?

MagnaTiles  

3. What is your favorite fruit?

 Pinapple and Stawberries and Watermelon

4. What is your favorite TV show?

 Penguin Post and Finding Dory

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  

Cheese

 6. What is your favorite outfit?

Tractor Shirts (John Deere Shirts)

 

 7. What is your favorite game?

Mancala

 8. What is your favorite snack?

•  Scooby doo snacks

 9. What is your favorite animal?

Penguin

10. What is your favorite song?

The really fast letter song

 11. What is your favorite book?

The Penguin Book

12. Who is your best friend?

Charlotte

13. What is your favorite cereal?

Finding Dory (Lucky Charms with Finding Dory instead)

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?

Play

15. What is your favorite drink?  

Water or Milk and Lemonade

16. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas Holiday

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?

Penguins

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

Yogurt and Cereal

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?

• It’s going to be a surprise and I will tell you tomorrow

20. What do you want to be when you grow up?

• Don’t ask that question.  I want to stay with Mom and Dad

 

 

21. What does your Mommy do best?

Takes care of Marcus

22. What does your Daddy do best?

Takes care of Mommy

23. Who loves Marcus?

Mommy and Daddy

24.  What does Marcus love most to talk about?

Penguins

Our Little Adventurer Turns 5

 

 

I am going to update this every year for his Birthday.  There actually has not been a lot of movement.  As he turns 5, we only added on additional state to the mix, North Dakota.  It is actually strange it has taken us so long to get him there.  We crossed the boarder on a geocaching trip in 2017.

 

 

States- 20 States visited

1. Arizona,AZ- visited Sierra Vista with Grandma Cheryl and Mommy in June 2014 to see family friends.
2. California,CA-  3 trips before 4 years old.
• Went to a conference in June 2013 at Half Moon Bay with Grandma Cheryl
• Went to a conference in December 2013 at San Diego
• Went on a family vacation that included San Francisco and Northern California in May 2016
3. Connecticut,CT- Drove through with Mommy and Grandma Cheryl in Spring 2013.
4. Florida,FL- Two trips to see Grandpa Don and Grandma Jackie in Jan 2014 and Jan 2015
5. Illinois,IL- First vacation when you were 4 months old.  Visited Chicago with Mommy, Daddy, and cousins (Micci, Xandra and Tori).
6. Iowa,IA- too many trips to count.  Mommy went to college here AND Aunt Jess, Uncle Noah, and Liam live in Iowa City!
7. Kansas,KS- This is a technical count, we drove through it on the way to Ben's Graduation in May 2015.
8. Massachusetts,MA- Flew out of here in Spring 2013.
9. Michigan,MI- Do lay overs count-  this was a place you spent time in the airport.
10. Minnesota,MN-  HOME!  Need I say more.
11. Missouri,MO-  Went to cousin Ben's High School Graduation in May 2015.
12. New Jersey,NJ-  Flew into Newark for the August 2015 NYC trip.
13. New York,NY- I think 3 trips to NY, with one to NYC
• Two work trips with Grandma Cheryl and Mommy to Upstate New York.
• August 2015 trip with Mommy, Daddy and Micci to see the see the city.
14. North Dakota, ND-  Crossed over the boarder from MN on a geocaching trip Easter weekend in 2017.
15. Oregon,OR- Part of the May 2016 family vacation to the west coast.
16. Rhode Island,RI- Went to the beach with Grandma Cheryl in the spring of 2013.
17. South Dakota,SD- Another technical count, we cross over the boarder, just to say you have been here.  We crossed the boarder a second time in 2017.
18. Vermont,VT-  Two trips to Burlington Vermont with Mommy and Grandma Cheryl in spring 2013.
19. Washington,WA- This is the final technical count.  We cross over the river in May 2016 and spent about 15 minutes in the state.
20. Wisconsin,WI-  This one is close to home and we have been there a lot.

Countries

1. United States of America- Home Sweet Home
2. Canada - In September 2014 we crossed boarder and visited a train (for about 45 minutes)

On other lists we are working:

Minnesota State Parks

Still just missing one- Hayes Lake State Park

We actually restarted the MN state parks for this geocache series.  We will hit Hayes Lake State Park later this year and we will consider this list completed.

National Parks and Monuments (not the other designations)

No additions to the list this year. 

1. Crater Lake National Park
2. Redwood Forest National Park
3. Pipestone National Monument
4. Oregon Caves National Monument

A Thursday with Mommy

During our fun week off we had so much fun together.  On that Thursday we snuck into my cousin Rachel's yard and we went swimming (ok- I didn't quite sneak, she knew we were coming).

Since the last session of swimming lessons, Marcus has been such a great swimmer and has loved the water.  We had so much fun playing.

Then we headed out to IKEA to walk around a find a few things for Marcus' room. 
Marcus loves the Swedish meatballs. 

We ended the day at the MN Zoo.  Marcus loves the penguins!

A Wednesday with Mommy

On our vacation week we had a fun day planed each day.  On Tuesday night, we baked cookies for a few people.  We made two types, one picked out by Marcus (a chocolate dipped cookie) and one my mommy (a traditional chocolate chip).  We made them as a thank you gift to a little boy (Charlie) down the street who gave Marcus is old bike.  We also made them as a grandparents day gift for all of his grandparents and for Great-Grandma.

 

On Wednesday we did our first cookie delivery, to one of Marcus' favorite people, Great Grandma!

 

After our visit with Great Grandma, we were off to a lunch date and cookie delivery with Grandma Cheryl.    Marcus was so excited because he hadn't seen her since she left for Germany a month earlier.  We found a cute little old school restaurant in Edina and had a yummy lunch.  Next we planned on going to Paint Your Plate but their website was wrong and it was actually closed.  We quickly figured out what to do and ended up at Edinburgh Park to play.  

 

I was wearing sandals, with no socks, so Grandma Cheryl had to follow him in.

It was sure a lot of fun!

The Rainbow Playground Store

The week of labor day was a very special week.  It was actually a transition week for Marcus.  We did his last day at Creative Kids Academy the Friday before Labor Day weekend and his new school didn't start until a week later.   I took the week off to spend some time with Marcus and just have fun.  It we a fun week and we did lots of fun things.  On Tuesday we started the day by cleaning his bedroom.  It was actually a kind of fun time.  We did it together and Marcus was excited to find some of his "missing" toys.

 

 

That afternoon we tried out a new activity.  The Rainbow Playground store has a play time from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm on Tuesday- Thursday. We have heard about this before but because I am a working mom I don't have the ability to attend a lot of activities like this.  However on this Tuesday, I was home with Marcus and it was raining.  This was the perfect day to check it out.

 

We had a fun day, and plan on going back some time!