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Roma Tomatoes!

This is the first tomato I've ever grown and picked! It finally came up in August. I'm so excited and terribly impressed with the gorgeous color. I used it (and others from Cub Foods since my plant had only produced one at the time) to make my fabulous Bruschetta. Perfecto!

Window Markers

While we were out running errands, Cale and I happened upon "window markers."
The joy of these is that you can draw on the windows, but it's not paint, doesn't run, and comes back off when I want it to!

Cale and Grandma took a little time to draw on the living room window together! Awww...so pretty!

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!