Skol Vikings!

Are you ready for some footbaaaaaallllll?!?!?   Yup, it's that time again.. 17 weeks (plus playoffs, etc) of Thursday, Sunday, and Monday football games.

The Vikings' first game was last night, so we all donned our purple and gold.

Here's our "Little Moss"...

Little Moss is checking his Fantasy stats.

 Little Moss, Big Moss, Medium Moss... and me.   :-)

We were pretty excited before the game.  Too bad they didn't play worth a darn.  Wuh wuh wuhhhhh        :-(

Fun with Family

Over Labor Day weekend, Eric, Ramsey, Riggs, and I headed up North for a family visit (Connor was at his Mom's house, not feeling well).   Uncle Gary had driven straight through from California (road warrior!!) in his zippy sports car to stay for ten days.  

On Saturday, we had a lot of fun and friendly conversation and took a ton of pictures.

 Eric hadn't seen him in many years and neither Ramsey nor I had met him until now.

We're very blessed that he is family and it was wonderful to finally meet Nana's brother!

 Uncle Gary has great hair, huh!?!?!  :-)  ...heckuva nice guy. 

On Sunday, the "big boys" went to a nearby lake to go fishing (they caught a few walleye).   

Later in the day, Auntie Sarah, Sadie, Isaac, Ramsey, and I walked to the park, just a few blocks from Nana and Bumpa's house.

Ramsey was in heaven with all of the slides (his favorite!), rocks (his second favorite thing), and the rock-climbing dome (a new favorite - he kept going back to it, again and again).   And, he was happily spoiled, getting so much attention from his awesome cousins and auntie.

Of course it's head-first down the slide!!

Sadie and Isaac were so good helping him up and down, and directing him to the slides.

There were some cool playground drums too to whack on.

Isaac was showing off his monkey-like climbing abilities.  Here he is as "King of the Jungle Gym".

More slide action....

...such a fun weekend!!

We truly are blessed to have such a great family.

Family Time on a Sunday Afternoon

This summer, the weekends have been FULL of DIY projects around the house (power-washing and staining both the front and back decks, replacing and then painting the deck railing at the main entrance, cutting down trees, adding more landscaping bricks, staining outside patio furniture, adding a new glass storm door), plus the usual household must-do's (clearing out gutters, mowing, weed-whacking, pulling weeds, watering flowers, not to mention cooking and cleaning!!).   Needless to say, we haven't exactly had a boatload of time to leave the place and have some good ol' family fun.  (Ok, so fishing from our front yard and playing outside in our gorgeous environment isn't too shabby, I must say!)

We decided to take the boys to Storybookland and Wylie Park on Sunday afternoon (once we got some more painting done!).   The weather was gorgeous; warm with a nice breeze.  Perfection!

Our first stop was Thunder Road to pretend we're the Richard Pettys of the world and get our speed on!  Connor and I went for the first round.  Unfortunately, I got stuck behind a dude in a green car that rammed into me when I tried to pass - and, of course, I was the one whose cart got remotely slowed down!  Argh!   I didn't even get the chance to race Connor mano y mano.  Rats!  He won, I lost.  I didn't even get to race in the pink car.  Double rats!  :-)

Eric and Connor raced in the next heat.   Connor bolted out of the gate and got a good lead.  Eric got stuck behind two cars (husband and wife with child), but eventually got around them.  He wasn't QUITE able to make up enough time to catch Connor.  Connor wins again!
(Man, I wished I would have remembered to bring the "GOOD" camera!!!)

Our next venture was to one of the playgrounds at the park.  Ramsey was happy to be able to join the party and play!

Connor and Ramsey started on the teeter-totter.  Though Connor was having a lot of fun, Ramsey kept his "straight face" on the entire time, seemingly concentrating very hard.

Connor showed off his strength on the monkey bars and proved that you're never too old for the playground!

Ramsey is a lover of slides; big slides, little slides, tornado slides - you name it!

Being fearless, the little daredevil thought he'd try to walk up the slide.  I thought kids didn't try that stuff until they were a little older?!?!

Big Brubby swooped in to make sure Ramsey didn't get hurt.   Connor's always looking out for him.  :-)

Here's Daddy... "overseeing" for a while.   He didn't want me to post this picture. hehehe   Isn't he cute?!?!

Then, we were off to Storybookland!!!   Unfortunately, my cell phone DIED, so I couldn't get pictures or videos (note to self: "don't forget the camera next time!").  TOO BAD because there were some priceless moments with the kids; from playing with the baby donkey, the unusually long carousel ride, following the Yellow Brick Road, wandering through the haunted forest and the echoing tunnel, and a million trips down the Tin Man slide, it really was a great family fun day!

A Visit From Grandpa

Dad and Judi made their yearly trip up north in late August.   We got together twice during their brief visit to spend quality time and catch up.

The night they came to our house, Ramsey showed them just how active he is.  :-)    Dad didn't remember me having that much energy!  

Grandpa brought Ramsey some gifts and mementos; commemorative soda bottles (one from The Lamport Soda company from the early part of the 20th century, SD and ND Coke centennial bottles, and an antique Dr Pepper bottle), a charm bracelet that was given to him by his grandmother, and a small wicker chair that was his when he was a child.  The chair was actually my favorite as a child when I watched TV with Grandma and Grandpa L during overnight stays.   Family Feud, All in the Family, and Alice were my favorites to watch with them!  Odd that I remember that.  :-)

\

Our next visit was a night out at our favorite eating spot in Aberdeen.  

Many miles are between us and the time does certainly fly.  Ramsey changed a lot since their last visit and I'm sure his growth and such will surprise them the next time around too.

Brubbies Jus' Chillin'

Big Brubby and Little Brubby are such good buddies!

Connor thought it would be funny to be messy too!

Soooo intent on their smart devices.   lol