Happy 4th (and then some!)

So far, it's been a great holiday weekend!  Both Scott and I took/had Friday off of work, so we've had some excellent family time over the last three days.  Plus, we've been able to get a lot of stuff done that we've needed to, but haven't had time for in the last month.  Now, if only we could fit in a few extra hours of sleep...

Wednesday night, we took advantage of a great appliance sale that Sears was running, and purchased our washer and dryer for the new house.  It's been so long since we've had a new washer/dryer (Scott bought the ones at our last house before I met him, and they hung in there for 13 years), so I'm looking forward to all of the new available features in today's technology.  But, now I have to wait over 3 months to be able to use them!  One more thing to look forward to...

Thursday was the 4th, so our day was full of fun activities. I managed to get a bunch of stuff done around the house that I had been putting off for a bit, so I actually feel caught up with things.  That afternoon, we headed to Eagan to partake in their Fun Fest, and settle in to watch fireworks. It had been a few years since we had been there, since Ava was sick last year on the 4th and we skipped fireworks.  We were all pretty excited to see them this year!

Modeling her new patriotic outfit, courtesy of Grandma Deb and Grandpa Whitey

 

The view from the top of the Ferris wheel in Eagan

 

Ava chose three different horses before she finally settled on one

 

Bzzzz...the bee ride!

 

She was super excited about this ride, but barely smiled on the entire run.

 

Bumper cars are what Ava really wanted to do!

 

Counting down to fireworks!

 

 

Finally...and we had pretty decent seats!  It's a great show!

 

On Friday, we woke up e-a-r-l-y and headed north of the Cities to go fishing.  This was Ava's first time, and Scott was very excited to take her.  Since it was a decent day, I joined in the fun (no license, so I didn't fish), and hung out on the boat while Scott and Ava fished.  They caught a bunch of sunnies, and a bass, which Scott threw back.  Ava only freaked out once and threw her pole to the ground (of the boat) and then she really got into the fun of fishing, and had a great time casting, reeling in, and then talking to the fish,

 

The first hour of the adventure was a bit rough...it was windy and the lake was really weedy, so our anchor wouldn't hold, no matter how many times Scott tried.  Even better...45 minutes in, we ran out of gas.  No holding anchor, no gas, and a windy day means that we hit shore pretty quickly. Luckily, cell service was strong, and we were able to call for gas delivery and a tow off of the shore. After that, things picked up a bit, and the rest of the day flew by...the wind died down, the anchor started working, the sun was bright, and the fish were biting.  It was awesome!  And now we want to buy a boat...we shall see what happens!

 

South Lindstrom Lake

 

 

Playing on solid ground before boarding the boat!

 

 

Her first fish!!

 

Catching fish makes a girl hungry...

 

She actually let this one get closer to her!

 



 

Today was also busy...we took Ava to see Despicable Me 2, and we all loved it!  We even saw one of her little girlfriends at the theater, so that topped off a great movie experience.  We then went to take a quick look at some furniture...and ended up looking for 4 hours...and 5 different furniture stores.  We found many things that we liked, but purchased just a few items to start.  We picked up a new bed frame and nightstand for Ava and now need to find a dresser to match.  Looks like Baby Boy will get all of her current furniture this fall (which is fine - her dresser is a solid wood piece, so it's built to last.) 

 

We also found a few options for our new dining room table, but are holding off just a bit before we make another big purchase.  But, at least we're narrowing down the options for what we like - and that's half the battle!  After all of the furniture shopping, we were hungry, so headed to Wild Bill's in Woodbury to check it out.  We had great seats on the patio, and thoroughly enjoyed the food.  Ava talked for 4 hours non-stop, so I won't lie...it was nice to get her home and get her into bed!

 

Tomorrow is Scott's birthday, so we're looking forward to having another good family day...although, I learned the hard way that 5 is just too young to keep a secret.  Ava and I went for ice cream after dinner last night, and then stopped at the liquor store to pick up a surprise 6-pack of nice beer for Scott's birthday.  I told Ava not to tell him why we stopped.  Well, she took that literally.  The first thing she said when we got home was that we went to the liquor store but we didn't buy anything.  If I wasn't pregnant, I totally would have been able to pull it off, but Scott had to ask why we went to the store.  I think I avoided answering him and later reminded Ava what it means to keep a secret. :)

 

A few other things:

• I'm 22 weeks today, and still feeling good.  I'm not sleeping the best, but know I'm sleeping better now than I will in 4 months once Baby Boy is here so I'm not complaining!
• The hole should be dug for our house this coming week...yay!  I'm getting super excited to get this moving along!
• We found out last week that the rental property we're staying in is going on the market as a short sale.  We're not 100% sure what that means for us, but we are hoping we can stay here at least through our lease end, so we don't have to do yet another move before the house is finished.  That was some pretty disappointing news to receive, but we're trying to remain positive about it.

I can't believe that I've made it this long tonight...thank goodness for the SNL distraction in the background.  Everyone else is sleeping right now, and I think I will be joining them shortly!