Happy Birthday!

July 29 is my niece's birthday! The geographically closer members of the family gathered at her house for dinner, ice cream and cake. Then it was on to the presents! You know, for some of us, gift bag is just a synonym for hat!
I'm sure she loved all her gifts, but from the look on her face I'd say there's a distinct possibility that her Ipod Nano may hold a special place in her heart!

And after all the domestic festivities, we headed to Valley Fair! What a great day-of-your-birth-celebration-destination! How awesome is that!!!? Now that's a party!

My Late July Garden

This was my treat the day after I got back from Ely! My Morning Glories had bloomed (I've been waiting)!

They're perfect. Brilliant blue and absolutely stunning. I have Moon Flower planted here too, but I haven't seen them yet.

This is part of my full, amazing garden.

This is the tree at the back of the yard. I'm really loving the lilies.

Blueberry Festival 2009!

Every year, I steal away to Ely to see my "bonus family!" My step Mom, Char, is originally from Ely, Mn. Upon getting to know her family of origin I decided that they were my family too. Seriously, this is one FABULOUS group of people, and I lucked out because for some reason, they love me, too.
The picture above is the group of us (the woman on the right is Mary Ann, the matriarch/queen/Char's Mom) sitting around "talking." I use quotations because there were six women sitting around the table that evening, stone sober, and our laughter got so loud it should have required an elementary school cafeteria to create that noise! Man, we had a blast! I sat looking around at our little group and through my mind ran the thought that this is really what family is. And a fabulous Italian family, no less! The picture directly below shows Char, she's on the left.



While most of the gals were in the kitchen, a few others stayed in the living room and played the Wii that Caleb brought. They bowled, golfed, and Wii Sported and Wii Played the whole night!


We also took a tour of the Soudan Mine. Soudan is a pretty tiny town...so small, in fact, that there's actually a store called Soudan's Only Store. The family took an elevator a half mile below the surface. Once underground we got to ride the rails and our tour guide, a retired miner, gave us the dirty details about the jobs of the miners in the past.

Ramsey County Fair

I look so forward to the Ramsey County Fair every year. So do my son and niece. We plan for it well in advance and check online to see when the wristband times are. For $22 per person, you can get a wristband that allows unlimited access to rides during the specified times. This year the wristband times were Friday 6-10pm and Saturday 12-5pm. Man, what a deal! This is my son and niece on the Tornado!


They enjoyed the slide a few times, too. Who can I petition to have a chairlift installed?

I took this picture from the top of the Ferris Wheel. I wish I'd been able to get a picture at night...it becomes even more obvious how much distance your lil' ol' eyes can cover from up there!

Free admission, $2/day parking and unlimited rides for $22! I also have to say that Fair Food is alive and well at our county fair. Try the Cheese Curds (make sure to share the curds with your group because they're greasy). And today I had wonderful, fresh squeezed lemonade! They actually throw the lemons right in the cup...so delicious! You can get the Tiny Tim's Mini Doughnuts, but the real essential is the best corn dog on the planet. What a fun day!
Sunday is the last day of the Ramsey County Fair!
Click here to check it out!

Garden Guest

While I was planting my Lobelia beneath the Morning Glories, my niece noticed this beautiful dragonfly. It feels like a blessing to have one in my garden.

My Asiatic Lilies have been open and beautiful for a while now, too. How lucky am I???

Drive-In Movies

Click here to see their website!
Last night I was able to take two kids, two dogs and my self (I figured as long as I was taking the kids I might tag along, too) to a 3-show drive-in movie for a total admission price of $7.50...and I got two free doggie bones to boot! It turns out it's $7.50 per person, and 12 and under is FREE! Awesome way to spend some time together and see first-run movies!

Stillwater Boom Site

I've been meaning to take Caleb to a few places I used to love. Today I remembered while we were out, and I drove him to the Stillwater Boom Site. Quite a bit has changed. When I was younger I remember that the area where we parked was not an actual parking lot...today it's a large, beautifully decorated and paved lot next to a picnic area. That's okay. Then in place of the rickety old stairs I'd described to him was a perfectly placed cement staircase with a rail! Much safer...I can't deny I was maybe just a little disappointed anyway.

Once we got to the bottom, I showed him our old fire pit, the cave, and the long, beautiful beach only steps from the wooded area. He immediately began skipping rocks...turns out he's an expert rock-skipper! Who knew!

Happy Independence Day!

I love the Fourth of July for all the right reasons, and all the shallow reasons too! I'm not big on weaving my way through 84 hours of grid-locked traffic, but I'd hate to miss the fabulous light show! I also need to be more careful of my budget than I used to be, so I feel okay about missing the organized concession-related festivities.
We live in Maplewood, MN, and we usually go to Hazelwood Park. We go just early enough to get the mini-doughnuts, find a spot, lay down a blanket and park our tushies. This time, Cale mentioned that he really wouldn't mind missing the celebration altogether. Isn't it great when things just gel like that?

We grabbed Grandma, drove to Maplewood Mall parking lot and stayed right in our cars. Perfect! We had company. Many people had the same idea and even set up chairs in front of their cars.

It couldn't have been better! I got the light show and the sense of community and it was completely free!

My Boy's Track

My kid decided he needed a track for his Revo 3.3 in the back yard. I laid out some boundaries and he laid out some spray paint and began to shovel a "path." My Dad and Char were over and somehow my boy managed to convince Grampy to help with the track. I tried to get a picture of the shovel war (picture the Bugs Bunny/ Daffy Duck Robinhood-inspired staff fight) but they went back to work too fast! I love seeing the two of them play together!


My niece was helping my son with his dreams for a track, too. She's a pretty motivated gal!

This is NOT a party!

It seemed depressing to start right off with a picture of The Destroyer of my Rose Garden, the very reason that this year's garden has no contributors of the rose variety. Instead, I begin with my Grape lily. She was the first to catch my eye this morning.


This would be The Destroyer. I found him this morning on my Astilbe. He's a Japanese Beetle that, by the end of the weekend, will have invited every friend he's ever had for a Japanese Beetle frat party. The 42 zillion beetles will use my garden as both a buffet and a cheap hotel room. Last year they literally skeletonized every rose and all the rose foliage, and I could only find the spray that works on Japanese Beetles at Bachman's. That meant that if Bachman's ran out, my roses were decimated, then annihilated, within a week of running out of the spray. It looks like this year there are a few more choices available for the destruction of The Destroyer so at least I can pick up spray pretty much anywhere.


On a brighter note, my pansies are going strong...


...and so are my Wax Begonias! I think more Begonias are in order...more fragrant lilies wouldn't hurt, either.