Aquapalooza – Part 2

Well, it’s been a week since the event, but I am just now getting a chance to post about the great time we had!  It was so nice to be able to spend the day on the river without a care in the world! Taylor enjoyed his naps on the boat, and we were able to sleep on the boat.  It was a little rocky at first and the bed was a little small, but that just meant that I was able to cuddle with my hubby.  We took a fabulous evening cruise, I was able to read my book on the bow of the boat and we listened to another great band play!  I wouldn’t trade Minnesota summers for anything on days like these.  I wish we lived closer, don’t get me wrong, but we have to take advantage of some of the perks of Casey’s job while we can!  Here are some more pictures of part 2!!

We ended up not taking the sedan bridge, but it is still 46 feet!

A couple pictures of what the inside looked like!

The deck, or whatever the “proper” name is.

The state room.

 

The kitchen.

 

The dinning/living room.

 

Taylor taking a nap in the entertainment room.

 

Our set up.  Jay has the sedan bridge in the middle. It was nice, but I actually like ours better!

You had to drive from the bridge, which I wasn’t the biggest fan of.

The stage for the band.

Just a few other boats, there were over 100 boats all in the area!

If you look close there is a guy on the bottom in a recliner floatie that was motorized! Pretty cool!

 

He loves his graham crackers!!

  

Playing with mommy and chillin’ with daddy.

 

Taking some driving lessons from daddy, but much more interested in his laces.

 

Our evening cruise.  Our eyes look hilarious because we were blinded by the flash!

 

Well, that is all for aquapalooza, hope this finds everyone well and enjoying summer. I know we are!  Well, I am off to do some push ups and run for the last time before my Warrior Dash!!  Ahh!! I can’t believe I am actually doing it!  And I was selected to participate in the Twin Cities 10 mile, so I better get to running!! Can’t wait to share the experience of the Warrior Dash with you all.  If you are curious, check out the link here: Warrior Dash – Minnesota.  Casey realized yesterday that this was being held at the same place he did his 50K.  Let me tell you, that was VERY hilly!! We will see how I do, I’m pretty excited though!

Until next time…

Aquapalooza!!!Part 1

This past weekend, Casey, Taylor and I ventured out to lake Minnetoka and experience Aquapalooza.  Aquapalooza is an event hosted by Sea Ray all across the country. Last weekend, it was at the lake, and this weekend it will be at the river, where we will be staying the evening (for the first time!!!) on a boat.  It won’t hurt that is is a 45 foot Sedan Bridge either, but that will come next weekend.  This one is about the lake… I still haven’t quite understood the idea behind boating in Minnesota, but it was very relaxing this past weekend.  We were able to just tie up to all of the boats, listen to some great music, and jump in whenever it was a little too hot.  Taylor also loved all the activity! We played on the front of the boat, went swimming, and took some naps.  All in all it was a great weekend, and I can’t wait to do it all over again this weekend!! Some much needed R&R.

 

Hope this finds everyone well, we are enjoying the weather.  Hopefully we will be able to get to go on a hike sometime, but that is all dependant on the state! They have shut down all of the state parks because they can’t agree to tax people buying cigarettes!  Oh, and 72% are still taking a salary while everyone else is laid off.  I’ve never been huge into politics, but as I get older it is interesting (and easy) to form an opinion on matters like these.  I don’t agree with the extra tax on the wealthy, why should they have to pay $20,000 more just to get the state out of crisis?  Well, that is my rant for the day, but I leave you with an interesting fact…All of Coor’s an Miller products have been taken out of Minnesota because their license to sell the products has expired, and there is no one to renew it! HA! Talk about the state loosing even more money!? 

Hope you enjoy the pictures!!

 

   

 

 

Taylor’s 6 Month Photo Shoot

Well, it’s hard to believe that 6 months have gone by.  (Actually 7 now that I am writing this.) I had decided that I want Gina Zeidler to capture Taylor’s whole year.  I just love the pictures that she takes.  They are so honest and true.  She truly is a talented woman.  If anyone is interested in looking at her photos, her blog offers a great inside to what she stands for and the pictures that she captures will take your breath away, ginazeidler.com/blog.  She just finished capturing a birth of her best friend.  Those pictures are truly amazing!! Back to the day.  Well, we were babysitting my neighbor’s child that day, and it was extremely hot!  I mean Florida weather hot, so we were all sweating by the end of it.  We stripped Taylor down to his diaper, and ended up capturing his true personality with his daddy.  Oh how I will cherish these pictures forever!  Thanks Gina! Looking forward to our 9 month photo shoot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until next time…

Big Sandy Lodge

This past weekend, we took our first trip as a family!  It was so much fun, as well as a completely new experience.  Casey had been planning the first annual Big Air Contest for months.  It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful weekend, with a great turn out.  We were able to meet some great new people and just spend time hanging out with some of our neighbors, who decided to make the trip as well.  Taylor didn’t take any naps, as he was much more excited to see all of the new sights and being a big flirt with all the ladies. 

The view from our room, taken on my phone, so not the greatest quality. 

I had always known the wakeboards had a completely different lifestyle, but this event just show cased it.  How they function at 6 in the morning after partying hard (and I mean hard) all night is beyond me.  Taylor and I were in bed by 9 pm, but Casey was right in his element, loving every second of it.  Taylor and I were also able to meet Colin Ryan, MarineMax’s team rider.  (Casey recruited him.)  He is one of the nicest people I have ever met, oh and he is pretty great at wakeboarding.  He won all of the contests miles ahead of everyone.  Apparently he was also in a commercial for wakeboarding as well.  Does anyone remember the Vault commercial where they save a dog??  Well, that was him!  He almost set a world record for big air, just 4 frames short.  It was crazy to see him perform all the tricks in person.  It was honestly like he wasn’t even trying.  Not that the Smith  boy’s aren’t good at wakeboarding, but he is ridiculous.  I don’t have any pictures of him yet, but here is my amazing hubby doing my favorite trick! Superman!!

And a few others from the weekend…

 

I guess what they say is true…like father like son…

 

Well, we are looking forward to the beach in just a couple of days!  We are excited to see everyone and take LOTS of pictures with the family.  It is a much needed vacation for both Casey and I and we are so happy to start sharing this tradition with our son!  He will have so many cousins to play with as the years go by, and we will look forward to this week each year.

 

On a side note, Taylor had his 6 month check-up today.  He was one healthy little man!  When I tell you he is skinny, I now have the doctor’s agreement!  He is in the 75 % for height, measuring in at a tall 26 1/2" and he is in the 5 % for weight, tipping the scale at a hefty 14 lb 1 oz.  Ha!  But the child can eat!  Don’t worry I’m not starving him in any way!  He eats four 8 oz. bottles a day as well as 3-4 Gerber foods.  The pediatrician said to put some weight on him to start him on table food.  I can’t believe how fast he is growing up.  It seems like just yesterday he could barely lift his little head off of the floor, and now he can stand by himself holding onto the couch!  Oh how I love that little guy and can’t wait to see him grow and explore.

Can’t wait to see everyone in just 2 more days!!!

Until next time…

Taylor and Grass!

It was finally nice enough (and there were no longer chemicals on the grass to kill the dandelions) for us to enjoy our grass!!  One of the things that I LOVE about Minnesota is the grass.  It is so soft, not itchy like down south so it is actually enjoyable to sit in the grass without a blanket.  Taylor was in a good mood and it was one of the most gorgeous days outside yesterday, so we had a little photo shoot!  Here is what we came up with.

 

 

 

As you can see, he was much more interested in the grass! I couldn’t

capture one of him looking at the camera!

He then, decided he was tired of sitting, so he stood

up for a while, just wiggling his toes in the grass.

 

Since he loves to sit now, he now loves to play in his little chair.  His little personality is shining through more and more each day!  I can’t wait for the beach to be around all the little ones and see how their personalities interact! It sure will by much easier now that he can sit by himself.  I am afraid he could be crawling by then though, which means so much for my peaceful week. But, maybe he will hold out until just after beach week.

 

My little man!  LOVE him!

A day of Milestone’s!

Today was a big day of milestone’s, at least in my perspective.  The day started off with Taylor sleeping for 12 hours, which was awfully nice to let his mommy sleep in!  After finally waking up, we made his usual 7 ounce bottle with a little bit of rice cereal.  Well, he wanted to have absolutely nothing to do with the bottle.  So, we experimented…

   

  

 

He tried awfully hard, and eventually made it work!  He was one happy camper.  I can’t believe that all he wanted was that sippy cup!  After the sippy cup was drained down, we practiced sitting up, which he is soo close to being able to do by himself.  He becomes slightly off balanced and tips over.  He prefers to stand, so it is hard to bend his little waist and have him sit at times.  We then practiced tummy time and he wanted a toy so bad, that he attempted to get his legs underneath him!  I was so surprised and I grabbed my camera to catch some of it on video, which is adorable.  He couldn’t quite figure it out, and would burry his head in the floor to try to get his legs underneath him.  It was the cutest thing, but I want to hold onto him being so tiny just a little bit longer!  He is growing so fast and such a happy baby!  I can’t get enough hugs and give him enough kisses.

  

Until next time…