Crashing Guys Weekend!

Keith has had a guys weekend planed for about a month or two now up at his Dad's cabin. No big deal for me. They've done it before and planned to go ice fishing....but they decided against that when they went to the lake and saw how unsafe it was. I decided to ask my parents to take Ella Saturday night so I could have a little break too. I didn't want the weekend to turn into a crab fest having it be just Ella and I 24/7, you know. Plus I knew there was no chance of me going since I already invited myself one night to a casino sleepover with the guys last year. hehe. Good times. :o) I'll admit though...I am much more a guys gal than a girly girl, and all of my friends know it.

Friday night was great. Ella went to bed...I did whatever I wanted! The best part though was that I actually slept in the middle of my bed that night! Usually, even if I am taking a nap or something, I stick to my side of the bed out of habit, but on this night I TOOK OVER THE BED.....And it was fabulous.

Saturday night, I planned on doing something with my friend Sheila, who's hubby Todd was up north with Keith. Our plan was unclear, but one option was crashing in on the guys. Keith and Todd had an idea that we were thinking about it because Sheila had asked if we could go up with them before they even left and the guys nipped that in the bud right away. Well we left it kinda a mystery all that day....not too sure if they would be pissed off at us for crashing.

None the less, Sheila and I decided to do it, but it wasn't going to be until about 8-9pm that night. The cabin is an hour away and Sheila would have to leave her dog at home alone and only wanted to do it for 12 hours. So we had our plan...Head up late and leave early. Then Keith called me around 5pm demanding to know if we were coming! Finally I said, "YES, we are coming up! Happy?"

His response? "Great. Bring some eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast would ya?" Todd also sent Sheila a text message telling her to bring donuts!

I was appalled that they were ok with us coming up only if we were going to bring them groceries. I guess half of the guys left on Saturday afternoon anyways and they were looking for a little more company to mix it up a bit. Enter Sheila and I! Who cares....we were taking a little road trip to crash their weekend.

We ended up taking the dogs with us. Sheila and I and our two big dogs in the back seat. It was like Thelma and Louise! :o) (just kidding, no driving off the cliff or anything).

Once we got there, they were all trashed of course. We caught up pretty quickly and just ended up playing poker the rest of the night after the guys got their fill of 4 wheeling through all of the trails. It was a little too cold for me. I couldn't help though but laugh at the Scooby Doo bowl in the sink. It just seemed so appropriate that during a guys weekend, they ate out of Scooby Doo bowls. Boys will be boys. So I snapped a few more pics of relevant things going on at the guys weekend.....


Some cheesy chili concoction.....


And a crusty spoon that I was surprised even sat on a paper towel.....


Beer and poker chips...which actually was my beer. Their beer of choice is Guinness, but there was so much liquor being mixed that it just didn't matter. That was all out in a snow bank that I wish I had taken a picture of......


Cant forget the Patron!


A little Texas Hold'em action....


My husband was the first one down....which is not unusual. He is still a party animal at heart! We stayed up a few hours later, but once I headed to bed what did this girl amongst the guys listen to to drift off to sleep? The soothing sounds of Norah Jones! How unmanly can I get! :o)

Cousins are the Best

I post alot of pictures on my blog of Ella's cousins Jack and Everett. If I haven't mentioned it before, Jack was born 10 weeks before Ella and Everett is 1 1/2 years old. Ella loves them both dearly and is the closest thing she has to a sibling. Ella was conceived through IVF and though we would like to have another baby, and still plan on it at this point, it is very expensive and we are not sure if it will be financially feasible.

I moved to Minnesota about 17 years ago, so all of my family lives out of state (except for my parents). I am lucky that we are close to Keith's sisters because when I see Ella with her cousins it gives me so much joy. Toddlers having fun together anytime are wonderful to see, but to know that she has a closeness and a bond to them like she may not have with a sibling of her own is comforting.

My sister in law Crystal, is due in November with their first girl. I cant wait to see how Ella bonds with her. Thank you for being in our lives, Jack and Everett. Your Aunty Joey loves you wicked!


All 3 of them love to go on the 4 wheelers with anyone who is willing to give them a ride.

Best Shot Monday

.....Because she is playful, silly, sensitive, emotional, adorable, lovable, kind, caring, full of life and unconditionally beautiful. She's so much more than all of that.....and because I love her.



To see more BSM images, head on over to Tracey's

Ode To the Trampoline

We had so much fun on the trampoline last weekend at the cabin. I just love to see my little munchkin jumping up in the air and having fun. Its sort of bittersweet. It shows me that some of the fear of being a little girl has gone away, because she is a very cautious child, yet she laughs with no end and it is the kind of gleeful laugh that warms my heart. You cant help but smile when you watch the kids feeling so free up in the air.














We are off to the cabin again this afternoon for the weekend. One of the neighbors up there, who is good friends with my father in law needs his cabin roofed so all the guys are getting together for that. I figured I may as well take Ella up there instead of us bonking heads all weekend at home by ourselves. It is supposed to be cooler this weekend...60's - 70's, I am actually looking forward to sitting out by the fire drinking some hot chocolate on those cool nights!

See ya in a few days!

Labor Day Weekend

We had such a nice time up north at my in laws cabin. The weather was wonderful, we celebrated Karen's birthday, one of my 3 sister in laws, and the kids had a ball together. A big thing for the kids was the trampoline. It seemed like they couldnt get enough of it. We ate so much last weekend that I can literally feel my body expanding. Isnt that what vacations are for?

Crystal, Morgan and I (my other 2 sister in laws) took Jack and Ella into town to go to the grocery store. Crystal wanted to get Karen and ice cream cake at Dairy Queen for her birthday. So when we stopped, of course we all got little treats for ourselves. I was so full that I told myself I wouldnt need to eat any of the cake that night because I had had enough ice cream. Well, wouldnt you know....Dinner comes around (which would be 2 fried turkeys and pot luck dishes from all the people that were up there, um ya...we know how to eat), and then the cake came out and I couldnt resist! Horrible...But so yummy! :)


Ella was so fascinated when Karen was painting her finger nails. I had painted Ella's before we left and her and Karen decided that they would match. She was all over it! She loves her Aunty's so much. We are lucky to have them!







Everett is just over a year old and he LOVED the trampoline just as much as the big kids. He squeeled with laughter when the kids jumped and made him bounce in the air.


I could not believe this last picture when I looked at it on the computer. I could not stop laughing. This was Brooklyn, one of the other little kids that was up there. Her and Ella played really well together. If we only had a trampoline at home!