Beautiful day for a picnic & a waterfall

What a spectacular Saturday in Minnesota! I know many were headed to the State Fair, however we're not huge state fair people, so the Gendrons, plus Melissa & Kyle headed down south for the day to New Ulm! We went spent time again at the Brewery there to take pics in the garden & then headed over to the park to swim & have a picnic lunch!

<--- Grace & Reese with their aunt Melissa

The Gendron Family! So Happy to have a nice summer shot!

<---- Can you begin to see the Baby Bump??? =) Love it!!!

Me with my girls! Pretty in pink!

PLAYING RESTING & EATIN!

We decided we still had a little energy left to go check out another state park and see the waterfalls at Minneopa State Park. It was fun to see and then hike down to the bottom where crazy uncle Kyle went into the falls!

Tired of feeding the squirrels

I had to share this little genius idea my hubby had for our bird feeder! We were getting so frustrated because we were no longer feeding the birds, but feeding the squirrels! They would hang on to the feeder upside down and demolish all the food! Stinkers! Christian was getting very frustrated, so the girls and him one night put this together! Little smarties and I thought was too cute so had to share!

Summer Fun on the Farm

Our Girls are some of the most spoiled little girls! They are spoiled, however, I absolutely love that they are growing up with a love of animals by being on the farm as I did growing up (goats are still my favorite). It is very interesting to see their interests when on my parent's farm.

Reese, as you can see LOVES her little red hens! She will follow them and even cuddle with them! She loves to collect their eggs, and will always say, "Thank you chickens" when picking up eggs or eating them at the kitchen table!

And here is our cowgirl Grace! She is riding Minnie, the new little horse Grandpa bought for the girls from the Amish down in Harmony Minnestoa! He had been planning this little (ok big) surprise for months, and he kept it a secret from all of us, including Grandma! She is a sweet horse and Grandpa is getting the saddle all ready for this fall to teach Grace to ride. We're thinking in a year she'll be riding by herself on Minnie after many lessons with Grandpa!

And here is the first time the girls saw Minnie and rode her. Can you see the huge smile on all '3 kid's faces'?!!?? Again, like I said, spoiled (& loved) little girls!

But mom, I don't want to take a nap.....

Yes, this is how she feel asleep yesterday for a little nap! Reese lately has not been wanting to take naps and this is not too bad except when it comes to around dinner time, she can get quite owly! I was making dinner, and she kept wanting to have a snack, after 3 times of telling her no because mommy was making a yummy dinner, I asked her to go to her room for a time out and to calm down. After 10 minutes, I realized she was very quiet and went to check on her. I found her half way between her room and the hallway sound asleep with her 'blankies'! She loves her blankies that Grandma made for her, and she was out cold! She is too funny!

Our 'Google' Adventures

One thing I love about Christian is his curiousity to try new things. I'm often reluctant because I like 'knowing' what I'm getting into and what to plan/prepare for with the girls. It's a mom thing I guess. However over the past year, we've been doing fun and different things together as a family through searches. Most are hits. Christian has termed these outings as our 'Google adventures' because more often he does random searches to find fun things for us to do together as a family! I would encourage anyone to do this and just take a day to do something brand new!

Our last adventure was a half 'google adventure' & half my hubby randomly finding this place while on the road. We went down to New Ulm for the day and had alot of fun checking out the man made pool at Flandrau State Park. This was a great park, and we decided we'll come back next year to camp and hike. We walked around town and ate at a great restaurant. Then we finished our day at the Schell Brewery. The gardens were beautiful. What a fantastic day and adventure for the family.

Daddy & Grace swimming

Reese pumped to go back into the water

Below are pics from the Gardens at Schell Brewery in New Ulm. We didn't go on the tour, but instead created our own mini tour and walked around. It is free to go and walk around there, however costs I believe $3 to take the tour.

P 90 X - BRING IT!

Well, if you've ever done P 90 X you hear that all the time, 'bring it'! Well I have officially 'brought' it! I have started my 90 day journey with the rigid workout schedule. I've been wanting to work out, and have tried with Christian, but I come from a background of zero knowledge besides getting on an elliptical! So far, this is working because I actually look forward to accomplishing and completing with the insane people on the dvd! I have to admit, the first couple days I wanted to smack that guy in the face with a resistance band, but now I'm so excited when I complete the entire workout with a smile! Yeah!

I'm sharing this for 2 reasons. First, its a big deal in our family's lives because when mommy works out and has her time, daddy and the kids are understanding! It is nice to have something that is mine. I'm really working on this, having things that take me out of being a mom all the time. I get to be wife & Nikki again!

The second reason, I've had so much support on a little post on facebook, that I want to say thanks! Also now that ya'll know I'm doing it, you're more than likely going to keep me accountable!! LOL I thought about that last night that I can't get by with slacking, too many will know I quit! So here I am stating I'm in it, and I'll bring it....

If anyone else is doing this, please let me know, so we can be in pain, er.... share our progress together!

Summer fun in the sun & pool

The girls and I had a wonderful time at the pool today! We go when we can to my aunt & uncle's place in Chaska. Grace is doing great with swimming and swimming under water now. She's like a little fish. Today was also a first for Reese because today was the first day she used waterwings and swam by herself! At first she wasn't sure, and wanted them off. However once she realized how independent she could be, she was jumping in, swimming to the steps and repeating!