One big BUS party

Henry's love for school buses came to life as we celebrated his 2nd birthday.  I know everybody says this, but holy crap, he's 2 already?!  Where did the time go?  Henry was absolutely pumped, all of his friends in the same place at the same time, could it get any better than that?!  He was running around like a crazy person, lovin' every minute of it!  

We had our wonderful families and all his little buddies over for brunch on Saturday!  We were hoping for dry weather (as the forecast told us it would be) in order to play outside, but it rained and rained and rained, which forced us all inside (side note - Henry's a big fan of the "rain, rain, go away, come again another day" song lately).  No big deal, with nine 2-year-olds running around, they easily entertained each other :)

Trying to get a group photo was pretty much hilarious!  Here we have Harrison ("HoHo"), Rohit ("HoHo"), Dya ("DeDe"), Finley ("FiFi" - that's baby "FiFi" in the background too, Finley's little sister), Owen ("Oweeeee"), and Henry.

The big boy blew out his own candle and everything :)

Rohit, Dya, Henry, Finley, Owen, Greta ("GaGa"), and the Budija brothers - Joe and Jack in the back.  Oma's holding baby Fiona.

More "dodo" please!

Is it just me, or is Finley looking at Owen and Henry like, "These boys are crazy!"

"Bussssh" party!

Harrison, Rohit, Dya, Henry, Finley, Owen, & Greta.  I think that's Jack popping up behind the couch and of course that sweet little babe, Fiona in Oma's arms.  (I don't think that beautiful girl made a peep the whole time!)

We had such a SUPER FUN party, thank you to everybody for coming and helping and eating and drinking and all that good stuff!  

Happy Birthday to Henry

Two years ago, today.

Today.

Happy Birthday to our little wild man!

Happy Birthday to Greta

Oh boy, did we have fun traveling to Perham last weekend for Greta's birthday party, as she turned the big 0-2!  It was a Pretty Pink Puppy Party!  The day was filled with excellent food, great company, a cotton candy machine, lots of playing, and swimming in the "pooooooo" at Oma & Opa's hotel!

Do I see somebody trying to sneak in front of Greta on her own swing-set?!  

What pretty pink puppy would be complete without his pretty pink puppy ears?!

The big reveal, hahahahahahaha!

Uncle Brian was spinning the cotton candy, well done!

Pretty pink cake, yes please, made by that lovely Tante :)

I'm going to guess this was Henry's highlight of the weekend.  We brought his new lifejacket with to test out in the "pooooo" before we bust it out at the beach this summer.  LOVED swimming with his new freedom, jumping off the edge, just strolling along the water!

The birthday girl had quite the day, check out those red cheeks!

Happy Birthday to "GaGa"!

Whoa

Somebody sure was a fan of his dinner tonight, Pizza Casserole (from my Pinterest page, check it out)! Apparently, a fork was over-rated tonight.

 3 helpings later, looking a little on the full side.

On a side note, favorite food this week would definitely be "bluebies" or blueberries.  The boy may have eaten an entire pint in 2 days.  "More bluebies please" :)  For every meal today I would ask him, "What do you want for breakfast (or lunch, or snack)", and all I would hear is "bluebies!"  

Baby Oweeeeee

Here we are, painting up a storm on a beautiful morning over at Baby Owen's (or as Henry says, "Oweeeeeee's") house.  I wonder when we're going to stop calling him Baby Owen, hmmm.

Sweetened condensed milk and food coloring makes some finger-lickin' good paint to work with!  It takes quite some time to dry, but it's so glossy, very professional looking, Henry.

Shocking, Henry's had enough painting and is off to play with Owen's trucks :)  Owen, on the other hand, couldn't get enough!

Ta-da, aren't they beautiful (foot prints, gravel, and all)!

My little pony

The Budija's went all out for Cowboy Jack's 3rd Birthday, they had pony rides for the kiddos, how cool is that?!  The whole drive down to Shakopee, Henry was saying "po-pee, po-pee" (pony) when we said there were going to be ponies at the party.  

Mama: "Henry, are you excited to ride the ponies?"

Henry: "Yeah" (picture his mouth wide open with a huge smile, nodding his head up & down)

Here we are, Step 1: Place carrots/apples in the bucket, feed the pony, then put the bucket away.

Step 2:  Hop on the pony.....maybe not!  

I've never seen him latch on to Phil's neck so hard in my life, no thank you!

Let's try it again.....no thank you, again!  Couldn't get close enough to Daddy.  He did keep wanting to go back to the pony to "pet, pet, pet, pet."

Third try.....LOVED IT!  

Couldn't get enough, "more po-pee, more po-pee."  This pony's name was Simba, riding along with his buddy, Jack.

 I swear, he did enjoy it :)

After all the pony riding, what's better than a cup full of cheese-balls?  Thank goodness we don't have any of those at home!

Yee-haw!

Oh yes, can't forget your certificate.....Henry Krump has successfully completed his first pony ride!

Recent events

Only in Blaine.....I was cut off by a tractor to get into the turning lane yesterday!

 I celebrated my 31st "Golden" Birthday on Thursday!  Phil treated me to a fabulous dinner at Tria in North Oaks.  We would definitely recommend it, wonderful dinner.  Thank you to all the well wishes I received!

Check out the cup that your drink comes in from Caribou on your birthday!  They have special cups just for your birthday drink, how cool is that?!  Just one of the many reasons why Caribou is the best :)  I could have gotten a way cuter picture (when it was full and decorated so nicely with the whip cream and the caramel), but unfortunately I didn't notice the cup until I had scarfed down half of my cooler (and as you can see, there's that darn tractor in front of me).  

So, Phil is out mowing the lawn tonight and he opens the door to the house, telling me to get outside, and quickly!  This is what was floating right over our house.  Pretty sure I've never seen a hot air balloon that close-up, they are HUGE!   

Here it is, floating between two houses that are just about four houses down from ours.

 And here it lands, in an empty lot, about four lots down on our side of the street.  People from all over the neighborhood were rushing over to check it out.  Not sure if they meant to land there or not!

Pretty exciting stuff around here, huh :)