Dancing Fool

Eddy was flipping channels recently and stopped at VH1--a Nine Inch Nails video came on and Isaac started bustin' a move! I'm so glad he's not a wallflower!

We had the Senichs over for dinner this weekend. It was fun to hang out and enjoy our backyard. The boys were in their suits and played in the water. Well, I should say Ben played in the water as Isaac watched! At dinner, we had them sit on the kid-size picnic table. It was so cute--Isaac would eat off Ben's plate and vice versa. Best friends share their food, right?!

I bought a four-square water game that you attach to a hose and water sprays up through lots of little holes. I thought Isaac might have fun with it. When I went to take a picture of Isaac and Eddy, all of a sudden, Isaac says "cheese"! Now he says it every time I take the camera out!

A Great Saturday

Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to work in the backyard landscaping while Isaac was at daycare. I'm bummed that I don't have "before" pictures, because I think the "after" looks amazing! I need to get some bigger rock for edging and wood chips for the path that we have, but it looks 100% better already.

Then, this morning, 8:30am to be exact, Eddy's dad came over with a tiller we rented for the morning. He was nice enough to pick it up with his truck. By 9am, we were digging up the raised area in our backyard that used to be a garden. While Eddy was busy with that, Steve chased Isaac around, and I continued to work on the landscaping. Again, I don't have before pictures, but here's a "work in progress" picture. I don't know if it will ever really be done (!!), but soon there will be grass where the garden used to be, and I'll finish the rock/flower area by the fountain.

Isaac was awesome! He played with all the toys in the backyard and only got fussy around 11am, which I realized it was time for lunch. He sat at the little tikes picnic table I picked up at a garage sale and had a grand ol' time. After his nap, we headed over to the Doyle's for Connor's second birthday party! It was a great day, all around.

Below is a pic of Isaac using his new lawnmower. When he pushes it, bubbles come out the side. He absolutely loves it. (Rich, you might have an employee for the summer in a few years!).

I captured Isaac on film making all sorts of animal sounds. He also says "Aunt Lou" which is absolutely adorable! Enjoy, Aunt LuAnne!

Playing Catch-Up

We recently returned from our vacation to Upstate NY to visit the Morgan side of the family. We flew in to Burlington, Vermont on Tuesday, July 8 and were scheduled to fly home on Sunday, July 13 (more about that in a minute). We didn't have any plans, other than to see family, have fun, and show off Isaac! Regardless of what the following pictures shows, Isaac really does love Uncle Rich & Aunt Mona! Below are (some of) the Morgan men and Morgan women (some pictured are Morgans through marriage). Eddy's dad is one of thirteen children! The picture on the right is of Aunt LuAnne. Over the course of our time in NY, we were constantly asking Isaac if he could say everyone's names. I think the way Isaac said "Aunt Lu" was the fan favorite!

We also were able to see Ed and Mary Sherman, Isaac's great-grandparents. It was a good visit.
We had a lot of fun during our stay. Isaac loved bowling! The guys also used one of Rich's "toys" to dig a trench. His newest idea is to have a woodstove (see it in the background) and pipe the head underground and into the house. For those of you who know Rich, you're probably not surprised by this latest project! Saturday afternoon Rich and Mona hosted a gathering. Well, a little later into the evening, Rich thought it'd be fun to shoot off fireworks. So, Rich, Jimmy, and Steve entertained the crowd.

Rich and Mona have a 24 ft pool at their house. I think Eddy took advantage of it the most! Isaac did warm up to it one day, and I caught some of it on film. He's busy kicking, blowing bubbles (then making a scene of "choking"), and Eddy wondering if he should dunk Isaac.

Now, to the fiasco of getting home. We flew from Burlington, Vermont (the closest airport) to JFK in New York City at 10am and landed at 11:30 without incident. Our flight back to Minneapolis wasn't scheduled to leave until 1:55, so we got lunch. Fast-forward, and it's 1:45 and we're at the gate we were told to be at, and our flight number/city isn't listed on the board. hhmmm. All of a sudden at 2:05pm, over the loud speaker, we get instructions that we'll be boarding. Everyone got settled on the plane, and we sat there. It's starting to get warm. Really warm. Pilot alerts us that the air condiditoning is broken and they're trying to fix it. An hour and a half go by, and we're told to get off the plan (and take our things with us, as we might be getting a different plane). Did I mention we had a carseat with us for Isaac? After waiting in the airport for an hour, we re-board the same plane. Get a situated, then the pilot says we need to wait for the fuel truck to come "top us off". Couldn't they have done that while they spend an hour fixing the AC? After that, pilot now tells us that we literally cannot back up from the gate, because there are planes in our way. By now I think it's somewhere around 6pm. Luckily Isaac falls asleep and Eddy and I are dozing. Some time later, the pilot says "folks, we're 50th in line for take off". Uh, what? Did you say FIFTITH?? I thought he was joking. He wasn't. About 8pm, he comes back on and says, "for those of you on the right side of the plane, look out the window and you'll see there's about 30 planes in front of us, and 30 behind us, waiting to take off". Fast-forward and now it's about 9:15. Did I mention we haven't left the ground yet? Pilot comes back on and says "we'll be taking off in about 10 minutes". Well, 10 turns into 20, as it's starting to get warm again. It's now 9:55pm and the pilot says "bad news, folks. When we turned on engine 2, the AC went out again. Looks like we're going to have to go back to the gate". You are freakin' kidding me. Ok, so the story goes on and on....we got a hotel at 2:30 in the morning, Eddy called Delta at 9am and, even though they say the flight was due to weather (so not true), got us on a Northwest flight out of LaGuardia at 1pm. We landed in Minneapolis 24 hours later than we were supposed to. I'm still fumin' mad about it.

To end this post on a more pleasant note, Duluth hosted an air show this weekend. With our new house, we are much closer to the airport. So, when the Blue Angels were flying, I took some pictures! I didn't use my zoom or crop these pictures after I downloaded them. It was amazing!

Baby Crocs

Before our recent trip, we stopped at Rosedale mall in the Cities...man, I made a killing at NY & Company womens clothing store! As the lady was ringing up my purchases, I suggested that the store would do well in Duluth (all of you 20 and 30-somethings in Duluth know what I mean...it's either Christopher & Banks or Vanity). She asked that I fill out a comment card...so I did. Here's to hoping.

Just as we were about to leave, I noticed a Stride Rite store that had Crocs. Isaac has one pair of sandals, and for some reason, the right sandal always fall off. And, not wanting to deal with having to find a missing shoe (which Eddy experienced on a recent trip to Kohl's), I convinced Eddy to let me get Isaac a pair of Crocs. They didn't have many color options in his size, but we settled on a pair of light blue ones. They are adorable! And, just like my friends have said, they don't fall off. An added bonus, Isaac can put them on himself! I haven't had a chance to download pics, but I'll get one of Isaac in his new shoes soon.

We *heart* the cabin!

What a great holiday weekend! We headed down to the Tischer cabin Thursday evening. We had a relaxing 4th, with lots of fun inbetween. Saturday night, a cabin across the lake put on a fireworks display...and we're not talking sparklers here! They set up a PA system this year and had music accompanying the show! There were about 20 boats in the water and who knows how many people on shore watching. It was unbelievable. 40 minutes worth of unbelievable.


A few highlights caught on film from the weekend.


Getting a ride from Great Grandpa Gene.



Waiting for more bubbles from cousin Courtney.




Cooling off in the water.



Isaac likes ice cream cones!


Going "au naturale" after getting cleaned up.

And my personal favorite, Isaac wanting to (and Daddy discouraging it) kiss a fish! (Again, it's sideways--sorry I can't rotate it)

Getting Acclimated to the Pool!

So, Isaac isn't exactly a "jump right in" kind of kid, and that certainly applies to trying out his new pool. He liked the pool when this picture was taken, but hasn't been back in since. He is, however, enjoying the turtle sandbox (that we inherited from a friend) and sand toys tremendously! A particular favorite is scooping up the sand and dumping it outside of the sandbox. Did I mention the play sand was $6 a bag? Oh well.

We hope that he'll like being at the cabin and having fun in the lake...in anticipation of that, I showed him his life jacket, put it on him, and went across the street, to neighbor Judy's house to show off. Here's to hoping the lake will be enjoyed by all!

We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!