Osceola Fun day

Fun Fun Fun and more fun!!!

Riding the Osceola train is something we love to do as a family.  I think this was our third time on the train but we have never explored the little town of Osceola before and we never took this exact ride before. Since Grandma and Grandpa also had tickets we thought it would be fun to all go together.  We rode the train first thing from Osceola to Marine on st croix.  It was another brisk morning but it felt good on the train.  The kids had fun walking up and down the train, sticking their heads out the window and drawing pictures of what they saw outside.

After the trains we headed to a art sculpture garden in a small town right outside of Osceola.  It looked like piles of junk put on display.  Isaac told me today that the playground there was really old there and not put together right.  I thought that was a good way to put it.  None the less the kids LOVED running through the park from one display to the next and climbing in, on and through everything they possibly could.

Next we went back into town and saw the Cascade falls.  It was great!  Isaac climbed all the stairs down and back up from the falls.  We even went behind the waterfalls, the water was very shallow and also FREEZING cold.  The kids loved that.  We had a time for a little picnic and some ice cream before heading back.

We did so much, and made a lot of great memories.  It is a great little town and train ride if you have never been and looking for a fun day trip.

Addy would not leave Grandma's side

He wanted to show us how he could lift Addy

coloring what he saw out the window.  Rocks, dirt, trees, etc.

hard at work on her picture

She left Grandma to go to Grandpa to get help drawing her choo choo train

The first sculpture...the giant lizard in a house

swing in a cave

just doing a little swinging and singing

those balls were wooden

park like structure

mud

I think this one was cement

roof climbing

maze of triangles

street light that rained water

Cascade falls

Addy and Daddy behind the falls

All of us behind the falls

splashing in the water

Seth on a rock in the middle of the shallow water in front of the falls

They wanted Daddy to carry them out

ice cream!!!

 Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for coming with us and making the day so special!

Donuts and Robinhood

This weekend we hopped on our bikes bright and early to beat the rain and took a long bike ride to the bakery.  Isaac biked the whole way there, and back.  We stopped at Robinhood park where we ate our donuts and had lots of fun playing.  They had a huge teeter totter!! It was a brisk ride for a July morning, but it was fun and Isaac did great. He rode a LONG ways!

That's my boy!

donut face

Isaac took this one!

me and my baby girl

Both of my babies

pump it up

I took the kids and Isaac's best friend to pump it up a few weeks ago.  It was Addy's first time and she did really well.  The boys of course had a blast.

Brady bouncing with Addy

Playing ball

down the slide

down the slide

tie at the end of the obstacle course

head first

going down the slide together

playing a little air hockey against some bigger boys

Nana's Birthday

I am very behind in blogging, and decided I better share a few more of our highlights in July before the week is over.  We are just too busy soaking up the summer fun :)

For mom's birthday this year we wanted to do something special.  I found this little country diner online called Peg's country kitchen.  For those who don't know my mom's name is Peg and her house decor is of the country theme.  In particular chickens which is the same as this diner.  It was the perfect place to take her.  We managed to pull off the surprise part too, go us!!

Mom with the menu, and the real Peg owner gave her one to take home!!

At the table...the walls are lined with photos of people.

waiting for out brunch

Peg and Peg

all of us outside the cafe

Thunder Cake

The past two blog posts I wrote were not about family trips, exciting parks or celebrations they were just a couple of things we have done this week.  I decided I needed to share one more tidbit from our week.
On Monday we went to storytime and it was all about rain and storms.  The last book was called "thunder cake."  In the back of the book is the recipe for the cake.  Every kid was sent home with an activity sheet that had all the ingredients but of course not the amounts.  Isaac completed the sheet and then proceeded to say," okay, let's make the cake."  what?  I didn't think we were really making the cake!!  Well anyone who knows Isaac knows his favorite food is cake.  To not make this cake would crush his little heart, so we googled the recipe found it on the first click and got to work.

measuring the ingredients using his sheet, so cute!

The finished product!!!

Addy eating it

I  think she liked it

Now, the book is about a Grandma who helps her little granddaughter get over the fear of storms by baking a cake.  I highly recommend it if your kids have this fear too.  Thankfully, this is one we don't have at our house right now.  There is a secret ingredient in the cake...I don't keep secrets well so I will tell you.  Tomatoes.  It is Grandma Mimi tested, she said the cake was Great.  Her and Grandpa were kind enough to rush right over so Isaac could share his special cake!
Here is the recipe in case you too want to make thunder cake during the next storm, which looks like it might be tonight.
http://www.patriciapolacco.com/participation/kidstalk/questions_week/week_3/cake_recipe.html

If I haven't mentioned this lately...I have the BEST job in the world.  I LOVE that I can stop everything and bake cakes with Isaac on a whim!!!