Baby Time!

Our friends Tony and Amanda had their third baby arrive this last Thursday, so we headed over to the hospital to visit Laken Estela Aizpurua on Friday night.  I couldn't wait to hold her and she couldn't be more precious.  I forget how teeny tiny newborns are and can't believe our girls were ever that little.  Oh wait they weren't, Laken was less than both of my girls when she arrived.  Laken is a sweet baby and absolutely beautiful.  I am sure there will be lots more blog posts with Laken and her big sister, Luciana and big brother, Mateo in the future.

I couldn't wait to hold this sweet, little girl.

Aftin took a turn holding her, but Bailee was too shy.

How sweet is that little face. 

Bailee checking her out.

Lance had to get a turn too.

Brayden's 14!

We celebrated my oldest nephew Brayden's 14th birthday this last weekend at the cabin.  I still can't believe that he's 14!  He's such a sweet boy and loves fishing and jet skiing with his uncle.  It was a little on the cool side that day so I didn't do any swimming and instead hung out on the deck while the girls played with their cousins in the sand box.  Showers were definitely needed after all the fun they had.

The kids playing in the sandbox.  You can see that we finally have grass starting to slowly grow.

The birthday boy!!

Some of the boy cousins.

What's New?

I haven't done an update in a while so I thought it was about time.  The girls are growing so fast and are definitely on the tall end of the spectrum.  They are taller than a lot of their 4 year old friends.  They still love being outside and have really gotten into riding their bikes outside.  Sidewalk chalk drawings adorn our front steps and the girls help me water our flowers.  They have become quite the helpers (except for picking up their toys).  They have also started to talk more about being twins and what makes them twins.  It's adorable and I think they are getting it from the other twin girls at daycare.  They are definitely best friends and are lost without each other.

We are planning some camping trips and are excited for that.  One on the river and one at a campground still to be determined.

The girls started 4 days at First Lutheran this week and will continue going to Grammie and Grampie's house 1 day a week.  Lance got a new job in Hudson (so much closer to home) and based on his drive it makes more sense for the girls to be at daycare.  I also got a new job, still in St. Paul, but at US Bank.  So far we are both happy with our transition and can't believe how many things have changed. 

We also continue to work on house projects (never-ending) this summer in between hanging out at the cabin and camping.  The summer is going way too fast and soon we will be thinking about fall camping and football games. 

We still miss Rookie a lot and set up a memorial in our back acreage for him.  I will have to take a picture and add it here.  We're still not ready for a new family member quite yet.  Stoli is still doing good though and continues to be Aftin's bestie. 

July Birthday Time!

We celebrated the July birthdays with Lance's side (Megan, Tamara and Bob) on Sunday at the cabin on Square Lake.  It was absolutely perfect weather for hanging out relaxing and also swimming/canoeing.  The girls ended up sleeping through most of it, but the rest of us enjoyed it.

The birthday girls/guy

Singing happy birthday to them.

Blowing out the candles.  The cake was starting to majorly melt at this point.

Lake Time!

We went to the annual beach party at Christopherson's on Saturday night.  The girls loved playing in the water and swinging on the BIG swing set.  I loved seeing my "other" family.

The girls and my bestie!

Lance and Gretta on the big swing set.

Lori holding Gretta and Aftin's hands.

Too cute!

Lance chatting with Karen

Fun Fest Time!

We headed to Fun Fest in New Richmond this last weekend and we lucked out with Janet, Darwin and Addison joining us.  The girls loved all the rides, games and food, but mostly hanging out with Addison.  They can't get enough of her.  It was perfect weather!  Addison even won a goldfish!

Driving for real should be interesting.

The girls and Addison

Riding the carousel

This train was adorable!

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Loved this ride until they decided to ring the bell non-stop.

Gretta and Caroline are Here!

Lori, Marty and the girls are in town and we couldn't be more excited to hang out with them.  We had dinner at Stevens on Thursday night and it was delicious as usual.  The girls got to play with Gretta and Caroline.  Tara was also up from Madison, so they got to spend time with Eli and Ben too.  It was wild by the time we left, but so fun to watch them run around.

Gretta and her mama.

Caroline and her daddy.

Just a look at what the girls did most of the time.

Eli, Gretta, Aftin and Bailee all "scaring" me.

One Last Hurrah!

We celebrated one last 4th of July at Patterson's house.  The girls loved playing with Zoey and the boys.  The fireworks were great, even though they were a little loud. 

The girls with Zoey.

4th of July - Cabin Style

After the parade Lance, myself, the girls, Jeannie, Bob, Jenni, Brandon and Blake all headed to the cabin.  Buddy, Michelle, the kids, Roger, Terri, the boys all met up there.  It was perfect weather for being in the water and the girls got their first jet ski rides of the summer.  Bailee couldn't get enough and just wanted to go faster and faster.  She's my little dare devil I think.

The kids loved the floating island that Papa got for us.

The girls just love their cousins!  Brandon is so sweet with the girls.

Parade Time - 4th of July

We watched the 4th of July parade in Marine again this year.  Here's a past post on the parade.  It's crazy hot, but the girls love it and the community really gets into it. 



These kids really decked out their ride for the kiddie part of the parade.



Captain America

The kiddie parade starts everything out.

Running Time - 4th of July

 Lance did the 4th of July run in Marine this year and the girls, myself, Grammie and Grampie were there cheering him on.  Aftin has been so into running with her daddy, so she helps him stretch and then runs before and after his races with him. 

Lance and his girls before the race.

Time to stretch.

The family before the race.  Bailee wasn't interested in getting her picture taken.

At the finish line.



Sister Love

The girls have been so cute lately with each other.  They talk about being best friends and how they're twins.  They also wanted to get pictures with their new sunglasses.

Summer Time!

After camping we ended up at the cabin for some time on the boat.  The weather was amazing and it was such a nice, relaxing end to a fun weekend.