Strawberry Pickin'

It's the time of year in Northern Minnesota when the strawberry fields are ripe for the pickin'. There is a pick-your-own farm about 20 miles outside of Duluth that we decided to check out on Sunday. Apparently, the folks around here take their strawberry picking pretty seriously...big straw hats...knee pads...giant buckets. We were amateurs to say the least. Anyway, once Sheinah figured out that she was allowed to eat all the strawberries she saw, she had a blast. We would help her pick the strawberry and then it would go right into her mouth and she would say "more please." Needless to say, she was a bit red when we left.

So good at sharing...

Notice how pink her hands and shirt are...yep...they are still soaking in OxyClean...

Carnival

A small carnival comes to town every year for the Fourth of July. We decided to check it out and see if Sheinah would go on any rides. Just in case you were wondering...she DID go on the rides...and she DID NOT want to get off :) Thus, in hind sight, this was probably not our smartest parenting decision since it cost a fortune to ride the carnival rides. Since Travis is a wee bit large to ride the kiddy rides, Melissa got to fly the helicopter and ride the train with Sheinah. Check out the pictures:

Fishing

Da original bums (Al, Lori, and Travis) went fishing today on Lake Big Jessie up near Grand Rapids. They had an AMAZING day. They caught the limit of fish (eighteen) even after throwing back several that they couldn't keep because they were TOO BIG. Lori was the best "fisherwoman" of the day catching the biggest walleye and the biggest perch. Check out this video of Lori "holding" the biggest fish of the day.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7159323684188526897&hl=en

After you stop laughing...check out the pictures of the big catch:

Painting Done

Despite Zach and Travis' best efforts, the painting of the Kingston house didn't get finished before Zach left last week. Part of the problem was the weather. We had 100% humidity and rainy weather the weekend before Zach left. We decided to paint anyway...which was not the best decision. The paint in the kitchen kept running down the walls because the air was so wet. So, Zach and Travis decided to roll the paint again...and it ran...again. Four coats later, the beautiful red paint now looked kind of scary (think lipstick red). Thus, we decided to try a painting technique called Bellagio Faux. That took two coats of faux and then another coat of sealant. Altogether, we figure there were eight coats of paint in the kitchen!

Sheinah's bedroom was another problem. We wanted to do something special with multiple colors. Travis taped the walls to paint the squares and it looked beautiful. Then, when he went to pull off the tape...the paint came with it...not once, but twice. UGH. Anyway, after some extra work, Travis got her room all nice and pretty. Enjoy the pictures of the finished product.

Kitchen, with two coats of faux paint...it's looks much more "pink" than it is in real life.

Sheinah's room (picture taken from the door). The wall you can't see is blue.

Sheinah's bathroom/laundry room. That white thing in the corner is a shower.

Living room. That's Eric working on the trim.

Master bedroom...all the trim is done in this room.

Silly Songs with Larry

Melissa's parents bought Sheinah a DVD called Silly Songs with Larry (from Veggietales). Sheinah has several Veggietales movies and her favorite part is always the silly song section so we all figured Sheinah would enjoy a whole DVD of Larry. As soon as we put it on for her, she started dancing. This particular dance is to the song "The Dance of the Cucumber." If you listen carefully, you can hear the song is sung in spanish by Larry the Cucumber with translation by Bob the Tomato. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4760493162453609035

Canal Park

We took Uncle Bacqua (that's Zach) down to Canal Park on Sunday. Sheinah loves birds so we figured she would get a kick out of feeding the seagulls. Zach thought it would be cool to see if the birds would take the crackers right out of his hand. They did! Then Sheinah wanted to give it a try. Check out the videos http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5254428256788979963 and http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3300781079683331966

House Update

Travis' brother, Zach, arrived on Tuesday night to be our painter. Wes, Eric, and Travis have been working hard to get actual walls up for Zach to paint :) They ran into some troubles with inspections (plumbing still won't hold 5 pounds of pressure) but passed the electrical inspection on Friday. Here are some pictures of the progress. There is actual drywall up in the kitchen, no more hole in the wall in the living room, and Zach got serious paint on his eyelashes. We especially like the one of Zach's eyelashes :)

Eric in the living room finishing the "hole in the wall"

Zach poses before they hang the "rock" in the kitchen.