At the Races

This weekend we had a less than 24 hour trip up north and Tryg got to see his first car races.  Randy took, Erik and Tryg, Amy and her boyfriend, Brian, and Amy's friend Amanda and her son, Isaiah to the races in Rice Lake.  We were not sure how Tryg would do and at first we planned on him staying home with me.  Instead, we let him go and then I was able to pick him up when he got tired.  

Well, he LOVED it!!  He made it through 3/4 of the races and then said, "I wanna go back to the cabin."  So, Sue and I came to pick him up [after our trip to Rice Lake Wal-Mart :-) ].  He had a blast!  And the best part for him was that Brian bought him a matchbox car at the races.  He drives it around in the backseat and says, "Bian got this car.  Bian got this car."

Thank you to Amanda for letting us use Isaiah's earmuffs for sound protection!  And thank you to Amy for the cute pics and Brian for the matchbox cars!

Tryg's First Trip to the Dentist

On Sunday night Tryg tripped and chipped his tooth on some patio furniture.  At first we just dealt with his bloody lip and thought he was all good, but then the next day, I noticed that his front tooth was actually chipped on the end.  I called the dentist on Tuesday and they got us in that evening.  

At first he wasn't too interested in what was going on at the dentist even though he did perfectly when we practiced smiling and showing his teeth in the light at home. :)  Then when the actual dentist came in she thought for sure he would lose it but he was fantastic!  The dentist was even shocked!  She said he was the best and most calm two year old she ever had.  He didn't move or squirm at all.  He didn't cry or make a peep.  It just laid there.  We were very proud!

She said that the tooth looks ok.  No nerve damage.  She doesn't think there is root damage and didn't take an x-ray because she didn't think it was needed.  She was just going to leave it but since he did so well, she took the time to file down the edges so the tooth wasn't so sharp.  Tryg did fantastic with that part too!  There is still a chance the tooth might die, but we're hoping it lasts until it naturally falls out.  We'll see what happens.

 

Lots of Fun --not so many photos....

We had a great weekend, except we forgot to take many photos.  We spent the day on Saturday at Bill and Carol's helping then with their kitchen....or to be more accurate, Erik helped Bill with the kitchen while Carol and I (Mindy) kept the kids from getting hurt or in the way.  This was also the day that Tryg was introduced to vehicles with built in DVD players.  We may have a problem on our hands now!  He practically chanted "Movie in the car, pizza, movie, movie, pizza, movie in the car" all the way home.  Tryg really likes playing with the Skerbitz kids and I think they enjoy him too.  We made it through the day with only a few tears and timeouts in both families.

On Sunday morning, Carly met us and we headed to the Steele County Free Fair (SCFF) in Owatonna!  This has been an annual tradition for my entire life.  And now, Erik and Tryg get to experience it too!! :)  I was told once in my life that it is the largest free fair in the country.  I am not entirely sure if this is true or not but it works for us.  The best part is fair food!  We enjoyed cheese curds, mini donuts, corn dog, burgers, deep pickles, and apple pie.  We opted for the burger with the pretzel bun vs. the donut burger.  Part of us wanted to try it, but just couldn't bring ourselves to buy a whole donut burger just to try it.   We also got to meet up with my parents and grandpa.  They gave us some 'fair tips' and coupons :)

We had to leave by mid-afternoon in order to get to the Daycare Reunion.  Our last daycare, that is now closed, had a potluck reunion at one of the family's homes.  They had a great house with a huge yard for the kids to play in.  The kids really liked being able to play together and it was wonderful to see Jennifer again (the daycare provider).  We had s'mores on a campfire and enjoyed the evening together.

The unfortunate part of the evening was the Tryg tripped and hit is mouth on the patio furniture.  He got a bloody lip and we noticed the next day that he actually chipped the end of his top right tooth!  So....Tuesday we had Tryg's first dentist experience. 
[I'll post about that next] 

On Monday evening we got to see my friend, Katie, who I grew up with, and her family.  They currently live in China but are here for a visit.  Their daughters are three years old and seven months old.  Tryg squealed with delight when I told him there were going to be kids at our house to play with.  They had fun -but sharing is still a little difficult.  We played in the yard, had dinner, went to the park and then went to get ice cream.  I think my favorite part (besides catching up with an old friend) was when their three year old used her reasoning skills and started with, "And since ketchup is kind of like a drink..." before the adults in the car interrupted her with our laughter.  I wish we would have taken pictures.

Block Party

Last week, on National Night Out, we had our Annual Block Party.  This year they went all out.  There were horses, police cars, fire trucks, duck ponds, water balloons and fantastic food!!!  I was nervous that Tryg was going to be scared of the horse but he loved it!  I think he wanted to ride it alone.  He certainly didn't want me to hold him on the horse.  He wanted to hold on himself.  I'm glad he likes animals and isn't freaked out by them.

It's also nice to live in a place where people know each other and take the time to see how other people are doing.  We have enjoyed this neighborhood and getting to know our neighbors.  The only down side is that most of the people with little kids live on the opposite end of the street.  But we have great neighbors right next to us too!

Tryg absolutely loves the neighbor kid, Logan!  And he is great with Tryg too.  Almost every time we pull into our driveway, Tryg asks if Logan is around.   You can see how much he looks up to Logan in this picture.

Weekends on the Water

Two weekends ago we had our first camping experience with Tryg!  Overall, it went well.  However, Friday night was pretty bad.  We had a group of storms go through and at a few points, our tent was almost blown flat!  Tryg was literally shaking from fear and water came streaming into our tent from an eyelet that we didn't secure.  Erik was ready to pack up and go home right then!  However, we got Tryg to sleep and the rain let up throughout the night.  

It continued to be cloudy and rainy on Saturday morning but luckily we were with Oborns and Kellie's mom lives just 10 minutes from our camp site.  We were able to spend a few hours at her house -giving naps to the kids and drying our sleeping bags.  By Saturday afternoon we were back on the water on the Oborn's new boat.  We really enjoyed the St. Croix River.  The sun felt great and Tryg had a blast playing in the sand with Raina!  I'm SO glad that the weather cleared up or we probably would have been miserable!

On Sunday we had a little celebration for Raina's 3rd Birthday at our camp site.  Kellie's mom made caramel rolls to go with our breakfast and then we went back out on the water for the afternoon.  Thanks for the camping experience Shane and Kellie!!

Then this past weekend, we went to Erik's parent's cabin.  We enjoyed a bonfire and a couple boat rides and also got the lawn mowed and such.  We had a good time over the weekend even though it was a bit cooler.  I hope that winter isn't coming too quickly!!  However, I LOVE fall!

Snuggles on the Boat!

Minty Fresh Car?

So I saw this tip online and had to try it out!  Our car's headlights are so "foggy" that they almost look white.  In fact, sometimes we have to turn on the brights just to see while driving in the dark.  So, we gave this a try!

BEFORE
(almost white!)

I bought a tube of the cheapest toothpaste I could find -at Walmart for 97 cents (we use gel toothpaste normally, otherwise I would have just tried ours).  I put it on a dry cloth and started wiping.  After a few coats, I cleaned it off with water.  At first, I was absolutely AMAZED!!!  They were completely clear!  Unfortunately, after they dried again, they were not quite as clear.  However, they are still much better than they were!  So, for 97 cents, I count it a success!  

AFTER!
(This is the final product -after it dried.  Much better!)

Side by side -Before and After

And of course, I had my little helper too!