Baby John - 8 month old!

We interrupt the replay of family vacation photos to bring you the following announcement:  Baby John is 8 months old!

 

 

 

Free-Pie-Wednesday at the Village Inn

A special family treat, dinner at a restaurant! (And yay for giving Mommy a break from figuring out what to make for dinner that night!) In case you aren't lucky enough to have a Village Inn where you live, every Wednesday, no matter what you order, you get a free slice of fruit pie!  Cup of coffee? AND pie! Grilled cheese sandwhich? AND pie! This was our first time taking advantage of this sweet treat, but I have a feeling it won't be our last... Our waitress was kind enough to take a family photo!

 

The kids were both pretty well behaved! Here you see the snuggly boy and his Daddy.

 

Daddy was kind enough to let us take turns holding the baby while we both ate dinner. Then we let baby John sit up in the bench all by himself! He was reaching out to grab the children's menu.

  

He got it!

 

And--- into his mouth it goes!

 

3 slices of peach pie, please! YUM YUM YUM!

 

Boys Weekend: Motorcycle trip to Minneapolis

July was a month full of vacations- at least for Daddy! The weekend after we got home from our trip to Yankton, John went on a motorcycle trip with his brother Jeremy (Bear), and their buddy Jeremy (Schmotz) up to Minneapolis. There they visited more friends, and did manly things including fixing Bear's bike, and drinking LOTS of beer!

 

First things first!  Before Bear and Schmotz even made it to our house to pick up John- we got a call from Bear asking if we could quickly research if it is safe to ride a motorcycle without the air filter.  Turns out his air filter had "silently" fallen off -sure it's loud riding a motorcycle, but can you imagine not noticing part of your bike FALLING OFF? Well that's what happened-- so Bear and Schmotz are on the side of the freeway, on their cell phones, calling and trying to research.  When Bear calls our house to ask, John is out walking the dog, so Mommy hops on the internet to do research.  The prevailing answer I found is "don't ever ride your motorcycle without an air filter- you can ruin your engine and quickly"!  BUT there are also comments about not riding on dirt roads- and the guys are on the freeway which shouldn't be nearly so dusty. So I decide to call a Harley dealership back in WA, since the time difference makes them 2 hours earlier than we are, and a live person is still available to talk with in the service department.  Well their answer is: you can probably try to make an air filter, since this is an emergency, and hobble the bike to your destination. But stay off any dirt roads. 

Armed with this new info, the guys luckily find a farm close by, and ask the owner for some scrap pieces to make an air filter, and they eventually arrive at our house, only a few hours later than expected.  In the morning they call all the Harley dealerships close by and on the way to MN, to find a new filter- but none are in stock!  SO the guys head out to the hardware store and jimmy-rig this fine invention:

 

But I digress- the guys enjoyed a late night Friday, chest thumping and drinking plenty of beer- and in the morning there was this box full of empty cans as evidence.

 

The morning of their trip from IA to MN- wait is that a beer for breakfast? No, no, don't worry, they ate Panera bagels and scones first-- THEN more beer!

 

Schmotz, gearing up with goggles, getting ready to ride.

  

The three amigos: Schmotz, John and Bear.

  

And away they go!

  

At this time we have no further pictures from their shenanigans in MN. There are rumors of baseball games, brewery tours and closing down bars, but all parties are innocent until proven guilty.  What I can tell you is that the boys plan to make this a yearly excursion. This has been a pipe dream for many years, and what better excuse is there for a motorcycle trip than "boy's weekend".  (A side note about Bear's air filter, he was able to order a new one over the phone and get it shipped out to MN- and was able to make the long ride home with peace of mind!)

Vacation in Yankton - so much fun!

Who wants to go to The Dairy Dock for ice cream?

 

Renee: "ME!"

 

Uncle Tim: "Me!"

 

Daddy: "Me!"

 

Baby John: "Me!" (and also piled into the suburban: Mommy, Grammie, and Papa- who are not pictured!)

 

Taking a nap (thank goodness!)

 

The Fischer cousins in Yankton, SD at Grammie and Papa's house! (in the tree) Jackson and Gavin.  (on the ground) Baby John, Sofia, Griffen, Melena, Renee

 

Big sister and baby brother love BIG HUGS!

 

My two little angels!

 

Aunt Debbie brought back some great gifts from her trip to New Orleans!

 

Mommy got an hour to herself while baby John was happily watching World Cup futbol!

 

His new favorite thing to do is BOUNCE!

 

Baby John loves his Aunt Debbie!

Vacation in Yankton - a day at the pool!

Another hot day in Yankton- so we took advantage of the free kiddie pool!

  

Sometimes it's a little tough trying to take pictures of yourself... :)

 

Look at those cute swim trunks!

 

Momma and chubby baby, lounging by the pool...

 

Thank goodness for SPF 70! Renee had a blast in the pool!

 

More chunnin' out

 

I love this swim suit, or swim-shirt and swim-shorts! Makes applying sunscreen a lot less work!

 

Throwing the ball and catching it before the other kids could take it away...

 

Big grins- and look, no sunburn!

Vacation in Yankton- a day at the lake!

What is the best way to beat the blistering heat in Yankton, SD?  Go to the lake of course!

 

There were waterfights!

 

Daddy takes a quick break to say hi to Mommy and baby John back on the beach!

  

Jeremy tags John- (No, they never do grow up!)

 

Melena and Renee take over the water guns!

 

Uncle John sneaks up on Melena...

Baby John - 7 months old!

Right after the 4th of July, our baby boy turned 7 months old!

 

We were spending the week in Yankton, SD, visiting his Grammie and Papa and we took these pictures in their back yard.  I love the rustic wooden bench as the backdrop!

 

Normally we nickname him McGrumperton! But he was sure Mr. Smiley today!

 

It looks like he's reaching out and saying, "Hi, Momma!"

  

I love my handsome little guy!

Happy Father's Day!

We celebrated Father's Day all weekend, starting with a trip to our local airport on Saturday.

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Scheduled a fun flight for Daddy, and Renee got to tag along!

 

Daddy had so much fun he's now taking regular flight lessons and working on getting his pilot's liscence!

 

Then we went golfing at the par 3 course.  Renee now has her very own set of golf clubs (a perfect garage sale find earlier this month!), so she can practice right along with Daddy!

  

It was a boiling hot, humid afternoon, but luckily it wasn't raining!  Baby John looks a little tired out from the heat.  

  

Baby John enjoyed sitting up like a big kid in the stroller.

  

And this is what Renee made for her Daddy especially for Father's Day.  No, we' aren't really sure what it is... but Daddy LOVED it!