The
week of July 7th through 11th Little Giants was closed
for their annual cleaning and shutdown so we got to stay home with Mom on the 7th
and 8th. After nap on the 8th
we met Grandma Anne in Mason City, IA (*about half way to Waterloo) for dinner
and the switch! Yep, we got to stay with Grandma Anne and
Grandpa Scott until the morning of the 10th when Mom took more
vacation & came down to get us. We
had a great time hanging with Gma/pa Sergeant including going to the golf
course to cheer for Grandpa Scott, we played non-stop inside & out, and
even had a slumber party in the living room with Grandma Anne. The fun continued for after lunch on the 10th
Mom took us to Jesup, IA to see Grandma Dawn & Grandpa Mark for our annual
Farmer’s Days trip. Since we just got
back from vacation up North Daddy had to stay home & work but man did he
miss out because we fun! Thursday night
was kids’ night and we had a special treat our Culbertson cousins from Oregon
came to town! We haven’t seen them since
they moved from Minnesota last summer so we were pretty excited. We met up after dinner and even did the park together before we all walked downtown
together for unlimited rides! And boy, did we ride! Here's me on the motorcycle ride with Cousin Issy behind me.
Hudson loved the boat ride.
Here's us boys, Hudson, Cousin Owen and me. Owen & I are buddies and just a few months apart in age.
Here's Cousin Issy, their mom Cousin Diane and Cousin Evelyn. Evie and Hudson are just a few months apart too!
Here's us men riding with Grandpa Mark; I'm making him laugh!
Here's me & my buddy/cousin Owen - it was hard to keep us separated all weekend!
Here's Grandma Dawn with Issy and up front Hudson & I; do you like our matching crane t-shirts? We wore them special for Grandpa Mark as he use to be in the construction business!
After a couple of
hours of riding we got a snack (*fresh squeezed lemonade & mini-doughnuts!)
and then rode some more. We stayed out until 9 p.m. and by the time we got home
we were tuckered out! The best surprise of the weekend came from Grandma Dawn
who got us our own toddler beds to sleep in. I got a Spiderman one and Hudson a
Lighting McQueen/Mator
one from Cars. We were so excited to sleep in them - thanks Grandma Dawn!
The next day we slept
in, had breakfast, played and then headed to Great Grandma/pa Vogel's new place
in Independence, IA. Grandma Mary & Grandpa Richard also joined us for
lunch at a fun Chinese restaurant which was right by the river where Grandpa
Mark taught us to throw rocks! Next we
headed to Great Uncle Rock’s for a backhoe ride which was awesome! After the ride the rest of the weekend Hudson
asked for “backhoe ride” every time we got into the car. Apparently he really liked it! Here’s us loading up in the cab - three happy boys!
Here's us going around the farm.
After a quick nap we met our cousins in Independence to have fun at the pool & then dinner at Great-Great Aunt Pat & Uncle Jim's house (*Cousin Diane's parents or Owen's grandparents or Great Grandma Mary's brother or Grandpa Mark's Aunt & Uncle - got all that?!). Here's Grandpa Mark showing Hudson the toddler pool.
Then off to the big pool for a dip; Cousin Issy, Grandma Dawn & Grandpa Mark even showed us how to go off the diving board!
After a fun dinner & dessert (*Cousin Diane made peanut butter filled chocolate cupcakes with Grandpa's work honey peanut butter - our favorite!) we headed backed to clean-up & bed. Another day of wearing us out! On Saturday, July 12th we got to have breakfast with Great Uncle Luke and then headed downtown for the parade. We met up with several of our Vogel cousins as Cousin Andrea was awesome & let us sit in her front lawn - prime parade location. We saw Cousin Brett's family, Cousins Andrea, Autumn and Angie and Great Uncle Kurt. It was a family filled weekend! Here's us with Grandma/pa and notice we have the cutest matching shirts; mine says "Hello my name is: Best Big Brother" and Hudson's says, "Hello my name is: Best Lil' Brother".
Here's me with Grandpa Mark checking out some machinery:
One of the floats handed out Beanie Babies and Hudson got a blue one and I got a brown one - we were both so excited! Here's me & my bear:
Hudson loved all the animals in the parade and really liked the horses at the end - he even stood & clapped for them! He waved and they waved back which was pretty awesome!
After the parade we met up with our Culbertson cousins again went to the park, had lunch and set-up a monster train set. Here's Owen, me & Hudson:
Here's all us cousins: me, Issy, Evelyn, Owen & Hudson:
Before we headed for home & a started our nap Grandpa told us all some stories - disclaimer: do not believe any stories Grandpa Mark tells you, they are extremely exaggerated!
We got home just in time to unload the car, meet up with Daddy and head to Blue Earth for our first Giant's Days Parade! We were hoping to see Cousins Hannah & Elise however poor Elise got sick and they headed home early. We did get to meet up with Great Grandma Betty, Grandma Judy & Grandpa Allen - here's our crew at our friend Dave Persig's house!
Silly Grandpa stole Hudson's Twin's cap! Looking good don't you think? Of course Hudson is trying to climb all over him - our little monkey!
So happy to be back with Daddy - we missed him!
Still can't believe we did 2 parades in one day but we have the evidence 3 gallon bags of candy! Of course, Hudson, Mom, Grandpa Mark and Daddy did most of the work. Here's our little worker bee:
The brother's who love tractors & any and all types of ag equipment! Always makes us stop in our tracks. After the parade we got Pizza Hut and met up with Brittany who watched us while Dad & Mom joined some friends for the Blue Earth street dance. We didn't mind as we were too tired to notice they were gone!
Today, Sun., July 13th we enjoyed sleeping in, church and then a special family breakfast after we checked crops at The Cottage in Amboy, MN. They even made us special tractor shaped pancakes!
A huge THANK YOU to all our family & friends who made this past week / weekend so much fun. We can't believe how blessed we are & are truly grateful. Hard to top the past two weeks we've had they've been spectacular - thank you!
XOXO, Hayden & Hudson
