{ america! }

It's that time of the year for the traditional fourth of July post. And as tradition holds, we headed to the Lodge to spend the holiday on the lake. It was a beautiful weekend (maybe a tad chilly, but that's me being picky and wanting hot and 90!) and we spent a lot of it on and in the water!

The pictures sum up the fun we had (warning: picture overload ahead).

Noteworthy, we hit some epic speeds and bumps on the tube this year and the kids enjoyed the thrills!

Also noteworthy was that Oliver and Stella were crazy brave and decided to try water skiing. I was hesitant and a little uncertain of how their experience would go but we gave it a try anyways. They watched cousin Owen (who is a year and a half older) try and were sold on the idea. We had them test it out on the grass first and then hit the water (literally!).

They both gave it their all and Stella was actually up but we didn't think she was - this caused us to not hit the gas on the boat hard enough and resulted in her holding on and not letting go (as she was instructed) and getting a face full of water for about 10 seconds. It freaked her out pretty badly and that was it for this trip. Oliver was down about 2 seconds after taking off. Regardless, we are SO proud of them for taking on the challenge without hesitation!

We had some fireworks at the Lodge (think big, illegal ones that can't be found in MN) so we didn't venture to any formal fireworks shows.

One of Stella's favorite things from the weekend - homemade donuts by the fire.

And Oliver's - peeing anywhere you want.

And a highlight for everyone, the rented paddle board! Something I have wanted to try in the cities for awhile and never have gotten around to it. It was a ton of fun for the young and old!

Oliver and Stella wanted in on the action as well and went along on a few cruises with me. We even got brave enough to let them stand!

Guess what I'm asking for for Christmas (and birthday and mother's day)?!

We feel incredibly blessed to be able to spend so much time together as a family, being active and outdoors!

{ summer nights }

We've had busy weekends with little downtime but last weekend we found ourselves in town, at home on a Friday night. It was a beautiful night and we were wishing we had made plans with friends to do something. But sometimes the best times come from having nothing planned - Chad suggested we walk the three blocks up to the Washburn Water Tower in our neighborhood. Oliver and Stella like to venture there to "slay the dragons" and so we headed out with light sabers in hand.

We ended up hanging out up there for more than an hour.

The sunset was beautiful and O and S had a blast running around in the grass thinking they were staying out and up "super late" (which it really wasn't!).

{ summer happenings }

The first month of summer has FLOWN by but we have packed some good memories into the 30 days. These two don't have much tolerance for sitting around or being at home so we tend to spend our days out and about......

Biking.

Checking out Minnehaha Falls.

Zip lining.

Post swim ice cream.

"Park"-ing it.

And if we are at home, sangria making :)!

Lets see how much more we can pack into the next 60 days!

{ girl's getaway }

Not quite a mom's getaway but a close second - mom's and daughter's getaway weekend! Three other twin moms and their daughters trekked up to a family cabin in Balsam Lake, WI for a night.

We have absolutely beautiful weather and took full advantage of it. We all enjoyed boating, tubing, sunshine and swimming.

It was a really fun weekend for the girls to bond together without having brothers, sisters, and twins around. And fun for us moms to only have ONE kid to manage!

{ pool rats }

We decided to join the Edina pool this year and couldn't be happier about the decision. We have spent countless hours there and have definitely gotten our moneys worth in the month of June. It is great to be able to go with the membership and not worry about leaving an hour after you arrived. It is manageable for me to take the two of them during the day by myself now that they are swimming on their own. And it has been fun for Chop to tag along if we go for a quick swim in the evenings. The best part, it tires them out!

We have seen a lot of familiar faces there and they loved it when we spent an afternoon there with cousins!

{ father's day weekend }

We spent father's day celebrating Chop and Grandpa at the Lodge! Not much to say about it but as you can see from the pictures, we had a lot of fun in the sun and tubing (water still a little, okay a lot, bit cold for swimming)!