4th of July weekend with Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Bri

We were lucky to have Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Bri make the drive up here to help us celebrate the 4th of July.  They usually come around Izzy's birthday, but there was something going on around that time (can't remember what it was though :) but this actually worked out better.

We had a tremendous amount of rain in June (over 13 inches!!!), which ended up moving the annual Taste of Minnesota (typically held on Nicollet Island) out to the Carver County Fairgrounds.  I thought this would be a whole lot of fun, and that we'd get a chance to sample some of the local restaurants downtown, but I think that the move caused a lot of restaurants to back out, and we were left with your typical county fair fare :(  We made the best of it, though!

There were a few carnival rides there too, which Izzy had to sample.  You can't tell, but she WAS having a good time :)

And then that evening, our friends Jessica and Blake offered to host us at Blake's parents house, which is right on Lake Waconia.  This is usually a fantastic spot for fireworks, with them normally being set off from the island in the middle of the lake.  However, due to the rain again, they had to have the fireworks launched from the far side of the lake.  Our view wasn't as great as it could've been, but it was still lovely, and we had WONDERFUL hosts!  Plus, when we were leaving, the fireworks from The Taste started going off, so it's like we got a two-fer!

 It had been unusually chilly the night before when we were watching fireworks, so I was relieved when we woke up on the 5th to warm, sunny skies.  Perfect day for a boat ride!

The boat ride was followed-up by a yummy steak dinner on the deck

And then our own fireworks that Grandma and Grandpa brought with them :)

Later that same evening I was able to get this great shot of the moon.  I don't have the best equipment for moon photos, but I'm pretty happy with this one :)

Christmas Eve, Visitors and Meatballs :)

My parents came up to spend the holidays with us, and I was really excited that they were able to come up on Christmas Eve.  I remember being SO excited for Christmas Eve when I was a kid.  We used to go to my Grandparent's house, or maybe my Great Aunt & Great Uncle's house...wherever we were,  I always remember it being fun.  Sometimes, with just the 3 of us up here, it can get a bit lonely, so it's nice to have visitors, especially over the holidays.

We kinda made a little "rule" (well, I made the rule :) that if we're in America, then we're going to celebrate an American Christmas, which means opening presents on Christmas Day, with maybe one special gift to open on Christmas Eve.  So that Joacim didn't miss out TOTALLY on Swedish traditions, we decided to make a mini smorgasbord, including meatballs!

It has been stupid cold.  Seriously.  Just stupid cold.  The ONLY redeeming quality about this cold is the fact that I could literally freeze my balls outside :)

Oh my word...these were sooooooooooo gooooooood.  My mouth is watering just typing and thinking about them.........why can't meatballs be easier to make???

So great to have a family dinner....my dad even had a glass of wine!!!!

Izzy and Bri needed to work off some of their dinner with the Wii....

Here's a pic of our beautiful (first) real tree......

Izzy loves having her Aunti Bri around...I don't think she ever gets this much devoted attention :)

And then, to cap off a perfect Christmas Eve for me, I got to watch White Christmas.  This may have been the 25th time I've seen this, but it NEVER gets old, and I will do my best to make this my tradition forever.

I hope Izzy enjoyed it too

A trip to the zoo and a dinner cruise

On day 3 of my parents visit, Joacim and I had a very special surprise planned for the evening.  We didn't have anything planned for the day, though, so we decided to head to Como Zoo (along with half of the Twin Cities, but I guess that's what you get for going the day after Labor Day :)

Izzy LOVES Bri....this was taken at the beginning of the day

We brought Jimmy John's for lunch....notice that their hairstyles are also the same :)

This was taken at the end of the day.  Notice the fact that she's no longer smiling.

pretty little lilly pads

She DID start to smile again after Grandpa suggested ice cream.  We found this cute place called Java Train nearby.

So, our surprise for the evening's activity was a dinner cruise on Lake Minnetonka.  We had heard about Al and Alma's from some friends of ours that raved about it, so after checking out the website, we signed all of us up.  We didn't tell Izzy either (5-year olds aren't always the greatest at keeping secrets, you know)

Izzy and Bri staked out their spot on the boat right away...a nice, big cushion at the back

Grandma and Grandpa wanted a pic together..pretty cute!

I love this little girl so much...sometimes I just want to nibble on her cheek!

I think she spent a majority of the trip rolling around this cushion...Grandpa came over and tickled her a bit

Auntie Bri is a great caregiver to Izzy

This is our "captain".  Young enough to be my child.  

A family portrait that Izzy half-participated in

The waitress told us that, if we ask nicely, the captain would let Izzy and Bri drive the boat

sisters ;)

our own little family portait (thanks Bri!!)

This is the boat we took

I would HIGHLY recommend this to anyone that comes and visits us.  Anyone want to come up to the Great North?????  ;)