Camping at Lake Louise State Park

We camped with Gammy and Grandpa Meier and Uncle Mikes at a state park near the heavily populated town of LeRoy, MN. The Red Owl was kickin'. We slept in the tent cozying into our bags in the 50 degree temps. A phantom cow kept Heidi up one night and a phantom humming kept Brad up the other night.

Good times, good times.

Now Heidi's chiropractor says she can't camp any more because of the kinks in her neck after sleeping on the ground.

We did a lot of fishing and really had a great time. Hiking was good, fires were fun and Braden liked cooking over an 'open flame' because as he says, "everything tastes better over an open flame'. Uncle Mike caught the only fish of the trip and then cut them into filets and cooked them.

We forgot a lot of stuff, so thankfully Gammy and Grandpa had a lot of stuff like things to cook stuff with.

Summer Hockey

Braeden wrapped up his Summer Hockey playing. He loves hockey and one of his Coaches told him that he should try out for Goalie. We'll see what the future holds?

My Birthday

This is the only picture from my birthday. Brad and I went to Happy Chef for breakfast. Then, we went to the River to collect the kids and do a little boating and camping. Here is a picture of the kids helping put the boat in. It was the only picture I snapped before my battery died. My family showered me with birthday gifts of a new beach bag, a new Wii game and a giant jar of Clausen pickles!

Sexy Rexy's Wedding

My dear friend and hockey team mate Kristin Tormoen tied the night on Friday, July 10th. I think she found the perfect guy for her. The best part of the wedding, besides a date out with my husband and seeing some of my team mates, was the candy buffet she had. I've never seen that before at a wedding and it was awesome! Pudge would have been in heaven.

Running the Bases

Take me out to the ball game

Twins Win.....kids run the bases....get free jersey....eat skittles and licorce....pudge gets uncle Mike to buy him popcorn...great time!

Fundraising for Fireworks

The Early Edition Rotary club was fundraising for the 4th of July fireworks and the Meier family helped out, giving away flags for free will donations. Pudge shows off his new hair-do complete with blue and gold hair gel.

4th of July Parade in Blooming Prairie

The Blooming Prairie parade is becoming a 4th of July tradition. I love parades and our friends, the Nirk's, have a brother that lives in Blooming on the parade route, so they are gracious to allow us to partake, too. The kids get oodles of candy!

Great Grandpa and Grandma Feine Celebrate 65 yrs of marriage

My grandparents celebrated their 65th Anniversary. What a wonderful milestone and a true testament to their love. I think they were overwhelmed by the number of friends and relatives that came to the Open House. My cousin Nicole and her fiance' Terry made a slide show set to music that was fun to watch. The kids were please with the unlimited supply of cake and punch. The hit of the afternoon was Wally Ask, a 90-year old Shriner that made balloon creatures. He made one or more for each of the grand kids. They loved it! The were entertained for quite some time! He even made one for Grandpa and Grandma. Grandma laughed so hard that she spilled her punch all over Grandpa.

Sand Pit

The sand pit near Great Grandma Leola's farm has the perfect sand for the sandbox....it also is a great hill to climb. Just beware of falling sand boulders as Laken soon realized when she took a pretty good scrape on the arm from one. The first photo is hard to see, but Gretzky climbed up with us. I have been getting sand here every since I was a little girl. People can't believe how perfect it is. I think the neighbors are envious.

Another Goalie?

Braeden straps on the pads in summer hockey. He did a very good job and had practice on the backyard rink!

Releasing the butterfly

Every year we get butterflies from ECFE. They usually come already in their chrysalis's, but this year some were still caterpillars. Preston selected a chrysalis and Braeden and Lake caterpillars. It was fun to watch the caterpillars become chrysalis's. Then, the chrysalis turns black and 24 hours later the Monarch appears. Pudge's was ready first. Once it becomes a butterfly he won't touch it, so it's always my job to release it. Of course, they always name them, too. Pudge's is Obi Wan. Braeden's was next. He released his, himself. He named his Dave Ramsey (he must listening to that show way too much). Laken's never emerged. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact she carried it around everywhere with her.

35th B-Day and Fathers Day

Ice cold beer was the perfect Father's Day gift from the wife and kids. Here's Brad drinking one at 9 a.m. Preston got Brad a 6-pack for both his birthday and Father's Day because Preston said, "I knew it was the one thing you would like." For Brad's birthday we went out for breakfast and swimming at the pool. For Father's Day we went to Forrestville State Park and grilled out and then, toured the old interpretive village there. The kids favorite part was feeding the chickens.

35 candles wouldn't fit...

A cherry pie for Brad's birthday and a we had a cake for Father's Day.

My Godson, Tyler, Graduates

My mom, sister and I road tripped out to Ohio (the greater Cincinnati area) for my Godson's Tyler's graduation from Amelia High School. Yes, he was the ring bearer for our wedding! My cousins Sharise and Bryan are also his godparents. The graduation was held at Xavier College in Cincinnati. It was a fun adventure. Unfortunately my camera battery died and these are all the pics I took (I got the important ones at least!). The entire trip cost me $180! Thanks to the generosity of gas and lodging paid for by dear old Mom. And, some delicious meals put on by the Feine family. We, also, found some free thing to do, like a Diamond Rio concert. That brought back some college memories. We ate at an awesome German Restaurant (I could go for my pretzel sandwich right now), went to one of Tyler's Baseball games, toured the Meier winery and brought some tasty wine back for my father-in-law for father's day and went to the Underground Railroad Museum. We did not have near enough time to take all of it in, so I need to get back there someday. We were so proud to say us three women navigated our way around without a GPS!

Preston's Last Day of Preschool

Preston with his friend Andrew on the last day of school. We carpooled together for the entire school year. They have know each other since they were a year old. It's sad that they won't be attending the same elementary school.

With his preschool teacher Mrs. Schiltz. It was her last day of teaching, too. Preston received his preschool diploma. He is now ready for Kindergarten and I know he will just love it!