One of the most fun summers

I love summer.  As I write the title of the blog - one of the most fun summers - I truly feel like it has been because we've done so much and been on so many adventures together as a family.  But when I really think about it - I was on maternity leave during the summer with both of my sweet babies - those were wonderful summers too.  It's just different now that there are so many fun activities to do together!  The time has flown by and I know it's been awhile since I last posted - so here is a rundown of the highlights of what we've been up to.

August 25 - I adventured to the MN State Fair with both kids.  We toured all of the animal barns, saw the butter head sculptures, listened to a live broadcast of MPR, saw the parade, rode the sky gondolas, and ate fair food!

I can't resist this girl - wearing her brothers clothes when she ran out at the cabin.

We took the bus to the fair.  This was Hadley's first time on a city bus.

One of our favorite places was the Miracles of Birth Barn where we saw all kinds of baby animals.

Princess Kay of the Milky-way gave us cow hats as we posed next to the butter head sculptures.  

Riding the gondolas high above the fair grounds.  Their little legs put in a lot of steps this day.  As we rode home we talked about all of our favorite things at the fair and Miles added "And mom, nobody got lost!"  Yes, we held hands the entire 6 hours we were there.

The fair was exhausting!

August 29-30 - Mike had to work so the kids and I headed up to the cabin.  Although it rained part of the time we made the most of our last summer weekend there.

Grandma puts the worms on and Grandpa takes the fish off.

These two catch fish every time we go fishing - they're good and lucky!

Carrying the fillets to the cabin.

August 31 - we went to Canterbury Downs for the horse races.  Someone was wearing mommy's sunglasses.

 September 1 - Labor Day at Minnehaha Park

We went to Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis with the Sievers for Labor Day.  We played on the playground, swam in a wading pool, listened to music at a Bluegrass Festival and ate fish and shrimp at Sea Salt restaurant.

September 2 - Back to school day for both kids at Little Saints Preschool.  This year Miles will be in pre-k four afternoons per week and Hadley will be going two mornings per week.

Here are our official starting school pictures.  Technically, both kids start this coming week.

In her classroom.

Standing next to his cubby.

After a busy morning at back to school day we spend the afternoon just hanging out at home.

That evening Miles started soccer.  He plays every Tuesday night this fall.

September 4 - celebrating daddy's birthday!

Garden helper

September 5 - our first delicious apples of the season.  After picking up apples, pears and plums we had a fruit picnic at the Arboretum.

Eating an apple we discovered Miles' first loose tooth!

On a different note... I've decided to make this blog private.  With both kids getting older I want to make sure that their privacy is protected.  I'll have more details in the coming weeks on how to access the blog once I do make it private (it won't be that much different from how you access it now - you might just need a password).  I just don't want people we don't know able to google our family and see everything that's going on.  If you'd like to continue to read the blog (we want you to!) please send me an email letting me know - sarah.nickolaygray@gmail.com.  We'll make this change at the end of the month.  Thanks!