The Great Minnesota Get-Together take 10

August 1 marked 10 years that I've lived in Minnesota and I have never (and don't plan to in the future) missed the state fair. This year Nana, Papa, Auntie Amy and Baby Cash came up for the weekend to join us for the festivities. They boys (Mateo and Cash) were such troopers and were so incredibly good the whole time.

Here is some of the fun we had...oh and don't worry the food of the fair will be a separate post!

At the start

 Papa and his boys

Uh oh, Taye's drivin'...watch out

Taye saw the minion and had to have his picture

 Taye's first roller coaster (the kiddie version)

 Princess Kay of the Milky Way 2013. Every year

the winner gets carved in butter - don't ask I don't

know...just google it

Trash Sculpture. A sculpture is built every year from the

garbage collected from the Mississippi. 

And I leave you with a video of Nana, Amy, Joe and Mateo going down the big slide. Nana in the middle, Amy to the right, Joe and Taye to the left behind them.

That baby orangutan is silly

Como Zoo is a "free" (they ask for donations) zoo in Saint Paul and in my opinion is a million times better than the MN Zoo. Granted the variety of animals is smaller but you can actually see them unlike at the MN Zoo.

We went with Nana and Papa back in April and Taye loved the orangutans, especially the baby one, "he had box on his head. Mama that baby orangutan is berry silly" in the words of Mateo Falbo. BTW, if you ask him who he is he says "I Mateo Falbo" its adorable but I digress.

Ever since that baby orangutan episode he has literally been begging to go back. Like, hands folded while saying "peas mama...I go see baby orangutan?"

So after the incredibly long MN winter we had, Mother Nature thought what the hell and gave us an incredibly dreary and wet spring. The weekend we went with Nana/Papa was only a tease of nice weather because Mother Nature is cranky like that.

So last week or the week before (I can't remember a darn thing these days) we went back to Como Zoo and just our luck they also had a new gorilla exhibit open. Taye was in love with all the animals and this time we got to see the orangutans outside! We also got to watch that silly baby poop!!! If you ask Taye about the zoo - that is the first thing out of his mouth - "we saw baby orangutan poop...that baby silly"

Hangin' with Dora and Diego

This year our winter lasted for freakin' ever. We thought toward the end of February Spring would be right around the corner...we were so wrong.

Anyway - toward the end of February we took Mateo to the MN Children's Museum. Every third Sunday of the month is free and this particular weekend it was packed. It was a Dora and Diego display (last time was Curious George) and it was awesome. Take a look:

In Dora/Diego's spaceship

 

Father's Day at the beach

Yes, you read correctly. Joe suggested the beach as something to do for Father's Day. I about fell over and quickly pulled together snacks and a cooler.

Joe is not a fan of water. He didn't grow up around water and can't swim. On the other hand, Lake Beulah was Amy and my second home as kids.

We went to Carver Lake Beach and it was amazing. The beach was gorgeous and Mateo loved it. He showed no fear and splashed, sat down and dunked himself for about two hours. After some snacks, it was back in the water and even Joe mentioned that he's going to buy some swim trunks. My heart melted when I heard that!

After the water we went back up the hill to the playground which was fantastic. Mateo is getting really good at climbing and Joe and I are learning we're old as we climb up the jungle gyms after him!

Mateo fell asleep about 30 seconds after he was in the car and then proceeded to take a two hour nap. To make Father's Day even better, Joe went all by himself to Menards and Gander Mountain to "just look."

A camping we will go...err went

For those that know me, you may be aware that camping to me is a hotel without a mini fridge or pool. Joe is big camper and over the years I've accompanied him for a day/night and have always had lots of beer to make it through. Once we had Mateo, all Joe has talked about is taking his son camping.

Well, Joe and Mateo in the woods by themselves is one of the scariest things I can imagine. So after putting on my big girl pants, we scheduled 3 camping trips this summer.

This past weekend (over Father's Day weekend no less) was our first adventure. And besides being a little unorganized and probably packing more than needed, we (well, I) survived. Mateo loved every single second and can't wait to go again. We took walks, made hotdogs, ate bad (but oh so good) food, made s'mores (and Mateo preferred regular marshmallows...whose kid is this!?), played at the playground and jumped in puddles.

The weather was beautiful Friday night and then overnight it poured but our tent held up just fine. Saturday started out beautiful but then turned cloudy and then overcast. Just as we were laying down to nap, the rain started. Two hours later, it was still raining. We decided to call it a trip and packed in the drizzle and mud. Just as I was getting in the car, the heavens opened and we knew we made the right call.

Joe and I will be spending the next few weekends getting better organized and repacking things to make things fit a bit better in the car as seen below...

Birthday weekend

This past weekend was Mateo's second birthday!! I can't believe how quickly he's growing. We were lucky enough to have Amy, Luke and Cash come to MN (Cash-man's first visit) late, late Thursday night and then Nana and Papa came up Friday night. I'm going through nephew withdrawal still - I miss my little marshmallow.

Saturday was Mateo's party and our house was filled with family and friends. Mateo had his own personal present opener thanks to Auntie Anna.

A big thank you to all of our family and friends that helped celebrate Mateo's day! Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Joe and I camped out in the living room Friday night and

were awoken by this precious face very early Saturday morning

Trouble and more trouble

Cars chairs and table from Nana and Papa

Cousin Anthony holding Taye back from the cake

Family pic!