Happy 80th Birthday Grandpa!

A couple of weekends ago, we celebrated my Grandpa Delton's 80th birthday (which is actually today!). What a huge milestone! It was a very hot day summer day, but we had a lot of fun. My aunt and uncle had the party at their house - their backyard is amazing! The girls were able to get plenty of "uncle" time (they LOVE my dad's brother's) and they played soccer in their dresses too!
My grandpa is such a wonderful, amazing man! He and my grandma raised three incredible boys/men, who each had one daughter and now we are all married (or are getting married) to three amazing men who are brothers. We all have so much fun together! My grandpa is a very strong man and has always been very handy. He taught all three of his boys to fix and build things themselves. I used to tell my dad he's like his dad and would call them "McGeyvor". Grandpa used to do lots of projects and have his boys help him, but in the last few years, he hasn't been able to do too much and the boys help him out a lot! That's okay, gramps! I think after you hit 75, it's okay to do that!
One thing that I will never forget (and I wish we had a picture to post) was when Woody and I were first married, Mark and Barb gave us a rocking chair and a LazyBoy recliner. We brought a truck out to Olivia and loaded it up. We didn't have anything to cover the furniture because it was starting to rain. So my uncle found some blankets and duct tape and wrapped the furniture in it! You could barely see the blankets, because they used SO much duct tape:) The last thing my grandpa said to us before we left was, "thank God your dad won't be seeing this!" Well, we were almost home (to our apartment in Eagan) and all of a sudden we hear a honk...I look over and there's my dad waving at us!!? He was laughing SOOO hard. He followed us to our apartment to help us unload and ask what the heck was happening in the back of the truck!? He said "that's got grandpa Delton written ALL over it"!

Here are some pictures from the party... Grandpa Delton sitting in the shade enjoying his family (and a beer!)
My dad, Dave, Mark, grandma and grandpa
Me, Pat, Barb, Lindsey and Abby chattin' about wedding stuff, I'm sure
The girls heading in the house to cool off! Paigey giving me attitude (all I wanted was one cute pic of the two of them!)

To clean or NOT to clean?

Last week, it was NOT a question! I was cleaning Upstairs and the girls decided to do just the opposite downstairs!!? This happened on Monday & I didn't even discover it until Wednesday night...at 8:30 pm! No, I don't just stick my kids downstairs (for three days) and lock the door (because we don't have one!). We were gone a lot & I was trying to get cleaning, laundry and packing done before Thurs AM! So I spent 45 minutes on Wed night, picking up & organizing every single toy, puzzle, game, baby & stuffed animal that we own!! My mom was mad that I didn't make the girls pick it all up, but like I said, I didn't discover it until AFTER they were in bed sleeping and we were leaving the next morning for four days, so it HAD to be done! Oh, believe you me, they got an earful the next morning! Mama was NOT happy! Their excuse was they were trying to hide from me (under all the toys)!?

Yes, I stepped on several toys coming down the stairs. I had a laundry basket full of ironing to do, which I did not get to until 9:30 PM! Once again, NOT a happy mama!

Little (and not so little) girls in a bucket!?

I thought it was funny that Paige could fit in the bucket (that I use to put hot water in the cold pool), so I had to take a picture! She's so little & petite (the swimsuit she is wearing is a 12-18 months size!). Olivia wanted to "try" to sit in the bucket too, but she ended up tipping over & dumping her other bucket filled with frogs, leaves and grass!?

Paigey in the bucket
Olivia giving it a try (not sure what Paige is doing, but she looks like a lepricon)
Oops, she tipped over and made a mess, but more important, she was able to "save" her three froggies! Where's Paige? In the pool! I found this on the kitchen floor and Paige on the deck, naked! They LOVE their pool:) (this is a shirt, underware and capris...it literally looked like she had vanished!?)

Update

The summer is just flying by! I guess I didn't realize that I hadn't posted anything for a couple of weeks!? I'll start with our pool party with Frankie, Tia & Shelly...

Frankie & Olivia gettin' cozy on the lounger:) The sun was SO bright and right in their eyes, that when I asked them to smile, they did! (but with their eyes shut)

I was inside putting Paige in a time-out & I came back outside to find this... I'm not so sure how Frank would feel about this?! (apparently Frankie does this a lot at home)

Olivia's new "friend"

Olivia's new obsession is catching frogs in our yard. To her surprise, there was a red-eyed tree frog on our deck when we went out to swim the other day! It was stuck in a bucket in the corner of the deck. I can't believe such a girly girl would like to touch frogs and grasshoppers, but she does it, with NO fear! Not only does she catch them and put them in buckets or her bug cage, but she holds them, puts them on her arm or shoulder!!?? OR she puts them in the pool & swims with them!? I can't stand it!! The pictures explain themselves...she is crazy about frogs!

Mall of America

Woody took the day off on Monday & we took the girls to the Mall of America. They loved the rides and, of course, all of the Nickelodeon characters there...Dora, Diego & Spongebob. They went on a Blue's Clue's ride together (without us) and they looked SO grown up to me!? It was fun to see them having so much fun & smiling so big! It brought tears (of joy) to my eyes:)

Their first ride...the Merry-Go-Round Olivia scoping out her next ride
Riding the school bus with daddy

Paige & Olivia riding Periwinkle (with Blue behind them)
For those of you who don't know, Paigey LOVES to carry around a lot of "stuff", mostly just babies, purses, her nappy Dora & blankie. So, we get to the mall & as we are putting her in her stoller, she insists that she bring in her pink purse, her ratty baby (with NO clothes on) & her babies blankie. She also had to wear her pink sunglasses and carry her "lipstick" (aka chapstick). I wish I would have taken a picture! At first, Woody said "NO", but I said "you have to pick your battles & this one is not worth fighting". Besides, it gave us a good laugh! (I think he was a little embarrassed) And because Paigey was bringing in her "stuff", Olivia had to bring in her poodle!? I'm pretty sure you can guess where everything ended up...in the stoller! So the girls and I are walking together and Woody is pushing a stroller with all the "stuff" in the front & my purse and diaper bag hanging on the back! I wish I had a picture of that too!!