Spring Training 2011

Thursday

7:30PM: Heading out!

Friday

3PM: Enjoying the 80 degree weather

3:05PM: Enjoying this little girl we don't get to see nearly enough

6:30PM: Babies in the bath

(Can you believe how much they've grown since last year???)

Saturday

7:45AM: Breakfast

1PM: Go Diamondbacks!

2PM: Zzz...

4PM: The family

5PM: Family dinner

Sunday

8AM: Good morning!

10AM: Soaking up as much sun as possible

2:30PM: Time to head home

We miss Josh, Kim and Ella already. Thank you SO much for such a great weekend. It was worth every hour of driving. We love you guys and can't wait until next year.

Camping: Pinecrest 2010

We just got back from Mason's 2nd camping trip! On Sunday we met Heather and Kevin and the kids at Pinecrest, where they have their annual family camping trip.

We had such a good time, but the road getting there wasn't the smoothest. We hit the first "bump" a few minutes into the trip when the Westfalia started billowing white smoke.

Here is Mason playing patiently in the Westy as Daddy unloads it and packs up the Subaru (which you can see in the background.)

Finally on our way and guess who decides this is the perfect time to get two more teeth? No joke. One new bottom tooth cut through on the drive and the other showed up the night before we left. Lets just say that by Wednesday morning Mason was literally not a happy camper.

He did, however, enjoy playing with all the new toys (which may or may not have belonged to our group-- he doesn't discriminate.)

The big kids shared a little sibling time with the iPod.

The beach was just a short walk from our campsite. That baby hiking backpack was quite possibly Tage's best thrift shop find to date. Mason sat there enjoying his cherry tomatos and blueberries before heading off to play.

Water. Sand. Shade. Friends. What could be better? (Besides cropping Tage's hairy chest out of that picture-- hehe. :)

Heather is the cutest pregnant chick ever.

This is when you know it's time to head back to camp for nap time: Your toddler lays right down in the sand and says, "Night night."

The last evening. A little tired, a little sore, and a little hung over (in that order.)

Saturday Smile

I know this day will come all too soon!

Until then I'm content with letting him honk the horn at dad while we're sitting in the parking lot of our umpteenth gas station in as many hours.

Minnesota

Our vacation ended in "Pleasantville", Minnesota (as Roseanne calls it) which was just a short drive from Riceville. We got to see Roseanne and Larry's new house...

...and meet their newest family member, Daniel!

Daniel is the sweetest puppy! And very laid back, except for when he is being chased by babies...

See Daniel hiding behind Larry? He barked at Mason every time Mase started to crawl toward him.

Thank you for letting us stay with you guys Rose! We are already looking forward to next year-- and staying for more than one night. :)

Welcome to Riceville

Why would anyone vacation in Iowa, you ask?

Tage's mom (Grandma Dee) was born and raised in Iowa (actually, just across the border in LeRoy, MN) and his aunt Von and uncle Dean live there now. Tage spent a summer with them in high school and they made quite an impact on the person he is today.

Looks like any other house, right?

Until you look past the house back to the barn and silo's...

...and past the barn and silo's to the corn fields...

...and past the corn fields to the enormous windmills!

I've always wanted to see one of those things up close. They are huge!

We always plan our trip around pheasant season. Sadly, the last two seasons have been awful for hunting but it doesn't stop the boys from going out. Here is Tage and his cousin Jay getting ready to head out to the tree stand for deer hunting.

Of course if the hunting is slow there is always golf to pass the time.

Mason and I had fun running (er, crawling) around the farm while the boys were out.

"Town" is 5 miles away from the farm and is basically a gas station, library, and the grocery store above. How cute is Peachey's Family Market?!

Last week's grocery deals-- this sign cracked me up.

Mason's favorite part of the trip was the target-practice buck.

Mommy's favorite part of the trip was lots of time with my boys-- and plenty of naps!

Even more from vacation tomorrow!

Home Sweet Home

4000 miles + 60 hours in the car + taking 9 days to travel across 7 states and back = happy to be home!

We left at 8PM on Friday night and arrived at 1:30AM (3:30AM local time) on Sunday morning.

More to come this week on our vacation to Iowa. Did I mention we are happy to be home???