A Little Slice of Heaven

Jon and I were lucky enough to spend another wonderfully relaxing weekend at Natures Nest Bed and Breakfast in Montrose, MN this past weekend. We were, once again, celebrating our Anniversary here--and we were, once again, overtly satisfied with our experience!! This place has become an absolute favorite of ours, and I think we may go back every year that we are able (Thank you Katy, Ali, and Papa Sharpe for watching H&E while we were away).

Natures Nest is an organic farm on 40+ acres with beautiful gardens every where you turn. They have a produce garden with tomatoes, peppers, and various vegetables--and many fruit trees providing them with Honey Crisp apples, and pears. There are also many, many perennial and annual flower gardens featuring flowers you have never seen before.

They also have many animals on the farm including:

Sheep,

horses, chickens (not pictured) which provide them with fresh eggs every day,
a dog, and two cats. Below I am snuggling with "Cuddly Dudley" on the porch. He is a beautiful Siamese who proves to be our mascot every year, as he greets us with his meow, and then follows us around the rest of our stay there.

Here is Jonathan sitting next to me on the porch, enjoying a glass of wine. Ah vacation.........when one can enjoy a glass of wine at 3:00 in the afternoon if he/she so desires!! :)

After doing a little exploring and walking around their land and gardens, we decided to head over to Watertown for some dinner. Before we went to dinner, however, we stopped by a local winery and did a wine tasting, which was really fun. We then traveled a little further down a country road to an Italian restaurant in quaint little Watertown called D'Vinci's. After a yummy dinner, we headed back to the B&B for a hot tub, followed by a camp fire. We even partook in a late night (few too many glasses of wine) trampoline jumping experience, and thankfully no one got hurt!! So, so fun! Finally we hit the sack, and this is what we woke up to at 9:30 Sunday morning:

Our menu included: Fruitatta (which is an egg bake with fresh eggs and fresh peppers), fried new potatoes, free range sausage (from a neighbors farm), fresh melons and blueberries (from a neighbors garden), coffee, orange juice, and warm currant & chocolate scones (not pictured). All amazingly delectable!!

A close up of one of the gorgeous flower arrangements in our room.

Such a great time--it makes me happy all over again just posting these pictures and journaling our experience on the blog. Every married couple, especially those who are raising young children, should take time to do wonderful things like this for themselves. What a joyful get away to rest, relax, and recharge our batteries!!! We are looking forward to next September already! :)

Shiver Me Timbers, It's A Pirate Parrrrrrrrrty!!

In celebration of his 5th birthday, Hayden decided on a pirate themed party with all of his friends. We entertained and fed 32 people, 15 of which were friends his age. We had such a wonderful time with our old friends and new friends alike. Above are some of the kids in their pirate party masks...I just couldn't seem to get them all rounded up at once for a photo op!

The main event of the party was a Treasure Hunt, which the kids loved. It was overcast and raining out, but we still sent them outside to retrieve 4 of the 10 clues we had hid. The final clue took them to the "treasure chest" (which was my hope chest) and inside were loot bags for everyone. Above are the pirate cupcakes that my friend from work made especially for Hayden's big day. Didn't they turn out adorable?? Thanks Katie!




Finally, Hayden blowing out his candle, and enjoying his birthday cupcake!

Eight Amazing Years

Jonathan and I celebrated our 8 year Anniversary on the 16th. Neither of us can believe how quickly 8 years has gone, and how much life we have experienced together in that time. It's truly hard to remember life before we met. I always tell people that marriage is an amazing journey, and that's really what it has been for us--peaks & valleys, but way more peaks than valleys....and so worth the work you put in to it.

TRS + JRS
September 16, 2000

(We are off to celebrate our Anniversary at a B&B this weekend, so more pics to follow...)

The H Man is Five!!!

Our sweet baby boy turned five years old on Wednesday, September 10th. I can hardly believe it, as it seems like just yesterday that I was in labor with him, and meeting him for the very first time....after a long 39 weeks and 4 days of being pregnant, but who was counting?!:)

I had the day off on his birthday--so I made caramel rolls for breakfast, and he requested to eat off of the "You are Special Today" plate. No problem. Wish granted. We then packed up and headed to the MN Zoo for an indoor adventure, as it was overcast and looked like it could rain at any moment. After nap, we headed over the Nana and Papa Sharpe's house for a birthday celebration there. He, once again, got to eat off of the "You are Special Today" plate, and enjoyed cake and ice cream after dinner, as well. It was a wonderful, fun filled day for the H-Man--(and he would tell you about all of the great toys, books, and games he got, as well).

Happy 5th Birthday, Hayden Jonathan. We love you so much, and are so thankful that you are our son. You are constantly keeping us on our toes with questions about life, how things work, and always wanting more information about your world. You have brought us such joy over the past 5 years, and we are so proud of the little boy (and big brother) you have become. Daddy, Erica and I are very lucky to have you in our lives!!

The Great MN Get Together

Our first stop at the fair was the "Miracles of Life" barn--which is one of my and the kids favorites, and one of Jon's least favorites. This little calf was born the morning before, and was so cute.

After this we made our way to the food building where we had our favorite State Fair food: Cheese Curds. These are a necessity when you go to the fair with Jon--he is a cheese curd connoisseur, and will only get the ones from the food building. All others, are strictly imitation.
We then tried some fried pickles, which were ok--but didn't compare to the curds.

Here we are in the Creative Activities building, which is another of my fav's. Hayden picked up the Obama sign at the DFL booth where I was looking to pick up a few buttons, but AS ALWAYS, they were already out. Argh...that really bummed us out. The same thing happened to us in the last election. Anyways, he loved that sign and walked around the fair holding it up over his head (as shown above) saying "Vote for Change"--it was pretty funny. No one wanted to tell off a kid. We were secretly and quietly very proud!! :)

Here are Erica and I on the carousel ride by Machinery Hill--which, if you can believe it, is Jon's favorite place at the fair. Erica kept saying, "Mommy, I ride on the bunny round and round" and when it stopped, she looked at me and said, "I do again?"

After a few rides, we stopped for a Pronto Pup--and a bit further down the road we found the Tiny Tim mini doughnuts, so sat in the shade and enjoyed our insanely sugary doughnuts and a large cup of cold Root Beer. Below the kids are holding up their sticky little hands for the camera.

Our last stop before heading out was for my State Fair weakness: A Bavarian Pretzel with cheese. Delectable........ even on an already full stomach! As we got to our exit we caught a glimpse of the crowd. Wow, what craziness!!

Erica enjoying the view from my shoulders--looking exhausted.

We are home now, the kids are napping soundly, and I don't think we will need to eat again until 8pm or so!!!!!!!!!

Isle O Dreams -- July 2008

Well, our favorite week of the year has come and gone, and amidst the chaos of moving, I am finally getting a chance to update the blog with some highlights from our vacation.

This year was no different than any other year, in the respect that we thoroughly enjoyed every moment of rest and relaxation. Nana Sharpe allowed us to sleep in every single morning--god bless her--and occasionally we even snuck a nap in when they kids laid down in the afternoon.

We also enjoyed MUCH time in the sun & water:

A family trip into Buck Lake (a small adjoining lake) on our floaties

Some action packed tubing, which both kids LOVED!!

Erica cuddling with mom and dad on the boat

Fishing was a huge hit again this year--

Dad and E with a sunfish

Jon with a nice large mouth Bass

and Mom and H with a measly perch...go figure!! :)

Here are Hayden and Papa returning from a successful trip out fishing one morning. They caught so much on their mornings out that we enjoyed fish for dinner many nights.

Some Wildlife observed:

A Great Blue Heron hanging out on our dock

A mama Loon and her baby

...and a HUGE dragonfly H & Papa found in the boat. He wasn't even hurt, and he let H hold him and check him out for quite a while before he flew off.

Major Breakthroughs that are news-worthy:

1.) Tammie learned to wake board FINALLY (and made Jon so proud)

2.) Hayden learned to cast his fishing pole--

3.) Erica learned to jump into the pool all by herself--

And finally a few shots of the Sharpe family, as this is the real reason why we love & cherish our week at Isle O Dreams so much:

Girls Rule!!
(we've got the guys out numbered 5:3)

The Sharpe Family
July 2008

A Little Sprinkler Action....

After nap today Hayden decided it was a good day to run through the sprinkler. I have to admit, with the hot, humid air it sounded pretty good to me, as well. Here are Hayden and Erica sharing a squeeze before the action began!!

Below is video of Hayden thoroughly enjoying himself, and speeding through both sprinklers.

This video below makes me giggle--(does that make me a bad mom?) Watch as Erica gets too close to the water and it sprays her right in the face, and then the sad moments that follow....

Oh the joys of summer!! : )