fun with friends ... in the cities

Billy flew out of the cities on Sunday morning after a week with us in Northern MN and back to Tampa. We knew we were really going to miss him, but at least this summer, we would only be away for two more weeks ... last summer, we were gone nearly six weeks!  (That's five without him!) 

As per usual, we headed to my BFF Tricia's house from the airport.  We got there just as my other BFFs were arriving ... the Larsons!  Steph and Andy were unloading their car as we pulled into the driveway.  The only missing part was our GWHO.  Gwen couldn't make it to MN this year, so we were without her.  That was pretty cruddy, Gwen!  You better make it next year, because we all missed you BIG TIME! 

On Sunday, the Dads and the kids swam, and we had barbecue ... Sean made his famous wings!  They were perfect, as always.  It was so nice having all of our kids play together again ... and visiting with two of my favorite ladies.  We ended the evening with Adele's Frozen Custard ... a tradition!

The crew at Adele's.

The entire visit all Colton wanted to play was Brody's new Foosball game.  Seriously.  It got a little annoying even.  He LOVED it!  Santa has made a note of this.

There were a lot of "Boo-yahs" and boo-hoos!

Geordi LaForge really liked these glasses she found at Tricia's house! 

Tricia and Sean bought some land not too far from their current home ... and it is GORGEOUS!  I am looking forward to seeing how it all works out with their plans for their new home.  The property is just incredible!

This will be their driveway.  I love the trees!

The kids walking along the driveway.

I just love the peacefulness.

This is Mangus and the clearing where their house will go.  It's so private and secluded! 

Kids playing on a mulch pile.

Queen of the mountain!

One day, we decided to take the kids to Sky Zone.  It was so much fun! I had seen it on TV before, but we had never been.  The kids thought it was great!  They jumped and jumped for an hour.  What a fun indoor activity to get the energy out.

The Sky Zone Jumpers!

jumping, jumping, jumping

After Sky Zone, we grabbed some sandwiches and had a picnic at the park.  Minnesota had such gorgeous weather while we were visiting!  The park was such a wonderful place to spend the afternoon.

I think the best part about visiting at Tricia's is all of the memories we are still getting to make with each other and that our kids are making together.  I just love hanging out at her house just chatting and relaxing.  It's even better than old times ... it feels right.  

The night before we left, Sean came home with gifts for all of the kids.  He picked up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sweatshirts for everyone!  The boys loved it the most.  Brody kept calling them Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles! (Between that and Colton's Teenage Manger Turtles ... I about died!) It was so adorable!

Those cute Ninja Turtles!

It's always the hardest to say goodbye.  The night before we left, Tricia and I went out to get ice cream by ourselves.  It was really nice just hanging out the two of us.  I miss that!  We even closed down Dairy Queen!  Such rebels!

Great picture of my girl, Trish and my babies. 

Alice loved visiting with Aunt Tricia, too!

Most adorable kiddos!

Cute smiles!

Brody was so good with Allie ...

Me with two cutie Keatings!

Love visiting every summer!

We had a fun time!

We stayed with the Keatings for three days, and then we left to drive down to Kansas City to visit family.  On our drive down, I saw this truck ... it says, "Inedible ... Not Intended for Human Food ... PORK ONLY".  Ew, Iowa.  Just ew.

As per usual, we stopped and had lunch at the bridges of Madison County, IA.  We have stopped here for five summers.  I was shocked and more than a little annoyed that they had painted the inside of the bridge.  I understand that they are trying to keep it nice for others to enjoy ... but we have been stopping here and writing our names on the wall for five years ... plus, the fall trip I took with Gwen in 2001.  Now, it's all been covered over with white paint.  I was very sad to see this!  I searched for where I could tell we had written before ... I knew I could find it, because some of the writing had dug into the wood ... engraving itself forever, so unless they replaced the boards ... even paint couldn't undo that writing.  I found the plank that we had written on so many times before, and I wrote a fresh new inscription.  Summer of 2014 ... let the new traditions carry on right on top of the old ones!

The kids at the bridge!

Our new inscription.

The old board ... covered with fresh white paint!

We were all there!

And from the bridges, we headed off to Kansas City for a week with Grandpa and Grandma Reynolds and Aunt Dana and her family!