Vacation in MN!

If you've noticed I've been absent, that's because we've been on vacation! We went to Green Lake, in Minnesota, and had a very fun, relaxing time.

We rented a house in a nearby town. It was ideal. We could cook our own meals (save some moolah there, besides, believe it or not I get tired of eating out with 4 kiddos!), have room to move around, and the best part...it had a POOL in the backyard! The owners of the house live next door and so if we had any problems they were right there.

Some days the 3 older kids swam morning, noon and night. It was lots of fun for them. In fact, one day Brandy didn't feel well, so we weren't able to go anywhere. The kids hardly noticed at all. And I had a good book to curl up with. (smile) Thankfully that only lasted a day. Although I still managed to get quite a bit of reading done. I've been so busy this summer I've hardly picked up a book.

On Monday our friends, Fred and Sandy, and their 2 youngest kids came to swim and boat with us. Yeah! What fun that was. We met them one year ago TODAY!! on our way to China. They were on their way to meet their son, and of course, we were on our way to meet Jaden. Some Chinese people thought Sandy and I were sisters. Honestly we have lots in common so we could be. I've always wanted a sister. Love ya, Sis!
Jaden thought Fred was a hoot (which he is)! Later on he hit Fred in the lip with this car, giving him a blood blister. Ouch! Wish I had more pics of them and their kids. But Sandy does and is going to email them to me.One cooler evening we went blueberry picking. I've never done that before and thought it would be fun, and my family so thoughtfully went along. :) Jaden licking his lips, yum, yum! A funny from Tye...he said...you should put them in your basket, not eat them...as he was sticking one in his mouth. LOL I teased him that he was eating more than he was picking. They aren't the sweetest blueberries I've ever had, but if you look close and take a peek at all the thistles, I'd definitely say they were organic! And we had a few pokes and scratches to proof it. Tye got over a couple fears this week. He didn't want to swim in the lake because of the fish (what if they would bite? I had to face this fear at one point, too!). And...he was afraid to go tubing. Finally he had a good time on the tube with Mom. (Like my shades?! Mine broke, so I borrowed a pair of Brandy's. Do I look cool or what?!)

Ok, in this picture it doesn't look like were having a good time, but we really are! I distracted him at first with a beautiful rendition of "my bonnie lies over the ocean...". Tickling him on every b-word. It worked!