it's the little things!
i feel a great deal of sadness for the loss of this man i've never met. his words have inspired me and have made me want to be a better person, a more patient mother, a more supportive and compassionate wife. 
because we've vowed to try and keep these get togethers annual we decided we wanted a group photo that we can look back on in years to come. not sure why we waited until the very last minute, literally. our vacation had come to end, the cars were packed, the cabin clean, the kids were getting ancy and the men were ready to go. BUT wait! we needed yet one more photo... and it's a good one if i do say so myself. ha!
after a few nights of board games the men asked for a reprieve and dared us to give poker a try. having never played we were a bit reluctant but certainly up for the challenge. i probably couldn't tell you all of the hands we learned to play but i can tell i mastered the bluff, peter master the fluff and melanie mastered the pringles duck lips (a favorite party trick of mine i shared with her). and who would have thought after 2 solids hours, a can of pringles and a bag of ruffles i ended up winning. good game girls. way to show 'em we can hold our own. 
we are getting very excited around here. over the next couple of weeks all of the grandparents will be visiting at one point or another. grandma and grandpa swenson are due to arrive sometime next week to help out pete while i am in houston. mika will then fly down to spend a week with the kids while pete and i sneak off to california for a couple of days and the day after mika leaves meme and grandpa roe will arrive and will be here to help celebrate trey's 3rd. we can hardly wait -- we have so much to look forward to. grandparents are great!!!
ok, so i am just kidding but we are heading to tennessee this afternoon and will be spending the rest of the week with friends in sevierville. frankly the location means very little to me. it is the laughs i know i will be sharing that has me so excited to get there. miss pam will be taking care of the pets. will post pictures when we get back on saturday. until then~
in celebration of kate's 6th which is just a couple of weeks away. 
have i mentioned how much we are loving these this summer? my dear friend introduced peter and i to "the bucket" earlier this summer and really all i can say is OH MY! the buckets can be purchased at Target or Sam's Club for a whopping $5.99. simply open the bucket and remove the enclosed bag of margarita mix. poor the contents of the bag into the bucket and add a bottle of your favorite tequila. freeze for at least 24 hours and enjoy. the 24 hour thing is critical however. if you don't allow it to freeze completely you will end up with a very syrupy drink that will thaw within minutes of being scooped out.
kate and trey turned the playroom into tent-land. i totally remember doing the same sort of thing as a kid and loved it. they were having such a ball they requested i serve them thier lunch there. 
ah! there are no words to describe it. she is without a doubt one of the most amazing things i've done in my first 35 years of life. i snapped these when we were outside this afternoon. can't belive she'll be heading off to first grande in another month. 
a.k.a. hygrangea. without a doubt one of my favorites. the more you cut the more they seem to bloom. endless summer has been a great variety for us as the name really does say it all. this year we added 3 oak leaf (or as kate says OAKLEY) hydrangea and 3 peegee "grandiflora." i also used several potted hydrangea inside in march and april to brighten things up and planted them outside as soon as the chance of frost was no longer a threat. i can't wait to see what next year brings for all of our newbies. 
our new little garden under the tree has filled in nicely. but apparently the double dwarf rubeckia were mis-marked. they are towering over all of the other plantings. i will have to remember to scoot them to the back this fall. the zinnia are gorgeous. i wish you could see them better. bright orange. they make me happy every time i see them. wonder if they'll reseed themselves?
this is just one of the many treasures that made it's way back from northern new york with us. earlier this week kate and i found an appropriate place for her to hopefully share many of her chicks with us. holly said just plop her down and she'll do the rest. so that's what we did. i checked on her this morning and she has already taken root. welcome home mother hen!
to all of you -- you know who you are THANK YOU for thinking of me on my 35th 
it may be addressed to pete but i have a feeling it isn't actually for him...
we ventured out to tennessee yesterday and took the kids to wetlands waterpark. generally i have to admit i am not a huge fan of waterparks because i have always viewed them as dangerous and extremely overstimulating. but i must admit they've got the right idea at wetlands. the place is laid out so that a parent can spot thier child from almost anywhere. it is not that large and it is completely self contained. there were 2 large slides for the older kids and adults that wanted to partake but the rest of the park was devated to the 6-7 year olds and under. we got there as the gates opened at 10 and left around 23o as the kids started to crash. an easy trip and a whole lot of fun. 
