Camels, Giraffes and Bear - Oh My!

Yesterday (Saturday) my parents, Uncas and I went to the zoo.  The weather was perfect and we were able to see lots of animals.  Here is a link to all the pictures that I took.  Last night we played some games outside on our patio (which is where we ate dinner) and then we moved inside to play a little Wii.  We were all up pretty late, but this morning my dad and Uncas got up early to go fishing.  My mom and I slept in a little and then planted some hosta around the house.  My neighbor gave us a couple of raspberry bushes, so we planted those too.  Now we are getting ready to do some shopping. We are really enjoying this long weekend!

Another Family Member

My family has expanded this week! Congratulations to Derek and Jeanna who got married yesterday! I have another sister-in-law and couldn't be more excited!!!

Working on Our Yard

 

This weekend we took advantage of being home and worked on the outside for a change.  The weather was fabulous and we spent many hours both days outside.  Saturday Uncas mowed the lawn, while I "trimmed" a tree in our front yard.  I might have taken off more than he anticipated, but by Sunday he came around and was excited to have another area to plant some flowers and plants.  Sunday we went to the store and bought two bushes for the front of our house, along with some pots and other flowers.  We were planting fools.  Sammy loved digging in the dirt.  We still have some more work to do, but it's really looking good.

Picture of Sammy, after a long day of digging and running around the yard with sticks!

Getting Caught Up!

This week once again I have spent a lot of time trying to get caught up since we were gone over the weekend. Last weekend was fishing opener in Minnesota. It's one of those things that I had never heard about until I moved up here. It's sort of like a holiday around here, even though it falls every year on Mother's Day weekend. Up until this year, I had never participated in it. And I guess technically this year I didn't either, but Uncas did. Our friends Matt and Janis (Sammy's local sitters) invited us to Matt's parent's house on Lake Mille Lacs. While the guys were out fishing, I hung out in/around the house with the dogs. I was still fighting the cough/cold from hell. Uncas managed to catch quite a few fish and Matt caught the biggest fish of the weekend. Sunday afternoon we did a little fish fry - nothing like fresh walleye! Sammy had the time of his life hanging out with his buddy Charlie and bugging Leah(Matt's parent's dog), and making new friends (?) with cat Lilly. Here are the pictures that I took from the weekend.

This week has been season finales galore! Wednesday night was Lost and I am not quite sure what I thought about the finale. We learn some new stuff, but really I have a ton more questions. I can't believe that next season is the final season. Last night was Grey's Anatomy finale. I have struggled keeping with this show, especially this year, but it's come around and last night I was completely shocked! I can honestly say that I did not know who John Doe was (I won't say anything more, in case people haven't watched it yet). Needless to say, I have had a lot to think about the past couple of days.

This weekend I plan on catching up on more tv, doing some cleaning, doing some yard work, hanging out, and eating a Dairy Queen blizzard. We have no plans to travel until the second weekend in June, so I am going to enjoy the break.

One final note - my niece Saffron has her own blog now - check it out under my blog list. Her mom Jeanna does a great job of taking lots of pictures of little Saffy and has wonderful little stories to go along with them.

Sad Sally

Last week on Friday it was announced at my worker that a co-worker's position was being eliminated and my co-worker was being laid off. Unfortunately, that co-worker, has been my closest friend at work and because her, the nickname Sally even exists.

Two years ago everyone was giving everyone else a nickname. I was trying to think of one for her and came up with Sally. When I told her about it, she didn't care for the name, but that didn't stop me from using it. But then she started calling me Sally, because suddenly she decided that she really liked the name. From there - the "Sallys" were born. In fact, sometimes when we call each other by our real names, it sounds weird.

So - this Sally is a little sad because Sally packed up all her things today. But while it's sad, ultimately, I know that it's a good thing and she knows it too. And we'll always be The Sallys!

May Wedding Weekend

 

This weekend my cousin Alison was married.  Above is a picture of her and her new husband Brian.  Uncas and I flew down to IL for the wedding.  We had a wonderful weekend seeing lots of family.  Friday night Uncas dropped Sammy off at our friend's Matt and Janis.  Then we hopped on a plane to IL.  After renting a car and checking in to our hotel, we headed to my uncle's bar to see my cousin's wife Kelly who was working.  My cousin Ron was there along with my uncle.  We had fun just hanging out with them.

On Saturday we went to visit my Grandma Blume and brought her some flowers for an early Mother's Day present.  She is going to be 97 years old and she still has an amazing memory and mind.  

 

 

My parents met us at our hotel to change for the wedding.  I had a little wardrobe "malfunction" that sent my mom and I running to the store an hour and a half before the wedding.  But we arrived in plenty of time before the wedding started.  The best part was seeing so many family members.  My cousins Stephanie and Greg (and Stephanie's husband Brian) drove in from Ohio.  Stephanie, Alison and I are the only girl cousins out of 12 grandkids and we hadn't taken a picture together for at least 8 years.  This picture is for Grandma, who couldn't make the wedding:

 

 

And then we had to get a picture of Alison's Brian, Stephanie's Brian and my Uncas.  I was the only girl cousin who didn't marry a guy named Brian!  This picture was for Grandma too:

 

 

Then we had to take a picture of my cousin Jeff, with me and Alison.  For Grandma.

 

 

Are you sensing a theme?  Yes, my mom started it by running around and taking pictures and saying "for Grandma" and we pretty much ran with that all night long.  Grandma should be quite pleased by all the pictures we took for her!  You can check them all out er

 

  

This morning Uncas and I were able to see my Ohio cousins before they hit the road and then we had breakfast with my cousin Jamal and his girlfriend Anna.  This weekend reminded me of how much fun I had hanging out with my cousins when I was younger.  We all had so much fun seeing each other this weekend.  I hope we can all get together again soon.

Our flight home was uneventful.  We were able to unpack and get the house in order before Matt and Janis dropped off Sammy.  He had a fabulous weekend at the lake, following Charlie around.  He is so tired that he has slept on my lap or Uncas's lap all night long.  So - all in all, I think the whole family had a good weekend.  But now it's late, I need to get to bed.