Hey ya'll!

McKenna and Jonathan with their bugs in bottles!

Uncle Bussy and Freda!

Ella, me, Uncle Bussy, Summer and Jonathan

Cousin Max--He's a clever one!

Trista--who could resist those eyes?!

Me, Zach, Fiance Heather, Sara

Extreme Makeover: Kiddo Style

The girls enjoyed playing beauty shop with their Cioci!

FYI: Cioci (pronounced chu-chee) is Polish for aunt! Well, it is our Americanized form of the word. The actual word is Ciotka (pronounced chut-kya).

The gang!

Haley, Hayden, McKenna, Ella, Harrison

Excuse me while I throwup!

...okay, seriously! I just heard on the news that the new food item (on a stick) this year at the MN State Fair is....

deep fried, chocolate dipped....

...bacon.

Please tell me I misinterpreted something?!

Horsin' round!

McKenna and Jeremiah battle it out! Or, as she would say, "I'm gonna attackle you!"

Chuck E. Cheese, where a kid can be a kid and a grandparent can earn real brownie points!

We visited Chuck E Cheese twice while in Alabama. Once with my mom (a.k.a. Nanny) and once with my grandmother (a.k.a. Great Grandma Higgy) and cousin Trista.

The girls collected many tickets and picked out a select number of REALLY GLORIOUS AND VALUABLE TREASURES. One particular treasure was a rubber, stretchy lizard. According to a message from my Aunt Pam, Ella apparently left hers at my grandmother's house in the cat's food bowl. Seems like the cat has usurped it for good. She waltzes around the house with the lizard in her mouth, occasionally pawing at it or tossing it around. Needless to say, Ella won't be getting the lizard back.

interesting, to say the least...

Home, sweet home

Well, we're back! I have added some pictures to the posts already published and have lots more to update you on! Keep checking back for more!

Don't forget to leave your comment.

Homeward Bound

Tomorrow morning McKenna, Ella and I will be headed to the airport to begin our air adventure back to Minnesota.

I am excited to add pictures to the posts that have already been published, not to mention add more posts. So....keep clicking!

Look at this....

Can you believe how cute this picture is? I was perusing through some of my grandma's online photo albums and found this cute picture of Ella. She is 10.5 months old here.

Waddle, waddle, waddle....

While here in Alabama, we met my dad at Big Spring Park in Huntsville. We brought 2 loaves of stale bread. We walked the walking trail and strolled over the Japanese bridge. Following closely behind us were anywhere from 30-50 critters. Mallard ducks, geese, pigeons, robins, wood ducks, and ugly ducks.

They surrounded us. The girls LOVED it. Some of the ducks ate right out of our hands. The geese honked and hissed if we didn't give them bread quickly enough. Matter of fact, Sara had to run to the store to get another loaf of bread.

McKenna especially enjoyed chasing behind the geese and ducks. She would waddle and say "waddle, waddle" as she followed them. Typically, they ran in a circle until they were tired then jumped in the pond.

Ella repeatedly asked for, "a big humongous piece of bread."

We visited this park several times while in Alabama. On the last trip to the park, Ella fell in. Yuk!

The Japanese bridge given to the city of Huntsville

McKenna waddling after an ugly duck.

A duck that likes to live on the edge!

Happy Father's Day

Mom:
What's your favorite thing about Daddy? What makes him a great daddy?

Ella:
I like hugging him. And he thinks my flower outfit is pretty, because its my favorite.

McKenna:
I like playing "getchyou" and battling with daddy. I like sitting on his head and attackling him.

Daddy,
The girls miss you and we are thinking of you today while we are here in Alabama!

He rolled out the red carpet!

We visited Uncle Larry and Aunt Marie's house tonight! What fun?!! Uncle Larry grilled burgers and dogs; there was corn on the cob, macaroni, potato salad, cole slaw, eggs, pickles, etc... Yum, yum!

He gave us rides on the golf cart. McKenna LOVED it! Ella was hesitant but she rode when I drove. He brought us to his church to take a look around. Ella enjoyed riding a battery powered motorcycle. She rode it for a long time.

He has a movie theater sized tv screen in his air conditioned garage. We watched the movie Cars. It was cute. I had never seen it before.

My favorite line (said with an extreme southern accent): "I'm happier than a tornado in a trailer park."

Alabama, day #1

Knock, knock

Who's there?

Amos.

Amos who?


A mosquito bit you!

Actually, several mosquitoes feasted on us, in particular McKenna, then me. It's my fault, in part, not getting repellent of some sort on her until it was too late. My mom lives in the middle of the woods and there are just too many creepy crawlies and bugs of sorts.

We arrived safely to Alabama and enjoyed a big family gathering at my mother's place. It was good to see everyone. The gathering was in honor of a few graduates: Eric, Caitlin, Emily, McKenna (and I like to think Arthur was being celebrated even though he wasn't there.).

McKenna and Ella enjoyed visiting with all of their great aunts and uncles. They played hide and go seek, they swam in "kiddie" pool, they read books, played with a variety of random toys that my mom has collected.

And, in spite of waking up at 4 a.m.--we were still kickin' at 8:30pm. No naps, or anything!

Here I am with my cousin, Eric and sister, Sara. Eric was one of the graduates being celebrated that day.

Emily, Eric and Caitlin: 2008 Graduates!

Kendra and baby Parker

Aunt Lynda, Haley, Grandma, Sara, me

Ella played with this toy for a LONG time. She was more skilled than I anticipated when it came to shooting the missile at her relatives. Once she got the pumping part down, there was no stopping her.

Caitlin and McKenna

Still a popular grocery store in Alabama....

a round barn?

Arthur and I visited a bed and breakfast a few times. This visit was last fall. It's a higher priced place to visit, but well worth it! I thought I would share it with you.

We visited the Round Barn Farm Bed and Breakfast and Bread where old fashioned American and European ambiance meet in a 3-story bracketed country manor farm home, just outside Red Wing Minnesota.

The residence is a delight. Built on a design from 1861 by architect Samuel Sloan, the use of reclaimed timbers and country antique furnishings combine to deliver the atmosphere, comforts, and charms of days gone by.

This piece was made out of timbers/trees from the property.

The homeowner, taking us on a tour of the property, demonstrated how the cows were positioned for milking. You see, the round barn was at one time a dairy farm/barn.

If you are an early bird you get to make your own bread. The baker (homeowner) shares a story about the French bakers and the concept of the copyright law. It's quite funny.

My loaf of bread is copyrighted with a "K" for Kjelshus!

This is a gardening shed, not a lodging room!

We went hiking on the property! Beautiful!

Better posted late than never.....

We spent our Memorial Day with a large group of friends from church. We reserved a pavilion and grilled and ate until...well, until our stomachs expanded. We played at the playground by the pavilion. Mckenna enjoyed playing super spies with Gabe and Ella enjoyed showing everyone her very special shell. Everyone had a blast; it's just too bad that the weather didn't cooperate as well.