Good food with great friends

One of the best things about summer is grilling out & hanging out with good friends.  A couple weeks ago we made the trek to Elk River to hang out with my best friend Katie & her husband Mike as well as Jackie, Derek, Andrea & her family, Moyya, Brian, & Jen.  It was a little hot & humid but once the backyard was shaded it was a perfect night, until the bugs came out in full force ;)

                       Justin & Mike hanging out in the backyard waiting for the others to arrive

                 Katie & I, best friends since freshman year of high school (16 years now, yikes!)
 

                            Jackie, Katie, & I hanging out, enjoying the great summer weather

Derek & Justin playing a round of bags

I have definitely realized these past few years who my true friends are and am so thankful that they are in my life.  

Enjoying summer.....

Days that it has been nice & warm, we like to spend most of our day outside playing with our trucks & mower.  This week has been a little too hot & humid for baby boy but last weekend we were able to get in some outside time, especially Friday afternoon.

He loves his trucks, tractor, and bus!

His face says, really mom enough with the pictures :)

(That is the river right across the street, love the view from your front yard!)

Mama mow

Becoming a little more daring, walks up & down the outside stairs all the time.....

Best buddies

Exhausting day, kicking back with my juice, blankies (2), loveys (4), monkeys (4).

Swimming Lessons

Baby boy really has no fear of the water, which makes mama a little nervous.  When we were in Maui this past January, there was a kiddie pool which was great but Hudson would accidently dunk himself & it barely phased him.  So teaching him to swim is definitely a priority :)  We just completed our second session of parent-tot class through the Northfield Community Center & our fish is loving it.

Warming up to the water

Working on our scoops & kicks

Let's jump mama

1...2...3...Go!

Yay!

I am thinking we will be doing this year round as the pool is usually nice & heated :)  

Outdoor music

Wednesday night my little sister & I headed over to the MN Zoo for part of their summer concert series to see Gavin DeGraw & Colbie Caillat.  Eventhough it was 90+ degrees & really humid, we still had a fabulous evening!  Here is a picture of us during the opening act, Joey DeGraw (Gavin's brother).

Gavin DeGraw performed first and put on a great show.  I have seen him perform before, since this was after his stint on "Dancing with the Stars", he definitely showed off some moves :)

Colbie Caillat finished off the night.  Her voice is amazing and she was adorable!

Hopefully we can see a few more outdoor concerts before the cold weather moves in.  Another fabulous night with my little sister :)

Summer Saturday!

I absolutely love the weekends, especially when I can spend a majority of the day with my baby boy & Justin!  Usually our summer weekends fill up with weddings, get togethers, weekends away, etc.  This weekend was one of the few that we had very little planned :)

I started out the morning with some yoga, from there Hudson & I headed over to Centennial Lakes for a little walk & some exploring.

We then headed over to Southdale to do some shopping, of course :)  From there back to Nana & Poppa's for lunch and a nap for baby boy.  While he was napping, Justin & I headed to Perfect Getaway Day Spa in Minneapolis for a much needed couple's massage.  It was Justin's Valentines present that we finally got around to using :)  It was perfect & we already scheduled another one for our anniversary in October!

Luckily the weather cooperated and we were able to grill out & enjoy our patio and our toys.

Hoping we have many more Saturdays we can spend this way :)

Father's Day

Sunday June 17th we celebrated dad :)  Justin did not want to start the morning with a run so instead we had breakfast at home and gave him his gift.  I was inspired by pinterest & my mom took pictures of Hudson with a "D" & an "A" to spell out DAD in a 5 x 7 frame with 3 picture slots.  Hudson was not really in the mood to cooperate but she was still able to get some good shots.  I forgot to take some pics as he now has it on display at work :(  From there we headed up to AV.  Luckily the morning started out beautiful in MN, so we headed over to the MN Zoo.  Started out with the trails outside as the day was 70 & sunny! 

Checking out the bears while eating popcorn for a morning snack :)

From there we headed to the dolphin show!  This was our first time seeing it & it maybe the last as soon they will no longer have it :(

My two favorite boys watching so intently......

After that we may our way towards the farm to visit with the cows, pigs, and goats.  I was really surprised that Hudson let the goats lick his hand!  He was loving it :)

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate for us to have an evening BBQ.  But both our families headed towards Cannon Falls.  Nana (my mom) brought some cupcakes that Hudson really enjoyed :)

Another fabulous day :)

June Happenings

The past couple weeks have been a little busy in the Weingartz household.  Last weekend Justin & I headed East for a wedding in Wheeling, West Virgina, leaving baby boy for 3 days.  The longest I have ever left him!  I still need to upload those photos as they are on our smaller camera, so once I do I will post about that weekend. 

We returned on Sunday evening, so I took Monday off to hang out with baby boy.  It was another beautiful day in MN, so Hudson, Tonia, and I headed over to Calhoun for a little run and then some playtime at the park.  Of course we needed to swing :)

I just love this smile!

Then it was back to work & daycare for the week.  Thursday night we had a total of 8+" of rain, causing some flooding in Cannon Falls.  I was hoping to get some pictures on Friday after work but by the time I got home, the water had gone down. 

Hudson had a huge accomplishment this week, he went to the bathroom in his potty twice!  We are not really trying to potty train yet but we decided to introduce it to him as his newest word is "poop".  So Thursday night we brought it up & he wanted to sit on it, all of a sudden he started going to the bathroom.  He was so proud of himself, stood up & clapped his hand, "Yay!"

Friday is our usual cleaning & laundry day & Hudson loves to clean!  Here he is swiffering the floors for mama :)

So serious about his cleaning!

Notice the left arm, we had a hard time keeping the markers on our coloring book......

Today was the annual Strawberry Fest tournament in Cottage Grove & of course it rains, like every year :(  So us ladies headed to the nearby McDonalds to let the kids play.  It was fun to see our friends Karlee, Ethan, and Kellen!

Ethan & Hudson were supporting their MN Twins!

Hopefully next year the weather will be better so we can play outside, if not, we may need to find a new softball tournament for the dad's to play in ;)