Free is one of my favorite words!

Today was the day of Byerly's Western Roundup. We drove out to Rachel's house and then followed her, Donovan and Marshall to the St. Louis Park store.

The flyer said Calf Ropin', Bull Ridin', Horseshoe Tossin', and alot of other "in's" along with ...


FREE FOOD.

So we went. We stoped at the Chuck Wagon and Saloon first and had our fill of mini hamburgers, chips, and pop. Then off to the "pony express races" where me and Rachel rode an inflatable "horse". I rode with Katie and Rachel rode with Donovan. I didn't go very far. I was laughing way too hard... and then I looked over and there was John. With the video camera.

After the horse races we stopped at the "outhouses" which were port-a-potties with a poster on the fronts to make it look like an outhouse. It was cute. Still a port-a-potty but cute. After business was handled, we took pictures of the kids, and me and Rachel.

Then we went to the horseshoe tossin' area and the kids did that for a few minutes. They had a great advantage over me since they stood about 2 feet from the post but they're so cute, who can complain!

Then we headed to the cotton candy stand and got ours. After that, a trip to the wash station was needed. Both kids' faces were covered in cotton candy! Then we headed to the horse ropin' and stood in line. Donovan and Katie sat on the horse (not a real one...) and tried to "rope" the calf (not a real one). Neither kid was successful but it was cute to watch!

Our last event was the bouncy room... but I guess it's really called the Moonwalk. I didn't think Katie would do it but I think Donovan was a good influence. She was right there ready to go in with Don, even standing on the blacktop without her shoes so she was ready. That's not usual for her. She's actually never gone on the moonwalk EVER, so we were very proud.

After the moonwalk we listened to "Trailer Trash" the band that was playing for the evening. We had decided to head home (at about 7:30) and I got up from the blanket and it flipped over. All of our chips, the containers, two water bottles... EVERYTHING that was on the blanket flipped off. So that was fun. Katie had fallen and skinned her knees awhile earlier so she was clingy with John and I was holding Jake. I put Jake in his stroller and he fell asleep pretty fast so I could pick up the mess.





Katie on the calf ropin' ride:


We headed home and watched Evan Almighty. Jake's asleep in his crib, Katie's asleep on the floor, and I'm about to fall asleep in this chair!

Thanks to Grammy and Grampy...

Thanks to grammy and grampy, me and John had two great babysitters so we could go out to dinner!

Katie was excited to go over to grammy and grampys for awhile and our conversation while getting her ready went something like this:

Mommy: Katie, who are you going to see tonight?
Katie: Blank stare
Mommy: It's someone you are excited to see...
Katie: Donovan?
Mommy: Noooo, someone else!
Katie: Lori Kuger?
Mommy: Noooo, someone else!
Katie: Grandma?
Mommy: Noooo, grammy and grampy!
Katie: I like grammy and grampy.

So all was well. She got dressed and we got everything ready. John got the walker in the car for Jake, bottles were made, extra clothes were packed... then Katie got fussy. And I mean fussy. She started to cry about nothing. She wanted her daddy to hold her. So he did and she fell asleep... I mean she was OUT. He put her to bed and I put Jake in his crib because he had fallen asleep too! I called grammy and grampy to cancel our babysitters and they offered to come over here. Whew! They saved our evening out!

They came over, watched Jake, looked in on Katie, and went home after we sat and talked for about an hour once we got home. We had a nice dinner at Sarna's and I got to use the $20 gift card I got for my birthday.

It was a nice night... till Katie woke up at about 1:00 a.m.

and stayed awake till 5 a.m.

I was busy with Jake so John had the pleasure of staying up with Katie and making her a hot dog for dinner at, oh, maybe 2 a.m.

But it was okay, he got some rest, I got some rest, and we were all ready for our fun day on Saturday.

Don't step on Honey!

Mom and Dad came up last night for dinner and we ate a casserole grandma made - it was delicious! Thanks Grandma! Katie and mom were outside watching a city worker climb a post to look at the wires or something and then it was time to eat. Katie didn't want to come in but she wanted me to sit outside. She wanted me to watch her so no one would steal her. So maybe she is listening! I told her I could watch her while I ate dinner but she should come eat too! She didn't, she cried, she got louder, she got time out. She cried there too but usually her attitude changes once she's out of her TO. She came to the table and ate and was fine. She polished off almost a whole can of green beans AND her casserole AND some cranberries! Then we cleaned up and watched Bedtime Stories. It was cute. We also had yummy cake and ice cream!

Katie was playing while she watched and when the movie was over mom and dad went home and I cleaned up our stuff. Katie had some toys set up in the path to the kitchen and she said "Mommy, be careful! Don't step on Honey. She's sleepin here" and made a vague gesture toward the floor. So I avoided that spot, even though it meant walking out of my way, around where I thought she was over and over while I picked up. Katie fell asleep and I guess I forgot that Honey wasn't real... because I still tried not to step on her even after Katie was sleeping.