Off to the cabin...

Thursday, June 12th we headed to the cabin for 10 days of vacation. It was much needed and we were super excited. Maddox did great on the ride up because he had his Grandma Michelle in the back seat with him. He was awake from Maple Grove all the way to Pequot Lakes! He didn't whine once.

Then we got to the cabin around 10:30pm, unpacked and headed to be.
Maddox wanted to stay in bed with Grandma.
The first day was the coolest, maybe upper 60's and we headed outside to whip the yard into shape and get ready for 10 days of fun.
Maddox started his vacation right away. After all that yard work, we got all cleaned up, went out to eat at the Old Milwaukee Club and relaxed while we waited for Dad & Scott and Angie, Kyle & Rowan to come up later that night. I know, but it's too cute. Potty training even on vacation!

Just a cute post bathtime pic.
The rest of the gang arrived late Friday night, so Saturday morning began the fun. Squirters! Maddox and Rowan had a blast with these, but they weren't strong enough to push the lever with their fingers, so they had to turn it around and use their thumbs.

This led to them just squirting their own faces.
Oh well, it was still fun.

Maddox and Rowan shooting hoops. While we were up this time we finished the basketball hoop and played a lot of PIG. The boys would mimic us on their little hoop.
Just a cute pic.
We also ate two gallons of Summers Dream Schwanns ice cream while we were up. This became Rowan's new favorite flavor and Maddox liked it too.
Maddox did, however, have trouble keeping it to himself. He accidentally shared with Grandpa's cheek.
Family picture.

Grandpa did a great job playing with the boys at the cabin, but boy can they wear a guy out.
Just enjoying a sucker from the Chocolate Ox.
Sisters.
Maddox and Rowan enjoying the swing set. Rowan is doing it a little unconventionally, but still fun.
I know this one's a little blurry, but I had to include a picture of Gordy because Maddox loved him while we were there. He would ask for Gordy daily.

Maddox relaxing with Grandpa at the campfire for happy hour.
Don't you just love the relaxed look on Maddox's bike.

We all stayed quite active all 10 days running, biking and keeping up with all of our strength training. I even ran my first 5k!!! Here's Maddox supervising Dad with his push-ups.
Tackling Grandpa!

We took Maddox out on the boat fishing and he LOVED it. He didn't really care much about holding his Scooby pole yet, but the minnow bucket was pure entertainment. In the above pic, Maddox is playing with a minnow in the cup and transfering it to and from the scooper.

He was actually pretty good at catching them in the bucket.

"I got one!"
"Look Grandpa!"

"Alright, I'll put it back."

Alright, no babies were hurt in this taking of this picture. Maddox just totally collapsed in his chair, but he got up just fine on his own. Corey couldn't resist taking a picture of the struggle. Poor kid!
Swimming!!! The water was a bit cold still down at the lake, so we bought a little pool to have in the yard. The boys loved it on those 80 degree days!
No, I didn't buy Maddox a speedo, but that is his swim diaper and that's all we put on one evening because it was just too cute.

Isn't he just adorable!

Swinging. Maddox was obsessed with swinging at the cabin. Everytime we were outside he would stand at the edge of the patio and look at the nearest person begging to "fwing".
Big boy trike.
Corey and I hung out with the boys one night while everyone else fished. Here they are post bath having their evening snack of sliced apples and yogurt while watching Happy Feet.
Oh, what a relaxing evening.

Vacation was a blast filled with eating lost of yummy food, golfing, reading, running, biking, cards, basketball, movies, shopping and so much more. It was a terrific time with the family.
...And then we were home.

Here's some post vacation just woke up pictures. Maddox has many expressions.



Well, the cabin was wonderful as usual, but we're also glad to be home. Our patio has been poured and will be finished Friday. Saturday is landscape edging, plastic, and mulch. Tuesday is irrigation. And Wednesday is SOD!!!! Then we'll have a yard, YAY!!!

Rain & HAIL!!!!

Alright, I am embarrassed to say I have no pictures of Corey's birthday. Corey took the day off of work and we headed to the mall for some shopping and then I surprised Corey with Jenna coming over to take Maddox to swimming lessons so we could go out for dinner ALONE! It was kind of weird to be by ourselves and just relax. Thanks Auntie Jenna! The sweetest part of the whole day was that Maddox can sing Happy Birthday. He sings, "happy birthday to you" in the sweetest little voice. He's now sang it to my entire family just because it's too sweet.

Here's a cute shot of our little 19 1/2 month old!

Alright, I thought I should start off with this afternoon's events - Rain & Hail!!!
Hopefully there's no damage on my car since it was parked on the street.

Here's Maddox brushing his teeth this morning getting ready to go down to see Grandpa Robby. He loves to brush now because he actually gets a little toothpaste. After we give him his toothbrush he instantly says, "more toothpaste, more toothpaste".

Here he's totally hamming it up for the camera. Too cute. Maddox is becoming quite the character now and so verbal! We have total conversations more and more. Here he is doing all of his emotions for me. The above is HAPPY!

Surprised!

Weird!

Sad.

And Happy again for good measure.

I heard some noise over by the closet the other morning when Corey and I were getting stuff ready to go somewhere. I went to look and found Maddox getting all geared up in Corey's stuff. He has a think for headsets. Maddox has brought so much fun to our lives. Maddox is so independent and thinks he's oh probably at least 3 years old. He says so many phrases and groups them to tell you a story or tell you what he wants or what he's thinking. It's so fun to hear all of this creative stuff come out. We're working on colors and ABC's now and he knows Pink & Blue pretty well and Green sometimes. He really likes anything pink (he's his mother's child). He'll also fill in the blanks with the ABC's fairly well and can tell me what most of the letters on his wall are. Counting and spelling are still the same. There is still no "A" in his name according to him and he doesn't seem to like the number 3 still, but we're getting there. He's now on a Curious George kick. The movie is excellent if you haven't seen it yet. Well, we're off on vacation for the next week and a half with my side of the family. Hopefully the weather will cooperate up north!