The best-kept secret in home improvement

I recently discovered something amazing at Menard's.

I had no idea this existed because I just don't hang out at Menard's that frequently.

But these little people knew all about it.

Menard's has a big area where they have set up not one, but several playhouses and a playground in the covered area of the garden section. We were outside, but protected from rain. The kids ran around from playhouse to playhouse and went on slides, climbed little walls, and even played with periscopes.

Who knew!

It was heaven.

But the prices weren't that heavenly for a couple of cheapskates like us.

Sad.

But it sure makes for a fun free outing!

Everyone had something to do, and there was so much area to play in that squabbling was practically nonexistent.

Yes, it is our new rainy day destination. We were there for 45 minutes until we had to leave. Next time, I'm bringing a book.

We have dogs! {temporarily}

We've got some fluffy little visitors this week. Caesar and Zach.

Their family went on vacation and we get to take care of them!

Svea is in love. Who has time to comb their hair when there's a puppy to be carried around?

And she had to dress up in the elephant costume to surprise them.

I guess they were pretty surprised.

When we were eating breakfast this morning, Svea opened the fridge to get something.

Then she slammed it shut and screamed, "THE PUPPIES WILL GET IN THE MESSY FRIDGE!"

I took that comment slightly personally.

This is a messy fridge? I thought I was doing okay.

It's been a long time since we've had a dog around. Our beloved behemoth Clyde seems like a lifetime ago. And he weighed 104 pounds more than Caesar and 101 pounds more than Zach. I'm feeling that Caesar and Zach are just a touch more manageable than Clyde was. They also eat much less food.

I also realized that it is not a good idea to unload groceries in the front hall and then go back to the car to get more, leaving the rotisserie chicken fully unsupervised.

Now we eat meals staring at the dogs on the floor.

Svea took a nap with them, which was her dream come true. Svea was very quiet and fell asleep with one dog on each side of her.

Elin was a totally different story. She felt that naptime with dogs = party time. She had to be relocated to sleep in another room so everyone else could have some peace and quiet.

We are going to have a fun week! I have a feeling Svea will be sleeping with buddies again tonight.

Munsinger Gardens

We recently headed to Munsinger to enjoy the shade provided there. It was a whopping 90 degrees on Tuesday, and I was ready to move to Greenland. It was really hot out. Yes, I think 90 is really hot. Yuck.

Svea kept asking me to take pictures of all the pink flowers. I'm posting this one to appease her.

I enjoy bugs when they're in nature and not in (or near) my house.

Right now, what we saw were mostly perennials. Annual planting was still in production.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard were cooling off in a fountain.

Elin didn't want to use the stroller. I pulled it out of the car and popped it open and she took one look at it and said, "Walk. Me walk." Bless her heart. I threw it right back in the minivan and experienced the freedom of not pushing something in front of me for the first time in years. And I didn't have to haul a stroller up these stairs. Hallelujah.

Ice cream available in the gift shop. Reasonably priced and all proceeds go towards buying more flowers. A worthwhile investment on a hot day.

Viggo was wowed by the gigantic freezy pop.

Elin's process on her ice cream sandwich was slow, drippy and delicious.

We are loving a slow-paced summer! After last year, with finding out we were moving to MN the day after Viggo finished up the school year, it was nonstop insanity for 3 months. It is so wonderful to wake up now and think, "What should we do today?" instead of, "What should we pack today?"

Happy June!

Afternoon nap

DQ and Svea's treasure trove

It's finally summer! To celebrate the end of the school year we surprised Viggo with a trip to Dairy Queen.

After much deliberation treats were finally chosen.

Viggo got a large Blizzard and made it halfway through until calling it quits.

Svea just got really messy.

I shared my blizzard with Elin, which I ended up regretting, because she hogged most of it. That girl and ice cream.

***

In other news, I changed Svea's sheets today. Besides the 4 blankets and 17 stuffed animals that were on it, I also found all of this stuff:

Two water bottles.

Sleeping Beauty's make-up case.

Strawberry Shortcake.

Binoculars. In case of some sort of weird emergency?

And finally, I found the missing sandal.

Happy summer!

Happy Anniversary . . . 2 weeks ago

Well, we've been sick for the past couple of weeks. So there's been a blogging delay. But . . .

It was our 9th anniversary two weeks ago! Nate took the day off to celebrate.

Nate gave me a beautiful teacup, as is our yearly tradition. It is so pretty!

We played Uno on the deck.

We watched Full House.

I made the babysitter take our picture.

Then we went to Sawatdee, which isn't really known for it's decor . . .

It's known for its amazing Thai food. Thai it, you'll like it!

Located in downtown St. Cloud, it has a romantic view of . . . the street.

We sat and chatted and were looking out the window when suddenly a shirtless guy ambled past.

What was most alarming was that we actually knew him.

We were spared from any more awkward moments because the cream cheese wontons arrived.

I had salmon with peanut sauce, which was actually extremely spicy although the waiter described it as "pretty mild." Whatever. After two bites, I could almost feel my throat closing up.

Nate ordered some sort of volcanic-hot beef dish.

For Nate, it's not worth going to Sawatdee unless he can break out in a sweat while eating.

He was feeling a little congested and was hoping to sweat it out.

It worked. By the time we left, he was breathing with ease. Just a little homeopathic tip from us to you.

Then we went to Barnes and hung out in the crafty sections. For us, this is bliss.

When we came home, the girls were asleep. We checked on Viggo, and he was lying awake in his bed. He said, "Where did you go to dinner?" We told him where.

Then he said, "Did you hold hands and kiss and stuff?"

We said, "We kissed the entire time we were there. We didn't even eat our food." He rolled over, put his pillow over his head, and groaned in total embarrassment. Ha!

It might not be that exotic of an anniversary celebration, but it was located in Minnesota, which was all we had been hoping and praying for a year ago. It was a perfect anniversary for us and another marker of God blessing us with another year together.