Duluth

I'm so far behind.

Let's catch up.

In June Blair's family came to visit from Montana.
(Blaise's birthday was their first day here).
Blair's birthday is the 10th, two days after Blaise's.
Sometimes his birthday gets overlooked because we make a such a big deal out of Blaise's birthday (sorry Blair).  But this year he turned 30.
And since his family was here I planned something special.

Duluth.

Here are some pictures from our trip:

We spent some family time in Canal Park.

 

 

Blaise, always climbing.
 

My beautiful nieces Ryen,

and sweet Samari.

I got to take the kids on their first SHT hike

 

 

We had so much fun exploring!

 

The morning of Blair's actual birthday he wanted to go for a trail run.

 

 

It was such a gorgeous misty morning!

 

Then we all went for a ride on the Alpine Coaster at Spirit Mountain.

 

 

 Followed up by some time at the beach.

And then finally... CAKE!
 

Happy 30th Blair!



Blaise's 5th Birthday

How is it possible that 5  years have gone by?

Seems like just yesterday Blair and I were making our way to the hospital in Bozeman, MT

(in the snow.  Yes, snow in June.) so Blaise could make our lives complete.

30 hours of labor, 3 hours of pushing (he was worth every minute), and 5 years later...

you get this.

I love this little boy more than anything.

Blaise had 2 "parties" this year.

He's very a spoiled child.

Since she knew Blair's family would be with us on his actual birthday, my mom,

AKA: "my Besty Grandma"

wanted to give him a special day.  And that, she did.

She picked us up and took us to Space Aliens.

Where Blaise and I dominated the games,

and won lots of tickets.

Then she took Blaise to Toys R Us

where he got to pick out any toy he wanted.

He chose an RC Boat.

He's a pretty lucky kid to have such a great "Betsy Grandma"!

On his actual Birthday (June 8th), he was woken up by his "Mary Grandma", aunt, uncle,

and cousins from Montana.

The girls and I took him out for a special Birthday breakfast

while everyone else caught up on sleep from the long drive.

Then we decided to spend the day on the lake.
Fishing on the dock and cruising on the pontoon until it was dark.

Instead of cake, this year we had a bonfire with s'mores.

It was the perfect way to end a great Birthday.

Ice Hikes...

I've been spending a lot of time on the lake.

Its been a warm winter in Minnesota.

That, combined with the lack of snow, means that this weather has been perfect for ice hiking.

Which means taking in sights like these.

It has even been warm enough to bring the dogs.

Usually Bulldogs and ice don't mix...

but Petey and Marley love going out with me!

It's a good thing that I take them with too,

because they protect me from crazy snowmobilers...

Oh, its just Blaise. :)

Wrestling is life...

well, it is in our house, anyway.

All day...

everyday...

we wrestle.

(or talk about it, think about it, and watch YouTube videos about it)

These boys watch wrestling, before wrestling, at wrestling tournaments.

See what I mean?

Committed.

This weekend was the Litchfield Open Tournament.

We spent ALL week preparing for it.

Mostly making these:

Cheeseburger Cookies!

You don't even want to know how many hours I spent assembling and wrapping these...

WAY too much work,

but

it did put a smile on quite a few faces. :)

Speaking of smiling faces.

I'm pretty sure he loves wrestling more then anything.

There really is nothing better then the pride you feel watching your child

having so much fun doing something he really loves.

B was still in wrestling mode for this pic!

(he's pretty much always in wrestling mode)

Wrestling weekend

This weekend Blaise got to compete in his first wrestling tournaments.

On Saturday morning he wrestled in Paynesville.

Since it was so close to home we invited Grandma Betsy over for an early breakfast

and then she came with us to watch Blaise.

We all had so much fun!

I'm pretty sure that Blair and I were WAY more nervous then Blaise.

It is so exciting sitting on that mat, cheering little man on!

Yep, I'm finally one of those moms.

A wrestling mom. :)



On Sunday afternoon Blaise also wrestled in the Kimball open.

My dad and his family were able to make it, and

B was so excited that so many people came to support him!

Most of his friends from daycare came

(the ones who got him into wrestling),

which was great because they helped us coach him.

And some of his good friends from school who wrestle, too.

I think Blaise had a blast wrestling this weekend!

(He had to pose by the bulldog on the chair "cause it looks like Pete!")

To top it all off,

we went ice fishing on Sunday night, too.

Blaise caught the only walleye - all by himself.

And I caught the biggest crappie...

Just sayin'.

Blaise's First Time...

Skiing!

How cute does he look in all of his Patagonia gear?

A true Montanan in the making.

Since the snow wouldn't come to us this Christmas (we weren't in Montana this year), we had to go to it.

Good thing Powder Ridge is only a 10 minute drive from our house.

It was the perfect place for B's first time!

I decided that I would teach him myself - which I wasn't sure was the best idea

but

luckily, I have a very quick learner.

I'm so glad that I did because we had SO much fun together!

There were lots of laughs and Blaise's smile was permanent.

He caught on in no time, and pretty soon he was taking the tow rope up and coming down all by himself!

I am such proud mommy/teacher!

He loved it!
We can't wait to go again this weekend!

Never thought...

I'd be proud to say that Blaise is a wrestler,

but I am!

Blaise has been learning how to wrestle with our daycare provider's older boys since he was two.

He loves it.

I always thought I'd have a hockey player...

but he has no interest.

So, wrestling it is!

I can't tell you how many times we've watched this video.

(Watch it.  Amazing, even if you don't like wrestling).

B is obsessed.  He knows all the words to the song, and even demands that we call him Steve-O,

just like the kid in the video!

Last night was his first official practice.

He was so into it.

I don't think the smile left Blair's face once. Such a proud daddy!

Doesn't he look so precious in his singlet?

(He'd be so mad at me for saying that)

So, what I really meant was... super strong and scary!?!

Ha!  Wrestling...

Love it!