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Waffles and Helmets

Ava, Grandma Karen and I had a great end to the weekend last Sunday.  We took a little adventure to Black: Coffee and Waffles, which is a small little place by the U which serves...waffles!  I chose to have a savory waffle, Grandma Karen chose a fruit and granola waffle, and Ava chose to build her own with cinnamon, caramel, whipped cream, and marshmallows.  Sweeeeeet!


It was neat going someplace we hadn't been before, plus it gives Ava exposure to more than just her suburban life.  She needs that. 

We then went and played at a local park, and Ava made a few new friends.  It was perfect weather to sit on a bench and catch up with my mom!  After 30 min or so, we rounded up Ava and headed off to the Wild Rumpus bookstore in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis (by Lake Harriet.)  We saw lots and lots of animals there (cats, chinchillas, rats, ferrets, birds) but no chickens!  Bummer!  It took forever to get Ava to narrow down her choice to a book (I started to implement some rules..no craft kits, no picture books, no books that you've already read, etc.) and she finally picked one out.  And wouldn't you know it, she finished it on the car ride home!  New rule - it has to be a chapter book, with substantial text!  I'm glad she loves to read so much...we've been to the library twice already this week!

Ava is taking swimming lessons through the YMCA while she's at Summer Power each day.  Currently, she's at the red level, and I told her that by the end of the summer, she needs to be at the yellow level.  I asked her the other day how things were going and she proclaimed that she believes she has "mastered the back float!"  It was a cute phrase coming from our girl's mouth.  She'll need to prove to me that she can actually do it, though!

Garrett decided the grass needed some mowing last week, so, he suited up, and brought his little bubble mower out.  I love that he decided to pull on Ava's old Lalaloopsy helmet to mow.  Safety first!


He decided he liked it better backwards...


I can't believe that it's already the middle of July.  Where has the summer gone?!?  My work has a deal where you can take seven summer Friday afternoons off, with pay.  I worked last Friday afternoon, and got SO much work done.  It's amazing how much easier it is to work when half of the company is out, and there aren't any meetings.  WOW!

It's been a movie weekend for us...each kid picked out a movie to watch on Friday night, and Scott hauled out the popcorn machine (yum!)  Last night, after the kids went to bed, Scott and I watched Dirty Grandpa...pretty funny!  And then we went to bed with the impending storm coming our way.  At one point, we heard a very strange sound on our desk, so we both got up to check it out...our gate at the top of the stairs had fallen over and skittered its way down the stairs.  And wouldn't you know it, our baby lilac tree fell over again.  That poor thing can't catch a break!  Scott has a better stake system that he picked up, so I'm pretty sure that will be on today's to-do list!

I'm hoping that if it's nice after breakfast, and the grass isn't too wet, that we can get outside and play a little croquet with the kids. Something different to keep them entertained!

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