MN State Fair

Noah visited the State Fair for the second year in a row, this year with his friend PJ. While his favorites from last year remained the same, he enjoyed a great deal more this year. Besides the Little Hands Farm in these pictures, John Deere was a hit, the Birthing Center and the Space Needle.

Let's get the party started

Noah and I were invited to his friend Evelyn's third birthday party. The kids were all playing nicely outside when Noah decided to step up the action a bit by getting into the sprinkler. It was not long before the other boys there, PJ and Gabriel, joined in the fun!

NowThen Threshing Show

This was Noah's second year enjoying the Threshing show in a small town near us, called NowThen. We went with some great friends from church, and their 2 daughters. Emily, the youngest, will be in Noah's preschool class this year.

The Wave Pool

Although the wave pool at Bunker Beach is for the older kids, Noah thought it was great!

Bunker Beach and Wave Pool

We are fortunate to have several great water parks near us. Here is a fun day at Bunker Beach just a few miles away in Coon Rapids.

Bye Nick:(

Earlier this month Noah's Godparent's, Jon & Teressa, and their son Nick, moved "home" to Ohio. Noah does not seem to understand that they no longer live in their house anymore. He talks about going to Nick's house and playing with his toys, and Nick coming over to our house. When I tell him he can't come over anymore, he cries and says "But I need him." It's sad to think the our little guys will not grow up together...but we will try to keep in touch as best we can. We miss you Nick!

Happy 3rd Birthday Noah!

Another year has gone by and our "baby" is now 3! As he tells us repeatedly, he can now go into the Playscape at the YMCA. It's a climby, tubey, ropey, thingy that he seems to love. We had another big birthday party in our backyard with all his toddler/preschooler friends. And amazingly, it was a beautiful day.

More North Shore Pictures

A week at the North Shore

In early August we spent a beautiful week at the Grand Marais cabin. Noah LOVES it up there and each day was full of adventure for him. Here's some pictures of a morning fishing on Elbow Lake where we caught Perch after Perch after Perch, with a few Walleyes thrown in once and a while. Noah became the oficial fish thrower backer, and now has no problem accepting that we can't keep them all.

4th of July on Coon Lake

Noah's First Fishing Adventure in June

We almost forgot to share our pictures from Noah's first boat/fishing experience. On a beautiful Monday when Steven was off work, we headed to a local lake called Ham Lake. We pretty much had the lake to ourselves, so with Noah decked out with his Scooby Doo life vest and fishing pool, headed to a nice fish "hole" to catch some bluegill. We had LOTS of success. Noah was a bit upset about having to throw them back...something many people heard about for the rest of the summer!

MN Zoo

Nana & Papa Tractor visited recently from Ohio. Noah gave them a tour of his favorite sites at the MN Zoo. While most adults find the up close views at the new Grizzly Coast Exhibit the most thrilling, Noah LOVED the fancy sand-box there. Besides, the Grizzlies were sleeping and not putting on much of a show. What could be more exciting than a BIG sand-box with bones and all?

His all time favorite is the farm at the zoo. He LOVES getting a tractor or horse driven trailer ride to/from the site. Once there, finding the farm equipment (John Deere of course), and petting the goats are a MUST.

Goats

Noah hugged ALL the goats at the zoo farm. And I'm NOT exaggerating! Guess he's as crazy as his mommy...who adores those naughty goats.

Back to the 50's

Nana & Papa Tractor from Ohio visited recently and Noah had a ball. He is STILL talking about the Back to the 50's car show he went to with Daddy and Papa.

Pedaling...finally!

Noah takes after his mother and is not the most coordinated of people. In the last few weeks he has FINALLY started to get the hang of it. As long as he has a slight incline to get him moving, that is!

Sprinkler Fun!

Recently Noah has shown great interest in the neighbor's sprinklers, and we've found him a bit wet several times. So this week we pulled out a cheap sprinkler from Target so he could have some parent approved sprinkler time.

Dirty Boy!

Noah spends HOURS outside. These are some glimpses of the state we find him in at the end of each day.