Addison & Isla

It was a HOT and STEAMY weekend in Minnesota. When we woke up on Sunday morning, the windows were actually all fogged up due to the intense heat outside (and mind you, this is at about 6:30am) versus the air conditioned temperature inside. Crazy! There couldn't have been a better day for hanging out at Heather and Guy's pool. Addison was looking forward to playing with Carly and Cassie (or mostly looking forward to playing with their toys) all week. We swam, hung out and had a picnic outside. The kids took a nice long snooze when we got home while I prepped a DELICIOUS dinner and DJ mowed the lawn. THE.WORST.WEATHER to mow the lawn...ever. Someone had to do it. Great family Sunday.

In other big news this weekend, we finally bought a mattress and comforter and put together Addison's big girl bed on Saturday! The beautiful bed and all the bedding were a gift from Grandma Pam, and have been waiting patiently in storage for the time to be right for the big transition. Addison was beyond thrilled, the bed and her room look gorgeous, and her first two nights in it were perfect! We can't believe how easy it was. I think Addison may be scared to get out of it at night, but about 6:30 in the morning she ran into our room exclaiming "I did it! I slept in my big girl bed! now we can go to Carly and Cassie's!" Too cute.

This week marks another short week for us as we prepare to head up to the North Shore of Lake Superior for a much anticipated stay with friends (including all the kiddies) at the Sugarloaf Resort. Our friend's parents purchased this resort several years ago and are very generous in letting their son, his family and all their friends stay there each year. Although we've never been able to make it before (I was either VERY pregnant, had just given birth or have been on vacation), the pictures I've seen are amazing and we can't wait to experience it, with the kids, first hand. I will post pics soon after!

Pool time!

This baby loves watermelon

Big girl bed!

Look at that pretty room!

She looks like a drunk trying to maintain balance

The 4th of July, or a weekend around that time, marks our annual "Gilly Cabin Weekend", which is an adults-only, 3 day weekend hosted by our friend Tim Gilson (Gilly) at his parents' cabin up on Bone Lake in Wisconsin. A quick hour and a half drive makes this the ideal distance for a cabin weekend getaway. We couldn't have dreamed of better weather, which makes the experience that much better than when it's crappy out. DJ and I headed out on Friday morning and got up to the cabin in time to join Tim on the boat for a little swim before the rest of the Friday crowd arrived. This year we had a small intimate group, which at this age and juncture in my life, I MUCH prefer to the days of old when it was complete mayhem...this was prior to most people having children as even a glint in the eye.

Friday night we were teamed up with Natalie and Jeff to make dinner, so we put together a Mexican feast of tilapia and steak tacos with all the fixings and a huge Southwest salad. A really quick storm actually blew through on this night, knocking out power and forcing us to eat by candlelight (Citronella candles, that is) which was fun and something we hadn't had to do before. After dinner we hung out and then headed over to the greatest Townie Bar on the planet. Now, this term is something I learned when I moved to Minnesota, but it refers to that type of place where you walk in and people turn to stare because A.) You don't look like you just walked out of the trailer park after a day of boozing and smoking (and ironically, this bar is located on a trailer park "resort!), and B.) You're with an entourage of people who are clearly from the "city". It's the type of place where 12 year olds are bussing the tables in the bar, and 6 year olds are running around until 1am while their parents are yucking it up on the dance floor. It's the place where local cougars looking for love hit on the city boys who breeze through the door, or young "townies" (locals, really) throw up on themselves and/or their muffin-top girlfriends after taking too many shots of Jaagermeister. Totally and completely bizarre, although incredibly funny and entertaining, truly the best people-watching ever. On Fridays they usually have a DJ with Karaoke, and Saturday night usually consists of a band. Funnily enough, they actually get some pretty good bands that come from far and wide!

Saturday was GLORIOUS and sunny, not a cloud int he sky and was kicked off with a delicious breakfast followed by an entire day spent on the boat, sunning, swimming and sipping cocktails. A couple more people/couples arrived, and dinner that night was out of this world delicious. Chicken and ribs with cornbread and broccoli slaw. For some reason everything tastes better at the cabin. On Sunday we always have a golf scramble tournament which is just the way I like to play golf - 9 holes, no pressure, tons of fun and bloody marys galore. We have a tradition of being on a "team" with Natalie and Jeff, and we usually win! It might be because DJ is an insanely good golfer, but Jeff really hit it out of the park this time around. We always have the best time, and tend to get silly.

After golf we headed back to the cabin to eat lunch, clean up/pack up and ended up heading out in the afternoon. It's always so sad that day as friends slowly start to depart, but we know we'll do it again, and in actuality, we'll be with almost the same crew at ANOTHER cabin weekend (this time with all the kiddies) up on the North Shore at our friend Logan's parents resort (Yes, they bought an entire resort) in a couple of weeks. It was SOOO good to see the girls when we got home and we spent a wonderful family day together at Cedar Lake Beach (near our house) on Monday. It doesn't get dark here until 10/10:30pm, so no fireworks were in order due to the girls being long in bed by that time, but the 4th of July was a great and relaxing weekend.

This is a shot of a house next to Gilly's parents - it's my favorite

DJ heading down to Gilly's dock from the cabin

A pontoon on the lake

The boys at Wilkins

2 of the classy bartenders at Wilkins - where drinks are like $2!

Me and Jeff on the dance floor

Natalie, Tracy and Brian

A shot of some of the Wilkins patrons

Gilly on stage for karaoke - he loves it!

This was one of the drunkest douches I've ever seen - he wanted to compare biceps - I won

The DJ on Friday night - another character

DJ and Jeff

DJ and Tracy cuttin' a rug!

This little child thought I was 25 - had to take a picture with him; it happens every year...there are these 21 year olds trying to dance with all of us 30-something ladies, and when we ask them to guess our age, it's something within the 20's. Remember when 35 seemed impossibly old? So impossibly old that you wouldn't even guess someone was actually 35? Yikes