Apple Orchard

This past weekend we hit Nickle Dickel Days in Waconia. We spent the day with the Lechelts and had a blast! The weather could not have been more perfect. It was around 70 degrees and just a perfect fall day. We went to the fair they had in Waconia - saw fire trucks, old cars, had some snacks at the fair. Then afterwards, we went to an apple orchard - Deardorf's, which is somewhere between Victoria and Waconia. We didn't bring the camera, but had my telephone which we took a few pictures with. It's not the best by any means, but did capture a few good ones. We enjoyed running around and playing on the haybales. Kayla was kind enough to share her apple with Cailin too. Cailin and Drew had fun playing with Kayla and Christopher on the haystack. At the orchard, they had bunnies, sheep and horses that we visited with as well. It was big fun!

Grandma Betty's Birthday Party in Pine Island

We spent the second half of Labor Day weekend in Pine Island for the birthday party of Grandma Betty Pipho. It was held at their farm and we had a potluck lunch and lots of play time.
The kids mingled together playing with tractors, balloons, picking raspberries, playing with the walnuts as they fell off of the tree. We also played badmitten, volleyball and chatted. Everyone seemed to have a great time. The whole family was together and Grandma Betty seemed to really enjoy seeing everyone.

After the party we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa's house and spent the night. The kids raided the raspberry bushes there as well, Andrew getting the hang of finding berries and picking them himself. Since the bees were out in force, he needed a bit of help.

Cailin liked to basically keep busy. She had Grandma running around, they seemed to enjoy one another's company quite a bit. Cailin and bear rode the tractor a lot, pushed by Grandma around the circle.

Family Time at the Farm

Since Uncle John, Auntie Melissa and cousin Michael were in town, we made a trip down to Nelson to visit with everyone for the first part of the Labor Day weekend. We stayed at a hotel in Wabasha for the night as Oma's house was full-up with family! The hotel was nice, had a pool and hot tub and it was a lot of fun to run in the halls as well.

We played at Oma's house, playing with the puppies, including a new black lab puppy named Emma. (Andrew likes to give out kisses to the puppies...) We played with the chickens, went to Carousel Toys in Kellogg (of course to ride the Carousel) ran around outside and generally had a great time.

The Tichlins Visit........again!

Karen's brother John, his wife Melissa and their baby Michael came for a visit this past week. They were here for a whole week, visited in the cities for a few days, then headed down to the farm in Nelson, WI where Oma is to spend the rest of the week.

The three kids seemed to have a very fun time, although Drew was very jealous of mommy paying any attention to 'other' babies. Every time mommy would talk to Michael, Drew would complain and then plop himself down on top of mommy. Cailin, on the other hand, seemed to love being a cousin. She played with Michael, gave him toys and chatted with him. Cailin also took quite a shine to Auntie Melissa. She followed Melissa around quite a bit. Probably didn't hurt that Melissa was willing to read some books with Cailin. She always seems to love that. Melissa also sends postcards and notes to Cailin throughout the year, which she proudly displays in her room. Those two are buddies!

Soccer Game

We went to watch cousin Joey play soccer when he was in Shakopee playing against their team. You see, Joey is a soccer all-star and it was nice to be able to watch him in action when he was playing right across the street from our house at the stadium! It was a very humid, misty day, but we still had a lot of fun running around and even Andrew got into soccer, he must have been inspired. He was kicking the ball around pretty much the entire game. It got the Chaska JV coach's attention as well as many players and fans. He liked getting all the praise and kept on kicking the ball. The only bummer was when he would kick it down the hill - that was a long walk!

The big haircut....

Cailin got her first haircut, well at least the first full haircut. She's gotten her bangs trimmed, but this time, she needed the whole thing done. She was very patient and willing to sit still while being cut, but you can certainly tell the difference!! She also loves to 'ham it up' for the camera a bit too. Notice the bear hasn't gone anywhere yet though.... She is however, working on the potty training!! YEAH!!

Weekend at Oma's house

We spent the weekend down at Oma's house in Nelson, WI. We were very, very busy. I even think we wore Oma out! We went to Lark Toys in Kellogg, MN - they have a carousel that is indoors that all the animals have been hand-carved out of wood. It is beautiful!! Plus, the kids thought it was a blast! They were also having Riverboat days in Wabasha, so we went down and went swimming in the river and then checked out the parade as they were lining up.

We also visited with the chickens and puppies. Cailin likes to tell them all what to do, like telling the rooster to "be quiet" and telling Rosie to come in the house and such. She might be a little bossy at times, but Oma needed a good helper, so that was good.

We also visited a farm and saw baby lambs and goats and both kiddos thought that was fun.

It was a fun weekend!

Playin in the crib

This is one of Cailin's fun games. After nap time, she wants Drew to join her in her crib. They just sit and play and chatter and such. Nothing major, just a lot of fun I guess. Both of these two had just gotten up, so their hair is a little wacky...

The 2007 Kern Summer Party

We attended the annual summer event at Uncle Gary and Aunt Rhonda's place in the middle of July. Last year when we attended, Drew was just 10 days old!! My a lot has changed. Drew and`Cailin had a blast! We played in the water a lot that day.


We didn't stay overnight, but came back on Sunday to play again with those that did stay over.

Cailin even enjoyed a tea party with Bear on a small tea set she found.

Andrew's Pine Island Birthday Party

We went to Pine Island for a visit and had a birthday party at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We spent a good chunk of the day outside playing, Grandma got her tractor out and took kiddos for a ride.

Cailin went around the circle 3 or 4 times before she would get off of the tractor. She loved it. Andrew was very curious and kept a pretty straight face, but seemed to enjoy it.

Grandma Bea came over for supper and a birthday party. Andrew managed to get his foot in the cake and Cailin 'helped' blow out the candles. She thought that was pretty fun. She liked the cake too. They were both so busy and exhausted by the time the day was done. Daddy, Grandma and the kids went to the nursing home to visit Grandma Betty and Grandpa Bud. Everyone seemed to enjoy the day!

Andrew's 1st Birthday

We recently celebrated the big man's 1st birthday. He was happy enough to hang out and socialize with everyone. He really seemed to like the attention and he loved the loud toys. He had a few birthday parties, including this one with Oma, Uncle, Uncle Chris, Mom, Dad and Cailin. Cailin was a big helper getting the presents unwrapped. She also liked playing with the toys. She did have to be reminded that the toys were actually Drew's. But he would be willing to share them with Cailin. She kept trying to take them from Drew and said "no Drew, Tay is playing with it..." when in fact, Drew was playing with it. I guess it's hard to be 2 1/2 and have your little brother have a birthday. Don't worry though, Cailin got plenty of attention!! As usual.

It's all about walking now...

Andrew is walking all on his own. He actually started two weeks ago, full time. He was walking along furniture for about two months, then a little over two weeks ago, he just let go. Off he went. I think having a big sister really has helped in that department. He has to keep up with her, and to tackle the cats, and to do that, it helps to walk. So he has that distinctive 'new toddler' walk - which is arms outstretched at the sides wobbling down the path.

He beat his big sister by about two full months. She was much more comfortable crawling, whereas "The Masher" as he is nicknamed (among other nicknames) is in it full speed!
Of course, this means that he now wants to 'explore' everything much more frequently. He even tries to climb up on the bed and catch the cats, like he is doing here. Funny guy!

Check out his video of the big Masher!

Cheese Fest 2007

Daddy, Cailin and Drew went down to Pine Island to attend the 2007 annual Cheese Festival. (Mommy was busy scrapbooking for the weekend with Auntie Wanda, Auntie Buzzy, Kayla and Auntie Rhonda in Ham Lake) They arrived in Pine Island on Saturday and hit the Cheese Fest. They went on the rides, seems Cailin liked the Train ride best - "Grandma too!" she reported to me, that Grandma rode on the train too. They toured the Fire Station, which Cailin LOVED being that close to the fire engines. They had fair food, including but not limited to....corn dogs - YUM!






Sunday was a bit rainy, they had intended to hit the big parade, but naps got in the way. Grandpa and Grandma rode their John Deere Tractors in the parade and then they all hit the fair again after the parade was over, and naps were done. Sounds like everyone had a blast!!

Daddy's Birthday

Daddy recently had his birthday. We celebrated at home and had cake and of course sang the "Happy Birthday" song. Daddy actually celebrated a few times with different family members, so he also got an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen (other than the Banana Cream Pie that Oma made). Cailin thought that every time we had a piece of the ice cream cake, like for the next week, that we had to put candles on and sing the birthday song each time. So we've sung the birthday song for quite some time, as now, EVERY time we have any sort of cake or anything resembling a cake, she wants to go through the same routine. She's quite the character! And Drew's birthday is coming up, so I'm guessing we'll be singing that song for quite a few months here......