The Summer That Never Ended.

Once upon a time in Minnesota in the year of 2010 there was a summer so hot, so scorching, so oppressive that it became eternally summer. The End.

But seriously, it feel like this summer won't end. We keep getting teases of fall and cooler temperatures, but it just won't stay. I'm SO ready for slippers and soup, but instead I still can't pack away my tank tops or flip flops! It looks like fall, it smells like fall, the calendar tells me it's fall, but it keeps getting into the high 80's!!!! Not right. Not fair. I hate it.

And to all you people who love summer. Give up your AC and THEN tell me you loooooooove it.

We went to the Dells the first week of October and they had shut down Mt. Olympus and only the indoor waterpark was open. I packed long sleeves and jackets, but I should have packed shorts!!! It was still fun, but not the fallish vacation that I had envisioned.

Dear Summer,

Go Away!!! Let Fall and Winter come. This is MINNESOTA!!!!! Go back to Florida.

Sincerely,

Angrymom

Hiatus.

Once I get in a groove with blogging, in inevitably trip up and it takes me a month to post again. What's up with that?

The oppressive heat has gone, but now Minnesota can't figure out if it wants to have winter or summer. We go from 40 degree days to 80 degree days!! Makes it very hard to dress for this crazy weather.

What do sunshine and rain make together?????

A rainbow!!!!!

We made it to the fair this year! The Olmstead County Fair is right here in town, but Erin got really sick and didn't start feeling better until it had left town. SO, we took her to the Steele County Fair instead. She was fascinated as we drove by and she saw all the rides. As you can see she had a lot of fun and fell asleep holding her french fries on the way home.

Pigtails! I hardly ever do much with Erin's hair because she whines so bad about me brushing it. But she wanted these in and she does look adorable in them.

Smoothie! The only way I can sneak milk in with Izzy. If I give it to her plain she takes a few sips and then opens her mouth and lets it run out....stinker!

Some of the kids at the fair had their faces painted so I did Erin's at home the next day. She wanted to be the panther, not a butterfly.

It Getting Hot in Here!

The following pictures are actual pictures of our thermometer upstairs. They are actual temperatures experienced by our little family. Thankfully, no one was permanently harmed due to these extreme temps...just really really sweaty.

We are fortunate enough to have purchased a portable air conditioner last year. I found a $500 unit for $150 on craigslist. It has gotten a lot of good use this year. We have it installed downstairs since it is naturally cooler down there. The air conditioner kept it about 10 degrees cooler. We put Izzy baby to sleep downstairs in our room, there was no way we could put her to sleep upstairs.

We took lots of cold showers before bed to help cool down so we could sleep. Man, what a difference from last year!

Lots of cooking was done in the microwave and on the grill.

Now that the temperatures had toned down a bit I felt more emotionally stable to do this post. I literally wanted to cry tears of joy when these cooler temperatures hit. Unfortunately looking at the forecast it looks like we are in for some more higher temperatures. Will this summer ever end??!!

Of course you may be wondering why we haven't put central air in yet. Well...we have put almost 10K into the house already. We had to replace the well pump when we first moved in and the roof was peeling off and we replaced that this year as well. Plus we are toying with the idea of geothermal. So there you go. I can not go through another summer like this though!!!

Birthday Party 4 & 1...beware of the picture laden post!

Erin was very happy with her Tinkerbelle cake. I was very happy with how it turned out. I was also very happy that I was able to relax about the level of perfection I wanted to achieve with the cake. Good enough is good enough.

This is our Bee Pinata that Erin and I made! Scott also helped with attaching the stinger, with gorilla glue no less, and made and attached the wings. I have to admit that when I saw him pull out the clear plastic wrap, straws, and tape I only imagined him throwing it all down in frustration. Instead he made some pretty impressive wings for Mr. Bee!

Our 4 day old nephew also made it to the party. Isn't he perfect!!!!

No Tinkerbelles were harmed in the making of this cake.

Here is Izzy's cake. I used up every red food coloring thing I had in the house to get the frosting as red as I could for the ladybug. Next time I need red....I'm buying red frosting.

Water fights were had....and the adults filled up squirt guns for the little squirts.

Run Walker!!!! Zig, then zag....

The mostly happy hosting couple. I lathered on at least 5 different anti-frizz, leave-in conditioner products for the party. Then I didn't touch my hair. If I had touched it and un-crunched the curls, the poofness would have scared the small children.

Pinata Time!!! Swing baby!

Look at the form!

Come here Bee!

Hiiiiiiiiyyyyyyyaaaaa! Anna was very good with the sound effects.

Man, this bee is tough.

Ok, finish er' off Ethan! WE WANT CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only two handfuls each children.

Slip..........and...........Slide!

Izzy, baby, wake up, we want to open presents and eat cake now.

I love it!

Tasty.

Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme!

Believe it or not, but the red frosting did come out of the dress.

Happy birthday girls!!!!

Cousin.

New cousin kisses! My brand new nephew! Isn't he gorgeous!!!!! He was born about 5 hours shy of Izzy's 1st birthday. So we drove over the the hospital on her birthday to squish this new bundle of joy.

He was 9 1/2 pounds!!! Over baked a little bit and facing a entirely impossible direction, he was born by c-section. They are balancing out the family a bit with a boy since I have only given birth to girls.

Yep, he smelled delicious! He nuzzled himself into the crook of my neck and got comfy. Such a sweetie!

Happy birthday Izzy! Uncle Ben getting some face time with Izzy baby.

Less than a day old and he had already filled his pants several times!

Erin did a good job being gentle with her new cousin. She was very curious about his lack of belly button though.

Absolutely the sweetest.

Laundry.

It was way too hot to run my dryer yesterday. It made it to 87 degrees in the house without running the dryer or cooking anything! I also do not have a clothes line. I have 1 closeline pole, but that just isn't going to cut it. So...I improvised. Railings, patio chairs, patio table, and a rake. Even when it's way too hot, laundry still needs to get done.

Our First Tomato!

Finally. During our 2nd season of trying to grow something up on this hill that is INFESTED with deer we have successfully produced a ripe tomato!!!!! No seriously. We can buy unlimited deer tags up here during deer season, they are that overpopulated.

Last year I lost every......single......tomato to those munching monsters. My tomato plants looked amazing and a plethora of tomatoes were on the vines about 2-3 weeks from all becoming ripe and sitting in my tummy. I came out one morning to see them ALL gone. A very depressing moment.

However.....we have drastically reduced the size of the garden this year. Used the deer netting, on top, of the plants instead of around the garden which they merely bounded over anyway. Also have in our employ a fancy shmancy motion detecting sprinkler. Those little buggers get close enough, about 30 ft., and that thing lets them have it!!! So far....so good. If this doesn't work, we'll have to get a dog. Or take turns on night guard and an airsoft gun.

But for now I will admire this little beauty until I can stand it no longer and sprinkle some salt on it and eat it! There is NOTHING like home grown tomatoes!