A Tale of Two Goobers.....

I could not think of a better fitting title to describe what I am about to show you....

You see, my Bestie Amy came to visit me this past week.

We have been friends for a looooong time.....about 15 years!

That is plenty of time to build up quite a stock of memories, moments, and, of course....

......embarassing pictures :)

Let me first introduce you to Amy and Diana, circa 1998....

Yeah, I know......soooooo stylish!

But anyway, Amy and I met at school through a mutual friend all because we both were in LOVE with this awesome boy band......Hanson!

We clicked right away and didn't spend much time apart.

Most days, we just hung out and were complete goobers......I mean, we were just 12 or 13!

Did I mention the goober part????

So, after the 8th grade, my family was set to move.



Here we are (me on the left, Amy on the right) on our last day of school together.



But, Amy and I stayed the best of friends through high school, college, and into our adult lives.

We visited each other a couple times each year.....and usually had an adventure planned for each visit!

Once, we drove all the way from Oklahoma to Colorado with Amy's mom for a Hanson concert!

The highlight of the trip (other than Hanson, of course!) was this totally awesome slide at the restaurant we ate at.

And stopping to see the world's largest prairie dog, but that is another story! :)

Another time, we got together at New Year's.

I am pretty sure we ended up wandering around downtown OKC aimlessly that night.....

Amy came up to Kansas City a few times too.

We are masters at the "self portrait" with a camera!

And one time, I suprised her with a visit in Edmond.

Since Amy has always lived in more "fun" places than I have, we had a lot of visits in her city.

In college, I came down to visit her in Miami......clearly, that was a fantastic trip!

Always looking out for each other......even applying sunblock when necessary!

We met up at Disney World one year too.....

Then Amy was my Maid of Honor in my wedding.

No idea why it is soooo blurry, but there is Amy on the left.....bawling!

Just wait until she gets married........I will be a mess! :)

We met in Chicago too......

.....just to see a Hanson concert!

Yes, we made signs and shirts.....and followed Hanson to a White Sox game so we could hear them sing the National Anthem.

Just remember....I said at the beginning that we were goobers!

The last time we got together was 3 years ago when we met up in New York.

Since our last visit, our lives have changed a TON!

I have 2 kids, we both have moved a couple times, and we are busy with everyday life.

But FINALLY Amy came up to visit me here in Duluth!

No worries, that is a post all on it's own......... :)

But, I will leave you with a final thought.....

Who would wear this unless they were visiting the set of "In Living Color"??!!

Oi, It Has Been a While!

Whoops!  I suppose I dropped the blogger ball on this one!  :)

Over the past few weeks (that I have NOT been blogging....) life has just gotten away from us!

We have been busy with all kinds of things; vacation, family outings, kids growing soooo fast (!!), and just everyday stuff.

So, vacation......

I suppose this was more of a "stay-cation" as we didn't actually GO anywhere.  Adam took time off work and his family and some friends came up here for a rather lengthy visit. 

First on the agenda....taking our friends to the Canal.

Landon and his "wife" Maddy could never quite get to looking at the camera at the SAME time.... 

.....at least they are cute! :) 

Thanks to Pat, our "stay-cation" also included a lovely bottle (or two) of wine in the evenings. 

The babies just hung out a lot.....Avery apparently thought Tyler would taste yummy! 

Leave it to the girls to be matchy-matchy!  :) 

Also on the agenda....dinner at Sammy's!

No trip to Duluth is complete without some Sammy's in your belly....

Lisa took this as an opportunity to go on her first motorcycle ride with Uncle Kevin.

She should have been named Grace..... 

Well at least she got on the bike without harming herself or anyone else!  :) 

Of course, no Vacation or Stay-cation would miss out on some boat rides around the lake. 

As long as Landon had access to the water, he was a happy camper! 

And the babies just hung out some more..... Lol! 

Before Pat and Lori left, we made sure to get some hard work out of Pat.....

.....and around here, there is always a project!

This time, it was building the dock.

Starting to take shape!

And of course, some more fun in the sun!

At the end of "stay-cation", we went back down to Canal Park to hang out with Grandpa on a lovely day.

Such a tough guy! 

Waiting (not so very) patiently for Uncle Kevin and Auntie Pam to come pick us up in thier boat! 

We took a guided tour of Lake Superior just off the Canal....courtesy of Uncle "Bebin". 

And Avery got to go on her first boat ride! 

Ever the rock collector......

We got up close to the Lift Bridge just in time to see one of the big ore boats coming through. 

Landon LOVED that!! 

But even more than the big boats, he was thrilled to get to drive Uncle Kevin's boat for a while! 

So, back to regular life, we got back in the habit of hanging out at home more often again....

Avery had to learn how to entertain Landon since we weren't at the lake everyday to keep him worn out!

She does a pretty good job holding her own with him!  

Adam and his dad got the playset moved onto the yard "extension" and leveled it out.

In my opinion, I cannot wait to get the extension seeded and grassed!!

Landon sees it as awesome because he can dig for rocks.....boys! 

I have been making my own baby food, so once things settled down, I tackled fruits.

Landon really liked the strawberries.....too bad I wasn't making them for him! :)

I mean seriously....you would think I don't feed the kid!  

With the weather cooling off up here, we were able to spend more time all together outside.

We like to pack up lunches and have picnics at the park. 

Avery just hangs out and enjoys the cool breeze!

And when we aren't outside, we have been getting back into making "treats" to have around the house!

Just recently, it was banana pudding.....yum!

Always a helper! 

One day he will do dishes with dish soap..... 

Funny thing....I seem to remember him digging in to banana pudding from early on!

He is just over a year old here.....

And to cap off our "catching up" saga......

......Avery found her toes!

Lol!  Such a cutie!

Phew!  Now I won't feel so behind when I catch up again (hopefully) soon!

Next week Avery will be 6 months old (and she has been busy!!) and Amy-shelle is coming to visit!!!!!

Those blogs will be coming up...... :)

Stinky Skunks and Bottoms....

A while back in the car, we passed through a rather potent patch of air.

I said "Ewwww that is stinky!  It smells like a skunk!"

Landon replies with "People run over skunk in car?"

Obviously, he has paid attention when we pass smelly skunks!

Then a few days ago, Adam "broke wind" in the car.

I said "Ewwww smells like another skunk!"

Adam just grins, which confirms that it was not a skunk, but rather his rear end.

Landon said "People run over skunk in car?"

I said "No, Daddy just tooted."

So today, we are in the car and we, yet again, pass a patch of potent air.

I said "Ewwww that stinks!"

Landon said "People run over skunk in car?"

I said "Yeah, I wonder where all these skunks are coming from?!"

Landon replies, very matter-of-factly with "Daddy's bottom."

He seems to have gotten a very fundamental connection:  Daddy's bottom smells like skunks!