Dan & Kathleen's Wedding

The big day has finally come and gone.  A lot of work, and a great celebration!  Dan and Kathleen had their wedding.

From the first time we met her, Kathleen has been a joy to get to know and love.  

I took this photo that I really liked.  Not sure she was a fan.  :)

Wedding rehearsal.

Kathleen is from Germany, and they have an interesting custom where they break porcelain before the wedding.  Our kids were super excited for this one.

Here is Finn throwing a plate Mama got at Goodwill.  She got a whole box full so...  plenty to go around...

...and lots to clean up.  Cleaning up is the responsibility of the wedding couple.

Our kids looked very dashing in their wedding suites.  Eamon as well!  Finn likes to look the part, and Kellan likes to do what Finn does apparently.  Finn is a great role model for him for sure.

The wedding venue was The Annex, a nice little place that must have been an alley at some point.  Really nice, with lots of sunlight and plants.  Good work out there.

Pictures with the nieces and nephews.  

The girls got their hair done and both really liked it.  

What a grownup-looking girl.

This one is a keeper.  Finn and Layla, our two oldest.  Those genuine smiles...

Layla was the ring bearer.  One of the rings was not wanting to come off the little cushion, so Kathleen had to step in and help out.

There is also a German custom of sawing a log with a very old two-handed saw.  I made the stand the log was on, a fun little project.  

Again, great venue.  I like the small intimate setting.

I would say this is rare form for Finn and Kellan, but they pretty much always act like this.  

What a great scene.  Finn and Cora can be great together, when Cora is telling Finn what to do and Finn is happy to do it.  

Love this one.  I love this smile on Lisa.  It's my favorite.

Kids having a little break.

The day after the wedding we had a little brunch at our house.  Lisa and I did our best to put on a little presentation and make it nice.

The afternoon was spent on the patio.

Great job guys.  We wish you all the best!

Cross Lake Vacation

Last weekend Greg and Andrew invited us to spend time with them at a cabin up in Cross Lake MN.  Greg had won the trip in a raffle of sorts.  It was great to be asked and we had a lovely time relaxing and enjoying the thing Minnesota is best known for.

The trip was with Greg & Andrea's family, Ours, and Dan and Kathleen joined us for some R&R before their wedding.  

The cousin situation worked really well and was just what you'd hope for I'd imagine.

Okay, so a week before vacation Kellan got locked onto water balloons somehow.  It was all he talked about, and he wanted to talk about it in great detail.  It was clear that a water balloon fight was going to happen on vacation.

When we got there Kellan's continuous need to discuss it roped in all the other kids and for the first day it felt like the only thing all the kids were talking about.  So we eventually did have that water balloon fight, and by that time the rules and explaining were very thought out.

Lots of time spent in bed together.

And swimming.

The hot tub got a lot of use for sure.

Papa and Cora, the "foodies" of the trip, ate our usual breakfast.  I need to come up with a name for this breakfast.  

I've managed to get Kathleen into Pickleball, so we found a place to play while on the trip.  I got a Pickleball set to bring up and others joined us.  We played every day I think.  Fantastic.  

I got some painting in.

Smores by the fire.

...aaaaand rest.  Everyone got some rest in.

This is how Mama and Kellan sleep.  Basically every night is like this.

Great vacation.  Thanks so much, Greg and Andrea!!

I'll end this post with some 4th of July pictures of the Minnesota Cousins.  A nice little crew over here.  

Summer has started.. with school almost finished.

 So this is going to be a bit random, but then most of our posts are, so that's okay.

Finn has started baseball.  The league is a bit different this year, with added rules making it a bit more difficult.  Most points are made when the catcher doesn't catch a pitch and someone steals home.  It actually makes for a more interesting game.

Layla had her dance recital.  She's been practicing so hard and we even made sure to give her some 1:1 sessions with the coach so she was sure to know it as well as possible.

The church they do this in is ridiculous.

Layla was so happy afterward receiving all the gifts and attention from everyone in our Minnesota family.  Her friend from school, Mars, came to see it as well, and then Lisa took them both out for pizza.

Nothing better than Punch Pizza.

Layla, Cora, and I attended Kellan's graduation...  wait for it...  from preschool.  This is one of those things that someone came up with, and so now all preschools have to do it otherwise they're not giving the "value" that other preschools do.  I mean, we're probably the outsiders, not wanting to do everything that other parents do.

That's Kellan over on the left.  :)

When Kellan asked what graduation was, I explained that it means you've accomplished something and are finished.  -which made going back to preschool the next two days all the more confusing to him as they had graduation on a Wednesday to make it easier for everyone.  Kellan:  "But Papa, I've already accomplished that...    right?!

Mothers Day.  I found an old blackboard and put a little drawing on it.  

Finn had his birthday party with some friends of his.  Definitely felt like a bunch of boys having fun together. 

A cross I made for Kellan, or as he calls them, a crucifix.  He wanted me to take this picture.

The pool is out and we're doing pool stuff now.  It's always amazing when the kids go swimming in freezing cold groundwater.

This also means we have kids stopping by (mostly Cora's friends but some others) interested in swimming.

Special thanks to my Mama (Sue Schaefer) for some great signed original prints from a famous Vermont artist.  They are now hanging in our entryway.

Watson remains both a joy and a pain.  He loves laying down and especially prefers when it's around people.  The potty training for this dog is...  challenging.  

Walking over a dog while you're trying to cook is always fun.  He likes Lisa a lot.  Haha

Kellan and I at Fleet Farm picking up some "gear".  (No, not this car.)

aaaand... more of Finn's baseball.