Eat Your Heart Out, Von Trapp Family...

Uncle Russ and Aunt Annie were on babysitting duty while Chris and Amy celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary. Carson was super excited to come over because as he kept saying, "I am going to Annie and Russ', and Russ is going to stay home with us." haha I see how it is. Not too excited about me, but Russ gets all of the love.

Carson seemed to have a good ole time playing with Russ' old toys, eating hot dogs and applesauce, and convincing Russ to dust off the guitar and play some music.

I captured a few pictures of the two playing and singing. I am pretty sure we are ready to start a family band. I will be driving the bus, for I would offer no musical abilities to the group.

The music lesson consisted of Russ teaching Carson the different chords.

Russ: "This is the C chord. C is for..."

Carson: "Carson!"

Russ: "This is the D chord. D is for..."

Carson: "Daddy!"

Russ: "This is the A chord. A is for..."

Carson: "Amy! That's my mommy's name."

What a smart little guy. He definitely entertained us during his visit.

Annie Get Your Gun...Err...Spray Paint

I decided to "renovate" a few items. Did I take any before pictures? No, of course not.

Item #1: Bistro set--formerly white (with paint chips galore) with red seat covers...the "new" table and chairs... (if you really look at the grass, you can see the spots where I sprayed before the rain came and I was forced to head to garage and breathe in a few fumes).

Item #2: Podium from school--formerly black (metal) pole with silver (metal) feet and a wooden top...pretty janky if you ask me :-)...Operation school spirit in podium form created this masterpiece:

I have decided that I cannot be a graffiti artist, for my fingers ached for two days after "painting."

Cooperstown...say what, say what...

Living the spontaneous lives that we live (haha), Russ and I decided to add an extra vacation to our summer. We packed up the truck and headed....no not north...but east to Cooperstown, New York to visit Russ' grandparents. We had a great time on our short little venture. We spent time with his grandma, grandpa, mom, and cousin, hitting up the Baseball Hall of Fame (well, Russ actually went in while Betsy and I visited the gift shop and surrounding shops in town), swimming in the pool, and returning with a sweet grandfather clock.

Overall, we were really fortunate to be able to take this trip.

Russ in front of the museum


My kind of store...I walked in, and I heard Christmas music in June!!! Wow! I wasn't aware my version of heaven existed in Cooperstown, NY.


Not sure about the eclipse happening in this picture, but here we are with Russ' grandparents.

Here is the "load" we brought back...Russ wanted to put "No, it's not a body" on the back of the truck just to relieve the anxiety of anyone behind us on the road. We decided they wouldn't mess with us, considering the coffin-shaped box we were transporting. I named the clock Bernie after Weekend at Bernie's (minus the Hawaiian shirt and ability to dance I thought it was a great comparison). Russ asked me why I would say, "Sorry, Bernie" whenever we hit a bump. Once I informed him that I had nicknamed the clock, I think he was sorry he asked.

Bernie in action...the clock looks great in our living room.
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Chilton!

COMING SOON: Yah, that's right...our version of coming attractions, blog style.

We have decided to paint the laundry/bathroom. We pulled off the pegboard that covered one and half walls in the laundry. Much to our surprise, the pegboard was acting as the drywall...yikes. Therefore, we did a little drywall and mudding action, and we are almost ready to paint. Woo hoo!
Here's a sneak peak at the goings-on:

Hello hole in the wall.


Drywall going up...

Minnesota knows how to party...

Well, we have already completed one of our road trips for the summer of 2011. During our trip we checked out the Wisconsin Dells...still not sure what really goes on there, but it seemed very Pigeon Forge-y to us. Our time in the Wis Dells (as Russell likes to call it...even more so when he is referring to Wis Rapids..seriously...the signs actually say Wis Rapids) was short...aka...we simply spent the night there, but we did enjoy some Canadian cuisine at the Moosejaw Pizza and Brewing Company. We were thinking about quitting our jobs in order to become delivery drivers for the restaurant...check out the cars they get to drive.

Cute, huh? Now check out the backside (literally) of the cute little cars.


Oh those Canadians. :-)

I did convince Russell to don the moose antlers with me even though I continued to call them moose ears. :-)

Next up...Minneapolis...the Schneider girls (Betsy, Jen, Cassie and I) headed to Chanhassen Dinner Theatre for Jesus Christ Superstar. We had a great time, and I even walked away with a souvenir cup.
After receiving a new windshield (State Farm is on speed dial apparently when I get in a car), we were set to begin our lakeside portion of the vacation. I really wanted to get a picture of the new windshield as it was put on the car, but I wasn't there, and I am pretty sure Russ wasn't going to be taking any pictures of a random windshield repair man. :-) A little awkward.

Betsy and Scott celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary over the weekend, so it was great that we all could be there to celebrate right along with them.

Jen and Matt sporting their matching Mario Bros t-shirts. Matt received his for his birthday, and we gave Jen one as a consolation prize. ;)

The famous family picture...this one definitely turned out better than last summer's feeble attempt at looking good in a picture at 8 AM after the infamous pirating night.

Random pictures

Russell fishing...

Russ and Jennie were wearing matching shirts too.

Russell banned to the back porch...I actually don't remember why he was out there, but it
turned out to be a funny picture.

And finally...I really thought I was in this picture...apparently my focus was a little off.

All in all this was a great trip, and we can't wait to go back in July on the last leg of our western tour.

Annie on a boat saying this trip was "Awwwwwwe....some."