Felix's 1st Birthday

7/29 is Felix's b-day.  He's one now, officially an adult cat.  Some new weird behaviors emerged since last I wrote about him.  He licks my legs when he's hungry and when hungry or playful jumps up and attacks anybody's legs as they walk away.  He does at least have the sense to do this with his claws retracted.

Couldn't get a good pic in his b-day hat.  He ran away and wore it around his belly for a while.

Smurferrific

Before we scaled down to cheaper (but still not cheap enough) basic cable, Adrienne had discovered and gotten hooked on the old Smurfs cartoon on Boomerang network.  She's into all things Smurf just in time for the new movie to come out tomorrow.  She's sporting a self-made Smurfette t-shirt and holding a play-doh Smurf.  All the chalk art on the driveway is Smurfy.

A summer walk at Ritter Farm Park.  Ooo, a hill!  Must run down!

holy heat wave batman

So I could talk about the heat and especially the humidity but I guess I'd be a johnny come lately.  We went to a Twins game on Monday and sat in the nose-bleediest upper row which turned out well 'cuz we were in the shade the whole time.  Discovered that there are still bozos who attempt to yell things to the refs and players from way the heck on the top row.  And since you can't get a Dome Dog at Target Field, they came up with some other un-catchy hot dog name I can't recall.

Haven't mentioned it before, but this summer an annoying, sometimes painful and eventually expensive sort of health-related issue has come to a head.  Not gonna go into details, but no worries - it's minor in the Grand Scheme and all, but it's been enough to make my underlying anxiety boil over a bit.  All while our 2 old vehicles keep getting older and the high cost of gas makes everything else pricey too.  Argh.  And, uh-oh, Christmas is only 5 months away.  There's always something...

Anyhoo, life is still good and Culver's chocolate custard is yummy and Nate and I (nerd alert!) have started watching Star Trek: TNG on Netflix.  Season 1 is a little boring.  Seems the later years are better.

pre-heatwave picnic on the deck

playing catch-up

On vacation in Grand Rapids, Zach caught a rock bass with a kiddie pole and giant bobber.

The beginning of a brief ill-fated tube attempt by Adrienne, 

who was the only kid brave enough to try it out

S'mores and then sparklers at the firepit

Back home for 4th of July weekend at the Eagan parade

Got to meet our cutie-patootie new niece Josilan this weekend!

Uh, do I look like I need to use a bib?

Megan and Adrienne, cousins in crime.

Grand Canyon 2011

Been a lazy blogger lately.  Last week we were up north at a cabin on the lake, don'tcha know.  But first things first.  Michael got back from his trip to the Grand Canyon just before we left.  Here are a few of his pics:

Michael had a great time with Nana & Papa and his cousin Isaac and claims he didn't miss us at all.  Hrmf.  But he allowed me to hug him for a while when he came back.  His week & a half absence felt weird.  He also took some videos and kept a little journal of his trip, with important details like how far they went on a given day, where they ate, and whether the hotel beds were comfy.