4th of July

Unfortunately this year the 4th of July fell mid-week and both Matt and I had to work the next day. So we opted to go see fireworks at a local river town...on the 3rd of July.

For the 4th we were invited over to Matt's parents' home. Where we were joined by his brother, his gf, and our niece. There was TONS of food but...one little (or rather not so little) grease fire broke out on the grill, hence the baking soda and fire extinguisher!

(Can you tell they're brothers?!? Both refused to just smile! grrr)

The word of the afternoon was "swimming"! So we got Lillie's tutu swimsuit on and headed outside where her pink princess pool was waiting! Although the weather was HOT (notice the temp gauge) the pool felt good...even when Lillie was "swimming" and getting us wet.

All the swimming worked up an appetite so we headed inside (for some much needed a/c) and Lillie "needed" corn..."corn, corn, corn please!!"  Love that little girl!

p.s. all photos were taken on my phone

Berry Picking

My in-laws have a HUGE garden...I mean they have 2 HUGE gardens! One morning a few weekends back, my mother-in-law and I were talking and she mentioned they were picking raspberries and asked if I wanted any...well sure!

So I loaded Stanley up (Hankers had to stay home because there is no fence at their property and I really didn't want to deal with 2 dogs on cables, barn cat running around, horses here and there, and the heat, etc...) and headed over...the whole 5 miles from our home.

Well the raspberries were delicious and Stan got to spend some time with people he doesn't see a lot and of course one of his favorite puppies (Dexter)!

And of course the barn cat needed to make an appearance...

and run right in the dogs' lines of sight...

and then stop and take her sweet time...

but eventually she mosey'd on into the grass

The morning was already proving that it was going to be a very hot day, so we headed inside for a nice treat...of ice cubes

Wordy Wednesday

Earlier this summer was my friend's dad's Surprise 60th Birthday Party. It was a gorgeous day for a celebration of this man's wonderful life!

Taylor's Falls Hiking

This summer my cousin, Taylor is living down in the Mpls-St. Paul area while she is interning at the MN Zoo. Her weekends are Sundays and Mondays. We have been trying to get together every few weekends and on June 24th (after the Back to the Fifties car show) she came over to our house for dinner and a sleepover.  :)
The next day (Monday) I happened to have off of work (I had a floating holiday to use) so we packed up Stanley and headed over to Taylor's Falls to do some hiking. It was a beautiful day and was a great opportunity to get some use out of my new camera lens.

Wordy Wednesday

Sleepy-head Stanley. Lately, after breakfast, instead of going back outside (into the unbearable heat) I find Stanley back in bed, completely content to just lay there. Sometimes (if I have time) I pull him out of his kennel and onto my lap for some snuggle time :)

Back to the Fifties

To say that Matt loves car/auto shows is an understatement. He has been looking forward to this car show all year. The month of June I basically "lost him" to our garage. He spent (almost) every free minute out there working on his truck. Not just any truck, but his 1954 Ford.

When the car show weekend came, he spent ALL of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday there. I mean ALL of it. Getting up at 4am and getting home after 7pm. But it's his thing and he loves it! I wanted to go one day, but couldn't go on Friday (because I work), and Saturday was just a long day, so I decided to go on Sunday (when the show only went until 3pm). Little did I know that we were going to be out the door by 5am! Ugh that was rough.

But it turned out to be a beautiful day, a little hot, but bearable. I of course brought the camera and my new lens (which I'm still in love with and have no plans to use the 30-day return policy) to try to get some photos that captured the day.

The car show is held at the MN State Fair grounds...which also means that tons of food vendors are there!

My cousin, Taylor, is in the metro area for the summer interning at the MN Zoo

Matt's parents came out too!

Probably the funniest thing I saw all day. Someone set up a fake dog, lifting it's leg on a car...and sprayed the ground with water!

Me and my handsome husband (and his handsome 1954 Ford...which is now for sale)

Bump-a-licious

A few hours before Josh and Emily's baby shower, we got together to take some maternity photos. They chose a location by our homes, which I had never been to. So I got there a little early to scope out the situation and hoped to find a spot or 2 that would work. What I found was a GREAT location! Full of a variety of settings and beautiful lighting options! I will definiately keep this place in mind for the future!

I was also pretty darn excited because I had JUST received my new lens in the mail (the UPS guy showed up literally as I was putting the dogs in their kennels and was grabbing my camera bag!). I quickly switched out lenses, took a couple practice shots with the new lens, just to be safe packed the lens I had been using, and RAN out the door.

 (p.s. that light streaming through the trees was completely natural! Love it!)