Sunbathing Beauty

June 03, 2012

Sunbathing Beauty

Wowza, we've had a busy last 7 days. As I mentioned last week, my Grandma Josie, Grandpa Joan, Aunt Joan and cousin Betty have been in Minnesota visiting since last Saturday. When we have visitors, we always try to make most of their visit and that means keeping busy! So, that's just what we did!

We had a long weekend last week celebrating Memorial Day. Sunday, we decided to introduce horse racing to Aunt Joan and Betty. We've taken my Grandma to Canterbury Park in the past, so she claimed to be a seasoned veteran. The sun was shining as we bet on the ponies, it was practically a picture perfect day.

Horse Racing tuckers Harper out!

After a semi-successful trip to Canterbury, the women decided to continue our ride on the gambling train and headed out to Mystic Lake. Mitch took Harper and Betty back to Maple Grove, so the ladies could enjoy some "big girl" time. My Grandma love love loves gambling, so every time she's in town we make a special trip to Shakopee. We have to give her a time limit, otherwise we'd be there all night!

After an hour of moseying around the casino, Aunt Joan and I had spent our limit on $.05 Keno and had multiple cups of free soda. Since it was only 7pm, and we told Grandma we had to leave by 10pm... we had to entertain ourselves for the next 3 hours. We did some people watching, convinced Grandma to head to the food court for some dinner, watched a ceiling tile fall to the ground inches from someone's head, and made a game out of finding "lost" Grandma. Luckily, the 3 hours went fairly fast and we were on the road by 10pm. We didn't come home millionaires, but we did have a good time.

Memorial Day, we celebrated over at my parents with a backyard fish fry. Every year the boys get tons of walleye during fishing opener - and what a better way to enjoy their catches than with a fish fry with family and friends. Mitch's parents and the Shemon's joined in on the fun. When we all get together, it's always an amazing time. Harper even had a crowd upstairs with her watching Elmo! It was a nice way to end the long weekend!

Mitch and I decided to make our week extra short, and both took Friday off to spend some extra time with my family while their visit came to an end. Friday, Harper and I took my Aunt Joan and Betty to Mall of America to do a little shopping. As usual, we found some great deals and even had a fun lunch at Rainforest Cafe. Aunt Joan had the "special touch" and was able to get Harper to take a nap. How she fell asleep sitting up, I have no idea. Sometimes she amazes me.

4 Generations

Harper with her Super Grandma & Super Grandpa

We ended our Friday evening welcoming Kelly and Ryan to Minnesota. After several years, Kelly is back. Minnesota welcomes Ryan with open arms and we couldn't be more thrilled to have them just a short drive away. We celebrated their recent move with a fun dinner at Kona Grill in their new city, Eden Prairie. It was so great seeing them! Knowing we get to see them more than 1-2 times a year put a huge smile on our faces!

Over the last couple of weeks we've noticed Harper can sit up on her own. She started off sitting on her own for a few seconds, but would arch her back and fling backwards. We're at the point were we can sit her up without anyone "guarding" her back. She is able to sit by herself for a very long time. Just this morning she almost made it through an entire Elmo DVD until hunger interrupted.

Saturday was the last day to spend with my family before they packed up the van and headed back to Missouri. Since the forecast showed sunshine and high 70's, we decided to end their trip with a bang. It was time to see how Harper reacted to the boat, and good ol' Lake Minnetonka. This was a huge test, as a lot of our weekends are spent out on the lake. We got her all dressed in her itty bitty bikini, sunglasses and beach hat and made our way to the dock. She did amazing, minus hating her life jacket. We enjoyed the sunshine at Big Island, and then headed to Lord Fletchers to listen to Jeff Becker and his band Shalo Lee & Rush River Band. It was a great way to spend our Saturday, and a good end to their trip!