And the final batch....

Just a few more! As you can see, I have a hard time narrowing things down so I like to include them all. I just wish I had a picture of Ella's face when the naughty little boy called her Frog Butt. She is still talking about that! Apparently she inherited her Mama's sensitivity chip. Anyway, thanks to everyone that was there for the great time. The girls were very sad when we had to leave yesterday. Looking forward to next year already and maybe I will finally win the Big Shake!

Alexandria continued.......

Here are some more pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The Griswalds' Visit Alexandria.......

Well, this last weekend was our annual family pilgrimage. Typically we venture to the Brainerd, MN area but this year we really stepped out of the box and headed to Arrowwood Resort in beautiful Alexandria, MN. Our days were filled with swimming at the indoor waterpark, Sheila and I schooling everyone else (but mainly Kim and Mom) in the art of playing Sequence, throwing bean bags at small holes and just having an overall good time. There of course was lots of eating. It wouldn't be a Carter/Paa family vacation without an obscene amount of food. My personal highlight of the trip was one that I didn't even get to experience with my own eyes but thankfully Jason was there and saw the whole thing. The drip tray from Dad's griddle fell out as he was trying to put the griddle back up on the cabinets and all the egg and pancake bits fell on his head. Man, I wish I could have seen it but I laugh every time I imagine it!

Welcome to Sioux Falls.....

Today we were tourists in our own city. Our first stop was at the Hamburger Inn, an old hamburger shop downtown that has been there for ages. Jason was there last when he was about Grace's age which we all know was many moons ago. It consists of about 8 stools at a counter and the best bacon cheeseburger and onion rings I have ever eaten! Next, being the cultured folks that we are, we strolled around downtown and checked out the sculpture walk. The one that had three fat naked ladies dancing around was named "The Graces" which we thought was pretty funny. We capped the day off with a trip to the Falls which the girls always enjoy. It was like a mini vacation for us. Our day was a far cry from the one Lily predicted for herself last night while at Red Lobster (or Green Lobster as she calls it). She said "When I am a lobster, I will swim in there with them. And I will take my shirt off." I asked her when she was going to be a lobster and she said tomorow. Obviously that didn't happen but I think she had a pretty good day anyway!

Over the river and through the woods........

To Grandma and Papa's we went! What an event filled few days the girls and I have had. Going to Grandma and Papa's house is one of the girls' favorite things to do and this trip was no exception! Tuesday we went to Long Lake, Wednesday was a trip out to the pool and Thursday brought us on a picnic with Kimmie and to the Watonwan County Fair. Throw in a couple of baseball games, a fire complete with s'mores and many bike rides and I was hard pressed to drag them away this morning! Grace conquered her fear of the diving board, Ella tried the slide and will not be going on it again anytime soon and Lily just enjoyed herself like she usually does!

When life gives you lemons......

Well, life hasn't actually given us lemons but we did make lemonade. The girls have desperately wanted to set up a lemonade stand and I finally relented on Tuesday. They raked in $8 and a great time was had by all. Ella, apparently, was yelling "25 cents for lemonade" at passing cars. The trouble Grace had with that was she had priced the lemonade at 50 cents!

Happy 4th of July to you all!

My maiden voyage.....

So, at the urging of my littlest brother, I have decided to create a blog. This will hopefully save you all from the endless stream of emails with pictures attached which have probably been annoying you and you are all just too polite to mention it. It is my plan to post my pictures here and then you can all check it out at your leisure or not at all if you are not so inclined. Anyway, I just wanted to introduce you to my new venture! Enjoy!